Following a week of mass protests and unrest following massive gas and fuel price hikes, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has requested the help of the region’s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) coalition to provide security assistance.
Protests were quickly hijacked by radical elements and street violence and looting as mobs called for regime change in Almaty – despite significant government concessions.
Unable to cope with the unrest, Kazakh police and government security services quickly lost control of the situation, effectively bringing the government and civil agencies to a standstill for 72 hours.
The situation has calmed over the last 24 hours, as law enforcement regroup and the capital accepts Russian-led CSTO reinforcements including military units from former Soviet Republics of Belarus and Armenia.
RT International reports…
Leaders from the member states of the CSTO Security Council, which unites Russia and five former Soviet nations, will hold a virtual conference on the turbulent situation in Kazakhstan on Monday, the Kremlin has confirmed.
The date of the online talks between the leaders of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan was first announced by the office of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who currently chairs the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Later on Sunday, it was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Yes, we are preparing for Monday,” he said when asked by journalists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the Collective Security Council session on the “situation in Kazakhstan and measures to normalize it,” according to Peskov.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the CSTO for assistance on Wednesday, as protests which swept the country after New Year’s became increasingly violent. He stated that Kazakhstan has been under attack by “terrorists” who were trained abroad and are looking to undermine the territorial integrity of the country.
His request was granted, with the deployment of peacekeepers from Russia and other member states beginning the next day.
The peacekeepers arrived in Almaty, the focal point of the unrest, to guard the airport and other key infrastructure in the city of around 2 million people.
READ MORE KAZAKHSTAN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Kazakhstan Files
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