ALMATY, Kazakhstan — President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Almaty on Wednesday for the first time since clashes there left
dozens dead, vowing to repair damage to oil-rich
Kazakhstan’s largest city and
financial hub.
اضافة اعلان
“The task now is to rebuild the city in the shortest
possible time,” he told a government meeting, according to a statement released
by his office.
“I have no doubt the city will be restored,” he told
a government meeting, according to a statement on the presidential website.
The visit came on the eve of the start of the
announced withdrawal of a Russia-led military contingent of more than 2,000
troops that were sent to help restore order after peaceful protests gave way to
violence and looting last week.
Dozens have died in the unrest that began with
peaceful protests over an energy price hike. Hundreds of people were injured
and police said they arrested more than 10,000 people.
“Tomorrow begins the organized withdrawal of the
peacekeeping contingent” of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO),
the alliance led by Moscow, said Tokayev.
Almaty showed further signs of a return to normal
life Wednesday, with many more people out on the streets than last week and
most restaurants and shops open.
AFP correspondents saw helicopters flying overhead
as Tokayev met officials in the city where municipal services were cleaning up
broken glass from shop windows smashed by looters.
‘Successful mission’
Tokayev said Russian and
allied forces “played a very important role in terms of stabilizing the
situation in the country”.
“Without a doubt, it was of great psychological
importance in repelling the aggression of terrorists and bandits. The mission
can be considered very successful,” he added.
In a meeting with CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav
Zas, Tokayev said the mission had “once again confirmed the value of the organization
itself as a military-political structure” while raising its international
status.
“The effectiveness of the organization has
manifested itself quite clearly in this situation.”
Zas was quoted by Tokayev’s office as briefing the
meeting “on the beginning of the withdrawal from our country of the contingents
of the member states of the organization within the timeframe indicated by the
head of Kazakhstan”.
Tokayev also spoke with relatives of law enforcement
personnel killed in the riots and visited injured people in hospital.
Almaty airport, closed since last week after being
ransacked, is due to resume service Thursday for national and international
flights, according to the Kazakhstan Civil Aviation Committee.
While authorities have described the violence as the
work of foreign “terrorists”, it erupted on the back of peaceful demonstrations
over a rise in fuel prices and against a background of deteriorating living
standards and endemic corruption.
The crisis also exposed rifts at the top of the
national leadership, with Tokayev on Tuesday signaling a split with mentor and
predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, 81, who ruled Kazakhstan for a
quarter-century but has not been seen in public since the end of last year.
Karim Masimov, a top Nazarbayev ally, who prior to
the crisis served as national security chief, has been arrested on treason
charges linked to the unrest.
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