MOSCOW — Kazakhstan's President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed his unrest-gripped Central Asian nation on Wednesday, vowing a
"tough" response to mass protests over a New Year energy price hike.
اضافة اعلان
Ex-Soviet Kazakhstan has been roiled by protests since the
start of the year that saw demonstrators earlier Wednesday storm government
buildings and authorities cut internet and mobile phone access nationwide in
response.
Tokayev addressed the country for a second time since the
protests began, assuring Kazakhs that he has no plans to step down from his
post after he sacked his cabinet earlier Wednesday.
"As president, I am obliged to protect the safety and
peace of our citizens, to worry about the integrity of
Kazakhstan," he
said in Russian on Kazakh television.
He said that the country had seen "massive attacks on
law enforcement officers" and claimed that at least several had been
"killed" or "wounded".
"Crowds of bandit elements are beating up servicemen,
mocking them, leading them naked through the streets, abusing women, robbing
shops," he claimed.
"As head of state and from today onwards as chairman of
the security council, I intend to act as tough as possible," Tokayev said.
"Together we will overcome this black period in the
history of Kazakhstan."
Tokayev was handpicked by Kazakhstan's founding president
Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stepped down in 2019.
But Nazerbayev had retained control over the country, until
now as chairman of the security council, and as "Leader of the
Nation" — a constitutional role that affords him unique policy-making
privileges as well as immunity from prosecution.
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