President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev called the protests and riots that began in the republic on January 2 an attempt at a coup d’etat. The head of state made such a statement at an extraordinary meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), its broadcast leads platform “Look”.
According to Tokayev, the main goal of the terrorists was to undermine the constitutional order in the republic, seize power and attempt a coup d’etat. For this, the militants, as stated by the President of Kazakhstan, wanted to create chaos in the country.
In addition, the head of the republic stressed that terrorists, including foreign ones, were directly involved in the aggression against the country, and the riots were coordinated from one center and broke out “as if by a single command.” Preparations for the rallies, the president believes, have been going on for a long time.
At the same time, the militants, who were planning to seize the presidential residence, abandoned their plans after learning about the arrival of the CSTO peacekeepers in the country, Tokayev said.
Massive protests in Kazakhstan erupted on January 2 due to a sharp increase in gas prices for cars. The economic demands of the protesters were quickly replaced by political ones, in particular about the departure of the former president of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, from politics.
The day before, on January 9, Tokayev posthumously awarded 16 servicemen and police officers who died during the riots in the country. On January 10, the country declared a nationwide mourning for those killed in the riots.
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