Kazakhstan: 26 dead according to the Ministry of the Interior – Berlin contacts local partners

NAfter serious riots with dead and injured in Central Asian Kazakhstan, international concerns about a further escalation are growing. “A quick calming down of the situation is essential in order to avert further bloodshed, a destabilization of the country and thus also damage to the economic and investment location Kazakhstan,” said the Eastern Committee of German Business. Kazakhstan is “by far the most important German trading partner in Central Asia”.

The Foreign Office reported that they were exchanging ideas with closest local partners about developments in Kazakhstan. The task now is to find a peaceful solution “within the framework of a comprehensive dialogue with all those involved”. The violence, but also the massive restrictions on access to the Internet and social media, are viewed with concern. Kazakhstan’s obligations under the OSCE to uphold fundamental freedoms included maintaining free access to information, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.

The organization Reporters Without Borders lamented reports of police violence against media representatives in the authoritarian country that borders Russia and China. In addition, the Internet was repeatedly blocked in the ex-Soviet republic with its 18 million inhabitants. “That makes it difficult to provide independent information about what is going on.”

Russia sends Trump – USA warn Moscow

The USA also spoke out again for a peaceful solution to the crisis that had been triggered days ago by the sharp rise in gas prices. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken phoned his Kazakh colleague Muchtar Tleuberdi on Thursday evening. Blinken had reaffirmed “the United States’ full support for the constitutional institutions of Kazakhstan and the freedom of the media,” the State Department in Washington said later. There were also warnings from the EU that the violence must come to an end.

A Russian-led military alliance has meanwhile sent the first soldiers to the ex-Soviet republic at the request of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. According to the organization of the collective security treaty, among other things Russian paratroopers were deployed as part of a “peacekeeping force”. In addition to Russia and Kazakhstan, the alliance also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These states had also sent armed forces, it was said.

The “peacekeeping force” had been sent to Kazakhstan for a limited time “to stabilize and normalize the situation,” said a CSTO announcement. In addition to Russia and Kazakhstan, four other former Soviet republics are members of the military alliance. The alliance did not provide any information on the number of soldiers sent.

Washington, meanwhile, warned Moscow of human rights violations and stressed that the international community would keep an eye on the troops’ actions in Kazakhstan. “The United States and the whole world will be watching any human rights violations,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price. “We will also watch out for actions that could form the basis for the seizure of Kazakh institutions.”

Dead and many injured in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has been rocking unprecedented clashes between protesters and security forces for days. Protests, which were initially directed against rising gas prices, expanded into mass protests critical of the government across the country. According to Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry w26 demonstrators were killed. In addition, there were more than 3,000 arrests, reported the state broadcaster Khabar 24 on Friday morning, citing the ministry. The authority therefore spoke of “armed criminals”. Another 18 of them were injured.

State television had already spoken of dozens of “eliminated” people in the metropolis of Almaty on Thursday. That already suggested civilian casualties. The authorities had initially only confirmed the deaths of 18 security forces.