NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev mentioned on Monday that his nation had weathered an attempted coup d’etat coordinated by what he referred to as “a single centre” after probably the most violent unrest for the reason that Soviet collapse.
In a speech to a web-based assembly of the Russian-led CSTO army alliance by video hyperlink, Tokayev mentioned that order had now been restored in Kazakhstan, however that the hunt for “terrorists” was ongoing.
“Under the guise of spontaneous protests, a wave of unrest broke out… It turned clear that the primary purpose was to undermine the constitutional order and to grab energy. We are speaking about an attempted coup d’etat,” he mentioned.
Demonstrations in opposition to a gasoline worth rise started simply over per week in the past earlier than erupting right into a wider protest in opposition to Tokayev’s authorities and the person he changed as president, 81-year-old Nursultan Nazarbayev.
“The most important blow was directed in opposition to (the town of) Almaty. The fall of this metropolis would have paved the way in which for a takeover of the densely populated south after which the entire nation,” he mentioned. “Then they deliberate to grab the capital.”
Tokayev mentioned {that a} large-scale “counter-terrorism” operation would quickly finish together with a CSTO mission that he mentioned numbered 2,030 troops and 250 items of army {hardware}.
Tokayev defended his choice to ask Russian-led troops into the nation and mentioned that doubts over the legitimacy of that mission stemmed from a scarcity of data.
Kazakhstan would quickly present proof to the worldwide group about what had occurred, he mentioned. Sixteen members of the safety forces have been killed, whereas the quantity of civilian casualties continues to be being checked, he mentioned.
(Reporting by Tamara Vaal in Nur-Sultan; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
