“A wave of massive riots unfolded under the guise of spontaneous protests, since religious radicals, criminal elements, notorious bandits, looters and thugs appeared at a single command,” the President explained in the videoconference of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

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He clarified that the socio-economic and socio-political demands presented in the first moments of the protests were heard and attended by the country’s authorities but afterwards were “relegated to second or third place and forgotten.”

Tokayev pointed out that the “hot phase” developed after that first moment, when armed groups that had been waiting for that moment intervened.

“The main objective was clear: to undermine the constitutional order, destroy government institutions and seize power. We are talking about an attempted coup,” stressed the President, who affirmed that the crisis suffered by the country is the largest in the history of the independence of Kazakhstan.

During the exchange, Tokayev thanked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for the swift decision to send a contingent to Kazakhstan to keep the peace, and highlighted the permanent contacts they had held in recent days.

He also highlighted the work of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinian, in charge of the presidency of the CSTO (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan), for his timely management of the documents necessary to launch this initiative.

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