President of Kazakhstan orders "shooting without warning" at protesters

"Whoever does not surrender will be destroyed." With these words, the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Yomart Tokáyev, addressed his people, who, in an appearance before the nation, gave the order to fire without warning against the protesters who have taken to the streets since the beginning of this year to protest the rise in fuel prices and have raised their voices against the Kazakh regime. "What stupidity, what negotiations can there be with criminals and murderers," said the president, who since the crisis began has also led the Security Council after relieving Nursultán Nazarbayev, supreme leader of the nation for three decades, who has not been seen from the start of the protests. The balance of victims published by the Ministry of the Interior of Kazakhstan this Friday shows that 26 activists have been "liquidated",Another 26 people have been injured and there are 3,811 detainees across the country. The agency also reports 18 agents killed and more than 740 injured since the protests began.

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Kazakh President orders shoot to kill

The president of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Yomart Tokáyev, during his remarks this Friday.Photo: HANDOUT (AFP) |

Video: REUTERS

“We have had to deal with bandits and trained terrorists.

Therefore, it is necessary to destroy them and this will be done shortly, ”said Tokáyev.

At the same time, he assured that his enemies were coordinated from a single point and that "foreign figures" have played a key role in this.

"Only 20,000 bandits arrived in Almaty," stressed the president during his speech.

For comparison, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has so far dispatched 2,500 military personnel to the country, Stanislav Zas, the general secretary of this Moscow-led military alliance, told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

However, the arrival of Russian military personnel in Kazakhstan is constant. The Russian Defense Ministry reported the formation of a transport group of 75 aircraft to deploy troops in the Central Asian republic. Tokayev thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin "for his camaraderie in the face of Kazakhstan's request for support." This is the first CSTO intervention since its creation in 1992 and involves Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Parliament of the latter country approved this Friday the dispatch of the military after having postponed the decision one day due to its unpopularity and the lack of a quorum in the lower house. According to some deputies, intervention in the internal affairs of the country contradicts the spirit of the CSTO, which according to article 4 of the organization,activated by Tokáyev on Wednesday night, the allies would intervene only "in the event of an aggression" that "threatens the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the member country."

Police and protesters clash in Aktobe on Wednesday.

INTERIORÊMINISTRYÊOF KAZAKHSTA (via REUTERS)

The CSTO mission strengthens the protection of Tokáyev and his circle from any internal threat.

The head of the Russian State Duma Committee for the Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Leonid Kalashnikov, stressed this week that the troops will not get involved in the clashes that are now taking place in the streets and will only be in charge of protecting "Infrastructures and strategic places".

Although the Kazakh government has cut the Internet, some Telegram channels have managed to broadcast images of the massacres committed there, with morgues full of bodies, protesters killed in the streets and buildings on fire.

In the early days of the protests, images could be seen of Kazakh soldiers and police retreating from marches or kneeling before protesters.

Faced with such a situation, Tokáyev took a turn at the helm: on January 5, the president dismissed the prime minister, Askar Mamin, and his entire Cabinet, and formed another acting Executive led by the hitherto deputy prime minister, Alijan Smailov.

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Russia sends troops to Kazakhstan

Russian military vehicles are waiting to be loaded onto military planes to depart for Kazakhstan.

this Thursday.Photo: HANDOUT (AFP) |

Video: EPV

Likewise, Tokayev that day also removed the head of the National Security Committee, the head of his intelligence, Karim Masimov, and took control of the Security Council, the body that coordinates all the security forces and that Nazarbayev has headed since left the presidency in 2019 and chose the current president as his dolphin.

During his speech, Tokayev accused the press of provoking the protests. "The free media and foreign figures, who are far from the fundamental interests of our multinational people, instigate the violation of law and order," said the president, who also applauded his 2020 reform to limit the right to manifestation. “It is a great step forward in promoting democracy in our country because it is not permissive, it is necessary to notify rallies and assemblies. So-called human rights defenders and activists put themselves above the law and believe that they have the right to meet wherever they want and chat about what they want, ”Tokayev said.

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