BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 6
Trend:
The Russian peacekeeping forces, sent to Kazakhstan, have already begun to fulfill the corresponding tasks, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
According to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the peacekeeping forces include subdivisions of the Armed Forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
"The main tasks of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO will be the protection of important state and military facilities, assistance to the law enforcement structures of the Republic of Kazakhstan in stabilizing the situation," the CSTO stressed.
“The representatives of the Russian Airborne Forces were included in the CSTO peacekeeping forces sent to Kazakhstan via the planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” the CSTO secretariat said.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance. Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country.