To repress, in defiance of human life.
On Friday, the President of Kazakhstan authorized the security forces to "shoot to kill" in order to quell any riot in the country.
With the support of Russian President Vladimir Poutine, whom he "thanked especially" in a recent televised address, Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev ruled out negotiating with the demonstrators.
Read also Kazakhstan: chaos, repressed demonstrations ... 5 minutes to understand an explosive situation
Kazakhstan, 19 million inhabitants, the largest country in Central Asia with rich natural resources, is shaken by a dispute that erupted Sunday, December 2 in the provinces, after a rise in gas prices.
The movement subsequently spread to large cities, including Almaty, the economic capital, where protests degenerated into riots against the regime in place, which left at least 40 dead and moved Westerners.
Repression without warning
"I ordered the police and the army to shoot to kill without warning," said Mr. Tokayev on Friday, describing as "absurd" the calls, especially European and American to negotiate with protesters.
He now relies on a contingent of Russian and allied troops in Moscow to quell the excesses.
“What kind of negotiations can we have with criminals, with murderers?
(…) They must be destroyed and it will be done soon, ”said the president, maintaining that Almaty had been attacked by“ 20,000 bandits ”.
The president notably accused "certain people abroad" of being behind this crisis, without elaborating.
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Kazakhstan: protests against rising gas prices riot, dead, injured
After two days of violence, most banks, supermarkets and restaurants are closed in Almaty while police armored vehicles patrolled the streets still littered with the carcasses of charred vehicles last Friday.
The crisis has taken an international turn since the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an “end to violence” and “restraint”, still on Friday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping for his part welcomed the "strong measures" taken by the Kazakh president, paying tribute to his "sense of duty".
