Category: 2022

Russia described recent events in Kazakhstan as a "foreign-inspired" attempt to undermine security, adding Moscow will consult Kazakhs and other allies on possible further steps to support a "counter-terrorist operation" and to unblock critical infrastructure.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement: "We regard the recent events in a friendly country as an attempt, inspired from the outside, to undermine the security and integrity of the state by force, using trained and organized armed formations."

Ethnic Russians, mostly Orthodox Christians, make up nearly a quarter of Kazakhstan's population. The two countries have significant economic and cultural ties.

Russia has already sent paratroops to Kazakhstan as part of a peacekeeping force after the energy-rich Central Asian country was hit by the biggest wave of unrest there since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union over rising fuel prices.

Under increasing pressure, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed overnight to the Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), which includes five other ex-Soviet states, to combat what he called "terrorist groups" that had "received extensive training abroad."

Within hours the alliance said the first troops had been sent, including Russian paratroopers and military units from the other CSTO members, in its first major joint action since its founding in 1999.

"Peacekeeping forces … were sent to the Republic of Kazakhstan for a limited time to stabilize and normalize the situation," the CSTO said in a statement, without specifying the number of troops involved.

The CSTO's current chairperson, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, earlier announced the alliance would agree to the request, saying Kazakhstan was facing "outside interference."

Footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry showed military transport planes being loaded with troops and armored trucks before taking off from a snowy runway for Kazakhstan.

In the worst reported violence so far, police said dozens of people were killed in overnight battles with security forces at government buildings in the country's largest city Almaty.

"Extremist forces tried to assault administrative buildings, the Almaty city police department, as well as local police commissariats. Dozens of assailants were eliminated," police spokesperson Saltanat Azirbek was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Tokayev said in a televised address early Thursday that "terrorists" were seizing buildings, infrastructure and small arms, and battling security forces.

Military forces had deployed en masse in the streets of Almaty and were firing live rounds, according to footage shown Thursday on Russian television.

Videos on social media showed pillaged shops and burned buildings in Almaty, automatic gunfire in the streets and residents screaming in fear.

Officials said more than 1,000 people had been wounded in the unrest, with nearly 400 hospitalized and 62 in intensive care.

As of midday Thursday, more than 350 security officers had been wounded and 13 killed, including two who had their heads cut off, officials told local media.

There were reports of looters attacking and ransacking the offices of local television channels and surrounding two hospitals in Almaty.

Protests spread across the nation of 19 million this week in outrage over an increase in prices for liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which is widely used to fuel cars in the west of the country.

Thousands took to the streets in Almaty and in the western province of Mangystau, saying the price rise was unfair given oil and gas exporter Kazakhstan's vast energy reserves.

Protesters were reported to have stormed several government buildings on Wednesday, including the Almaty mayor's office and the presidential residence.

The full picture of the chaos was unclear, with widespread disruptions to communications including mobile phone signals, the blocking of online messengers and hourslong internet shutdowns.

The protests are the biggest threat so far to the regime established by Kazakhstan's founding president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019 and hand-picked Tokayev as his successor.

Tokayev tried to head off further unrest by announcing the resignation of the Cabinet early on Wednesday, but protests continued.

Tokayev also announced he was taking over from Nazarbayev as head of the powerful security council, a surprise move given the ex-president's continued influence.

With protests escalating, the government late on Wednesday said a state of emergency declared in protest-hit areas would be extended nationwide and in effect until Jan. 19. It imposes an overnight curfew, restricts movements and bans mass gatherings.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held talks with leaders of Organization of Turkic States members late Thursday, reiterating that Turkey is in solidarity with Kazakhstan in call with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as protests hit the Central Asian nation.

Erdoğan also spoke to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a statement from the Presidency's Communications Directorate said.

According to the statement, Erdoğan told Tokayev that he is closely following the developments in Kazakhstan and extended his condolences to the Kazakh leader over casualties caused by the riots.

