18:40, 5 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the people for the second time in a day amid mass protests in the country, announcing that he is now the head of the Security Council of Kazakhstan, ARMENPRESS reports, TASS informed.

"The measures taken by me are aimed at the welfare of multinational Kazakhstan. But these measures are not enough yet. The highly organized elements of hooliganism are striking. It speaks about the conspirators' well-thought-out plan, which has financial incentives. Yes, the conspirators," he said.

Tokayev also informed that there are casualties among the law enforcement officers as a result of the clashes. According to the President, the authorities will deal with the offenders as strictly as possible.

The Head of the country noted that he is now in the capital and promised to come up with new proposals for resolving the situation in the coming hours. Tokayev stressed that he still maintains his position that the policy of consistent reforms should be continued, and expressed confidence that the people will support him.

Prior to Tokayev's statement, the President of the Security Council of Kazakhstan was the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Earlier, protesters stormed the former president's residence in the former capital, Almaty, as well as the Almaty administration building. Protests in Kazakhstan began on January 2 over the sharp rise in liquefied natural gas prices in the southwestern cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau. Two days later, riots broke out in Almaty, where police used light and sound grenades to disperse the crowd, as in other cities.

President Tokayev has declared a two-week state of emergency in Almaty, in the Mangystau and Almaty regions until January 19, a curfew from 23:00 to 07:00, and on January 5 he signed the resignation of the government. The members of the government continue to perform their duties until the new Cabinet is approved.