Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN, January 18. /TASS/: The mass riots that erupted in Kazakhstan in January were aimed at destroying the republic’s integrity and the state’s fundamentals, Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Tuesday.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — The mass protests in Kazakhstan began peacefully over the New Year’s weekend, with marchers denouncing a sharp rise in fuel prices. They spread quickly from the western part of the Central Asian nation to more populous areas, eventually reaching its largest city of Almaty.

But something changed over the course of a week.

NUR-SULTAN, January 11. /TASS/: President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that he will present a package of political reforms in September.

"In my next address [to the people] in September, I will present a new package of political reforms that will be prepared based on a wide an constructive dialogue with the public and experts," he told the lawmakers Tuesday.

The president noted that Kazakhstan "will continue its course towards political modernization."

"This is my principal position," he stated.

NUR-SULTAN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Russian-led forces will begin withdrawing from Kazakhstan in two days' time after stabilising the Central Asian nation following serious unrest, the president said on Tuesday, in a speech that took aim at wealthy associates of his predecessor.

In a video call with parliament after putting down what he has called an attempted coup, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appointed a new government headed by career public servant Alikhan Smailov.

NUR-SULTAN, January 10. /TASS/: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asserted that the constitutional order has been restored in the republic following mass disturbances.

NUR-SULTAN, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory on Monday in defending Kazakhstan from what he described as a foreign-backed terrorist uprising, and promised leaders of other ex-Soviet states that a Moscow-led alliance would protect them too.

Kazakhstan's biggest city Almaty returned to near-normal on Monday after nearly a week of unrest, by far the worst violence in the 30-year independent history of what had been the most stable former Soviet state in Central Asia.

NUR-SULTAN, January 9./TASS/: The Kazakh Ministry of Health has denied information circulated in social media about the seizure of a military biological lab near Almaty by unidentified people.

"This is not true. The facility is being protected," the ministry’s press service said.

Social media reports maintained that specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab, so, a leak of dangerous pathogens could have occurred.

NUR-SULTAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree declaring Jan. 10 a national day of mourning for the victims of recent unrest in the country.

"In connection with the death of people as a result of terrorist acts committed in the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is declared that January 10, 2022, will be that nationwide mourning day," according to the decree released on Saturday.

NUR-SULTAN, January 8. /TASS/: Aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense will operate flights from Almaty to transport Russians to their homeland, the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan said on Facebook.

NUR-SULTAN, January 8. /TASS/: The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, stays in the capital of the republic and maintains direct contact with the current president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to press secretary of Nazarbayev Aidos Ukibay.

"Elbasy (the leader of the nation Nursultan Nazarbayev - TASS) is located in the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Nur-Sultan. We ask you not to spread false and speculative information," Ukibay wrote on Twitter.