Former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev is in the capital of the country, Nur-Sultan. This was announced on Saturday, January 8, by his spokesman Aidos Ukibai on Twitter.
“[Назарбаев] is located in the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Nur-Sultan. We ask you not to disseminate knowingly false and speculative information, “Ukibay wrote, specifying that Nazarbayev is holding a number of consultative meetings and is in contact with the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev.
The press secretary specified that the ex-leader of the country spoke on the phone with the heads of several states friendly to Kazakhstan, writes “Gazeta.Ru”.
Protests in Kazakhstan began on January 2. Participants of the rallies opposed the rise in prices for liquefied gas. The actions soon escalated into riots.
The situation has become especially aggravated in the largest city of the country – Alma-Ata. The 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. The criminals ransacked the offices of five TV channels, tried to attack a pre-trial detention center in the city of Taldykorgan and attempted to enter the territory of a military unit in the Aktobe region.
It also became known about the security forces killed during the protests in the republic. Their number increased to 18, two of them were beheaded. In addition, the Republic’s National Guard reported the death of two servicemen. The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan said that the participants in the riots also attacked doctors: more than 10 doctors were injured.
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, noted that the seized government offices were terrorist groups. He added that the bandits who caused the riots had received extensive training abroad.
The commandant’s office in Alma-Ata also stated that the violent actions of the attackers testified to the terrorist and extremist nature of the bandit formations.
A resident of Nur-Sultan called the events in Alma-Ata looting and massacre, not a peaceful protest.
The presidential administration of the country noted that among the militants operating in Alma-Ata there were snipers with special rifles.
On January 5, the President of Kazakhstan dismissed the government, headed the Security Council and at its meeting announced that he had applied to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Belarus and Russia) for help in overcoming the terrorist threat … After that, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who holds the post of CSTO chairman, said that the organization would send collective peacekeeping forces to the republic for a limited period of time in order to stabilize and normalize the situation in that country.
Later, the CSTO secretariat reported that the Russian part of the peacekeeping contingent was being transferred to Kazakhstan by military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Il-76 and An-124 planes with Russian peacekeepers and equipment arrived in the republic. The military began to carry out the assigned tasks. In addition, Belarusian peacekeepers arrived in Kazakhstan. Also, peacekeepers from Kyrgyzstan have already been delivered to Kazakhstan. In addition, the Russian side helped in the transfer of Armenian troops from the CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan.
CSTO peacekeepers help Kazakhstani law enforcement officers ensure the safety of life support facilities, social infrastructure, and airports.
