Kazakhstan: Almaty airport reopens after bloody unrest

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Russian military vehicles on arrival at Almaty airport

Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / SNA

The airport in the metropolis of Almaty was closed for a week due to serious unrest.

Now the authorities of the authoritarian Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia have released it again for passenger traffic.

National and international flights are again possible daily between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. (3 a.m. CET and 4 p.m. CET), said the aviation authority in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan.

The state of emergency continued to apply in Almaty.

It was unclear from when foreigners were allowed to re-enter.

The Kazakh government had closed the borders of the ex-Soviet republic because of the tense situation in the country.

Air traffic had ceased last week after violent protests and the siege by radical groups.

The authorities had re-established control of the airport last week and used it to move military from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

The Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization had for the first time ever carried out such a military operation at the request of a government.

The soldiers also from Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan were supposed to help restore constitutional order and protect state institutions from extremist groups, for example.

Kazakh President Kassym-Shomart Tokayev had thanked Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin for quickly intervening.

For this Thursday he announced the beginning of the gradual withdrawal of troops.

Alleged attack by "terrorist gangs"

In the oil and gas-rich ex-Soviet republic on the border with China, which has been praised internationally for its stability for many years, there were initially protests against doubling the price of gas, which is used as fuel for cars, at the beginning of the month.

The demonstrations turned into brute force after a few days.

Head of State Tokayev spoke of an attack by "terrorist gangs".

He had given an order to shoot.

There were more than 100 dead, more than 10,000 arrests and hundreds injured.

According to the leadership of the ninth largest country in the world, the situation is stabilizing.

mrc / dpa