Protesters stormed the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
All flights to and from Almaty have been temporarily suspended as the country is in turmoil due to rising fuel prices since the beginning of the year. Kuwait’s low-cost airline Jazeera Airways was the first to announce that it was suspending flights to and from Almaty due to the situation in the region.
Almost at the same time, the Chevron Corp. oil group announced that it was “working to end” the Tengizchevroil (TCO) consolidation of its employees on government policies. The US company is the largest foreign oil producer in Kazakhstan, holding 50% of the shares in the Tengizchevroil consortium. A spokesman said oil production had not been affected by the protests.
????????This is what the area in front of the Almaty International Airport looks like now, which has been seized by protesters.
#Kazakhstan pic.twitter.com/tdVReOBvHy— The RAGE X (@theragex) January 5, 2022
Kazakhstan’s President Qasim Zomart Tokayev had earlier warned that he would respond “with the utmost severity” to the protests, citing “massive attacks” on security forces and “dead and wounded” among police.
The Internet and mobile phones do not work in the country today. In Almaty, the financial capital of Kazakhstan, crowds occupied government buildings. After conflicts with protesters, police officers seem to have left the city’s streets. A resident who spoke to Reuters after mingling with the protesters said most of them appeared to come from poor suburbs or neighboring villages and towns.
#UPDATE: #Kazakh president removes ex-leader from post amid worst unrest in a decade, protesters seize airport in biggest city #Almaty according to sources #Kazakhstan #KazakhstanProtests https://t.co/e4ULTyJv0T pic.twitter.com/BjZqOuad6p
— Arab News (@arabnews) January 5, 2022
In the central square, some people were distributing vodka and discussing whether they should head to the market or to the affluent suburbs to plunder the area. “There is anarchy on the street. “The police are nowhere to be seen,” said the resident.
Videos posted on the internet show protesters shouting slogans under a giant statue of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, which they have tied with ropes in an attempt to demolish. The woman who posted the video on Twitter said she took it in the city of Taldorgan in eastern Kazakhstan.
Riots in Kazakhstan. Angry protesters took control of Almaty’s airport, stormed the Presidential Palace & City Hall building, and set them on fire in response to the government’s increase of fuel prices from US$ 0.11 to $0.27 per litter.
Soon in Canada & USA?#CivilDisobedience pic.twitter.com/k3XPwwPdaW
— ???????????????????? (@EnergyEntity) January 5, 2022
Earlier, via Instagram, a Kazakh blogger showed a live broadcast of the fire in the office of the mayor of Almaty, while shots were heard in the background. Other videos show the prosecutor’s office burning.
The protest started on Sunday in a provincial town on the occasion of the increase in the price of LPG and expanded in Almaty on Tuesday night to Wednesday. Agence France-Presse reporters said they saw police throwing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a crowd of 5,000. “Government resign” and “The old man is out” (s.s. Nursultan Nazarbayev), shouted the gathered people.
This afternoon, thousands of people occupied the town hall. Men in police uniforms were seen lowering their shields and helmets and embracing protesters. “They passed by us,” shouted a woman.
In an effort to calm the spirits, President Tokayev accepted the resignation of the government and declared a state of emergency throughout the country, including the capital Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana). Traffic was also banned from 23.00 until 7 in the morning.
Tokayev has also taken over as head of the powerful Security Council, replacing Nazarbayev, who at 81, despite stepping down as president in 2019, continues to wield considerable influence in the country’s political affairs.
Tokayev had earlier ousted Nazarbayev’s nephew from his second position in the State Security Committee, the successor to the Soviet KGB.
Russia, for which Kazakhstan is a very important economic partner, called for the crisis to be resolved through dialogue and not “through riots”.
The gas crisis
The protest started on Sunday, after the increase of the gas price, in the city of Zanaozen, in western Kazakhstan. It then expanded to Aktau, the Caspian Sea and Almaty.
The government initially tried to calm the spirits, without success, by announcing a reduction in the price of LPG to 50 tenge (0.1 euros) per liter, instead of 120.
The price increase is considered unfair by the citizens, as Kazakhstan has huge reserves of gas and oil.
State television reported today that the director of a gas station and another official in the Mangistau district, where Zanaozen is located, had been arrested. They are accused of “raising the price of gas for no reason”, a fact that “provoked mass demonstrations throughout the country”.
Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy, which has seen double-digit growth in the past, has seen the tenge depreciate and inflation soar as oil prices fall and Russia’s economic crisis. The Mangistau region is dependent on LPG, which is a major fuel for cars, and any increase in its price is accompanied by food prices that have already risen since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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