I.According to the Interior Ministry, 26 demonstrators were killed as a result of the unrest in Central Asian Kazakhstan. In addition, there were more than 3,000 arrests, the state broadcaster Khabar 24 reported on Friday morning, citing the ministry. The authority therefore spoke of “armed criminals”. Another 18 of them were injured.
State television had already spoken of dozens of “eliminated” people in the metropolis of Almaty on Thursday. That already suggested civilian casualties. The authorities had initially only confirmed the deaths of 18 security forces.
Operations up to the “complete annihilation of the fighters”
According to Khabar 24, President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev said that the anti-terrorist operations – which he called this – should continue until the “fighters are completely wiped out”. In Almaty in the south-east of the country, where the riots were particularly violent, armed demonstrators are said to have holed up in the building of a television station. Order in the country has largely been restored, said Tokayev. The head of state wanted to address the Kazakh people in a speech at noon.
In Kazakhstan there have been unprecedented protests against the country’s authoritarian leadership for days. The unrest in the ex-Soviet republic, which is rich in oil and gas, was triggered by displeasure at the rise in fuel prices at petrol stations. But they quickly turned into partly violent protests against the government, corruption and abuse of power.
Kazakhstan was ruled for decades by the authoritarian ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retained great influence even after his resignation in 2019. In response to the protests, the current President Tokayev dismissed the entire government and imposed a nationwide state of emergency.
Meanwhile, concerns about a further escalation are growing internationally. “A quick calming down of the situation is essential in order to avert further bloodshed, a destabilization of the country and thus also damage to the economic and investment location Kazakhstan,” said the Eastern Committee of German Business. Kazakhstan is “by far the most important German trading partner in Central Asia”.
The Foreign Office reported that they were exchanging ideas with closest local partners about developments in Kazakhstan. The task now is to find a peaceful solution “within the framework of a comprehensive dialogue with all those involved”. The violence, but also the massive restrictions on access to the Internet and social media, are viewed with concern. Kazakhstan’s obligations under the OSCE to uphold fundamental freedoms also included maintaining free access to information, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.
The organization Reporters Without Borders lamented reports of police violence against media representatives in the authoritarian country that borders Russia and China. In addition, the Internet was repeatedly blocked in the former Soviet republic with its 18 million inhabitants. “That makes it difficult to provide independent information about what is going on.”
The United States also spoke out in favor of a peaceful solution to the crisis that had been triggered days ago by the sharp rise in gas prices. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken phoned his Kazakh colleague Muchtar Tleuberdi on Thursday evening. Blinken had reaffirmed “the United States’ full support for the constitutional institutions of Kazakhstan and the freedom of the media,” the State Department in Washington said later. There were also warnings from the EU that the violence must come to an end.
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