Kazakhstan is harshly suppressing protests. Police have announced that they have liquidated dozens of demonstrators – ČT24 – Czech Television

CORRECTION: We have posted an updated version of this video here: https://t.co/B1WUMerpg0

The video has been updated to reflect developments on the ground.

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Internet does not work, airlines cancel flights

The internet and mobile networks are not working again, the TASS agency said. A spokesman for the National Bank of Kazakhstan said that all banks in the country except the central one and the stock exchange were interrupting operations.

Some airlines have announced that they are canceling flights to Almaty. As early as Wednesday, Kuwait Airlines Jazeera Airways did so, and on Thursday Lufthansa stopped offering scheduled flights to Kazakhstan’s largest city until further notice. Flydubai Airlines from the United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that they had canceled the flight scheduled for this day from Almaty to Dubai and that they were closely monitoring the security situation in Kazakhstan.

According to TASS, Aeroflot also canceled Thursday’s flights to Almaty, Aktau and the capital Nur-Sultan. Passengers of the canceled Wednesday flight of the Kazakh airline Air Astana from Moscow to Almaty had to move to a hotel in the Russian capital. Another Russian carrier, Ural Airlines, will not operate flights to Kazakhstan on Thursday.

According to agencies, the airport in Almaty on Wednesday was occupied by anti-government demonstrators, which forced the cessation of air traffic. Authorities later announced that the airport had been “liberated” by government security forces.

Russia sent paratroopers

In two speeches, the head of state, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, announced that he would suppress the protests as hard as possible. He accused “provocateurs from home and abroad” of chaos in the country. He asked for help from the states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, in which Kazakhstan is together with Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The organization promised assistance in suppressing protests.

Russia has already announced that it has sent paratroopers to Kazakhstan, whose first units have already begun to carry out the tasks, the TASS agency said, referring to the ODKB secretariat. According to the secretariat, the main task is to protect important state and military facilities and assist the Kazakh forces in establishing order.

According to TASS, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have also expressed their determination to meet Allied commitments within the ODKB and aid to Kazakhstan, and troops from Belarus and Armenia are also part of the contingent, according to Kommersant.

However, due to the low participation of deputies, the Kyrgyz parliament could not approve the deployment of troops. “Only forty lawmakers met in an extraordinary session,” TASS quoted a parliamentary official. Under Kyrgyz law, the consent of at least 60 out of 90 deputies is required to send troops abroad. About two dozen protesters protested in front of the parliament building against the intervention of Kyrgyz troops in Kazakhstan, TASS added.

Tokaev also replaced former President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the leadership of the state security council, removing him from much of his influence. After Nazarbayev’s departure from public life, protesters also called.

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There are thirty Czechs in Kazakhstan

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on all parties to the unrest to end the violence and resolve the situation with respect for the law and human rights. According to him, there are about thirty Czech citizens in Kazakhstan. The Czech Embassy has no information that they are in danger.

China called the riots an “internal affair” of a neighboring country and expressed confidence that the Kazakh authorities would be able to deal with the situation. “We hope that the situation will stabilize and that normal social order will be restored,” said Chinese diplomat Wang Wen-pin, adding that China and Kazakhstan have a broad strategic partnership. The Central Asian country is primarily a supplier of energy raw materials to China, with which it shares a border of more than 15,000 kilometers. Wang did not comment on the deployment of ODKB troops.

The riots were triggered by an increase in LPG prices

Kazakhstan, the largest and richest of the Central Asian countries, is experiencing the worst protests in at least a decade. The riots broke out in Zhanozhen on Sunday, a day after the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) price cap was lifted, and its prices doubled. Most cars in the country run on LPG.

Subsequently, the demonstrations spread to other cities. The unrest on Wednesday led to the government’s dismissal by President Tokayev, who ordered the new interim cabinet to regulate fuel prices as well as other “socially important” goods.

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