Kazakhstan threatens a terrible bloodbath - President gives orders to shoot demonstrators

Created: 01/07/2022, 10:20 AM

Security forces on duty in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.

© Valery Sharifulin / dpa

Concerns about an escalation in Kazakhstan are growing: President Tokayev has now issued an order to shoot.

Russian soldiers, among others, are to intervene.

Nur-Sultan - After serious riots with dead and injured in Central Asian Kazakhstan, international concerns about a further escalation are growing. Kazakh President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev has given the police an order to shoot in view of the protests that have been going on for days. "I gave the order to fire fatal shots without warning," said Tokayev in a televised address on Friday. He ruled out negotiations and announced that the "armed bandits" would be "eliminated".

Kazakhstan has been rocking unprecedented clashes between protesters and security forces for days.

Protests, which were initially directed against rising gas prices, expanded into mass protests critical of the government across the country.

At Tokayev's request, a "peacekeeping force" led by Russia arrived in the country "to stabilize the situation".

In addition to Russia and Kazakhstan, the alliance also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

These states had also sent armed forces, it was said.

Kazakhstan: Dissident Abliasov speaks of "revolution" - and rebukes Russian "occupation"

The Kazakh opposition politician Muchtar Abliasov, who lives in exile in France, has meanwhile described the protests in his home country as a “revolution”.

"I think the regime is about to end," Abliasov told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

"It's only a matter of time now."

"In three days there was indeed a revolution," he said.

“And people have understood that they are not weak.” After years of dissatisfaction with economic problems, “the pent-up frustration has drained.

The moment has come and everything has exploded. "

Abliasov criticized the Russian military operation as an "occupation".

Russian President Vladimir Putin * is working on the "restoration of the old USSR".

But he runs the risk of things going like Ukraine in Kazakhstan: "The more Putin interferes, the more Kazakhstan will become like Ukraine - an enemy state for Russia."

Kazakhstan: Baerbock's Ministry calls for "peaceful solution"

From the Foreign Office of Minister Annalena Baerbock it was reported that they were exchanging ideas with closest local partners about developments in Kazakhstan.

The task now is to find a peaceful solution “within the framework of a comprehensive dialogue with all those involved”.

The violence, but also the massive restrictions on access to the Internet and social media, are viewed with concern. 

According to the Kazakh authorities, more than 1,000 people have been injured and around 2,300 arrested across the country. The General Prosecutor's Office opened criminal proceedings for organizing and participating in mass riots and initiated pre-trial investigations into "carrying out acts of terrorism," as the state broadcaster Khabar 24 reported. The unrest in the ex-Soviet republic, which is rich in oil and gas, was triggered by displeasure at the rise in fuel prices at petrol stations. But they quickly turned into sometimes violent protests against the government. Kazakhstan was ruled for decades by the authoritarian ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, who retained great influence even after his resignation in 2019. (

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