The head of the intelligence agency was also arrested on ‘treason charges’… “Related to anti-government protests”
Rumors of Nazarbaev fleeing abroad
(Almaty Archyde.com = Yonhap News) The city hall in Almaty, the economic center of Kazakhstan, where a state of emergency was declared due to anti-government protests, was engulfed in flames during the protests on the 6th (local time), and some buildings are still billowing with smoke. 2022.1.6 sungok@yna.co.kr
(Moscow, Seoul = Yonhap News) Correspondent Yoo Cheol-jong, Correspondent Jeon Myung-hoon = It is reported that the situation in Almaty, the center of large-scale bloody protests in Kazakhstan, is entering a lull.
It is reported that more than 5,000 protesters were arrested while Russian paratroopers were dispatched. The head of Kazakhstan’s intelligence agency, the KGB, was also arrested on treason charges.
◇ Almaty gunfire stopped… “More than 5,000 people have been arrested”
Deputy Mayor of Almaty Yerjan Babukumarov said on the 9th (local time) that “the situation is generally stabilizing,” but “the tension is continuing as some militants are still protesting,” Sputnik news agency reported.
Earlier, Interfax reported that the situation in Almaty had stabilized in the followingnoon of the 8th and that the gunshots heard in the morning had stopped.
According to reports, armored vehicles are still deployed around the city’s Republic Square, and police vehicles can be seen moving quickly, but there are also regular vehicles on the road.
“The situation in Kazakhstan is gradually improving,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in close contact with the Kazakh government, said in a press release on the 8th.
The Crisis Management Center of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We hope that the situation will be stabilized with the measures of the Kazakh authorities and the support of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).” The CSTO is the former Soviet bloc’s security council, and Russia has sent peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan through this organization.
However, Almaty’s internet and social media are still blocked, and international calls are rarely connected, a local source said.
Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said that by the 8th, 5,135 people had been arrested for taking part in the unrest.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said foreigners were among the arrested protesters, but did not mention the specific country name.
As a result of the military and police suppression, the death toll of the protesters has so far exceeded 50, and it is known that there have been many casualties even among the suppressed police and police.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who dispatched a paratrooper to the local area to assist in resolving the Kazakh protests, had a phone call with Kazakhstan President Tokayev on the 8th to discuss countermeasures.
President Tokayev explained to Putin details of the protests and said that the situation was stabilizing, the Kremlin said.
President Tokayev then proposed to hold a CSTO member summit via video to discuss response to the protests, and President Putin also supported the proposal, the Kremlin added.
The CSTO has been dispatching 2,500 peacekeepers to Kazakhstan from the 6th, mainly with the Russian paratroopers.
(Almaty Archyde.com = Yonhap News) Kazakh security forces check and search vehicles in downtown Almaty on the 8th.
◇ KGB head arrested for treason… Rumors of fleeing the first president of Nazarbayev
According to the TAS news agency, Kazakhstan’s National Security Council (KGB) public affairs office said on the 8th, “On the 6th, KGB Chairman Kareem Maximov and others were arrested and imprisoned in detention centers through their own investigation into the treason charges.”
The Kazakh KGB is the highest intelligence agency following the former Soviet KGB. The specific charges once morest Chairman Maximoff are unknown.
Chairman Maximov served as prime minister twice under former President Nazarbayev from 2007 to 2012 and 2014 to 2016, and served as the head of the presidential administrative office (head of the secretary) from 2012 to 2014. come.
He was then fired following the general resignation of the cabinet on the 6th in the midst of this massive anti-government protest.
Samat Abish, the first vice-chairman of the KGB, who was dismissed along with Maximov, was also reported to have been arrested in Almaty on the 7th. Abish is also the nephew of former President Nazarbayev.
Regarding the sudden arrest of a leader of the intelligence service, local analysis suggests that Nazarbayev’s close aides may have planned the protest to overthrow the Kasim-Jomart Tokaev regime.
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Yermuhammed Yertisbayev, who served as an adviser to former President Nazarbayev, said in an interview with the state-run Habar 24 TV the day before, that Almaty uprising planners prayed for Tokaev’s ouster, including the leadership of the security agency. It argued that high-ranking government officials may have intervened.
He pointed out that the KGB had been hiding information regarding an extremist training camp in a mountainous area, and that during the protests’ attack on Almaty airport on the 5th, he also helped the protesters by ordering the airport security to be lifted 40 minutes before the attack.
There were also reports that former President Nazarbayev had already fled abroad with his three daughters.
Orda.kz, a local media outlet, reported on the 7th that former President Nazarbayev left Kazakhstan first, and his daughters followed him.
President Jomart announced on the 5th that while accepting the general resignation of the cabinet, he would dismiss former President Nazarbayev from the position of chairman of the National Security Council (NSC) and assume the chair directly.
Former President Nazarbayev voluntarily resigned from the presidency in 2019, but has continued to exercise political influence while maintaining the chair of the National Security Council and enjoying the status of ‘Wealth of State’.
Some analysts suggest that the protests stemmed from a conflict between the forces of President Jomart, who tried to consolidate his position, and the forces of former President Nazarbayev, who wanted to maintain his political influence.
A spokesperson for the former president, Nazarbayev, however, refuted rumors of his flight abroad, saying he was staying in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and had continued contact with President Tokaev and had several phone calls with foreign leaders.
In addition, the Kazakh KGB press office said that the first vice-chairman Abish continued to hold his post.
Almaty (AFP = Yonhap News) Kazakhstan President Kasim-Jomart Tokayev delivers a speech to the people in Almaty, on the 7th (local time). In a speech that day, he said he might not negotiate with criminals and murderers, and that “the armed forces used to suppress the protests and others have given permission to aim and fire without warning.” 2022.1.7 jsmoon@yna.co.kr
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