Malls, Gas, and Russia: Kazhakstan's Political Unrest

As Andrey Mikhaylovich entered a mall on the outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan, with his son, he assumed today would be a usual day at his clothing store. A few children who were annoyed to have been dragged along by their mother, two people fighting over the last blue scarf, all ending with him scraping enough money to put food on the table for his family. However, on January 4th, it was anything but. As Mikhaylovich woke up ready for another day of work, he was welcomed by the ring of gunshots across the city. When Mikhaylovich returned to his store five days later, he was left speechless by the complete destruction of, not only his store but the mall as a whole. Leaving Mikhaylovich and many other spectators of the violence wondering: What was the reason for this violence? 

To truly understand these actions we have to look back into the political history of the country known as “The Land of the Great Steppe.” The area now known as Kazakhstan was split between Ukraine and Russia until it gained independence in 1991. After it gained its independence, Kazakhstan elected its first President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stayed on as President until 2019, when he gave the reins to his chosen successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. However, despite Tokayev taking the title of President, it is still believed that it is Nazarbayev and his family who continue to pull strings behind the scenes. This type of political violence has become a theme in former Soviet countries, with the most recent being Ukraine in 2013, and Belarus in 2020, a conflict that is still continuing today. 

The fuse was lit on New Year’s Day when the government removed a cap on energy prices, this led to the price of liquified natural gas doubling. In the poorer regions of Kazakhstan, this is a cheap alternative to the normal petrol used by the majority of first-world countries. Kazakhstan is not a notorious place where violence takes place; however, people took to the streets in the aftermath of the raised price of liquified natural gas and the build-up of other socio-economic problems caused by the government. One of the major areas where fighting broke out was in the country’s commercial center of Almaty, Mikhaylovich’s hometown. Protesters, in no time at all, had burnt government buildings and took the national airport causing police to take action against them. Police fired bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades into the crowds causing destruction, leading to mass casualties on both sides, with some police even joining forces with the protesters, as they too channel their anger against the government. Chants of “Old man go!” have been a common occurrence at the protests, with the people of Kazakhstan telling Nazarbayev to get out of their country, with some protesters going as far as to take down his bronze statue. 

Tokayev has been forced into bringing foreign forces from Russia to help calm the situation despite his attempts to reconcile with the protesters. Putin, of course, is more than happy to help beat down the protesters, so the people of Russia don’t get any ideas of doing such a thing themselves, however, this was not Tokayev’s first reaction. Tokayev initially responded to the protests by sacking his government and removing Nazarbayev from his post as Head of the Powerful Security Council. He has also reinstated the energy cap, involving the price of liquified natural gas, and has also promised a new cap on food and electricity prices. However, it is still unclear whether or not this will be enough for the protests to stop due to the unrest that has silently gone on across Kazakhstan for the past several decades. With the people now truly having a say in what happens in their country, who knows what this new taste of power could do to the people and country of Kazakhstan.