Kazakhstan is in riots because of how many cents of oil costs? At the beginning of 2022, large-scale riots occurred in western Kazakhstan cities. In just a few days, the riots have spread across the country.

State of emergency! Kazakhstan is in riots because of how much gas is spent?

Look at the news Knews reporter Zuo Hehuan

2022-01-06 16:00

At the beginning of 2022, large-scale riots occurred in cities in western Kazakhstan. In just a few days, the riots have spread across the country. Many places have entered a state of emergency, and the Kazakh president even sought help from outside!

On the afternoon of November 5, more than 1,000 protesters rushed into the Almaty government building. There were gunfires and thick smoke at the scene, which even tasted like last year's Capitol Hill.

The origin of all this is just the price control that was cancelled at the beginning of the new year, which caused the price of Kazakhstan liquefied petroleum gas to rise by 60 overnight, which is about RMB 0.88.

Let’s review the timeline.

htmlOn November 1, the price increase caused dissatisfaction among local people, including protests and demonstrations in many places such as Aktao , Almaty , etc. In response, Kazakhstan President Tokayev instructed the establishment of a special government investigation committee to investigate the price increase.

On November 3, the Mangustao State Government announced that the price of liquefied petroleum gas has dropped to 85 tenge per liter - 90 tenge per liter.

On November 4, according to the results of negotiations with protesters in the state, the price of LPG dropped to 50 tenge (0.735 yuan) per liter. The protests have spread to many cities in Kazakhstan, including Almaty and the capital Nur Sultan .

On November 5, Tokayev signed a presidential decree to approve the government's resignation. Later that day, Tokayev signed the presidential decree again, and the whole country entered a state of emergency.

And in less than 24 hours from January 4 to 5, Kazakh President Tokayev tried all the methods a political leader could try to stabilize the situation: from making a national speech, declaring martial law in protest areas into a state of emergency, deploying a large number of police forces and allowing them to use tear gas, water dragons and strong light bombs to disperse the protesters, to withdrawing reform measures that caused protests, disbanding the cabinet of this government as demands by protesters, and even completely dismissing the old president who will become the target of protests, to cutting off the national communication network and warning that tough measures will be taken against violence.

But even after Tokayev completed all these efforts, the wave of protests sweeping across Kazakhstan did not stop.

At present, the Kazakhstan riots have killed at least 8 police officers and National Guard soldiers and injured another 317 people.

Kazakhstan President Tokayev delivered a national televised speech on the domestic situation

Downward economy and fatal price increase

Kazakhstan was once the country with the highest per capita income in Central Asia, but the epidemic and economic downturn in the past two years have seriously shaken the foundation of national political stability.

The so-called economy and people's livelihood are the foundation. If the foundation is not solid, the earth will shake.

Over the past decade, Kazakhstan's economy has been in a difficult situation, with a large population falling near the poverty line, and LPG is the last option most of them can choose to save costs of living: it is cheaper than gasoline or natural gas. This also makes it the lowest blood in the supply chain, and its price will further affect the prices of almost all basic living products, including food, and there is no way out for people who are strongly dependent on liquefied gas and are driven by liquefied gas to transport cheap food.

2014 and 2017, the fuel crisis caused by supply shortages or price fluctuations in both triggered negative social sentiment in Kazakhstan. The long queues of gas stations and fluctuations in fuel prices have become the most sensitive topics. This time there is no reason to be exception: it concentrates the most intense social dissatisfaction in the past decade.

The West may take advantage of the chaos to make profits for itself

The fuse of this riot was the price increase of liquefied petroleum gas, but then it quickly appeared political demands of "punishing corruption" and demanding that the founding father Nazarbayev "leave".

Kazakhstan was once a Soviet republic and the largest and richest country in Central Asia, producing a lot of oil and natural gas.

Nazarbayev was the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Republic before the country's independence, and then served as president until 2019.He contributed to the independence and development of Kazakhstan. His ending was also staged in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Former Kyrgyz President Akayev was overthrown by the Color Revolution in 2005 and went into exile in Russia. Later, he served as a professor at Moscow State University.

Nazarbayev

Obviously, the socio-economic demands of the protesters have been incorporated into the political demands.

In some cities, the crowd shouted "Shal,ket." ("Grandfather, go away."), and what he meant was Nazarbayev. Some analysts pointed out that judging from the square movement in Ukraine that year, some people would shout some slogans with political factors during the riots, which was a routine of color revolution. In the city of Tardikurgan, protesters tried to pull down the statue of Nazarbayev.

Tokayev called on people to remain rational and not bewitched by domestic and foreign forces in his TV speech on the 5th. He pointed out that inciting attacks on state organs and military facilities is illegal. He said, "the current regime will not fall", but the country "needs not conflict, but mutual trust and dialogue."

First Vice Chairman of the Russian State Duma International Affairs Commission Dmitry. Novikov said the West may use Kazakhstan's protests to benefit itself. Some foreign non-governmental organizations NGOs are operating in Kazakhstan, affecting the local situation. The reason why Kazakhstan has attracted the interest of Western intelligence agencies is because its geographical location is very important.

Russia calls for dialogue to resolve Kazakhstan conflicts

Russian satellite agency Moscow reported on January 5 that Russian President's press secretary Peskov said on Wednesday that the Kyrgyzstan opposes any interference from the outside riots in Kazakhstan and believes that the country's government can resolve internal problems on its own.

He stressed: "It is important that no one should interfere from the outside."

Regarding whether Kazakhstan has asked for help from Russia, Peskov said: "No. We are sure that our friends in Kazakhstan can solve internal problems on their own."

The Russian Foreign Ministry urged relevant parties in Kazakhstan to start "dialogue" on the same day to resolve conflicts within the legal framework.

At the same time, the Chinese embassy and consulate in Kazakhstan reminds Chinese citizens in Kazakhstan to abide by the laws and regulations of the host country, enhance their awareness of prevention, reduce unnecessary outings, and effectively protect them. If there is an emergency, call the police in time and contact the embassy and consulate in Kazakhstan.