Kazakhstan is facing an unprecedented challenge to its security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council. According to Mr Putin, the threat to Kazakhstan was not caused by spontaneous protests, but by those who “took up arms and attacked the state.” He claims that in Kazakhstan “the technologies of forceful informational support of riots inherent in the Maidan were used,” and citizens were involved in actions with the help of social networks.
The Russian president believes that the situation in Kazakhstan “concerns everyone.” Vladimir Putin agreed that the attack on Kazakhstan was an act of aggression to which it was necessary “to react without delay.” The decision to send peacekeepers had to be made “within a tight time frame,” explained Mr Putin, in order “to put an obstacle to terrorists, criminals, looters.”
“We understand that the emerging threat to Kazakhstan’s statehood is caused not by spontaneous protest actions over fuel prices, but by the fact that destructive internal and external forces took advantage of the situation. Those people who acted (because of) the situation on the gas market are one people, and they have the same goals, and those who took up arms, attacked the state, these are completely different people, and they have different goals. “,- he said.
The President of the Russian Federation noted that the CSTO peacekeeping contingent was sent to Kazakhstan “for a limited time period”, the terms of which will be set by the Kazakh authorities. “The peacekeeping contingent took immediate protection of key infrastructure facilities and ensures control over them by the Kazakh authorities, namely the Kazakh authorities. And Kazakhstani law enforcement and power structures are directly involved in the fight against terrorism, combat work, and the protection of civilians, ”he said.
According to Vladimir Putin, now the situation in Kazakhstan is gradually returning to normal. He expressed confidence that in the very near future “the situation in the whole country will be finally taken under control and stabilized.” The current situation in Kazakhstan was “not the first and far from the last attempt at outside interference” in the internal affairs of the CSTO, the Russian president is convinced. “And the measures taken by the CSTO have clearly shown that we will not allow the situation to be rocked at home and will not allow the scenario of the so-called color revolutions to be realized,” said Mr Putin.
The protests in Kazakhstan began at the beginning of the year over the government’s decision to raise the price of liquefied gas. Within a few days, the actions escalated into clashes with the police and riots. On January 6, the CSTO announced the beginning of a peacekeeping mission in the country, on the same day Russia sent the first units of peacekeepers to Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the protests an attempted coup d’etat, in which foreign fighters participated.
Read more about the situation in the country in the material of “Kommersant” “Kazakhston”.
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