Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared that order had largely been restored in Kazakhstan but vowed to push ahead with a deadly mass protests that had swept the country.
Dozens have died and public buildings across Kazakhstan have been ransacked and torched in the worst violence in its 30 years of independence.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said foreign-trained terrorists were responsible for the unrest.
“The militants have not laid down their arms, they continue to commit crimes or are preparing for them,” he said in a televised address.
“Whoever does not surrender will be destroyed. I have given the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to shoot to kill, without warning.”
Kazakhstan’s President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, addresses the nation (January 7, 2022)
- In his live speech at the national television, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev informed that the anti-terrorist operation is underway in Kazakhstan. “The police, the National Guard and the Army are carrying out a large-scale and well-coordinated work to establish law and order in accordance with the Constitution”.
- According to President Tokayev, around 20K criminals and terrorists attacked Almaty alone. “Their actions showed the presence of a clear plan of attacks on military, administrative and social facilities almost everywhere, well-coordinated coordination of actions, high combat readiness and cruelty.” “In addition to the militants, there were people carrying an ideology sabotage, skilfully using disinformation or fake news to manipulate people’s mind.”
- The Committee of National Security and the General Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the preparation and management of these unlawful actions.
- The situation in the cities of Almaty, Aktobe and Almaty Region has stabilized. The state of emergency is giving its results: constitutional legality continue being restored throughout the country. However, the militants did not yet lay down their arms and continue to commit crimes, damage state and private property, and the use of weapons against citizens. “Law enforcement agencies and armies will continue carrying out their work.”
- The CSTO peacekeeping contingent arrived in Kazakhstan for a short period to assist in establishing constitutional order.
- The tragic events highlight the problems of democracy and human rights in a new way, which does not mean permissiveness and incitement to unlawful actions. The law and order are the main guarantees of the well-being of the country.
- He said that the operations are not an attack on civil liberties and human rights. The tragedy of Almaty and other cities of Kazakhstan has shown that the non-observance of laws and anarchy lead to the violation of human rights (in May 2020, Kazakhstan passed a law on peaceful assemblies of citizens, marking a big step in promoting democracy, as it provides for announced rallies and assemblies). President noted that the irresponsible actions of individual activists led to the unleashing of a tragedy in Kazakhstan and became their accomplices. The main goal now is not to allow these events repeat in the future.
- Following the stabilization of the situation, the government provided the Internet connection in certain regions with certain time intervals.
- President Tokayev concluded that the there is a lot of work ahead and lessons to learn from the tragedy, including the improvement of socio-economic situation. He underlined that the demands of peaceful rallies were heard, and that the actions on acute social and economic problems will be announced soon.
- The head of state is to announce the next steps in his address to the Parliament on January 11, 2022. He thanked the citizens for following the law and the order in these days, and expressed his belief that the nation will become stronger, with economy and social conditions becoming better in the future.
