After days of unrest – Kazakhstan’s President calls for Russian troops to be withdrawn – News

0

  • After Kazakh President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev asked a Russian-led military alliance for support in the face of the riots in the country, troops are expected to begin withdrawing in two days.
  • According to Tokayev, the troops’ main mission has been completed.
  • The parliament has also elected a new head of government, as reported by state television.

The first soldiers of a Russian-led military alliance are expected to leave Kazakhstan this week. As President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev said in an address in parliament, the withdrawal should begin gradually in two days. “The main mission of the CSTO troops has been completed,” said Tokayev.

It was not until Monday that member states of the Organization of the Treaty on Collective Security (OKVS) discussed the situation in the ex-Soviet republic. Tokayev said that complete order had been restored in Kazakhstan and described the unrest as an “attempt at a coup”. The background to the troop operations were serious riots against the leadership of Kazakhstan.

Fuel prices trigger the protests


Open the box
Close the box

The unrest in Kazakhstan was triggered a week ago by displeasure over the rise in fuel prices at petrol stations in the oil- and gas-rich country. The demonstrations turned into protests, including violent ones, against the government.

Many people are frustrated by corruption and abuse of power in the country. They are dissatisfied with the authoritarian leadership of the country and Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled the country for almost 30 years until 2019. Many people accuse the country’s elite of enriching themselves, while the vast majority of the approximately 19 million residents remain poor.

Last week, President Tokayev asked the Collective Security Treaty Organization for help. This then sent thousands of soldiers into the country, including Russian paratroopers.

This caused concern in the West. At the beginning of the week, Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin emphasized that the deployment was only temporary and not permanent. In addition to Kazakhstan and Russia, the alliance also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

New head of government follows after unrest

The Kazakh parliament elected Alichan Smajilow as the new head of government on Tuesday. Smajilow had already held the post temporarily after the dismissal of the old government a week ago, as reported on state television. Tokayev had recently proposed the 49-year-old as prime minister.

The number of arrests after the rioting has now approached 10,000. According to the Tengrinews agency, the Interior Ministry said that around 9,900 people were detained during the riots.

Experts believe that the president will also use the crisis to overthrow his predecessor, the ex-long-term president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Even after his resignation in 2019, he was considered the most powerful man in Kazakhstan. Tokayev recently removed his post as head of the influential Security Council and dismissed several of his confidants from important offices.

source site-72