Thursday, January 6, 2022
Yerevan Silent On Armenian Troop Deployment To Kazakhstan
• Astghik Bedevian
Kazakhstan - A burnt car is seen by the mayor’s office of Almaty set on fire by
protesters, January 5, 2022.
Armenia’s government on Thursday declined to reveal the number of Armenian
soldiers that will be deployed to unrest-hit Kazakhstan as part of a
“peacekeeping” operation launched by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO).
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev asked the military alliance for urgent
intervention on Wednesday after three days of angry protests sparked by a surge
in fuel prices. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, the current holder of the CSTO’s
rotating presidency, announced hours later that Russia and four other ex-Soviet
states making up the bloc will send troops to Kazakhstan to help “stabilize and
normalize the situation” there.
In a statement released on Thursday morning, the CSTO said its Collective
Peacekeeping Force will include about 3,600 servicemen from Russia, Armenia,
Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It said Russian airborne troops have already
arrived in Kazakhstan and “begun to fulfill the assigned tasks.”
The main tasks of the force will be “the protection of important state and
military facilities, assistance to the forces of law and order of the Republic
of Kazakhstan in stabilizing the situation and returning it to the legal field,”
added the statement.
Russia -- Russian airborne troops board a military transport plane at Chkalovsky
Airfield to join the CSTO's peacekeeping force in Kazakhstan, January 6, 2022.
Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported early in the afternoon that Armenia will
contribute some 70 soldiers to the CSTO contingent. There was no official
confirmation of the information in the following hours.
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service could not reach the Defense Ministry in Yerevan for
comment throughout the day. Neither the ministry nor the government issued any
statements on the Armenian military deployment as of 9 p.m. local time.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern over the continuing
unrest in Kazakhstan.
“We believe that steps must be taken to prevent further clashes and restore the
atmosphere of tolerance necessary for peaceful political processes, including
citizens’ right to hold peaceful gatherings and express themselves,” it said in
a statement.
KAZAKHSTAN - Protesters take part in a rally over a hike in energy prices in
Almaty on January 5, 2022.
Pashinian’s decision to join the Russian-led operation prompted strong criticism
on social media. Pro-Western civic activists, who had helped him come to power
through mass protests in 2018, were especially upset by the move, saying that
Yerevan must stay away from the violent suppression of what they see as
legitimate protests against Kazakhstan’s authoritarian regime.
Critics also argued that Kazakhstan and other CSTO member states failed to
provide Armenia with military assistance requested by Pashinian after
Azerbaijani troops crossed into Armenian territory in May. Kazakh leaders openly
congratulated Azerbaijan on its victory in the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Maria Karapetian, a lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party, defended
Pashinian’s decision. She said its critics simply want Armenia to leave the CSTO
and “make a different geopolitical choice.”
KAZAKHSTAN - Troops are seen at the main square in Almaty where hundreds of
people were protesting against the government, January 6, 2022.
“If we leave the CSTO, what [other organization] should we join? They must
propose the next step,” Karapetian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Meanwhile, violent clashes and gunfire continued to rock Kazakhstan's largest
city, Almaty, on Thursday as security forces tried to quash the Central Asian
nation's deadliest uprising in the three decades since it declared independence
from the Soviet Union. RFE/RL journalists in Almaty said they opened fire on the
demonstrators in Republican Square.
The Kazakh police said in the morning that they killed “dozens” of protesters
and detained around 2,000 people over the past day.
Russian-Led Security Bloc To Send Troops To Unrest-Hit Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN -- A view shows a burning police car in Almaty during a protest
sparked by the Kazakh authorities' decision to lift price caps on liquefied
petroleum gas, January 5, 2022.
Armenia announced early on Thursday that the Russian-led Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) will send troops to Kazakhstan to help its government
quell violent protests sparked by a fuel price hike.
Kazakhstan’s President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev declared a nationwide state of
emergency on Wednesday as thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with
police and stormed government buildings in the oil-rich Central Asian nation for
the third consecutive day.
Angry demonstrators, some of whom were armed with rubber truncheons, sticks, and
shields, set fire to a presidential residence and the mayor’s office in the
country’s largest city, Almaty,
Police engaged in pitched battles with the protesters, using tear gas, stun
grenades, and rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowds, but were largely
unsuccessful. Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said eight police and National
Guard troops have been killed and 317 people wounded during the unprecedented
unrest.
Kazakhstan – Protesters storm the Almaty city hall, January 5, 2022
Toqaev said that he has appealed to the CSTO, a security bloc comprising Russia,
Kazakhstan, Armenia and three other ex-Soviet states, to assist his government
in responding to what he called a “terrorist threat.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, whose country is the current holder of
the CSTO’s rotating presidency, spoke with Toqaev by phone and announced shortly
after midnight that he will also hold “consultations” with the leaders of CSTO
members.
In a statement issued about two hours later, Pashinian said they have decided to
dispatch “collective peacekeeping forces” to Kazakhstan for the purpose of
“stabilizing and normalizing the situation in that country.”
Demonstrators take part in a protest triggered by fuel price increase in Almaty,
January 5, 2022.
He said that the unrest erupted as a result of unspecified “foreign
intervention” and put Kazakhstan’s national security and sovereignty at serious
risk.
Pashinian did not specify the number and composition of CSTO troops that will be
deployed in Kazakhstan. Nor did he say whether Armenian soldiers will also join
the contingent.
Russia did not immediately comment on the deployment.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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