Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, believes President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's decisive actions during the January riots prevented the worst scenario.
"The January events shook all of Kazakhstan. As I noted earlier, the purpose of these organized riots and the attack on Kazakhstan was to create chaos in the country and to destroy the integrity of the state. The tragedy that happened was a lesson for all of us. It is important to find out who was behind the organization of all these pogroms and murders. I am confident that the investigation will answer this question," Nazarbayev said in an interview with Kazakhstani political analyst Daniyar Ashimbayev posted on his Telegram channel.
According to him, it is necessary to figure out why the relevant law enforcement agencies did not know or did not want to know about the riots being prepared across the country. "At that time, it was important for me to give my full support to our president, rather than react to various rumors and speculations. I handed him the chairmanship of the country's Security Council. It was the president's decisive actions that prevented the worst scenario," said Nazarbayev.
In early January, Kazakhstan was rife with rioters attacking police and soldiers. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev warned of an attempted coup d'etat and asked for help from the CSTO. The situation stabilized by January 7, and the state of emergency was lifted countrywide on January 19. According to the authorities, 230 people were killed and more than 4,500 were injured as a result of these events.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS