Kazakhstan: For President Tokayev, the riots were an “attempted coup”

Published on : 01/10/2022 – 5:31 PM

The President of Kazakhstan assured Monday January 10 that his country had defeated an “attempted coup”, in reference to the deadly riots of last week, promising the departure soon of the Russian troops called to the rescue.

Life was gradually resuming in Almaty, the largest city in this Central Asian country where the disturbances were the most serious. Authorities have intermittently reconnected the Internet, but the charred facades of public buildings and the wrecks of burnt vehicles still bear witness to the violence of the clashes.

During a videoconference, the Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took stock of the events in front of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Poutine and other allies who have deployed more than 2,000 troops in the former Soviet republic.

He and the master of the Kremlin have promised a withdrawal of these forces once their mission is accomplished, while asserting that the bloody events of the last week had been orchestrated from abroad, without presenting any elements in this direction.

The human toll of the unrest, the worst that this former Soviet republic has known since independence in 1991, remains unclear.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the number of civilian casualties was “being verified”. He reported 16 people killed and more than 1,600 injured in the police, but the total number of deaths is counted in tens according to local authorities.

A terrorist attack

For the President, Kazakhstan has been attacked by “armed combatant groups” who have used anger and protests over rising fuel prices to act.

“Their objective was clear: to undermine the constitutional order, destroy the institutions of governance and take power. It was an attempted coup,” he said.

“I have no doubt that this is a terrorist attack, an organized and well-prepared act against Kazakhstan with the participation of foreign fighters from Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan. Middle East also participated, “said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to a statement from his services summarizing an interview with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

The suddenness and violence of the riots led the Kazakh president to call on Russia for help. A multinational contingent from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Moscow-led alliance, was deployed on January 6.

According to Almaty, these 2,030 soldiers and 250 vehicles should leave Kazakhstan “soon”, Vladimir Poutine confirming that his soldiers were there “for a limited period”.

After days of looting, exchanges of gunfire, as well as the burning of the presidential residence and the town hall of Almaty, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assured Monday that “the constitutional order [avait] been reestablished. “He assured that his forces had” never used and never used[aie]never have military force against peaceful demonstrators.

The Kazakh president is due to present the composition of the new government to parliament on Tuesday, with the previous one sacked last week in an initial effort to calm protests.

Vladimir Poutine also estimated that Kazakhstan had faced an “aggression of international terrorism”, evoking “bands of armed men”, having “clearly a combat experience” and which were according to him formed in “centers abroad”.

Vladmir Poutine did not fail to blame the Internet and social networks, according to him, used to “involve citizens in protest actions, which are a precursor of terrorist attacks”.

He then warned that Moscow would not tolerate “color revolutions” in the former USSR, a recurring phrase used to describe the revolts orchestrated according to the Kremlin by the West in former Soviet countries since the 2000s.

A day of mourning was observed Monday in Kazakhstan. The internet, telephone network and public transport were gradually restored in Almaty on Monday, as city workers cleaned the streets and replaced damaged traffic signs, AFP journalists noted.

Mass arrests continued with nearly 8,000 arrests across the country, according to the Interior Ministry.

In addition to the rise in prices, the anger of the demonstrators was also directed against the corruption, endemic, and against the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81 years old, who reigned supreme over the country from 1989 to 2019, before handing over the reins of the government. power to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a faithful.

With AFP