Day: January 8, 2022

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States has questions about Kazakhstan’s request for assistance from a Russia-led security organization to help quell protests that have left dozens of people dead in the Central Asian country.

The top U.S. diplomat said the Kazakh authorities “certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests” in a way that respects the rights of protesters while maintaining law and order.

“So it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance, so we're trying to learn more about it,” Blinken said January 7 during a press conference at the State Department.

Kazakhstan earlier this week requested help from the six-member Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) made up of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia amid nationwide protests sparked by higher energy costs.

Russia has sent a few thousand troops to Kazakhstan under the auspices of the CSTO.

“I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave,” Blinken said.

Blinken’s comments came after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev issued a stark warning to protesters that he has given security personnel a green light to “shoot to kill” even as the country’s police forces appeared to be in control of most cities in Kazakhstan.

Dozens were killed in the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations over a fuel price hike before law enforcement took control of the situation. It was the worst violence in the Central Asian state's 30 years of independence.

The Interior Ministry said Republican Square in Almaty, one of the main flashpoints of violence, had been cleared “of criminal groups.” RFE/RL journalists said they saw three bodies in different locations around the square as they surveyed it.

Correspondents in Shymkent said earlier on January 7 that the situation was calm, with an unknown number of people dead or injured.

The dead included 18 security officers killed in the clashes, the Interior Ministry said. The number of people detained reached 3,811, the ministry said, according to state television channel Khabar 24.

Toqaev said early on January 7 that order had "basically" been restored in the country, but later followed up those comments in a televised state address that “bandits” -- a word officials have used repeatedly to describe protesters who have threatened his authoritarian government’s survival -- would be dealt with severely.

"I have given the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to shoot to kill without warning," Toqaev said in the address while rejecting international calls for dialogue.

The protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau on January 2 over the doubling in the price of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before spreading and morphing into calls for political reform in the tightly controlled country.

Mobs stormed government buildings, setting some of them on fire, looted businesses, and torched and overturned cars as they called for reforms after decades of stifling rule in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

In response, Toqaev declared a nationwide state of emergency until January 19, with curfews, restrictions on movements, and bans on mass gatherings.

Blinken said the U.S. hopes the government can quickly address the problems, which he said were "fundamentally economic and political in nature."

He said the United States values its relationship with Kazakhstan in calling for a "rights-respecting resolution" to the crisis.

The first Russian paratroopers arrived on January 5 after Toqaev asked the CSTO to help "stabilize” the situation. They were followed by troops from CSTO member Belarus on January 6. More Russian troops were expected to arrive on January 7 alongside units from Armenia and Tajikistan, which approved sending 200 troops to its neighbor. Kyrgyzstan also approved on January 7 sending 150 troops and military equipment to Kazakhstan.

The speed at which CSTO arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its influence in the former Soviet Union.

Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the government, told Reuters on January 7 that claims by Toqaev and officials in Moscow that “foreign-trained terrorists” were behind the protests were an attempt to distract people from the fact that the unrest is a result of internal problems caused by the government.

He added that Kazakhstan is now the focus of a geopolitical play, with Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to use the situation to “methodically impose his program: the re-creation of a structure like the Soviet Union."

Ablyazov is the leader of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, which for months has openly called on Kazakhs to rally against the government. The authorities labeled the DVK "extremist" and banned it in March 2018.

Ablyazov managed BTA when it was the country's largest private bank, but he later had a falling out with government officials. He accused former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and many of Nazarbaev's family members of being involved in large-scale corruption and embezzlement and fled to London in 2009. The bank was subsequently nationalized by the Kazakh government.

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Today, the Founder of Peace and National Unity — Leader of the Nation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon had a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The discussion focused on the developments in Kazakhstan.

President Tokayev informed the leader of Tajikistan about the practical measures taken to control the situation, restore peace, and curb the far-reaching goals of the instigators of the tragic events to seize power.

In this context, President Tokayev thanked President Rahmon and the people of Tajikistan for the support and transfer to Kazakhstan of a limited contingent of military forces of the Republic of Tajikistan as part of the CSTO joint peacekeeping forces to assist in maintaining law and order.

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan

NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh authorities said on January 9 that they have detained nearly 6,000 people in security operations around Kazakhstan to quell the worst violence the country has seen in its 30 years of independence.

Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said at least 5,969 people had been detained so far. He said 133 of them were being held on suspicion of committing “serious crimes.”

The news website Vlast.kz reported that at least 164 people were confirmed dead since unrest broke out on January 5.

According to Vlast.kz, 103 of the deaths occurred in the country’s largest city, Almaty.

Internet and phone connections have been problematic in Kazakhstan since the state-run KazakhTelecom blocked services amid angry nationwide protests on January 5, making independent confirmation of casualty figures difficult.

Kazakh media on January 9 carried comments from Aidos Ukibay, the spokesman for former president Nursultan Nazarbaev, who said Nazarbaev made the decision to step down from his powerful post as secretary of the country’s security council on January 5.

Ukibay said Nazarbaev did so because he “was well aware that riots and terror demanded a prompt, tough and uncompromising response from the country's leadership.”

Ukibay said Nazarbaev “has always supported efforts to protect the people, the country, and the future of the nation.”

