President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev dismissed two deputy chairmen of the republic’s National Security Committee, Marat Osipov and Daulet Yergozhin, from their posts, according to the website of the head of state.
By other orders, Tokayev appointed deputy heads of the KNB Bakytbek Koszhanov and Askar Amerkhanov to the vacated positions.
Earlier Tokayev dismissed the deputy secretary of the country’s Security Council Azamat Abdymomunov and dismissed a number of high-ranking supporters of the country’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, including the head of the KNB Karim Massimov, who is suspected of treason. In addition, the head of the republic replaced Nazarbayev himself as head of the Security Council.
The resignations in Kazakhstan come amid unrest that began in the country with protests over rising gas prices. Despite the government’s price reduction to 50 tenge, or $ 0.11 (lower than it was before the rise in price), the protests intensified and in a number of cities escalated into riots and clashes with the police, already under political slogans.
A state of emergency was declared in the country, the government resigned. At Tokayev’s request, the Collective Security Treaty Organization sent about 2,500 peacekeepers to Kazakhstan. As a result of the protests, about 6,000 people were detained, and there were also reports of deaths from both the police and rioters.
On January 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in an extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, the Kremlin said. The leaders of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will discuss the situation in Kazakhstan and measures to normalize it.
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