This handout image taken and released by the Kazakh presidential press service on Jan 7, 2022 shows Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev making a public address in Alamaty. Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that order had mostly been restored in the country after days of unprecedented unrest. (HANDOUT / KAZAKHSTAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
A number of publications in foreign mass media are clearly superficial and one-sided in their report about Kazakhstan since the introduction of the state of emergency, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and insiders.
Their actions showed a clear plan of attack on military, administrative and social facilities in almost all areas, coordination of movements, high combat readiness and brutal cruelty, officials noted.
The stories in some European and United States media have left readers with false impressions that the Kazakhstan government has been targeting peaceful protesters, said Erzhan Kazykhan, special representative of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan for international cooperation.
"Our security forces have been engaging violent mobs who were committing brazen acts of terror," he said.
Peaceful rallies were held in the Mangystau region and in all major cities of the country during the early stages of protests last week. The protesters' demands were fully met, the ministry said in a written statement.
On Jan 2, peaceful demonstrations began in the western regions of Kazakhstan, triggered by a spike in the price of liquefied petroleum gas, said Kazykhan.
Addressing public grievance over inflation and overall social and economic problems, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made the decision to control the price of petroleum as well as essential products and services.
In his Jan 4 statement, Tokayev urged the public not to succumb to internal and external provocations amid rallies against increased gas prices. He called for mutual trust and dialogue rather than conflict.
However, the peaceful protests were hijacked by terrorist, extremist and criminal groups to escalate tensions and violence, authorities said. To address the escalation, a state of emergency was declared in the country.
As the events in Almaty, the country’s biggest city, and several other regions have shown, Kazakhstan has become subject to armed rioting by well-coordinated terrorist groups trained abroad, authorities said.
Their actions showed a clear plan of attack on military, administrative and social facilities in almost all areas, coordination of movements, high combat readiness and brutal cruelty, officials noted.
In addition to the militants, there were specialists trained in ideological sabotage, skillfully using disinformation or "fakes" and capable of manipulating people's moods, which a number of West European and US media outlets failed to properly report.
"The tragedy of Almaty and other cities of Kazakhstan has shown, it is precisely non-compliance with laws, permissiveness, and anarchy that lead to human rights violations," said President Tokayev in his public address on Jan 7.
According to preliminary data, the attackers include individuals who have military combat zone experience in the ranks of radical Islamist groups. Currently, Kazakhstan's law enforcement agencies and armed forces are confronting terrorists, not "peaceful protesters" as some foreign media have misreported.
Riots and attacks against administrative buildings, military bases, and civil facilities, and the seizure of the Almaty airport, including local and foreign airplanes with passengers on board, all show the high level of preparedness and coordination of the perpetrators, said Kazykhan.
Tokayev also expressed gratitude to Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Turkey as well as heads of the United Nations and other international organizations for their support.
In Almaty, terrorists had seized the mayor's office, the local residence of the president of Kazakhstan, city police departments, the offices of the national security committee and the prosecutor, some TV and radio stations.
"No protest or demonstration in a democratic society can justify the attacks and killings of law enforcement officers," said Kazykhan.
In this situation, Kazakhstan was compelled to seek help from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, which has deployed a peacekeeping force totaling approximately 2,500 personnel to assist in the stabilization of the situation. The mandate of the peacekeepers includes the guarding of strategic facilities and providing cover for Kazakhstan's forces.
The CSTO, an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia, consists of six countries – Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The legal framework for deployment of the collective peacekeeping forces is based on Articles 2 and 4 of the Treaty on Collective Security, the Agreement on Peacekeeping Activities, and military assistance requested by Kazakhstan.
"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the prime minister of Armenia, who chairs the CSTO, as well as to the presidents of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan," Tokayev said in his Jan 7 address.
Tokayev also expressed gratitude to Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Turkey as well as heads of the United Nations and other international organizations for their support.
The CSTO peacekeeping force will be stationed in Kazakhstan on a strictly temporary basis. They will leave the country as soon as the situation stabilizes and at Kazakhstan’s first request.
Peacekeepers are not involved in the elimination of militant groups and terrorists, as their main tasks are protection of strategic sites and administrative buildings. The main combat operations against terrorist groups are conducted by the law enforcement agencies and armed forces of Kazakhstan.
It is particularly important that peaceful protesters are not prosecuted, according to ministry officials.
Law enforcement agencies have been instructed to conduct a large-scale investigation of the causes of the current situation, the results of which will be presented to the international community.
"Given the volume of misinformation and the rapidly evolving situation in Kazakhstan, let us not to jump into conclusions and allow a full investigation to reveal the truth on the ground," said presidential representative Kazykhan.
As a result of the clashes, numerous casualties among law enforcement and military personnel as well as the civilian population have been reported. Jan 10 was declared a day of national mourning in the country.
What is clear is the unity of the people of Kazakhstan, and their support for the decisions and actions of President Tokayev on the restoration of peaceful life, the ministry said.