Kazakhstan’s Government Resigns Amid Unrest Over Fuel Prices

Author: Editors Desk Source: WSJ:

January 5, 2022 at 08:41

Protests raged in the center of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. PHOTO: VLADIMIR TRETYAKOV/ASSOCIATED PRESS

President declares two-week curfew in parts of former Soviet nation after some protests turn violent

MOSCOW—Mass protests in Kazakhstan over an increase in fuel prices have prompted the country’s authoritarian government to resign and the president to impose a state of emergency in a crisis that threatens to destabilize the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared a two-week curfew in Kazakhstan’s western Mangistau region and in Almaty, the country’s largest city. The restrictions include a ban on mass gatherings and limitations on movement.

In a statement published on his website Wednesday, Mr. Tokayev appealed to his compatriots “to show prudence and not to succumb to internal and external provocations, the euphoria of rallies and permissiveness.”

He said: “Calls to attack premises of civilian and military agencies are absolutely illegal. This is a crime and legal punishment may follow.”

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