The president of Kazakhstan is enraps in repression: Whoever does not surrender will be destroyed

The president of Kazakhstan, Kassim-Jomart Tokayev, gave yesterday to shoot orders to kill to deal with the riots organized by protesters who consider "bandits

The president of Kazakhstan is enraps in repression: Whoever does not surrender will be destroyed

The president of Kazakhstan, Kassim-Jomart Tokayev, gave yesterday to shoot orders to kill to deal with the riots organized by protesters who consider "bandits and terrorists". Those who do not surrender will be "destroyed", he threatened a televised discourse that seems to prey prolonged repression. He also launched against the "supposedly free means" of the country and newspapers based abroad by fan the flames of the discomfort.

During his speech, the Kazakh leader expressed his "special gratitude" to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the speed and the spirit of camaraderie with which he responded to his request for assistance. Tokayev requested this week - to see it cornered and verify that the concessions and rectifications of it did not calm violence in the streets - the help of the Collective Safety Treaty Organization (OTSC). With several cities on fire, he asked Moscow and his allies who sent forces of peace to deal with "the terrorist threat" and attempts to undermine the integrity of the Kazakh State. The OTSC, which agglutinates Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, immediately responded to the request. The first contingent arrived on January 6.

Vladimir Putin has contributed paratroopers to an international force that can overcome the 2,500 men, according to Russian agency Ria Novosti. The Russian president has discussed the situation with Tokayev in several telephone calls during the crisis, the Kremlin reported yesterday.

Russian troops have already taken under control Almaty Airport, the ancient capital of Kazakhstan and epicenter of riots in these last days. They also guarantee the security of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation and other important facilities, the Russian Agency Sputnik reported.

Although Kazakhstan has an important Russian minority, and the north of the country has sometimes had temptations to rebel, Russian-Kazakh relationships have been generally friendly from the end of the USSR. Russia has to work carefully to not spoil its projection on the country as it happened in Ukraine. "It is a peace mission. The Soldiers of the OTSC will not be involved in combat missions," said the first subjete of the presidential administration, Dauen Abaev, in an interview with the Khabar 24 television channel 24. Abaev denounced that On the side of the protesters "there were snipers with special rifles."

The protesters in Almaty seem to come mainly from the outskirts of the city or surrounding villages and villages. Violence has caught many neighbors of the city by surprise, who usually present their country as an awarded student compared to other Soviet republics of Central Asia, more repressive and unstable. As Reuters described, the police patrolled yesterday the streets of Almaty, many rubble filled, after the worst week of violence he has experienced since his independence Kazakhstan.

President Kazakh says that the constitutional order has been mostly recovered. "Yesterday, the situation in Almaty, Aktobé and the province of Almaty was stabilizing, the introduction of the state of emergency begins to give results," said Tokayev, who revealed that violence was organized from "a single command post", Giving instructions a group of about 20,000 "bandits". Tokayev did not explain who waves or supposedly directs these riots from the shadow. "The anti-terrorist operation continues, the militants have not deposed the weapons, they continue to commit crimes and prepare for more. The fight against them must be completed. Who does not give up, will be destroyed!", Cried the President. Tokayev says he will not dialogue with whom he considers "armed bandits" and affirms that some have been brought from other countries. "From abroad, I urge negotiation between the sides, to solve the problems politically. What a stupidity! Is it possible to negotiate with criminals and assassins?"

Tokayev has used the protests - which have knocked down symbols and statues of the Nursultan Nazarbayev era - to throw the former president, 81, from his position as head of the powerful security advice, a watchtower with whom he was still intervening in politics From the country after leaving the armchair in 2019 after almost three decades in power. "For years, the Government has relentless peaceful dissidence, leaving the Kazakh people in a state of agitation and despair," said Marie Struthers, director of Amnesty for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

More than 3,700 people have been detained in relation to violent disturbances that have shaken these days several regions. Some 30 people have died. It all started in the form of protests by the rise in liquefied gas prices in the southwest of the country. Now for the protesters the government seems to be the main problem.

The Kazakh authorities decreed the state of emergency until January 19. Access to foreigners has been vetoed and the Internet connection has only returned in some regions of the country. The phone works at times and there are few reliable independent media. The Chamber of Employers Kazakh (Atameken) estimates at more than 88 million euros the damage caused by the riots to the national economy. The bulk of this sum corresponds to the destruction that Almaty has suffered.

Date Of Update: 07 January 2022, 14:52