According to AFP, at least 164 people were killed in the violent protests in Kazakhstan over the past few days. In the economic metropolis of Almaty alone, 103 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces, several media reported on Sunday, citing the Ministry of Health. The President’s Office had previously announced that around 5,800 people had been arrested in connection with the anti-government protests. Hundreds of people were also injured.
The Kazakh presidency announced that there were “a significant number of foreign nationals” among the nearly 6,000 arrested. President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev on Wednesday blamed “terrorists” trained abroad for the unrest. More than 100 shops and banks were looted and more than 400 vehicles were destroyed.
After the intervention of the Russian-dominated military alliance CSTO in the Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, its member countries want to discuss how to proceed. In view of the serious riots, a video conference is planned for this Monday, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov on Sunday in Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, sent 2,500 soldiers to the ex-Soviet republic bordering China and Russia at Kazakhstan’s request.
For Russia, the deployment is “militarily negligible”, according to the Eurasia expert Benno Zogg from the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich. Zogg told the Berliner Zeitung: “The numerically manageable deployment of soldiers will not affect Russia when it comes to Ukraine. But Moscow sees the effectiveness of its armed forces as a confirmation of this rapid deployment. ”In addition, the deployment of the CSTO troops is also a“ signal to other authoritarian states ”. Zogg: “Above all, the operation could reassure the Belarusian ruler Lukashenko, because it shows that a military alliance can come to the aid of regimes that have been brought into distress by their own citizens.” West had been provoked: “Although it was known that a spark could cause a conflagration in Kazakhstan, everyone was surprised that it had now happened with such violence.” Zogg assumes that Russia informed China about the operation beforehand. For Beijing it is practical that “Russia takes on the unstable situation”. A major military action by Russia is not to be expected, especially since Russia has a certain military presence in the country with a test site and the Baikonur spaceport.
Zogg sees the reasons for the uprising in the economic stagnation, which was exacerbated by the pandemic, and possible succession struggles by the elites. The head of the secret service was arrested at the weekend and charged with high treason. There was massive looting. It is unclear who instigated this. Zogg: “However, there will be no transition to a democratic system in Kazakhstan. There are no parties or movements, and so far no one has made a name for himself as a leader of a possible opposition. ”The regime“ will not change fundamentally ”. Zogg expects those in power to take measures to calm the situation down: “The government has already cut gas prices again and could give the people more subsidies.”
In Almaty the situation eased slightly on Sunday. According to media reports, around 30 supermarkets opened again. The airport, which was briefly occupied by demonstrators during the protests, will remain closed, the authorities said. Head of state Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave the security forces an order to shoot protesters on Friday.
Benno Zogg from ETH Zurich expects that the events will also have consequences for other countries in the region: “The authoritarian regimes will probably provide additional funds to intensify the repression in order to prevent protests in their countries at an early stage.” dpa)