Kazakhstan Declared Nationwide State of Emergency

Following a rare violent outbreak of protests nationwide, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared a state of emergency in the whole country from the 5th January to the 19th January 2022. The measures under the state of emergency include curfew, blocking of mobile internet access and social media networks such as WhatsApp and Instagram as well as temporary prohibition of the sale of weapons.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, multiple attempts were made to break into various government buildings in the cities of Almaty, Shymkent and Taraz. The protesters smashed windows, broke doors and caused other damages to the buildings. Currently, the main administrative building of Almaty as well as the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office are on fire in the city of Almaty.

Among the multiple protesters’ demands, the main ones include lowering of food and liquefied gas prices, decrease of the pension age and full resignation of the government. Some of these demands have already been fulfilled, the latest one being the resignation of the Government of Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, this has not so far helped to quell the protests.

The emerging evidence suggests that the incitement of people to go out and protest is also being performed from the outside of Kazakhstan by a long-time rival of the former President of Kazakhstan (Nursultan Nazarbayev) and opposition leader, Mukhtar Ablyazov. Albeit his opposition party, The Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, is declared as an extremist organisation in Kazakhstan, he is actively engaging in political activism through his social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube while living in France under a status of political refugee.