Former Soviet states offer Kazakhstan help in wake of protests

ALMATY — A Russian-led security coalition of former Soviet states will deploy peacekeepers to Kazakhstan, Armenia’s prime minister said on Thursday after the Kazakh president asked for their help to quell violent and deadly protests.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook that an unknown number of peacekeepers would visit Kazakhstan for a limited period to stabilize the situation after public buildings were burned down and Almaty International Airport was seized.

Eight policemen and National Guardsmen were killed in the unrest on Tuesday and Wednesday, Russian state agency Sputnik reported Wednesday citing the Kazakh Interior Ministry.

Russian news agencies, citing Kazakh media, later said that two soldiers were also killed in what they called an anti-terrorist operation at Almaty airport.

Initially sparked by anger over rising fuel prices, the protests quickly spread to include broader opposition to Nursultan Nazarbayev, the predecessor of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is in power after nearly three decades despite his resigned in 2019, retained considerable power.

Nazarbayev, 81, is widely considered the most important political force in Nur-Sultan, the purpose-built capital that bears his name.

His family is believed to control much of the economy, the largest in Central Asia. He has not been seen or heard from since the protests began.

The Central Asian nation’s reputation for stability under Nazarbayev has helped attract hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign investment into its oil and metallurgical industries.

But a younger generation is demanding the kind of liberalization seen in other satellites of the former Soviet Union.

The protests in Kazakhstan – a country five times the size of France and home to nearly 19 million people – are the worst in more than a decade.

Seemingly to assuage public anger, Tokayev sacked Nazarbayev as head of the powerful Security Council on Wednesday and took over as head himself.

He also appointed a new head of the State Security Committee, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, and removed Nazarbayev’s nephew from the No. 2 position on the committee.

Tokaev’s cabinet also resigned.

But protests continued, with protesters taking over the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The flights have been cancelled.

Interfax quoted an official as saying the airport was later evacuated by protesters. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.

Riot police had previously used tear gas and stun grenades against protesters in Almaty, but then apparently withdrew.