The dispatch of peacekeepers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to Kazakhstan amid the ongoing protests is a legitimate reaction to the appeal of the President of the Republic, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev. This was announced on Saturday, January 8, by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
“A clear, absolutely legal reaction to the same legal appeal of the legally elected president of Kazakhstan,” she said on the Soloviev Live Youtube channel.
Zakharova stressed that the CSTO mission was sent only after the internal political methods of resolving the situation with the protests in Kazakhstan had been exhausted, and it was about an “external threat”.
In addition, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Western partners of the Russian Federation present themselves in an unprofessional light, making statements about the “illegal history” regarding the dispatch of the CSTO mission.
Earlier on Saturday, the head of American diplomacy, commenting on the entry of Russian peacekeepers into Kazakhstan, said that Washington had learned one lesson from history, allegedly, “when Russians are in your house, it can be difficult to force them to leave.”
Maria Zakharova, in turn, said that the statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the introduction of Russian peacekeepers into Kazakhstan amid the unrest looks like a manifestation of despair from a lack of arguments, as well as childish babble, since Washington representatives do not know the answers to the questions they are asked in connections with protests.
In addition, the representative of the Foreign Ministry called Blinken’s words boorish, reminding Washington of the introduction of the American contingent into a number of countries that “were not lucky to see these uninvited guests at their” home “.
On January 6, the same day, the Armenian government allowed a division of the republic’s armed forces from the CSTO to participate in a peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan. Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan was instructed by the Cabinet of Ministers to organize the dispatch process.
In addition, Belarus and Russia sent their peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan.
According to the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, peacekeepers in the Republic have the right to use weapons in the event of an attack by armed gangs on objects guarded by the organization’s forces. He also said that the duration of the presence of peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan will depend on the situation, as well as on the decision of the republic’s leadership.
Protests have continued in Kazakhstan since January 2. Residents of cities, dissatisfied with the rise in the cost of liquefied gas, came to the rallies. Fuel has risen in price from 60 tenge (10 rubles) to 120 tenge (20 rubles) per liter.
As a result, the government of Kazakhstan resigned on January 5. The authorities also created a government commission and promised to lower prices, but the demonstrations not only did not subside, but also escalated into riots.
The situation was especially aggravated in Alma-Ata: protesters broke into the administration building, set fire to the building of the prosecutor’s office and the office of the ruling party. In addition, radical protesters armed themselves and began looting, destroying shops, pharmacies and banks in the city. Shootings were reported between the military and protesters.
It became known about the security forces killed during the protests in the republic. Later it was reported that their number had grown to 18, two of them were beheaded.
The brutal actions of the attackers, as the city’s commandant’s office are convinced, testifies to the terrorist and extremist nature of the bandit formations that attacked Alma-Ata.
According to the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, as a result of the riots in the country, more than a thousand people were injured, of which almost 400 were hospitalized, 62 are in intensive care. At the same time, the department emphasized that the participants in the riots attack doctors, more than 10 doctors were injured.