deadly protests continue in the country

A popular uprising and unprecedented violence in a country that was not known for it. “The regime in Kazakhstan remains very authoritarian. It was completely unpredictable for many observers. No one could have foreseen, three or four days ago, such an explosion of violence, in this country which was a haven of peace since 1991. At the beginning of the problem, it is a feeling of social injustice. There are conditions of social economic development which are rather disparate in the country “, reports Michaël Levystone, researcher at IFRI and expert on Central Asia.

Leslie Cadiou, journalist at France Télévisions, recalls that the country is a producer of hydrocarbons just like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan: “Kazakhstan is moving towards a much more open regime. Until now, it was the case of Kazakhstan which allowed defamation and which had abolished the death penalty. The country wants to free itself from Russia, but it is hardly possible. They called for military reinforcements. But if Kazakhstan needs Russia, Russia also needs Kazakhstan because that is where the Baikonur space base is located. ”