BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10
Trend:
Perhaps, unrest occurred in Kazakhstan due to a conspiracy of internal and certain external destructive forces, State Secretary of the Republic of Kazakhstan Erlan Karin said in an interview with Khabar 24 TV channel, Trend reports on Jan. 10.
“I think that the final answer will be given by our special services, law enforcement agencies, when all this work is over,” Karin said. “We must not forget that the counter-terrorist operation is still underway. I regularly call my colleagues in the districts. The situation is quite tense.”
Karin also answered the question whether internal, external Kazakh forces or hybrid forces could have organized the riots.
“I think that there is a conspiracy of internal and certain external destructive forces as both Kazakh and foreign citizens were involved in the terrorist groups,” the state secretary added.
“More detailed facts, which I think about, will be disclosed by the special services soon,” Karin added. “This already gives grounds to say that there was a conspiracy of various internal forces and certain external destructive forces.”
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. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the government initiated anti-terrorist operations to deal with the ongoing riots.
Also, the divisions of the united peacekeeping contingent of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) arrived in Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order and help protect strategic objects of the country.