Internet and cell phones were blocked in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The country has declared a state of emergency throughout its territory, in the grip of violent protests for several days and where crowds have stormed government buildings of the former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
The establishment of the state of emergency was announced on Kazakh public television, according to Russian agencies, including the official TASS agency.
Anger after the rise in gas prices
The Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had previously denounced, in a televised address, “massive attacks against the police,” claiming that they had left their ranks dead and wounded. “Groups of criminal elements beat our soldiers, humiliate them, drag them naked in the streets, attack women, loot shops,” he said.
“As Head of State and from today President of the Security Council, I intend to act as firmly as possible,” he said.
The anger, which erupted Sunday in a provincial town after a rise in gas prices, spread to Almaty, the economic capital and largest city in the country, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
After a night of riots that saw the arrest of more than 200 people, thousands of protesters stormed the Almaty administration headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, appearing to have taken control of it.
Police fired stun grenades and tear gas at the protesters, some of whom were armed with batons and shields taken from law enforcement, but were unable to prevent them from entering the building, according to reporters. AFP.
Buildings stormed
Men in police uniform were seen putting down their shields and helmets to embrace the protesters. “They’re coming over to our side! », Launched a woman while hugging another demonstrator.
Local media reported that the protesters then proceeded to the presidential residence in the city, and the two buildings were on fire. Information impossible to verify immediately reported unrest across the country, and the capture of Almaty airport by protesters. The Russian company Aeroflot has canceled its flight from Moscow to this city.
In an effort to stem the crisis, President Tokayev had already sacked the government and declared a state of emergency in several regions including Almaty and the capital, Nur-Sultan, recently renamed in honor of former President Nursultan. Nazarbayev. A curfew is in effect from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
More internet
Protest demonstrations are rare in Kazakhstan, an authoritarian country where gatherings must receive prior authorization from the authorities. It was impossible on Wednesday to have a complete vision of the situation in the country, journalists and witnesses could no longer be reached by Internet or by telephone.
Web monitoring group NetBlocks reported on Twitter a “nationwide internet shutdown, (…) likely to severely limit coverage of escalating anti-government protests.”
AFP correspondents were unreachable on Wednesday evening. Previously, they had reported that internet connections were intermittent and that Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp messaging apps were all down. “Government resignation! “And” The old man out! Chanted the demonstrators in reference to the former president.
An economically and geopolitically important country for Russia
Nursultan Nazarbayev, now 81 years old, had ruled the country since 1989, and has been in the shadow of power since he left the presidency in 2019 while retaining a tailor-made status of “Leader of the nation. And installing a successor to his hand.
This ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin had also remained president of the powerful Security Council, but President Tokayev announced on Wednesday that he would now exercise this function himself.
Kazakhstan, the largest of the five ex-Soviet countries in Central Asia, which includes a large minority considered to be ethnically Russian, is of crucial economic and geopolitical importance to Russia. Moscow called on Wednesday to resolve the crisis through dialogue “and not through street riots and the violation of laws”.
– Gas crisis –
The anger began on Sunday after a rise in the prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG), in the city of Janaozen, in the west of the country, before spreading to the large regional city of Aktau, on the edges from the Caspian Sea, then to Almaty.
The rise in gas prices is perceived by the population as unfair in view of Kazakhstan’s vast oil and gas resources. Khazakstan, Central Asia’s largest economy accustomed in the past to double-digit growth rates, is suffering from falling oil prices and the economic crisis in Russia, which has led to the devaluation of the Kazakh tenge and a high inflation.
United States calls for “restraint”
The US government calls on the authorities of Kazakhstan to “restraint” and wants the demonstrations to take place there “in a peaceful manner,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday, while the central Asian country has just declared a state of emergency.
Jen Psaki also criticized “Russia’s crazy allegations” of alleged US responsibility for the riots in Kazakhstan. “This is absolutely false” and it is “part of the Russian disinformation strategy”, she asserted.