The President of Kazakhstan assured Monday that his country had defeated a “coup attempt” by foreign “terrorists” after deadly riots, promising the departure soon of Russian troops called to the rescue.
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Life was gradually resuming in Almaty, the largest city in this Central Asian country where the disturbances were the most serious.
Authorities have intermittently reconnected the internet and gradually restored public transport, but the charred facades of public buildings and the wrecks of burnt vehicles still bear witness to the clashes.
During a video conference, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took stock of events in front of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and other allies who have deployed more than 2,000 troops in the former Soviet republic.
Both he and the master of the Kremlin promised a withdrawal of these forces once their mission was accomplished, while asserting that the bloody events had been orchestrated from abroad, rejecting the idea of a social protest movement having degenerated in the face of the he extent of misery and repression in this authoritarian, ex-Soviet Central Asian country.
For the Kazakh president, “groups of armed combatants” have used the outburst of anger over rising fuel prices to act.
“Their goal became clear: to undermine the constitutional order, destroy the institutions of governance and seize power. It was an attempted coup, ”he said.
“I have no doubt that this is a terrorist attack, an organized and well-prepared act against Kazakhstan with the participation of foreign fighters from Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan. Fighters from the Middle East also participated ”, assured Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev in the evening, according to a press release from his services after an interview with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
The human toll of the unrest, the worst that this former Soviet republic has known since independence in 1991, remains unknown.
According to Mr. Tokayev, the number of civilian casualties is “being verified”. He reported 16 killed and more than 1,600 wounded in the police, but the total number of deaths is counted in tens according to local authorities.
“The economic damage to the state could amount to two to three billion dollars,” said the president.
The suddenness and violence of the riots led the Kazakh president to call on Russia for help. A multinational contingent from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Moscow-led alliance, was deployed on January 6.
According to Mr. Tokayev, these 2,030 soldiers and 250 vehicles should leave Kazakhstan “soon”, Vladimir Poutine confirming that his soldiers were there “for a limited period”.
After days of looting, exchanges of gunfire as well as the burning of the presidential residence and the town hall of Almaty, Mr. Tokayev assured Monday that “constitutional order (had) been restored”.
Mr. Tokayev assured that his forces “have never used and will never use military force against peaceful demonstrators”.
The Kazakh president is due to present the composition of the new government to parliament on Tuesday, with the previous one sacked last week in an initial effort to calm protests.
Vladimir Poutine also estimated that Kazakhstan had faced an “aggression of international terrorism”, evoking “bands of armed men”, having “clearly a combat experience”.
Mr. Putin did not fail to blame the internet and social networks, according to him, used to “involve citizens in protest actions, which are a precursor of terrorist attacks”.
He then warned that Moscow would not tolerate “color revolutions” in the former USSR, a recurring phrase used to describe the revolts orchestrated according to the Kremlin by the West in ex-Soviet countries since the 2000s.
A day of mourning was observed Monday in Kazakhstan.
Mass arrests continued with nearly 8,000 arrests across the country, according to the Interior Ministry.
In addition to rising prices, the protests were also directed against endemic corruption and 81-year-old former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled the country from 1989 to 2019, before handing over the reins to Tokayev.
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