NUR-SULTAN, January 6. /TASS/. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has instructed to create an investigative group to determine the causes of disturbances in the country and to hold all those responsible accountable, the presidential press service reported on Thursday.
"[I hereby decree] to create a special investigative group including the representatives of the Prosecutor General’s office, the Interior Ministry, the National Security Committee and other competent structures to detect the causes of the events that occurred, to determine and hold criminally and administratively accountable all those responsible," the statement on the president’s website said.
Protest rallies against high fuel prices erupted on January 2 in Zhanaozen and Aktau in the Mangystau Region in southwestern Kazakhstan. Two days later, the protests engulfed Almaty in the country’s southeast and other cities where the protesters clashed with the police. Casualties were reported, the state of emergency was declared in the country. The CSTO Collective Security Council made the decision to send peacekeepers to Kazakhstan in order to stabilize the situation.