:format(jpg):watermark(cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/5IDEBLR7ERC5TMAPLOHS63MVNM.png,0,30,0)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ipmgroup/GOVDWTFBEVAC7JQAKGB3I7K6UU.jpg "Police fire tear gas at large demonstration in Kazakhstan")
Two AFP journalists, who saw the police shootings, counted at least 5,000 people for this protest, in this authoritarian country where this type of gathering is rare.
Popular messengers Whatsapp, Telegram and Signal were inaccessible in the evening in Kazakhstan, where protests have erupted in several cities since Sunday.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev addressed the people, urging them to “be cautious” and “not to give in to provocations”.
Amid anger after a rise in the prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the movement started in the city of Janaozen, in the west of this country rich in natural resources, before spreading to the large regional city of ‘Aktau on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Janaozen was in the past the scene of the deadliest unrest that has rocked Kazakhstan since its independence from the USSR in 1991. In 2011, at least 14 workers at an oil site were killed when police cracked down on a protest against working conditions and wages.
In the evening, the authorities announced to concede a reduction in the price of LNG by setting it at 50 tenges (0.1 euro) per liter in the region. However, this promise did not lead to the dispersal of the demonstrators.
Tokayev, in power since 2019, was chosen as successor by historic leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled Kazakhstan for thirty years from 1989 and retains influence.
–
