BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10
Trend:
The destructive forces have repeatedly made the attempts to undermine stability and organize riots, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at an extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Trend reports with reference to Kazinform news agency.
“Kazakhstan was tested in terms of stability and strength,” President Tokayev said. “All these actions were suppressed.”
“As a pretext, the riot organizers used the discontent of the population in some districts due to the rise in prices for gasoline,” President Tokayev 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. 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.