Nur-Sultan. January 7. INTERFAX-KAZAKHSTAN - About 2.5 thousand CSTO peacekeepers will be in Kazakhstan on a temporary basis, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic Shukhrat Nuryshev said.
"I want to emphasize that the stay of the CSTO peacekeeping forces will be temporary. It depends on the internal situation in Kazakhstan. As stated by the CSTO Secretary General, we can talk about several days or weeks. According to his information, the total number is 2.5 thousand people," Nuryshev said.
The situation in Kazakhstan worsened on January 2, when rallies against a sharp increase in prices for liquefied gas began in Zhanaozen (a city in the Mangystau region, in the west of the country). Then they escalated into mass protests across the country with economic and political demands. On January 4 and 5, protesters clashed with security forces in Almaty. There are dead and injured. On the morning of January 5, the President of Kazakhstan dismissed the government. A state of emergency has been introduced in the country.
On Wednesday, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that he appealed to the leaders of the CSTO countries for help in overcoming the terrorist threat in the country.
