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Protests in Kazakhstan

Deployment of CSTO contingent in Kazakhstan sobered up external forces — lawmaker

According to Leonid Kalashnikov, the CSTO forces should be withdrawn now "so that there is no speculation about an intervention or international gendarmes"

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. The decision to deploy the CSTO peacekeeping contingent in Kazakhstan affected the external forces, and the contingent could be withdrawn from the republic already, says Leonid Kalashnikov, head of the Issues of the Commonwealth of the Independent States and Contacts with Fellow Countrymen.

"I believe that there is the comprehension of the fact that the very deployment of forces sobered up some people, organizations or even countries and intelligence agencies that were behind this [the riots]; they realized that there’s nothing for them there anymore," the lawmaker said.

According to the lawmaker, the CSTO forces should be withdrawn now "so that there is no speculation about an intervention or international gendarmes."

Kalashnikov pointed out that, according to the CSTO charter, members of the Organization can provide aid not only in case of military aggression but also to fight organized crime, if it threatens the security of a state.

The lawmaker also believes that the Kazakh authorities will carry out more socially-oriented policies now.

On Tuesday, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the withdrawal of the CSTO contingent will start in two days and will not take longer than 10 days.

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Kazakhstan Protests in Kazakhstan

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