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Dossier Kazakhstan uprising
Thursday 13 January 2022, by
CONTENT:
1. Kazakhstan turns into graveyard for U.S. diplomacy
2. Dozens of protesters and police dead amid Kazakhstan unres
3. A Color Revolution or a Working-Class Uprising?: an Interview with Aynur Kurmanov on the Protests in Kazakhstan
4. In solidarity with the people of Kazakhstan
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Photo: A Pentagon-funded bio-lab near Almaty, Kazakhstan, has become focus of attention for its research on “dangerous pathogens”
Kazakhstan turns into graveyard for U.S. diplomacy
Posted Jan 10, 2022
by M. K. Bhadrakumar
Originally published: Indian Punchline (January 9, 2021 )
Media, Strategy, WarKazakhstan, Russia, United StatesNewswire
The Kazakh Ministry of Health issued an innocuous disclaimer today denying social media reports about the seizure of a “military biological lab near Almaty by unidentified people.”
According to Tass news agency, the social media had speculated that specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab as “a leak of dangerous pathogens” occurred.
The carefully worded press release by the Kazakh ministry clarifies: “This is not true. The facility is being protected.” Period.
The intriguing report highlights the tip of an iceberg which has implications for public health and holds serious geopolitical ramifications.
Since the late 1990s, when it came to be known that the U.S. was steadily establishing and building up partnerships in biological research with several ex-Soviet republics, Moscow has repeatedly alleged that such cooperation posed a threat to Russia.
These biological research facilities were originally envisaged as part of the so-called Nunn-Lugar Biological Threat Reduction Program to prevent the proliferation of expertise, materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development of biological weapons.
But Moscow suspected that the exact opposite was happening—in reality, Pentagon has been sponsoring, lavishly financing and providing technical assistance to these laboratories where “under the guise of peaceful research, the U.S. is building up its “military-biological potential.”
In a sensational statement in October 2018, Major General Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops went to the extent of disclosing a discernible pattern of the network of Pentagon labs being located near the borders of Russia and China.
The U.S.-Kazakh partnership in this field dates back to 2003. Kazakhstan has been an interesting “hotspot” for infectious disease occurrence and surveillance due in part to its history, geography, and its diversity of host species. Kazakhstan has long maintained an infrastructure and tiered network for infectious disease surveillance since the time of the Tsars.
The U.S.-funded research projects centred on studies involving select agents including zoonoses: anthrax, plague, tularemia, highly pathogenic avian influenza, brucellosis, etc. These projects funded researchers in Kazakhstan, while project collaborators in the U.S. and UK mentored and guided these researchers to develop and test their hypotheses.
It has been a “win-win” arrangement. The Kazakh institute staff got trained in modern diagnostic and data management techniques, and did research work with lavish external funding, while the Pentagon obtained through such labs valuable inputs for U.S. covert biological weapon programs with military application specifically directed against ethnic groups in Russia and China.
The unassumingly-named Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Almaty figuring in the Tass report was originally planned in 2013 with the U.S. investing $102 million in a biosecurity lab to study some of the most deadly pathogens that could potentially be used in bioterrorism attacks.
Rather than locating the new facility in some obsecure tract of land in Nevada, the Pentagon deliberately chose a site near Almaty to securely store and study the highest-risk diseases such as plague, anthrax and cholera.
The rationale was that the lab would provide gainful employment to talented Kazakh researchers and get them off the streets, so to speak—that is, discourage them from selling their scientific expertise and services to terrorist groups who may have use for biological weapons!
But the CRL, now operational, is anchored on institutional cooperation between Kazakh government and the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency under the the Pentagon, which is tasked with protecting “U.S. National Security interests in a rapidly evolving, globalised threat environment to enable a greater understanding of our adversaries and provide solutions to WMD threats in an era of Great Power Competition.”
By the way, Germany also has a similar arrangement under the rubric German-Kazakh Network for Biosafety and Biosecurity, which is co-managed by the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (a military research facility of the German Armed Forces for Medical Biological Defence.)
Why is Kazakhstan a sought-after partner? Simply put, the country provides unique access to ethnic Russian and Chinese groups as “specimen” for conducting field research involving highly pathogenic, potential biological warfare agents. Kazakhstan has 13,364 km of borders with its neighbouring countries Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
Is China indifferent to all this? Far from it. Beijing Review featured a report sourced from BBC Monitoring in 2020 conveying China’s concerns in the matter. As recently as in November last year, a Russian commentator wrote that these bio-labs are virtual Pentagon bases and demanded an international inquiry. He highlighted that the Kazakh ministry of education and science “now works mainly on Pentagon research programmes.”
