After stabilizing Central Asian forces, Russian-led forces will begin retreat from Kazakhstan within two days country after severe unrest, the president said in a speech Tuesday targeting his predecessor’s wealthy allies.
Kazakh President Kasim-Jomart Tokayev appointed a new government led by career public servant Alikhan Smilov, after canceling what he called an attempted coup with parliament, in a video call.
In his latest attempt to distance himself from his predecessor, Tokayev said public discontent over income inequality was justified and that he wanted allies of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev to share their wealth.
Reading: UN slams Kazakhstan after soldiers were seen wearing UN helmets amid unrest
Many analysts in Central Asia believe that inter-clan infiltration among the elite may have played a major role in the deadliest violence in the former Soviet republic’s 30 years of independence from Moscow.
As protesters torched buildings in the largest city of Almaty last week, Tokayev said former leader Nazarbayev was stepping down as head of the powerful Security Council – where he pulled the strings despite being handed over the presidency in 2019. was continued.
Nazarbayev, 81, who ran the country for nearly three decades and supported Tokayev as his successor, has not made a public appearance since.
“Thanks to Nazarbayev,” Tokayev told parliament, “a group of very profitable companies emerged in the country as well as a group of wealthy people even by international standards.”
“I think it is time to pay their dues to the people of Kazakhstan and help them on a systematic and regular basis.”
She did not give any names, but the list of Kazakhstan’s richest people includes several members of Nazarbayev’s extended family, including her husband with her daughter Dinara and the father-in-law of the former president’s late grandson. read more
Tokayev stated that the financial system was dominated by large business groups “based on the principle ‘friends for everything, and the law for everyone else'”.
He took the initiative to reduce the wealth gap, increase taxes on the mining sector and state procurement and eliminate irregularities in areas where Nazarbayev’s associates have commercial interests. read more
Tokayev also attacked security officials, accusing them of abandoning their positions and allowing protesters to seize weapons and sensitive documents.
He has blamed Islamic fundamentalists and “terrorists” trained abroad for the violence.
Read also: Kazakh people count the cost of life as the biggest city from violence
He said on Tuesday that the Soviet KGB’s Kazakh successor, the National Security Committee, had not only missed the imminent threat, but had failed to act properly during the unrest. In some cities, its officers had abandoned buildings and left behind firearms and confidential documents, he said.
The fact that Tokayev had first deployed Russian-led forces to the capital Nur-Sultan to help stabilize the situation prompted speculation at the time that his mission was to protect the government and Tokayev, when he Couldn’t have full faith in our security forces.
On 5 January Tokayev sacked the then head of the National Security Committee (NSC), Karim Massimov. Then Massimov was detained on suspicion of treason.
‘Quiet Terror’
Tokayev, 68, last week asked the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to send troops in what he later said was a coup attempt whose unidentified instigators attacked the oil-rich country. Half of it was dropped. in violence.
A day earlier, he said the CSTO mission, whose validity and duration was questioned by Washington, prompted an angry response from Moscow, numbering 2,030 soldiers and 250 pieces of military hardware.
On Tuesday, he said that the main mission of CSTO has been successfully completed. It will start a phased withdrawal in two days and will be completely out within 10 days.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that Washington welcomed the announcement. forces have completed their mission and called on them to “maintain their commitment to leave Kazakhstan immediately, as requested by the government.”
Read also: Former anti-terror chief arrested in Kazakhstan protests
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed victory in saving Kazakhstan from a foreign-backed terrorist insurgency.
The Kazakh government says order has been largely restored in the country of 19 million and that Nearly 10,000 people have been detained over the unrestThe search for others is on.
“There is a quiet panic in the country at the moment. Everyone is scared,” said Botagos Isayeva, a Kazakh rights activist in Sweden.
He said that out of those arrested, around 50 activists were evicted from their homes and since then there has been no trace of them.
“We don’t even know where they have been taken and what state they are in,” said Isayeva, who represents a civil society coalition that lobbied the European Parliament and the US Congress to crack down on corruption in Kazakhstan. is of.
It said the 164 reported casualties appeared to be scant, especially since Tokayev announced last week that he had ordered a shootout against bandits and terrorists.
Officials say that initially peaceful protests against a hike in car fuel prices were hijacked by groups aimed at overthrowing the government.
The Organization of Turkish States and Hungary on Tuesday condemned “violence and vandalism” in Kazakhstan, voicing support for the Kazakh government’s operations against “terrorists, radicals, extremists and criminals”.
Read also: Kazakh president orders shooting to suppress protests