President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declares a two-week state of emergency including curbs on movement.
Image source, Reuters
The president of Kazakhstan has declared a two-week state of emergency in parts of the country after protests over fuel price rises turned violent.
Big demonstrations were reported in several areas across the country.
Police in Almaty, the country’s biggest city, used tear gas to contain crowds after vehicles were set on fire.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a video address on Tuesday that attacks on government offices by protesters were “absolutely illegal”.
He declared an emergency in Almaty and in the western province of Mangistau.
The emergency measures there will include an overnight curfew and a ban on mass gatherings, according to official documents cited by Reuters.
- BACKGROUND: Kazakhstan country profile
- CONTEXT: Rare protests in a country that bans dissent
Demonstrations began after authorities in the oil-rich nation lifted price caps on liquefied petroleum gas used for vehicles, causing consumer prices to surge.
Some thousand protesters gathered in Almaty on Tuesday night. AFP news agency reported that riot police were injured in clashes.
There have also been reports of internet outages across the country.
President Tokayev tweeted late on Tuesday that the authorities would restore lower prices for the fuel “in order to ensure stability in the country”.
He urged protesters to behave responsibly and said he would hold a government meeting on Wednesday amid the unrest.
Dissent and protests are rare in Kazakhstan, which declared independence in 1991 amid the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, the town of Zhanaozen, in Mangistau province, was the scene of deadly unrest in 2011. At least 14 oil workers were killed in a police crackdown on a protest over pay and working conditions.
The town has also been one of the main centres of the latest unrest.
Former president Nursultan Nazarbayev led the nation largely unchallenged until his resignation in 2019. President Tokayev, his hand-picked successor, was elected in a snap 2019 election criticised by international observers.