How could Kazakhstan, a CSTO member country, have got away with such conduct? This needs some explaining.
Paradoxically, these biological labs are living examples of something sinister that has been going on which everyone knew and no one wanted to talk about—namely, the extensive penetration of the decadent Kazakh ruling elites by the U.S. intelligence.
This penetration has been going on for years but significantly deepened as the 81-year old former president Nurusultan Nazarbayev’s “hands-on” leadership began to loosen and his family members and cronies increasingly began moonlighting (under the patriarch’s benevolent gaze, of course)—something akin to Yeltsin years in Russia.
Sadly, it is a familiar story. The Kazakh elites are notoriously corrupt even by Central Asian standards and the parasitic elites have preferred to keep their loot in safe havens in the western world. Unsurprisingly, they are hopelessly compromised to the U.S. intelligence. It’s as simple as that.
Most certainly, Moscow sensed that popular disaffection was building up and the ground beneath the feet of Nazarbayev, a close friend of Putin, was shifting. But it did not—or more likely, would not—interfere since the U.S. was operating through powerful comprador elements who happened to be the aging patriarch’s family members and associates.
Given the clan affiliations in that part of the world, Moscow probably felt it prudent to keep its counsel to itself. An added factor would have been the fear that the U.S. might manipulate the ultra-nationalist forces (as happened in Ukraine) to inflict harm on the vulnerable 3.5 million ethnic Russian minority (18% of the population.)
Above all, the fact of the matter is that Nazarbayev cronies held the levers of state power, especially over security apparatus, which gave Washington a decisive edge.
But things have dramatically changed this past week. Nazarbayev may still have some residual influence but not good enough to rescue the elite who subserved U.S. interests. President Tokayev, a low-profile career diplomat by profession, is finally coming on his own.
Two of Tokayev’s decisive moves have been the replacement of Nazarbayev as the head of the National Security Council and the dismissal of the country’s powerful intelligence chief Karim Masimov (who has since been arrested along with other unidentified suspects as part of a probe into “high treason.”)
Indeed, Washington has much to worry about because, at the end of the day, Kazakhstan remains an unfinished business unless and until a colour revolution can bring about regime change and instal a pro-West ruler in power, as in Ukraine. The current turbulence signified an abortive attempt at colour revolution, which boomeranged.
Unlike in Afghanistan, CIA and Pentagon are not in a position to “evacuate” their collaborators. And the torrential flow of events has shocked the Washington establishment. Kazakhstan is a large country (two-thirds the size of India) and sparsely populated (18 million), and the CSTO forces who moved in are well-equipped and led by a tough seasoned general who crushed the U.S.-backed insurgency in Chechnya.
The Russian forces have taken with them advanced Leer-3 electronic warfare system, which includes specially configured Orlan-10 drones, jamming devices, etc. Borders have been sealed.
The mandate for Russian forces is to protect “strategic assets”. Presumably, such assets include the Pentagon-funded labs in Kazakhstan.
Monthly Review does not necessarily adhere to all of the views conveyed in articles republished at MR Online. Our goal is to share a variety of left perspectives that we think our readers will find interesting or useful. —Eds.
M. K. Bhadrakumar is a former Indian diplomat.
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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/06/protesters-police-die-amid-kazakhstan-unrest
Dozens of protesters and police dead amid Kazakhstan unrest
Thursday 6 January 2022,
by Shaun WALKER
Witnesses in Almaty describe scenes of chaos in streets as Russian ‘peacekeepers’ arrive in country
Dozens of protesters and at least 12 police officers have died in ongoing violence in Kazakhstan, authorities have claimed, as “peacekeepers” from a Russian-led military alliance arrived in the country at the request of the embattled president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Witnesses in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, described scenes of chaos on Thursday, with government buildings being stormed or set on fire and widespread looting. Many of those demonstrating said the protests had begun peacefully earlier in the week, and turned violent after a heavy-handed government response.
The interior ministry said 2,298 people had been arrested during the unrest, while the police spokesperson Saltanat Azirbek told the state news channel Khabar-24 that “dozens of attackers were liquidated”. There were also reports of about 400 people in hospital.
