Russia has decided to send troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organization to help “stabilize” Kazakhstan, which is experiencing strong anti-government protests.
This comes in response to the request of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym Tokayev, for the support of the organization, with the escalation of unrest across the country.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military alliance that includes the former Soviet states of Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The protests were initially sparked by high fuel prices, but have expanded to include other political demands.
Police fire stun grenades at protesters Wednesday.
President Tokayev claimed that the disturbances were the work of “terrorist gangs” trained abroad.
Kate Mallinson, an expert on Central Asia at foreign affairs think-tank Chatham House in London, said the protests were “symptoms of the deep-rooted and simmering anger and resentment of the Kazakhstan government’s failure to modernize their country and deliver reforms that affect people at all levels”.
The president imposed a nationwide state of emergency that includes an all-night curfew and a ban on mass gatherings, and vowed a tough response to the protests.
In a televised speech in the early hours of Thursday, he said that he had asked for help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, led by Russia.
Later on Wednesday, the head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, confirmed in a Facebook statement that the coalition would send peacekeepers “for a limited period of time.”
The US State Department said it was “closely following” the situation in Kazakhstan, and its spokesman urged authorities and protesters alike to exercise restraint.
airport fall
Employees at one of Kazakhstan’s main airports were forced to flee following anti-government protesters entered the terminal building.
The arrival of the demonstrators, Wednesday, to the airport in the largest city in the country, the city of Alma-Ata, represented an escalation in the protests taking place in the country.
The government said at least eight members of the security forces were killed, and hundreds more were injured.
President Tokayev has vowed a harsh response, describing the protests as a “dark period” in the country’s history.
“As president, I am obligated to protect the security and safety of our citizens, and I am concerned regarding the territorial integrity of Kazakhstan,” he said in an earlier speech on Wednesday. He described the protesters as “conspirators” motivated by “financial motives”.
Tokayev is only the second person to lead the ex-Soviet republic since it declared its independence in 1991. His election in 2019 was condemned by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as showing no respect for democratic standards.
But much of the street anger appears to be directed at his predecessor, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has held a powerful national security position since stepping down from power. He was fired Wednesday in an attempt to calm the escalating unrest.
Protesters were heard chanting slogans bearing his name, while a video clip circulated showing people trying to bring down a giant bronze statue of the former leader. According to the BBC’s media department, the monument that was dismantled appears to have been in Taldykorgan, Nazarbayev’s hometown.
Protesters gathered in Alma-Ata earlier in front of the city’s mayor’s office before storming it. Videos posted on social media showed a column of smoke rising from the building, while gunfire might be heard.
The city’s police chief, Kanat Timurdinov, said “extremists and militants” had attacked 500 civilians and looted hundreds of shops.
Water cannons were used once morest the protesters in the western city of Aktobe. There are reports that the security forces lined up with the protesters in some places.
picture released, Getty Images
Protesters gather in front of the mayor’s office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, before storming it.
However, getting a clear picture of what is going on in the Central Asian countries is difficult. The Ministry of Interior published casualty figures among the security forces, but there were no similar reports of injuries or deaths among the protesters.
And disrupted Internet services in the country since Tuesday. By Wednesday, internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported that Kazakhstan was “in the midst of a nationwide blackout”.
The authorities made other attempts to end the protests, which began on Sunday when the government lifted subsidies on the price of liquefied gas, which many use to power their cars, causing its prices to double.
In addition to the dismissal of Nazarbayev from office, the entire government resigned.
Dissent and protests are uncommon in Kazakhstan.
However, the city of Zhanuzin, in Magangstau province, was the scene of deadly unrest in 2011. At least 14 oil workers were killed in a police crackdown on a protest once morest wages and working conditions. The city was also one of the last major centers of protests in the country.
The protests are not just regarding fuel
Olga Evshina ـ BBC Russian Service
The speed with which the protests turned violent has surprised many, both in Kazakhstan and in the region as a whole, and indicated that it is not just regarding an increase in fuel prices.
Kazakhstan is a traditionally stable country in Central Asia, often described as an authoritarian state. Until 2019, it was run by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose reign was marked by elements of a cult of personality, whose statues were erected throughout the country and the capital was named following him.
However, when he left, it was amid anti-government protests that he sought to curb by stepping down from power and installing a close ally in his place.
It is noteworthy that most of the elections in Kazakhstan in which the ruling party wins with close to one hundred percent of the vote, and there is no effective political opposition in the country.
Analysts I spoke to say that the Kazakh government has clearly underestimated the scale of the population’s anger, and that these protests were not surprising in a country that lacks electoral democracy – people have to take to the streets to be heard.
And their grievances are certainly regarding a range of issues broader than fuel prices.
