Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared five aircraft had been hijacked and Almaty Airport was seized and occupied by “terrorists” as civil unrest spreads through the nation. The latest reports indicate the government has regained control of the airport.
Almaty Airport Seized By Protestors – Now Back Under Government Control
Liquified petroleum gas prices dramatically rose on January 1st after long-term price caps were lifted. The sudden doubling of prices sparked civil unrest across the nation and has led to massive street protests.
VIDEO: 🇰🇿 Thousands take to the streets of Kazakhstan’s largest city #Almaty, marching towards the main city administration building after a night of unprecedented unrest across the Central Asian nation that followed an energy price hike pic.twitter.com/K5OI5T3u5i
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 5, 2022
#Kazakhstan
-The #US department has urged its fellow citizens in Kazakhstan to avoid going outside
-Almaty International Airport is under lockdown
-U.S. Consulate General closed to visitors
-Many government buildings are on fire#KazakhstanProtests pic.twitter.com/3htXQWMHpq— Global.TV (@GlobalTelevsion) January 6, 2022
In Almaty, the largest city and commercial hub of Kazakhstan, those protests have spiraled out-of-control and led to looting and vandalism. According to Kazakh authorities, protestors are also occupying Almaty International Airport.
Almaty Intl. Airport pic.twitter.com/urx7kFwDen
— Jascha Carolov (@JCarolov) January 6, 2022
Speaking on state TV, Tokayev noted:
“Terrorist gangs are seizing large infrastructure facilities, in particular in the Almaty airport, five planes, including foreign planes. Almaty has been attacked, destroyed and vandalized.”
Overnight, however, reports from Russian news agency TASS suggest the government has regained control of the airport.
Appealing to members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Tokayev pleaded for aid in helping to restore order. The CSTO is a military alliance formed after the Soviet Union collapsed and includes:
- Armenia
- Belarus
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Russia
- Tajikistan
The CSTO, via the Armenian president, has indicated it will send “peacekeeping” troops in to quell violence and restore order.
While the sudden rise in petroleum prices may be directly to blame, the civil unrest is also linked to the ongoing presence of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev in the daily affairs of the nation. Nazarbayev led Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019 as president and remained the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan until yesterday. Many cynically believed he continued to call the shots despite relinquishing the presidential title.
In an attempt to restore order, President Tokayev removed Nazarbayev from his role as Chairman of the Security Council. The entire presidential cabinet has also resigned. Internet throughout the country has also been shut down.
Russia has accused the USA of sending in foreign agents to stoke civil unrest while the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explicitly denied such accusations.
CONCLUSION
Civil unrest continues in Kazakhstan and Almaty Airport, at least for a time, was taken over by protestors the government has dubbed terrorists.
Speaking personally, I visited Kazakhstan in 2011 and view it as a highly corrupt country…I was forced to bribe my way out at the very airport in Almaty. As Thomas Jefferson said, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” I condemn burning cars and looting buildings no matter how just the cause, but I’m rather sympathetic to the idea that reforms are needed that go well beyond rising oil prices.
> Read More: Bribing My Way Out of Kazakhstan
Putin wants to send in “peacekeeping” ”assistance” to prop up the hyper-corrupt Kazakh regime and its favored cronies there. This is par for the course for Putin.
Thanks
They wanted their Jan 6th to be special as well
Very similar: both governments involved totally misrepresent the motives of the people for their own propagandistic purposes.
Our cops are not trained well.
Instead of having a black silhouette at the shooting range we need photos of white guys so cops will not hesitate and open fire and kill as many terrorists as they can next time.
Exxept over there they are doing it for the right reasons.
I was in Almaty back in 2010, on that same late night/early morning Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt that Matthew took in 2011.
Fun fact – the airport has a VIP lounge. Using the term loosely, it’s really a 7-11 with a bunch of sofas, as all food items has a price tag. But alas, at 1am, there was no one there to sell me the stale sandwiches or soda.
Glad to know that a visit a 11 years ago makes you well aware of the situation and how corrupt it currently is. As someone that actually lives there as an expat but is currently stranded, it is a vastly different country and landscape as it was then. But, you would know more about what needs to happen there, I guess…
As someone who up until a couple months ago also worked and lived in both Nursultan and Almaty, Kazakhstan is definitely still corrupt. Anyone denying that must be working for the government. All the vast riches from their natural oil reserves are pocketed by the politicians along with continued shady dealings with China firms over infrastructure investments (where only a few pocket the money and leave the Kazakh citizens paying off the debt). Day-to-day life in Kazakhstan is pretty decent, but given the rising prices of all the previously cheap goods yet pay cuts hitting most folks instead of seeing rising wages like in some of the western countries during this inflationary period, I can understand the frustration of the citizens. The corruption is a big reason for all the protests to begin with.
All governments call those who want freedom terrorists. Whether it’s democracy with 51% enslaving the other 49% in a system/rules/laws it doesn’t consent/support or it’s a dictatorship, it’s all the same.
I don’t know who the bad actors are here. Probably both. The corrupt is of course anti freedom. The people aren’t necessarily the good guys either. I’m happy for the West to stay out of it.
I do know a simple way to determine the terrorist: whoever opposes free speech, gun rights, economic freedom, freedom of association, school choice, medical freedom, vaccine choice, and who thinks it’s ok to ban freedom if 51% agree is a terrorist.
Opposing gun rights? You really have no clue what a terrorist is then.