An “attempted coup”. These are the words used Monday by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, in reference to the deadly riots of the past week. The head of state also promised the departure soon of the Russian troops called to the rescue.
During a video conference, the president of this Central Asian country took stock of events in front of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, 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 affirming that the bloody events of the last week had been orchestrated from abroad, without presenting any elements in this direction.
Human toll still unknown
The human toll of the troubles, the worst that this ex-Soviet republic has known since independence in 1991, remains unknown.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the number of civilian casualties was “being verified”. He reported 16 killed and more than 1,600 wounded within the police, but the total number of deaths is counted in tens according to local authorities.
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 became clear: to undermine the constitutional order, destroy the institutions of governance and seize power. It was an attempted coup, ”he said.
Russian forces
The suddenness and violence of the riots led the President of Kazakhstan to call on Russia for help. A multinational contingent from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Moscow-led alliance, was deployed on January 6.
According to Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev these 2,030 soldiers and 250 vehicles should leave Kazakhstan “soon”, Vladimir Poutine confirming that his soldiers were there “for a limited period”.
A new government
After days of looting, exchanges of gunfire as well as the burning of the presidential residence and the town hall of Almaty, Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev assured Monday that “constitutional order (had) been restored”.
According to him, the country has been the victim of organized “terrorist” forces, including “Islamists”, “criminals”, “thugs” and “small strikes”.
Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev assured that his forces “have never used and will never use military force against peaceful demonstrators”.
The Kazakh president is due to present the composition of the new government to parliament on Tuesday, the previous one having been sacked last week in an initial effort to calm protests.
For Putin, Kazakhstan faced an “aggression of international terrorism”
Vladimir Poutine also estimated that Kazakhstan had faced an “aggression of international terrorism”, evoking “bands of armed men”, having “clearly a combat experience” and who were, according to him, trained in “Centers abroad”.
The Russian president 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 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.