The president also underlined that Turkey believes Kazakhstan will overcome the current issues and that the Turkish government is ready to provide any assistance if needed.

Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın also touched on the unrest in Kazakhstan, saying: “We deeply regret the incidents and deaths in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s peace and stability are our biggest priorities. Turkey will always continue to be on Kazakhstan’s side.”

Dozens of protesters and at least a dozen security officers have died in clashes in Kazakhstan's largest city and former capital Almaty, with scuffles ongoing in various spots.

Several armored personnel carriers and dozens of troops moving on foot entered the main square of Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, on Thursday morning where hundreds of people were protesting against the government for the third day, Reuters correspondents reported from the scene.

Gunshots were heard as troops approached the crowd, according to Reuters witnesses, but the situation in the square had calmed down since then.

State television reported Thursday that the National Bank of Kazakhstan has decided to suspend all financial institutions. The Internet in the country is mostly down.

Around Kazakhstan, protests initially sparked by a hike in fuel prices killed 12 police and national guard troops on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting the Kazakh president to appeal for help from a Russia-led security alliance, which offered to send peacekeeping forces.

Kazakhstan's armed forces have been called in to restore order and break up riots that seem to have grown into general revolt, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said early Thursday.

"Terrorist gangs" were engaged in a fight with paratroopers in Almaty, he said, adding that this is "not a threat, but an undermining of the integrity of the state."

A Russia-led military alliance of six countries, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said Thursday that it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s president asked for help in controlling protests that escalated into violence, including government buildings being seized and set alight. In a Facebook post, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed that the CSTO will send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan at the country’s request.

A day after the pledge, Armenia sent some 70 soldiers to Kazakhstan as part of the contingent. According to Sputnik Armenia, the troops are expected to ensure the protection of objects of strategic importance.

Ershan Babakumarov, the deputy mayor of Almaty, reported that an occupation of the city's airport had ended. Multiple airlines had canceled flights to the city after people occupied it on Wednesday.

Protests initially sparked by a fuel price rise killed 12 police officers and "dozens" of protesters were killed overnight as they tried to storm administrative buildings in the country's biggest city Almaty, police told local media on Thursday. One officer was reportedly found beheaded.

"Last night, extremist forces tried to assault administrative buildings, the Almaty city police department, as well as local police commissariats. Dozens of assailants were eliminated," police spokesperson Saltanat Azirbek was quoted as saying by Interfax-Kazakhstan, TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies.

Meanwhile, multiple channels on the Telegram messaging service were sharing nighttime videos depicting military operations against demonstrators, some from Almaty. The Health Ministry reported over 1,000 cases in which people got injured.

"More than 1,000 people were wounded following riots in different regions of Kazakhstan, nearly 400 among them were hospitalized and 62 people are in intensive care," Deputy Health Minister Azhar Guiniyat told Khabar-24 television.

The protests began Sunday in Zhanaozen, a city in the west where government resentment was strong in the wake of a 2011 strike by oil workers in which police fatally shot at least 15 people. They spread across the country in the following days, and on Tuesday large demonstrations were carried out in Nur-Sultan and in Almaty, the former capital.

Protests that began about fuel prices over the weekend grew violent in the last two days, even prompting the government's resignation and rumors that Tokayev had stepped down. The president said Wednesday he will soon propose reforms for the political system, but did not provide details.

Additionally, he denied rumors he is planning to leave the country, saying he had in fact taken the lead of the country's security council, a position that had, until Wednesday, been controlled by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had continued to exercise power in the country after stepping down in 2019.

"It's my constitutional duty to be with the people. Together, we will get through this dark page in Kazakhstan's history," said Tokayev.

Casualties among Kazakh security officers Thursday rose to 18 dead and 748 wounded as authorities sought to quell unrest in the ex-Soviet country, Russian news agencies reported, citing the interior ministry.

Russia's Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies also cited the ministry as saying that 2,298 people had so far been detained after protests over fuel price hikes escalated into direct clashes with officers Wednesday.