Nazarbaev has not been seen in public since December 28 when he visited Russia. But Ukibay said on his Twitter account on January 8 that Nazarbaev was in the capital Nur-Sultan and was calling on Kazakhstan's people to rally around President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.

On January 5, Nazarbaev was widely reported to have been sacked by Kazakh President Toqaev along with the head of the country’s National Security Committee, longtime Nazarbaev ally Karim Masimov.

Kazakh authorities announced on January 8 that Masimov was under arrest and faces charges of treason.

Toqaev said on January 9 he would announce personnel changes in the government on January 11. He didn't elaborate.

Order has been restored in most of Kazakhstan, though the country’s Khabat-24 television channel reported on January 9 that there had been another outbreak of fighting between security forces and protesters in Almaty overnight.

Small groups of protesters also were continuing to demonstrate on January 9 in the western cities of Zhanaozen and Aqtau.

The protests started in those cities on January 2 in response to sharp increases in fuel prices. As emonstrations quickly spread throughout the country, they turned into protests against the failure of authorities to make good on promises of economic and political reforms.

Authorities have appealed to people to stay off the streets while they continue a security operation against what President Toqaev has called “foreign-trained terrorists."

Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry and head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev have called on Kazakh authorities to explain why one their citizens was shown on Kazakh television confessing to being a foreign terrorist.

The television station Qazqstan Ulttyq Telearnasy showed Vikram Ruzakhunov, whose face bore the marks of a recent beating, confessing that traveled to Kazakhstan to join the protests there after receiving a phone call on January 1 from someone promising to pay him 90,000 tenge (about $200) if he did so.

The Kazakh television station described Ruzakhunov as “unemployed.”

But RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports that Ruzakhunov is, in fact, a popular jazz pianist who regularly travels to Almaty for concerts.

Ruzakhunov's relatives told RFE/RL that he had bought his plane ticket to Almaty on December 16 in order to fly into the city on January 2 and attend a concert.

On the night of January 8 police detained civil activists Aibek Sabitov, Zhanmurat Ashtayev, Nurlan Syzdyk, Lyazzat Dosmagambetova at their homes in Shymkent, according to their relatives and other activists.

Ashtayev's wife, Moldir Nuranova,says dozens of armed men dressed in black and wearing masks had stormed into their home in the middle of the night.

Ashtayev's relatives said they tried to protect him. But they said Ashtayev left voluntarily after a gun was put to the head of his brother.

They also said Ashtayev was beaten by police.

Toqaev's office says he spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 9, "noting that the situation in the country is stabilizing."

Toqaev also said that "the focus of terrorist attacks remains" and "therefore, the fight against terrorism will continue in a serious manner."

Toqaev requested help from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as the protests spread on January 5.

The CSTO quickly sent more than 3,000 troops to Kazakhstan, mainly Russian soldiers, but also small forces from CSTO member states Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.

RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that those troops are now guarding key infrastructure facilities, including Almaty's airport, several government buildings in Almaty, and the Soviet-era Baikonur cosmodrome that Russia continues to use for its rocket launches.

Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Today, the Founder of Peace and National Unity — Leader of the Nation, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon exchanged congratulatory messages with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The congratulatory telegram to President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi reads:

«His Excellency Mr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi,

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

Your Excellency, Mr President,

Please accept my sincere congratulations and best wishes of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan to Your Excellency on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, an event of remembrance for the people of the two countries.

During this period, our countries have continuously developed practical measures in order to achieve a high level of constructive relations, find new ways to strengthen comprehensive cooperation and provide a fruitful perspective for their expansion, and we appreciate the continuation of the two countries’ efforts on this important path.

Tajikistan is always in favour of the increasing development of our countries’ relations in various fields with the spirit of good understanding, cooperation and trust, preparation and implementation of plans and programmes and consistent measures to achieve these goals.

I am confident that with strong determination and sincere and joint efforts of the two sides, we can enrich the relations between the two countries with historical and cultural common grounds with more significant results and in the highest interests of our peoples.

I hope that this important event, with its new achievements, will make the relations between the two friendly and brotherly countries colourful.

I wish Your Excellency health and prosperity, and for the friendly people of Iran, peace, stability, well-being and prosperity.»

In a telegram to President Emomali Rahmon it is noted:

«Dear Mr. President,

I sincerely congratulate you, Your Excellency, as well as the people of your country on the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Tajikistan.

It is gratifying that over the past three decades, the two countries, using ancient historical, cultural, civilizational and linguistic commonalities, were able to achieve a sufficiently high level of relations in a bilateral format, as well as in the regional and international arena, in addition, taking into account the significant potential of the two countries, there is an opportunity to increase the indicators of cooperation, especially in the economic sector, to the desired level.

In this context, following my first official visit to beautiful Tajikistan, the two countries reached agreements to include in the agenda of the working programs of the respective responsible departments of the parties the creation of the necessary prerequisites for enhancing the level of economic cooperation in order to open a new chapter in multifaceted ties through political trust.

I hope that, taking into account the existing political will and joint efforts, we will witness the expansion of all-round ties between the peoples of Iran and Tajikistan in matters of ensuring mutual interests.

By the grace of the Almighty, I wish you, Your Excellency and your respected family, health and success, and well-being to the dear and noble people of the Republic of Tajikistan.»

Source: National information agency of Tajikistan