CSTO Secretary General announced a turning point in the situation in Kazakhstan

The Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas said that a turning point in the situation had come in Kazakhstan. At the same time, it is too early to say that the situation has returned to normal.

“But at the same time, the situation is improving, the turning point has already arrived, and we can say that the country is returning to normal life,” he said.

Zas added that the law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies of Kazakhstan still have a lot of work ahead of them.

“But that’s another task. In principle, there are no longer shots and such unprecedented events as they were in recent days – this is no longer the case, ”said the CSTO Secretary General.

Earlier on January 15, Serik Shalabaev, head of the criminal prosecution service at the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that 225 people, including 19 security officials, had died during the riots in Kazakhstan.

On January 2, protests began in Kazakhstan due to rising prices for liquefied gas. In some cities, the rallies turned into riots. The situation has escalated especially in the country’s largest city, Alma-Ata.

The protesters, among whom, according to the authorities, turned out to be extremists, broke into the administration building, set fire to the prosecutor’s office, the office of the ruling party and seized the presidential residence. During the riots, 19 security officials were killed, two of them were beheaded. The country’s authorities said that such brutal actions indicate a terrorist threat.

Amid the unrest, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the CSTO (it includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia) for help in overcoming the terrorist threat. On January 12, he announced the completion of the CSTO peacekeeping operation in the country.