City officials in Almaty said 748 officers from police and the national guard had been injured and 18 killed, one of whom they claimed had been found beheaded.
It was not immediately possible to verify the figures, but video footage showed violent clashes between protesters and authorities in a number of cities.
A local journalist, Ardak Bukeeva, who spent Thursday speaking with protesters in central Almaty, said demonstrators who stormed the presidential residence in the city told her dozens of people had been killed during the assault.
Many protesters said they had been prompted to come out earlier in the week as a result of long-simmering frustrations with the political and economic situation in the country, Bukeeva said. However, on Wednesday, the situation turned violent, with some claiming provocateurs had arrived to deliberately cause trouble, and others noting that police were almost entirely absent from the city centre.
Irina Mednikova, a civil society activist in Almaty, said she saw large pools of blood in the grass around the presidential residence on Thursday morning, and an absence of security forces or police.
“The residence was completely burned. The gates had been rammed open with cars or tractors, all the glass was broken, and inside there was smoke and a terrible smell of burning,” she said.
Internet and mobile phone reception was down in most of the country for much of Thursday, with only state television being available to most Kazakhs to receive news about the protests. Rumours spread by word of mouth, and it was difficult to verify claims.
Later on Thursday, news agencies reported new gunfire in Almaty and military vehicles on the move in the city. State television claimed an “anti-terrorist operation” was under way.
“The terrorists are using civilians, including women, as human shields. The police forces are trying their best to ensure the security of city residents,” Khabar 24 told its viewers. On Thursday evening authorities claimed they had all government buildings in Almaty under control.
Events have escalated quickly since the protests started over a rise in fuel prices in the west of the country over the weekend. They quickly spread, and by Tuesday thousands of people had taken to the streets in Almaty.
Valeria Ibraeva, an art historian who watched the protests from her window overlooking one of Almaty’s main thoroughfares, said on Tuesday the crowds were “friendly and smiling, without aggression and with lots of hope”. By Wednesday, however, there were attempts to overturn a bus on the street, and widespread looting of shops, she said.
On Wednesday morning, Tokayev declared a state of emergency and accepted the resignation of the government. He also said he was replacing Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ran the country from its independence in 1991 until 2019, as head of the security council.
These moves failed to quell the unrest, and late on Wednesday Tokayev appealed for intervention from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – an alliance made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The request was approved and Russian paratroopers arrived in Kazakhstan on Thursday. The decision to intervene came just hours after Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson said there should be no foreign interference in Kazakhstan.
The Russian defence ministry published images of Russian troops boarding military aircraft to Kazakhstan. The force will total around 2,500 people, the CSTO secretariat said late on Thursday.
The Russian MP Leonid Kalashnikov told Interfax the troops would stay “for as long as the president of Kazakhstan believes it necessary”. He said they would mainly be engaged in protecting “infrastructure”.
While it is clear the protests have been accompanied by violence and looting, there is no evidence that foreign-trained “terrorists” are involved, as Tokayev has claimed.
It is also striking that Tokayev felt he could not rely on Kazakhstan’s extensive security resources alone to put down the revolt, and suggests he may have felt unable to count on the loyalty of his forces.
Radio Azattyq, the Kazakh service of Radio Liberty, reported unrest in cities across the country. In Aktobe, protesters had got together to defend the airport and railway station, insisting they did not want violence and demanding negotiations with authorities. In other cities there were burned-out cars, a shutdown in public infrastructure and panic as people could not withdraw money from banks and found their cards did not work after the banking system closed down.
In the town of Taldykorgan, protesters pulled down a monument to Nazarbayev on Wednesday. The former president, who has the official title of leader of the nation, has not been seen in public since the protests began, and there were rumours on Thursday he and his family may have fled the country.
Shaun Walker
Additional reporting by Yevgeniya Plakhina
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A Color Revolution or a Working-Class Uprising?: an Interview with Aynur Kurmanov on the Protests in Kazakhstan
Thursday 6 January 2022,
by Zanovo Media
Today all post-Soviet mass-media and TV channels are riveted to the protests that suddenly engulfed Kazakhstan. To some they arouse hope, to others – horror and rejection. There are contradictions and different interpretations of what is happening: righteous people’s protest, clan wrangling, conspiracy of pro-Western and pro-Turkish forces or even “Islamist reaction”. But what is really happening? A Zanovo-media correspondent interviewed Aynur Kurmanov – one of the leaders of Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan.
A model republic
Kazakhstan is one of the biggest post-Soviet countries, which is only second to the Russian Federation in that system of political and economical relations, which was built after Soviet collapse. And this is not just because Nursultan Nazarbayev was one of the architects of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). The Kazakh model of smooth transformation of former party and Soviet nomenclature into a capitalist oligarchy with “an Asian face” was seen by many as a model. Indeed, this model had superficially attractive features not only for the ruling elites in other republics, but also for the average citizen: a high economic level, the presence of formal attributes of democracy, and few restrictions on Western culture. Large reserves of natural resources, including oil, and the industrial potential inherited from the socialist period proved a good launching pad for the young state. At the same time, the official propaganda of the Russian Federation and the CIS channels liked to set Kazakhstan as an example of preserving “the union traditions”, honoring the memory of the Great Patriotic War, the absence of nationalism, and so on.
Mass protests broke out immediately after the New Year holidays, on January 2. The reason for protests was the rise in price of liquefied gas for cars, from 60 tenge to 120 tenge per liter. The first unsanctioned demonstrations began in the west of Kazakhstan, in the Mangistau region, the heartland of large oil-producing enterprises. It is here that the notorious Zhanaozen is located, where ten years ago a workers’ strike was brutally suppressed: 15 strikers were killed and hundreds injured in Zhanaozen.
On the next day – January 3 – the protesters in the Mangistau Province added new social and political points to their initial demands: reduction of food prices, taking measures against unemployment, solution to the drinking water shortage, resignation of the government and local authorities. On this day, the protesters also began to gather in the squares and streets of Almaty, the capital city Nursultan and other cities. In a number of places, roads were blocked and protesters did not disperse even at night.
On Tuesday, January 4, protesters clashed with police. In Alma-Ata, security forces used stun grenades to disperse protesters. In turn, protesters overturned police cars. In the evening of the same day, mobile Internet, messengers and social networks stopped working.
Kazakhstani authorities tried to explain the gas price increase by the fact that its price is now determined by electronic bidding. As they say, “the market has decided”. The administration of the Mangistau Region firmly stated that everything was within the frames of the modern market economy, and the previous price was not coming back.
But on January 4, under pressure from the protesters, the government was forced to lower the price of gas in the Mangistau region to 50 tenge per liter. The President of Kazakhstan Kasim-Jomart Tokayev said that the rest of the demands of the population would be considered separately. And then on January 5, the current Cabinet of Ministers was dismissed. The director of the gas processing plant in Zhanaozen was detained.
Region of total poverty
The co-chairman of the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan Aynur Kurmanov described the situation in the following terms:
The workers of Zhanaozen were the first to rise. An increase in the gas price served only as a trigger for the popular protests. After all, the mountain of social problems has been accumulating for years. Last fall, Kazakhstan was hit by a wave of inflation. It should be taken into account that products are imported to the Mangistau region and they have always been 2-3 times more expensive there. But on a wave of rising prices at the end of 2021, the cost of food rose even more, and substantially. We must also take into account that the West of the country is a region of solid unemployment. In the course of neoliberal reforms and privatization, most of the businesses there were shut down. The only sector that still works here are the oil producers. But for the most part, they are owned by foreign capital. Up to 70 percent of Kazakhstan oil are exported to western markets, most of the profits also go to foreign owners.
There is practically no investment in the development of the region: it is an area of total poverty and poverty. And last year these enterprises began to undergo large-scale optimization. Jobs were cut, workers began to lose their salaries, bonuses, many enterprises have turned into just service companies. When in Atyrau region the company Tengiz Oil fired 40 thousand workers at once, it became the real shock for the whole Western Kazakhstan. The state did nothing to prevent such mass layoffs. And it should be understood, that one oil worker feeds 5-10 family members. Dismissal of a worker automatically condemns the whole family to starvation. There are no jobs here except for the oil sector and sectors that service its needs.
