Understanding the Unrest in Kazakhstan

A month after one of the greatest upheavals in the country’s history, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokyev paid tribute to the protestors who were lost to the violence. The service took place on Sunday, February 13, 2022; prayers were offered for the deceased and promises were made to the living. President Tokyev vowed to prioritize the protection of human rights and announced a new social foundation called "Kazakhstan halkyna" (for the Kazakh people), which will be dedicated to aiding those who were impacted by the recent brutality. He added that cultivating a spirit of solidarity is a responsibility shared by all of Kazakhstan’s citizens— not just the government— and that achieving this harmony will be crucial to preventing such tragedies in the future.

While Kazakhstan’s history has been largely defined by the turmoils of foreign interference, the January revolt was spurred by internal economic factors. When the price of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) was doubled, residents of the Western cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau began the protests which swiftly swept the nation. The unrest spread to neighbouring cities, such as Aktobe and Atyrau, before erupting in Nur-Sultan, the capital, and Almaty, the country's largest city. The demonstrations incited theft, vandalism of government installations, arson, and physical clashes between protestors and police forces.

Despite the Kazakh government's decision to subsequently re-lower the LPG prices, the public’s anger was not quelled, and the protests escalated with Almaty as the epicentre. Tokayev turned to a Russian-led military bloc for aid, sidelining his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, by taking over the National Security Council. The Russian-led alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), claimed it was deploying paratroopers on a "peacekeeping" mission that would allow Kazakhstan’s government to restore order, however, videos released by local media sources revealed them opening fire on protesters, thereby ignoring the UN’s request for a non-violent counter-terrorism operation.

Statistics provided by Serik Shalabayev, chief of criminal prosecution, suggest that approximately 8,000 protestors were detained, at least 4,500 people were injured, and 225 people, including 19 security officials, were killed in the riots— marking this the worst violence in the country’s post-Soviet history. Though political dissent is not new to the nation, the world was stunned by the rapid pace at which the crisis escalated.

The brutality depicted in the news paints the narrative of a frenzied mob, but the reality is much more complex: an intergenerational anger that has simmered for years and has now reached its breaking point. One advocate of such a narrative, socialist and Kazakhstani citizen Petra Bardaq said that last month’s upheaval was the result of three decades of poverty and oppression. While the protests were attended by over 50,000 civilians of varying social standings, the poorer masses in Almaty had a distinct and unifying presence— creating a collective sense of awareness around the working class.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the agricultural sector in Kazakhstan was severely damaged: Nazarbayev’s introduced a policy of multi-vector diplomacy that would allow foreign powers like Russia and China to access Kazakhstan’s resources— strengthening their foreign relations at the cost of the people’s livelihoods. To this day, rural areas suffer from extreme poverty while workers in the city struggle to achieve a decent standard of living. Hence, the outrage at fuel prices was not a simple reaction but the culmination of decades of hardship.

Nazarbayev’s government also fostered anger within immigrant communities. Under his authority, the Kazakhstani economy exploited the work of migrant workers who accepted a far lower wage and were afforded no legal protection— forcing them to endure regular human rights violations. After the protests calmed, Tokayev admitted "the problem of inequality has become acute. It gets worse and worse every year even if average indicators seem to grow." He declared that "time has come to give back to the people of Kazakhstan and start helping them systematically," vowing to battle the inequality that has become characteristic of the country’s oligarchical economy.

The Kazakhs’ dissent goes beyond the cost of gas; it is the unique frustration of being trapped in poverty while living in the most resource-rich land in Central Asia. Nazarbayev’s regime relied on oppression and distrust between ethnic groups as tools for exploitation. If Tokyev’s new government is aiming for a spirit of solidarity, they would be better served by bridging the economic disparities that allowed for such fury to fester, rather than turning to foreign powers to silence the oppressed once the damage has been done.

Bibliography

Bardaq, Petra. "The revolt in Kazakhstan was three decades in the making." The Socialist Worker. https://socialistworker.co.uk/long-reads/the-revolt-in-kazakhstan-was-three-decades-in-the-making/?mc_cid=e335cc463d&mc_eid=93e6ad55fb

"Kazakhstan Reports Casualties. UN Calls for Non Violence."

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Kazakhstan-Reports-Casualties.-UN-Calls-for-Non-Violence-20220106-0015.html

"Migrant Workers in Kazakhstan: No status, no rights." FIDH. 2016. https://www.labourcentralasia.org/upload/iblock/33f/33f3b989550daf2f0a512ff284c7019e.pdf

Reuters, Thomas. "Kazakhstan puts unrest death toll at 225." January, 16, 2022. https://www.euronews.com/2022/01/16/us-kazakhstan-protests-casualties

Ronjit, Rahan. "Kazakhstan President Tokayev Pays Tribute To Those Killed In January Protests." https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/kazakhstan-president-tokayev-pays-tribute-to-those-killed-in-january-protests-articleshow.html