Kazakhstan Cuts Internet Off as Protesters Storm Government Buildings

Kazakhstan protesters stormed and burned official buildings on Wednesday, as the resignation of the Cabinet failed to quell the most serious unrest in the country in more than a decade.

As violent clashes raged between protesters and security forces, the government declared states of emergency in the capital Nur-Sultan, as well as the main city Almaty, and the western province of Mangistau, where the protests first erupted three days ago, ignited by a sudden surge in prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used in many vehicles in the oil-rich country.

In a televised speech, embattled President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he intended to “act as tough as possible" in response to the protests, adding he was “obliged to protect the safety and peace of our citizens, to worry about the integrity of Kazakhstan.”

In a bid to defuse the crisis, Tokayev accepted the resignation of the cabinet, and stripped former president Nursultan Nazarbayev – the longest-serving leader of an ex-Soviet state – of the role he had retained as head of the country's security council, although there was little indication this would placate the protesters. The government imposed a nationwide internet blackout, according to NetBlocks, a group that monitors online connectivity.

Earlier in Almaty, large crowds of protesters, some armed with truncheons and shields, broke through police lines to storm city hall. Video footage of the scene showed large clouds of smoke and what appeared to be gunshots.

The prosecutors office and the Almaty headquarters of Nur Otan, Kazakhstan's ruling political party, were also trashed and set on fire, after Reuters reported thousands of protesters were descending on the city centre, amid a barrage of tear gas and stun grenades from security forces.

Banks, shops and restaurants also came under attack, Reuters reported, citing Kazakhstan's business lobby group, Atameken, while footage on social media appeared to show protesters jostling and disarming a member of security forces on the street.

Violent clashes were also reported in the city of Aktobe, where police reportedly fired tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades on protesters trying to force their way into city hall, while in Taldykorgan, protesters were seen attempting to tear down a statue of Nazarbayev, the former president.

It followed clashes in the southern cities of Shymkent and Taraz overnight. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 200 people were detained amid the unrest throughout the country on Tuesday night, which left 95 police wounded.

The unrest came despite the resignation of the country’s cabinet, which was accepted by embattled Tokayev on Wednesday. But that concession was never likely to placate the protesters, Luca Anceschi, professor of Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow told VICE World News, calling the removal of the cabinet “standard crisis management.”

“You can’t read anything into the resignation,” he said. “Pretty much what the president is saying is ‘these guys are incompetent – so I’m getting rid of them. You stop protesting and I’m going to fix the issue.”

But what the protesters appeared to want, he said, was the removal of the regime, or wide-ranging political reforms, particularly the power to elect regional governments.

Anceschi said the uncharacteristic unrest in the authoritarian country had been ignited by the removal of caps on LPG prices on the 1st of January, resulting in the price more than doubling and causing widespread anger in a country where many have converted their cars to run on the fuel.

But that had only been the catalyst that had unleashed public anger over deeper-seated political and economic woes.

“That was just a spark – but this is not just about energy,” he said.

He said the discontent could be traced to 2019, when Nazarbayev, the dictator who had ruled the country since 1990, resigned, and appointed Tokayev his successor.

“The people were not happy because they really wanted to elect a second president rather than just having someone appointed by the regime,” he said. “So the beginning of the Tokayev presidency was marked by significant protests.”

In the years since, oil production in the oil and gas-rich country stagnated, and prices dropped, resulting in growing economic difficulties for ordinary people.

“So you have a legitimacy problem to start with, then you have the economy really slow down then when the gas prices were doubled overnight – the people had enough,” said Anceschi.

He said the pace and rapid escalation of the protests had surprised him, and it was difficult to predict how the situation would resolve itself.

“People are entering government buildings,” he said. “Things are getting out of hand.”