2022 Kazakh unrest

The 2022 Kazakh unrest, also known as January Events (Kazakh: Қаңтар оқиғасы, romanized: Qañtar oqiğasy; Russian: Январские события, romanized: Janvarskie sobytija), Bloody January (Kazakh: Қанды қаңтар, romanized: Qandy qañtar; Russian: Кровавый январь), or the January Tragedy (Kazakh: Қаңтар трагедиясы, romanized: Qañtar tragediasy), was a series of mass protests and civil unrest that began in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden sharp increase in liquefied petroleum gas prices following the lifting of a government-enforced price cap on 1 January. The protests began peacefully in the oil-producing city of Zhanaozen and quickly spread to other cities in the country, especially the nation's largest city, Almaty, which saw its demonstrations turn into violent riots, fueled by rising dissatisfaction with the government and widespread poverty. During the week-long violent unrest and crackdowns, 227 people were killed and over 9,900 were arrested, according to Kazakh officials.

Growing discontent with the government and former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who remained the chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan, also influenced larger demonstrations. As there were no popular opposition groups against the Kazakh government, the unrest appeared to be assembled directly by citizens. In response, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency in Mangystau Region and Almaty, effective from 5 January 2022. The Second Mamin Government resigned the same day, and Nazarbayev himself was also removed from his position of chairman of the Security Council. The state of emergency was shortly extended to the whole country. In response to Tokayev's request, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – a military alliance of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan – agreed to deploy troops in Kazakhstan. The aim was declared to be peacekeeping while some commentators described it as helping the Kazakh government in quelling the unrest. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the intervention as a concerted effort to protect regional allies from what he described as colour revolutions "instigated by foreign interference in allies' internal affairs". CSTO troops were initially deployed to government buildings in the capital city, Astana, and then guarded key infrastructure in Almaty.

As a concession, Tokayev announced that vehicle gas price caps of 50 tenge per litre would be restored for 6 months. On 7 January, he said in a statement that constitutional order had "largely been restored in all regions of the country." He also announced that he had ordered troops to use lethal force against protesters, authorizing instructions to "shoot to kill" without warning, calling the protesters "bandits and terrorists" and saying that the use of force would continue to "destroy the protests."

On 10 January 2022, the government declared a national day of mourning for those who died during the unrest. On 11 January, Tokayev said that order had been restored in Kazakhstan in what he described as an attempted coup d'état. He also announced that CSTO troops would begin withdrawing from the country on 13 January, and they were fully withdrawn by 20 January. In an 11 January speech to the Parliament, Tokayev promised reform and acknowledged public discontent over income inequality and criticized Nazarbayev and his associates over their wealth. The same day, international flights were resumed to and from the country's capital, Astana. He also nominated a new prime minister that day, Älihan Smaiylov, and later fired the defence minister Murat Bektanov on 18 January. On 16 March 2022, Tokayev delivered a State of the Nation Address to both chambers of Parliament in which he outlined a New Kazakhstan program of economic and political reforms.