Last minute: Protests that started after the price hikes in liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Kazakhstan spread throughout the country. Many people, including the police, lost their lives in the events that broke out in the country where violence and chaos were constantly increasing. While thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in different cities since Sunday, after the prices of many products were increased, President Kasım Cömert Tokayev made an official statement and announced that he sought help from the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), of which they are a member, due to the current situation.
RUSSIA SENT SOLDIERS, SHOOTS RISE IN THE STREETS
Wide-scale protests in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country where the world is locked, gained a new dimension with the intervention of Russia. Countries led by Russia sent troops to Kazakhstan.
The wave of protests that led to the government’s resignation swamped Kazakhstan, with gunshots heard in clashes this morning in Almaty, the country’s largest city and former capital.
The gunfire, heard in the moments when the soldiers stationed in the main square of Almaty and the demonstrators clashed with each other, were announced to the world by international news agencies with a last-minute code.
In Kazakhstan, where internet access has been cut off, demonstrators stormed the city hall and airport in Almaty on Monday despite the declared State of Emergency. The slogans ‘Old men out’ and ‘Government resign’ were raised from the streets.
In Almaty, where some international flights have been suspended, the airport is currently under the control of demonstrators. While news of looting came from the city, Russian media wrote that the city’s two hospitals were surrounded by ‘terrorists’.