The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym Jomart Tokayev, rejected on Friday any negotiation with the protesters and authorized the security forces to fire “without prior notice” to end the protests that are shaking the country.
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The president of Kazakhstan ruled out any negotiations with the protesters. (AFP)
The largest country in Central Asia has been the scene of a revolt that broke out in the provinces on Sunday, after a rise in the price of gas, and spread to other cities, and especially to Almaty, the economic capital, where the demonstrations turned into violent and chaotic riots.
A contingent of Russian and other allied troops arrived in this former Soviet republic on Thursday to support the government and protect official buildings, along with local security forces.
In this regard, Tokayev thanked the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who “responded very quickly” to her request for help.
“I have given the order to shoot to kill without warning,” Tokayev said in a television speech, adding that “terrorists continue to damage property and use weapons against citizens.”
Tokayev rejected any negotiation and promised to “eliminate” the “bandits” who have caused these riots, who according to him are “20 thousand” and had “a clear plan”.
“What type of negotiation can be had with criminals, with murderers? We have faced armed and trained bandits (…) We must destroy them and that is what we will do in a short time,” he added.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, asked for their part the “end of violence” and “moderation.”
Instead, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, applauded the “strong measures” taken by the Kazakh government against the protesters.
However, the Kazakh president pointed out this Friday that the constitutional order had been “widely reestablished in all regions”, while the deployed Russian military began to “shed some of the tasks assigned to them,” according to Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Russian agencies that Vladimir Putin had spoken with Tokayev several times in recent days about “the situation in Afghanistan and joint actions within the framework of the CSTO,” the Treaty Organization of the Collective Security, led by Russia.
44 killed in Kazakhstan in protests
According to the Interior Ministry, 26 “armed criminals” were killed. For their part, the security forces reported 18 dead and 748 wounded among their troops.
The authorities have established 70 checkpoints nationwide and, so far, more than 3,800 people have been arrested.
However, these figures have not been able to be compared with any independent source, and the government has not provided any balance of civilians, apart from the protesters.
This Friday, in the streets of Almaty there were still charred vehicles and pools of blood, although the circulation was resumed little by little, while the armored trucks of the police patrolled, observed journalists of the AFP.
The facade of the City Hall, burned down on Wednesday, like the presidential residence, was blackened and smoke continued to leak through the windows.
In a financial district, which had all its banks closed, the police stopped and searched those cars with drivers considered suspicious.
Most flights to the country were canceled and Russian press agencies reported, citing Kazakh officials, that the Almaty airport will only be operational for military flights until Sunday.
Amid broken glass and streets lined with mountains of garbage, the small grocery stores reopened, but many had empty shelves and it was difficult to find basic products such as bread.
Some gas stations opened, leading to long lines of vehicles.
The intensity and the suddenness of these riots have had an impact on Kazakhstan, a country of 19 million inhabitants, rich in natural resources and reputed for its stable and authoritarian government.
The authorities initially tried to calm the protesters, without success, by granting a drop in the price of gas, dismissing the government and establishing a state of emergency and a nationwide night curfew.
Apart from the price hike, the anger of the protesters was directed against the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled the country autocratically from 1989 to 2019, and retains great influence. He is also considered the mentor of the current president.
Some Kazakh media claimed that Nazarbayev and his family left Kazakhstan, but this information could not be verified with an independent source.
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