NUR-SULTAN, Jan 11 – Russian-led troops will begin withdrawing from Kazakhstan two days after stabilizing the Central Asian country in the aftermath of a major crisis, the president said in a statement on Tuesday. predecessor.
In a video interview with parliament after laying down what he called an attempt to overthrow the government, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed a new government led by civil servant Alikhan Smailov.
In what appears to be his recent attempt to distance himself from his predecessor, Tokayev said public dissatisfaction with income inequality was justified and wanted his colleagues Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former president, to share their wealth.
Many Central Asian analysts believe that ethnic strife among the authorities may have played a role in what became known as the 30-year-old post-Soviet repression of independence in Moscow.
When protesters set fire to buildings in the metropolitan area of Almaty last week, Tokayev said former leader Nazarbayev was stepping down as head of a powerful Security Council – where he continued to run for office despite running for president in 2019.
Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled the country for almost three decades and supported Tokayev as his successor, has since never appeared in public.
Thanks to Nazarbayev, “a group of high-profit companies came from the country and a group of rich people even by international standards,” Tokayev told parliament.
“I think it’s time for them to pay their bills to the people of Kazakhstan and help them in an orderly and normal manner.”
He did not name names, but the list of the richest people in Kazakhstan includes several members of Nazarbayev’s family, including his daughter Dinara and her husband, as well as the late grandson of the late president. Learn more
Tokayev said the financial system is run by large business groups “based on the principle of ‘everything to friends, and everyone’s rules'”.
He spoke of plans to reduce the wealth gap, raise taxes in the mining sector, and eliminate government inefficiencies in areas where Nazarbayev participants are interested in business. Learn more
Tokayev also rounded up security officials, who accused them of resigning and allowing protesters to take up arms and sensitive documents.
He blamed the violence on internally trained radicals and “terrorists”.
He said on Tuesday the National Security Committee, which was following the Soviet Kazakh KGB, had not only missed the coming threat, but had failed to act responsibly during the unrest. In some cities, officials left behind buildings, leaving behind guns and secret documents, he said.
The view shows part of the commemoration of the Independence Monument and the city administration headquarters, which were set on fire during recent protests over rising fuel prices, in Almaty, Kazakhstan on January 11
The vision shows the city’s administrative headquarters, which was set on fire during the recent protests caused by rising fuel prices, in Almaty, Kazakhstan January 11, 2022.
The fact that Russian troops led by Tokayev called for help to rectify the situation were first sent to the capital, Nur-Sultan, sparking speculation at the time that their job was to protect the government and Tokayev himself when he could. fully trust his security forces.
Tokayev fired Karim Masimov, then head of the National Security Committee (NSC), on Jan.5. Masimov was arrested on suspicion of sedition.
‘SILENCE SILENT’
Tokayev, 68, last week called on the Moscow-based Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to send troops at the peak of what he later said was an attempt to overthrow its undisclosed insurgents in an oil-rich country. odlameni.
The day before, he said the CSTO campaign, its fitness and its duration in question by Washington, which sparked an angry response from Moscow, counted 2,030 soldiers and 250 pieces of military equipment.
On Tuesday he said the CSTO’s main goal had been successfully completed. It will be phased out in two days and will be released within 10 days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has successfully defended Kazakhstan in what he described as a foreign-backed coup. Learn more
Kazakh authorities estimate that order has been restored to a total of 19 million nations and that at least 10,000 people have been detained as a result of the unrest, as hunting continues.
“Right now in the country there is a lot of fear. Everyone is scared,” said Botagoz Issayeva, a Kazakh human rights activist in Sweden who communicates with civil society organizations within the country.
He said of those arrested, about 50 activists were taken from their homes and had never been heard of.
“We do not know where they were taken or what their status was,” said Issayeva, a representative of the civil society organization that has been lobbying for the European Parliament and the U.S. Congress. Congress to curb corruption in the country.
He said the reported death toll of 164 people appeared to be very low, especially as Tokayev announced last week that he had issued orders for the killing of firearms by so-called criminals and terrorists.
Authorities say that at first the peaceful protests against the increase in petrol prices were hijacked by groups seeking to overthrow the government.
The Organisation of Turkic States and Hungary on Tuesday condemned “violence and vandalism” in Kazakhstan, voicing support for Kazakh government operations against “terrorists, radicals, extremists and criminals”.