Kazakhstan: revolt rumbles, dozens dead among demonstrators – Franceinfo

Since Sunday January 2, a wind of revolt has been blowing on the Kazakhstan. In Almaty, the economic capital, police officers were targeted, and gunfire from the army responded to the anger of the crowd. The clashes killed dozens of demonstrators according to the authorities, 18 in the ranks of the police. More than a thousand people are said to be injured. The conflict has its roots in a further rise in gas prices. “Tell the whole world that the only thing blooming here is corruption. The country and its wealth are in the hands of a family, that of the former president. All strategically important sites belong to it“proclaims Willow, a protester.

If the former president, Nursultan Nazarbaïeva, officially handed over to his successor in 2019, he remains the strong man of the country. Five times the size of France, Kazakhstan has the support of Turkey and Russia: the country is teeming with wealth, such as ore, oil and uranium. Faced with the chaos, a state of emergency was declared, and the government sacked. Visibly overwhelmed, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on his Russian ally for help. Russia and its allies in the region immediately deployed, on the evening of Thursday, January 6, tanks and troops in Kazakhstan. The European Union, for its part, is concerned about the development of the situation.