Moscow: Russia and its allies pledged to send troops to help Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev quell protests that have led the central bank to temporarily halt financial market operations as violent clashes with anti-government demonstrators pose the biggest challenge to the central Asian country’s leadership in decades.
The announcement, made in the early hours Thursday, came after Kazakh authorities imposed a nationwide state of emergency and sent military units to fight what Tokayev called “terrorist bands.” In the country’s largest city and former capital, Almaty, demonstrators had seized the international airport and set fire to the presidential residence and city hall. Authorities later said the airport had been retaken, Interfax reported.
Kazakhstan’s central bank suspended operations by the nation’s banks and the stock exchange, Interfax reported, citing spokesman Olzhas Ramazanov. The move is undertaken during “anti-terrorist operations” and to protect health and life of financial sector workforce, the news service said. For now, the halt is planned only for Thursday, Tass reported.
Internet blackouts continued around the country following mobile internet disruptions and partial restrictions, according to NetBlocks, a London-based monitoring agency.
Citing “threats to the national security and sovereignty” of Kazakhstan caused “in part by intervention from abroad,” the six-nation Collective Security Treaty Organization decided to deploy “peacekeeping forces” for a “limited period with the goal of stabilizing and normalizing the situation in the country,” according to the brief statement from the alliance posted Thursday on the Kremlin website.
It didn’t include any details on the size of the deployment or which countries would send troops. The CSTO is dominated by Russia and also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The action marks the second major move by the Kremlin in as many years to shore up an ally facing upheaval. In 2020, President Vladimir Putin stepped in to back Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on popular protests, which drew sanctions from the U.S. and its allies. The Russian leader now is involved in high-stakes negotiations with the U.S. and Europe over a simmering conflict regarding Ukraine.
In Kazakhstan, the demonstrations started over the weekend in the west of the country over grievances about rising fuel prices but quickly spread nationwide. They attracted thousands and brought calls for longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to give up the reins of power. Nazarbayev, 81, turned over the presidency to Tokayev in 2019 but retains substantial influence in the country’s repressive political system.
“The appeal to the CSTO means that Tokayev has lost control,” said Arkady Dubnov, a Moscow-based specialist on central Asia.
Seeking to defuse the crisis, Tokayev had earlier accepted his government’s resignation and removed several top security officials Wednesday. He also said he was taking over as head of the Security Council from Nazarbayev and pledged to stay in the capital “whatever happens.”
The state of emergency gives Tokayev the power to impose a curfew, ban protests, and restrict internet access to quell the rare show of dissent in central Asia’s biggest oil producer. By late Wednesday, authorities said an “anti-terrorist operation” was underway in Almaty, Tass reported.
Tokayev said several police were killed.
⚠️ Confirmed: #Kazakhstan is again in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout as of early morning Thursday.
While service was available, President Tokayev gave a televised speech appealing to Russia for assistance to "protect the state."
? Report: https://t.co/Op5GwzXKbh pic.twitter.com/yidAooRRoi
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 5, 2022
The Kremlin has regularly condemned street protests in former Soviet states, labeling them attempts by the West to use “color revolutions” to overthrow governments.
Russia is facing “strategic instability on both flanks and it can’t afford to get distracted,” Alexander Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote on Facebook. “Just as Russia was encroaching on Ukraine, suddenly there are protests across Kazakhstan, which might need saving.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price called Kazakhstan a “valued partner” and said the U.S. was following the situation closely.
“We condemn the acts of violence and destruction of property and call for restraint by both the authorities and protesters,” Price said in a statement Wednesday issued before the CSTO deployment was announced. “We urge all parties to find a peaceful resolution of the state of emergency.”
Like other countries, Kazakhstan has seen inflation soar and its wealth gap widen during the coronavirus pandemic. Consumer price growth jumped to 8.7% in November, exceeding the central bank’s 6% target.
The country of 19 million people has struggled with price growth and domestic fuel supplies as global energy crunch made exports more appealing. Kazakhstan produced roughly 1.9 million barrels a day of oil in December. –Bloomberg
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