Kazakhstan has actually built a raw-material model of capitalism. The population has accumulated a lot of social problems, there is a huge social stratification. The “middle class” is ruined, the real sector is destroyed. The uneven distribution of the national product has a considerable corruption component. Neoliberal reforms have all but eliminated the social safety net. And most likely, the owners of transnational corporations calculated – 5 million people are needed for servicing the “pipe”; the whole 18+ million of Kazakh population is too much. And that’s why this revolt is anti-colonial in many ways. The causes the current protests are rooted in the workings of capitalism: price of liquefied gas really rose on electronic trades. There was a conspiracy of monopolists who benefited from exporting gas abroad, creating a shortage of it and an increase in gas prices on the domestic market. So they themselves provoked the riots. However, it should be noted that the current social explosion is directed against the whole policy of capitalist reforms that have been carried out over the last 30 years and their destructive results.
Traditions of Workers’ Struggle. Spontaneous Strike
The form of protest initially was a classic “proletarian” strike. On the night of 3 to 4 January, a wildcat strike began at the Tengiz Oil enterprises. Soon the strike spread to neighboring regions. Today, the strike movement has two main focus points – Zhanaozen and Aktau.
As conspiracy theorists write today, the unrest in Kazakhstan was carefully prepared in the West, as evidenced by the careful organization and coordination of the protesters. In Kurmanov’s words:
This is not a Maidan, although many political analysts are trying to present it this way. Where did such amazing self-organization come from? This is the experience and tradition of the workers. Strikes have been shaking the Mangistau region since 2008, and the strike movement began back in the 2000s. Even without any input from the Communist Party or other leftist groups, there were constant demands to nationalize the oil companies. The workers simply saw with their own eyes what privatization and foreign capitalist takeover was leading to. In the course of these earlier demonstrations, they gained enormous experience in struggle and solidarity. The very life in the wilderness made people stick together. It was against this background that the working class and the rest of the population came together. The protests of the workers in Zhanoazen and Aktau then set the tone for other regions of the country. Yurts and tents, which protesters began to put up in the main squares of the cities, were not at all taken from the “Euromaidan” experience: they stood in the Mangastau Region during the local strikes last year. The population itself brought water and food for the protesters.
In Kazakhstan today there is no legal opposition, the entire political field has been cleared. The Communist Party of Kazakhstan was the last to be liquidated in 2015. Only 7 pro-governmental parties remained. But there are plenty of NGOs working in the country, which actively cooperate with the authorities in promoting a pro-Western agenda. Their favorite topics: the famine of the 1930s, the rehabilitation of participants of the Basmachi movement and collaborators of World War II, and so on. NGOs also work on the development of nationalist movement, which in Kazakhstan is completely pro-government. Nationalists hold rallies against China and Russia which are sanctioned by the authorities.
According to our interlocutor, the sinister Islamists allegedly behind the recent events are also extremely weak and poorly organized in Kazakhstan. As he assured us, in fact, modern Kazakhstan is committed to building a mono-ethnic state, and nationalism is its official ideology. All reports of “pro-Soviet” Kazakhstan by the likes of Mir TV channel are a myth:
Back in 2017, a monument was erected in Kyzyl-Orda to Mustafa Chokai, the inspirer of the Turkestan legion of the Wehrmacht. Today, the state is radically revising history. The process has especially intensified after Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to the USA a few years ago. The pan-Turkic movement is also becoming more and more active. More recently, i[on the initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Union of Turkic States was established in Istanbul on Nov. 12, 2021. Kazakhstan’s elite keeps its main assets in the West. That’s why the imperialistic states are absolutely not interested in the downfall of the present regime; it is already completely on their side.
But perhaps not everything is so unambiguous with the geopolitical priorities of Kazakhstan? It seems that its leadership all the same tends to conduct notorious multi-vector policy, maneuvering between Russia, the West, China and Turkey. But one condition suits all foreign partners here – the local “loyal” legislation allows foreign companies to take the profits out of the country. However, if possible, none of the global players will stop at changing the government into an even more obedient one. And, of course, the liberal opposition will try to establish and is already establishing its control over the mass protest movement.
Nazarbayev’s resignation as president to head the Security Council was motivated by the desire to create the appearance of democracy, including to the West. In reality, he maintains full control over all the branches of power and only increased his power while at the same time completely avoiding responsibility. President Tokayev is a decorative figure, a pawn within the ruling family. Undoubtedly, the current protests can lead to some factions attempting a palace coup or similar actions. You can’t reduce everything to conspiracy theories. You shouldn’t idealize the current protest movement either. Yes, it is a grassroots social movement, with a pioneering role for workers, supported by the unemployed and other social groups. But there are very different forces at work in it, especially as workers do not have their own party, class trade unions, a clear program that fully meets their interests. The existing left-wing groups in Kazakhstan are more like circles and cannot seriously influence the course of events. Oligarchic and outside forces will try to appropriate and or at least use this movement for their own purposes. If it wins, the redistribution of property and open confrontation between various groups of the bourgeoisie, a “war of all against all,” will begin. But, in any case, the workers will be able to win certain freedoms and get new opportunities, including the creation of their own parties and independent trade unions, which will facilitate their struggle for their rights in the future.