Kazakhstan's armed forces have been called in to restore order and break up riots, but seem to have grown into general revolt, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said earlier on Thursday.

"Terrorist gangs" were engaged in a fight with paratroopers in Almaty, he said, adding that this is "not a threat, but an undermining of the integrity of the state."

A Russia-led military alliance of six countries, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said Thursday that it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s president asked for help in controlling protests that escalated into violence, including government buildings being seized and set alight. In a Facebook post, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed that the CSTO will send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan at the country’s request.

A day after the pledge, Armenia sent some 70 soldiers to Kazakhstan as part of the contingent. According to Sputnik Armenia, the troops are expected to ensure the protection of objects of strategic importance.

Ershan Babakumarov, the deputy mayor of Almaty, reported that an occupation of the city's airport had ended. Multiple airlines had canceled flights to the city after people occupied it on Wednesday.

Members of Daesh and Gülenist terrorist groups are behind the ongoing riots in Kazakhstan, a former member of the Russia’s State Duma said in a statement late Thursday.

Ruslan Balbek, who is also the former deputy prime minister of the internationally unrecognized administration of Crimea, told Russia’s state-run Ria Novosti that the “hands of ISIS and Gülenists are visible” in the protests, he said, using an alternate acronym for Daesh.

Recalling that Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) was behind the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, Balbek claimed that they are also at play in the Kazakh riots.

"The hands of ISIS are visible in organizing riots on the territory of Kazakhstan,” he said.

“It is in their style – brutal killings and absurd demands,” Balbek added.

“But those Kazakhs, who were trained in Turkey at the educational institutions of Fetullah Gülen, the organizer of the coup attempt in Ankara, are at the helm,” he said, referring to the schools – which are now under Turkish government control – formerly run by the Gülenists.

Protesters “picked up an ideological virus” from Fetullah Gülen, the leader of the Gülenist cult, Balbek concluded.

Kazakhstan's armed forces have been called in to restore order and break up riots that seem to have grown into general revolt, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said earlier on Thursday.

"Terrorist gangs" were engaged in a fight with paratroopers in Almaty, he said, adding that this is "not a threat, but an undermining of the integrity of the state."

A Russia-led military alliance of six countries, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said Thursday that it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s president asked for help in controlling protests that escalated into violence, including government buildings being seized and set alight. In a Facebook post, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed that the CSTO will send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan at the country’s request.

A day after the pledge, Armenia sent some 70 soldiers to Kazakhstan as part of the contingent. According to Sputnik Armenia, the troops are expected to ensure the protection of objects of strategic importance.

Ershan Babakumarov, the deputy mayor of Almaty, reported that an occupation of the city's airport had ended. Multiple airlines had canceled flights to the city after people occupied it on Wednesday.

Special envoys to navigated Armenia-Turkey normalization from left, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic

Special envoys appointed by Ankara and Yerevan to negotiate the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey are scheduled to meet in Moscow on January 14, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan reported on Wednesday.

Armenian announced last week that it had appointed the chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Ruben Rubinyan as its special envoy. Rubinyan is a close ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a leader of his Civil Contract party.

Turkey announced last month that its special envoy will be its former Ambassador to the United States, the notorious Armenian Genocide denier Serdar Kilic.

During a December 24 press conference, Pashinyan said that Armenia is entering normalization talks with Turkey without any preconditions.

From the onset of this renewed process, Ankara has place preconditions on talks, among them calling on Armenia to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity that includes Artsakh, as well as push for the opening of a corridor linking mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan through Armenia. This is the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” scheme laid out by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Despite numerous rejection of such a corridor by Yerevan, the leaders of Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to tout it as an important aspect for opening up regional transit links.

Moscow, which has touted this new round of normalization talks, has gone on record to say that any opening of transit links in the region must respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country through which the roads and other transport links pass.

Earlier this week, the vice-president of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) said that it was the wish of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the issue of the Armenian Genocide be left to historians and called on other nations to end efforts to recognize the events of 1915 as Genocide.