The first units of military personnel arrived in Kazakhstan as part of the decision of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO),which is informally called "Russian NATO".
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), is a regional international organization. The main goal is to strengthen peace, international and regional security and stability, protect the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Member States. The CSTO charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances.
The organization was founded on May 15, 1992, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). The highest body is the Collective Security Council (CLRC), which appoints the Secretary-General of the organization.
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan signed collective security. Azerbaijan signed the treaty on September 24, 1993, Georgia – on September 9, 1993, Belarus – on December 31, 1993. The treaty entered into force on April 20, 1994. The was signed for 5 years and allowed the extension.
Five years later, six of the nine — all but Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan — agreed to renew the treaty for five more years, and in 2002 those six agreed to create the Collective Security Treaty Organization as a military alliance.
On April 2, 1999, the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan signed a protocol to extend the treaty for the next five-year period.
Approximate deployment of the CSTO military units in Kazakhstan:
- Tajikistan - 200
- Kyrgyzstan - 200
- Armenia - 70
- Belarus ~ 500
- Russia ~ 3000
Protests in Kazakhstan
It's worth noting that the protests began in early January in the oil city of Zhanaozen. The initial spark for outrage was the sharply rising price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used by many to power their cars, particularly in the west of Kazakhstan. The price doubled in a matter of days.
By January 4, demonstrations expanded, covering the whole country.
On Tuesday evening, video footage from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, showed lines of riot police and numerous crowd-control vehicles massed in the center of the city. Kazakhstani security forces used tear gas against protesters in the center of Almaty. Several thousand activists gathered on Republic Square.
Police used stun grenades and teargas after crowds refused to disperse, AFP reported, estimating there were more than 5,000 people present. Later, there were unverified reports of police cars on fire in Almaty, and videos from a number of other cities appeared to show protesters braving subzero temperatures and a large presence of security forces.
Mobile internet was down and messaging apps were blocked across large parts of the authoritarian Central Asian nation.
State of emergency is now imposed in all major cities.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayevheads the Security Council of the Republic, previously headed by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In conclusion, he added that he does not intend to leave the country.
"My constitutional duty is to be with the people. Together we will overcome this black strip in the history of Kazakhstan, get out of it strong," Tokayev said.