The President of Kazakhstan

,

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev,

on Friday authorized the security forces to "shoot to kill" in order to quell the riots that are shaking the country and, with the support of Moscow, ruled out negotiating with the demonstrators.

Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, with rich natural resources, is shaken by a dispute that erupted Sunday in the provinces after a rise in gas prices before spreading to large cities, including Almaty, the economic capital , where the demonstrations which degenerated into riots against the regime in place left "dozens" of deaths.

The point in pictures.


Director:

Olivier JUSZCZAK

  • On January 2, demonstrators, furious at the rise in liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, took to the streets in Janaozen (Mangystau region, west).

  • The demonstrations, rare in this authoritarian country of Central Asia, then spread to the large regional city of Aktau, on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

  • On January 4, a demonstration brought together thousands of people in Almaty, the economic capital, with cries of "Resignation from the government" and "The old man outside", in reference to the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, mentor of the current leader of the Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev state, still very influential.

  • The president decrees a state of emergency in Almaty, in the province of Mangystau as well as in the capital Nur-Sultan from the next day, with a night curfew.

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  • On the 5th, the president dismisses the government.

    Police say more than 200 people were arrested after the overnight protests.

    Nearly a hundred police officers are injured.

  • Also on the 5th, thousands of demonstrators stormed the town hall of Almaty.

    They then head for the presidential residence, which they set fire to, just like the town hall, and briefly seize the airport.

  • The same day, the state of emergency is extended to the whole country, as protests turn into riot.

  • The president asks for help from Moscow and its allies, attributing the riots to "terrorists" trained abroad.

  • On the 6th, Moscow and its allies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) send a “collective peacekeeping force”.

  • The same day, the police indicated having killed "dozens" of demonstrators who tried to seize administrative buildings and police stations.

    The government orders fuel price caps for six months.

  • Still on the 6th, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the UN and the EU took turns to express their concern.

  • On the 7th, President Tokayev announced that he had "ordered the police and the army to shoot to kill without warning", qualifying the calls to negotiate with the protesters "absurd".

  • And he “especially” thanks his ally Vladimir Poutine for his help, after the arrival on site of a contingent of Russian troops and other countries allied with Moscow to support power.

  • Beyond the rise in prices, the anger of the demonstrators is directed in particular against the authoritarian ex-president Noursoultan Nazarbaïev, remained in the shadow of power and whom they accuse of corruption.

    He has not made any public appearances since the unrest began.

  • Kazakh opponent Mukhtar Abliazov, a political refugee in France, assured AFP on Friday that a "revolution" was underway in his country and denounced the "occupation" of Kazakhstan by Moscow forces.

  • Authorities said 26 "armed criminals" had been killed and more than a thousand protesters injured, with security forces reporting 18 killed and 748 injured in their ranks.

    More than 3,800 people have been arrested.

    These figures could not be independently verified.

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