Kazakhstan’s armed forces try to confront the protesters
P.S. After the article was published, it became known that in Almaty and some other cities there are heavy clashes, the protestors have seized many key infrastructure buildings in Almaty and other cities. Under pressure from the protests, President Tokayev made unprecedented social concessions – he promised state regulation of gas, gasoline and socially important goods, a moratorium on raising utility bills, subsidized rents for housing for the poor, and the creation of a public fund to support health care and children. Protesters also demanded a return to the 1993 Constitution and a government made up of people outside the system. And they still demand lower food prices and a reduction of the retirement age to 58-60, higher wages, pensions, child benefits, and so on.
Liberal opposition activists hastened to declare that it is they who coordinate the movement.
By the evening of January 5, it was reported that Nursultan Nazarbayev was no longer the chairman of the SB. President Tokayev took his place and stated his intention to act “as tough as possible. At the same time, it was promised that “consistent political reforms” would soon be carried out.
Later on that day Takayev called for a “peace-keeping” (in fact, police) operation of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) to suppress the protests, which the Kazakh were now declaring an attempt of intervention from outside. By the morning of January 6, CSTO council had approved of the request and there are already reports of Russian troops in Kazakhstan.
Zanovo Media
LeftEast gratefully acknowledges Zanovo-media, where this article was originally published in Russian.
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Source: https://www.laboursolidarity.org/In-solidarity-with-the-people-of?lang=en
In solidarity with the people of Kazakhstan!
Saturday 8 January 2022,
by International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggles
The popular revolt in Kazakhstan concerns us. Although the decisive factor was the increase in fuel prices, the revolt is part of a wider context. The movement was built in the workplaces, matured within them, and the workers themselves defined and enriched their demands and their methods of action.
On 3 January, the entire Mangistau region was affected by a general strike that spread to the neighbouring region of Atyrau. On 4 January, oil workers at Tengizchevroil went on strike. In December, tens of thousands of workers at this site had been laid off and further layoffs were announced. The movement spread to the Aktobe, West Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions. Miners from Arcelor-Mittal-Temirtau, copper smelters and mines of the Kazakh corporation joined and expanded the movement. At the heart of these struggles are demands for wages, lowering the retirement age, the right to freely form their unions and the right to strike.
The direct action of the workers, which was the origin of the movement, continued with rallies in many other cities. On the night of the 4th to the 5th, there were tough clashes with the forces of repression. The state of emergency was declared; as often, against «foreign elements», against «terrorists». In fact, it’s one of the responses of the authorities to the working class in revolt.
[The government’s attempt at division] by announcing a localised reduction in the price of petrol has failed. The dismissals and reshuffles at the head of the state do not respond to the demands of the movement: those who are fighting do so for social and political demands that correspond to the interests of our social class, not to know who will lead them!
From the 5th, massive rallies spread throughout the country. The demand for the release of all political prisoners and the restoration of the 1993 Constitution, for example, were added to the demands. Movements in different cities and regions tried to coordinate.
The killings of demonstrators began on the night of the 5th to the 6th. The army played its role: to serve the power in place, to enforce its order, by repressing, shooting and killing. Russian imperialism came as a reinforcement, facilitating and supporting the repression. The repressive forces of the state officially have the right to shoot without warning. The death toll is rising.
The member organisations of the International Labor Network of Solidarity and Struggle salute the determination and courage of the people of Kazakhstan. We stand in solidarity with the struggle, support their demands, both those relating to the direct expression of capitalist exploitation (wages, working hours, pensions, etc.) and the right to organise freely, to strike, etc.
The member organisations of the International Labor Network of Solidarity and Struggle join in the actions of solidarity with the people of Kazakhstan and denounce the repression exercised by the ruling power assisted by Russian governement.
Solidarity with the struggle of the people of Kazakhstan! Russian troops out of Kazakhstan!
8 January 2022
International Labor Network of Solidarity and Struggle
