It was reported that internet access was cut off in Kazakhstan before and websites with news of the action were closed; Messaging apps such as Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp are also unavailable.
Their actions were triggered by a hike in LPG prices in the oil-rich Mangistau. Although the government reduced prices after the reactions, the protests continued to increase. Because price hikes were not the only reason for the reactions!
It’s not just about fuel prices.
Often known as an authoritarian state, Kazakhstan was a stable Central Asian country. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the founding leader who ruled the country for nearly 30 years, left the presidency in 2019, and Kasım Cömert Tokayev, whom he supported, was elected instead.
Despite leaving the presidency, 81-year-old Nazarbayev is still active in the country’s administration. Nazarbayev has a number of privileges, such as immunity from jurisdiction as the “Leader of the Nation”. His statues were erected throughout the country, and the name of the capital Astana was changed to Nur-Sultan.
President Tokayev, who succeeded him, dismissed the government after the demonstrations and appointed Deputy Prime Minister Alihan Smailov as interim prime minister. Most elections in Kazakhstan, where there is no effective opposition, are won by the ruling party with nearly 100% of the votes. The head of the opposition is currently in exile in Ukraine.
()
()
The Kazakh government underestimated the anger that had accumulated in society.
It is said that in a country where there is no democracy coming out of the ballot box, people feel compelled to take to the streets to be heard. It’s almost certain that people have problems other than fuel prices.
The perception of the government’s long-term natural gas sales agreement with China as offering the country’s resources to China, and the fact that the Kazakh companies in this agreement belong to people close to Nursultan Nazarbayev increased the anger of the people.
Working conditions in the energy sector were inhumane. In the city of Zhanaozen in the oil-rich Mangistau region, where the demonstrations started, in 2011, security forces intervened in the protest of oil workers, who went on strike demanding increased salaries and improved working conditions, and 14 people lost their lives. This intervention was the bloodiest event in the country after Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The real reason why people took to the streets is that only one person has arbitrarily ruled the country for 30 years.
The government’s becoming corrupt and the living standards of the people, especially the working class, slumped on the ground, ignited the fuse. As a result of the protests, a state of emergency was declared across the country. It was forbidden to go out and demonstrate at night. Activists continued to protest against the bans.
Alongside the police, the army also took to the streets. A serious chaos prevailed when the demonstrators stormed the airport and city hall. There are places where police vehicles were seized, smashed or burned. There are explosions and sounds of fire from place to place.
()
()
In areas where military units are weak, demonstrators can repel these units.
A group of protesters beat up a security guard.
That’s why President Kasım Cömert Tokayev sought help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a NATO-like organization of which 5 former Soviet countries are members. The President referred to the demonstrators as terrorists, saying, “We are under attack by international terrorist gangs.”
After Tokayev’s request, CTSO sent a peacekeeping force consisting of Russian, Belarusian and Armenian soldiers to Kazakhstan. This unit killed hundreds of people in Kazakhstan. It is stated that the bodies were placed in cold storage rooms.
Activists “Old men out!”, “Government resign!” and demolished a statue of Nazarbayev in Taldykurgan, Nazarbayev’s hometown.
Protesters are deeply resentful and resentful at the failure of the Kazakh government to modernize the country and implement reforms that will affect the lives of people at all levels.
Azhar Guiniyat, Deputy Minister of Health, said that more than 1000 people were injured in demonstrations in different regions of Kazakhstan, about 400 of them were treated in hospitals and 62 people were in intensive care. At least 13 security personnel were killed and more than 350 injured. It is stated that the number of people who lost their lives among the demonstrators is in the hundreds.
2798
