Amid the ongoing unrest in Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday gave a shoot-to-kill order to security forces if there were further disturbances.
Tokayev also announced that order was “mainly restored” after the country erupted in violent protests that left dozens of protestors and security personnel dead.
President calls protestors “terrorists”
Calling the protestors “bandits” in a televised address on Friday, the President vowed that he would destroy them.
https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/08/1×1.png
“Terrorists continue to damage property […] and use weapons against civilians. I have given the order to law enforcement to shoot to kill without warning,” Tokayev said in one of his televised interviews this week.
Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry called the protestors “armed criminals”, saying that 26 “armed criminals” had been killed and 18 were injured.
|How spike in fuel prices led to crisis in Kazakhstan
The background
A sharp and sudden spike in fuel prices triggered a national crisis in Kazakhstan, where angry Kazakhs took to the streets on Sunday after fuel prices doubled in the oil-rich Central Asian nation when the government lifted price caps for LPG, commonly used in vehicles.
The deadly street battles in Kazakhstan began as protests over surging fuel prices. (AP)
Demonstrations broke out and quickly turned violent in cities and towns across the country, in what is being called the biggest wave of protests in Kazakhstan’s history. Protesters demanded the resignation of the government and the lowering of LPG prices.
Cabinet resigned
On Tuesday, Kazakhstan’s president stripped Nursultan Nazarbayev of his powers. Nazarbayev, 81, has held significant authority even after stepping down as the longest-serving leader in 2019. Even after the whole cabinet resigned on Wednesday, the protests continued and Kazakhs continued to force their way into the offices of top government officials and capture police vehicles on Wednesday.
A damaged room inside the mayor’s office building after it was stormed by demonstrators in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 5, 2022. (Reuters)
Lack of democracy
Even though Kazakhs have been protesting against high fuel prices, which they argue would eventually make everything including food and amenities expensive, many have said that the protests are also a way for Kazakhs to express their discontent over rising income inequality, which worsened during the pandemic, and the lack of democracy.
Deaths and arrests
State broadcaster Khabar 24 cited the Interior ministry stating that more than 3,000 protestors had been arrested. Around 70 checkpoints have been operating throughout the country around the clock.
A burning police car during a protest against LPG cost rise following the Kazakh authorities’ decision to lift price caps on liquefied petroleum gas in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 5, 2022. (Reuters)
Authorities, on Thursday, had informed that 18 security personnel had been killed and one had been beheaded.
Russia’s involvement
Russia, on Thursday, sent troops to Kazakhstan to keep the calm in the country. Kazakhstan, being an ex-Soviet country and an ally of Russia, is considered as a significant territory for Moscow’s influence.
2,500 military-led troops, sent by Vladimir Putin, arrived in Kazakhstan from Russia.
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, military vehicles of Russian peacekeepers parked waiting to be uploaded on Russian military planes at an airfield outside Moscow, in Russia to fly to Kazakhstan on Jan 6, 2022. (AP)
Kazakh President Tokayev thanked Putin for sending the troops and added that Russia’s peacekeeping forces would only be in Kazakhstan for a short term.
Russian news agency Interfax has said that Russian troops were flying into Kazakhstan “round the clock” and have attained control of Almaty airport, which had been captured by protestors on Wednesday.
China expresses concern
China, being one of the neighbouring countries to Kazakhstan, has extended support to Tokayev. Chinese president Xi Jinping on Friday said that he opposes any attempt to destabilise Kazakhstan’s stability, threatening its security or sabotaging the peaceful life of Kazakhs.
A demonstrator gives back a shield to a riot police officer during a protest in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. (AP)
China also said that it stands against any attempt by external forces to bring unrest, instigate “colour revolutions” or harm the friendship and cooperation between China and Kazakhstan.
Xi also praised Tokayev, saying that the Kazakh president had taken decisive and effective actions and demonstrated high responsibility to maintain calm in the country.
