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Too early to say Kazakhstan situation went back to normal — CSTO chief

The state of emergency is still in effect in some regions, Stanislav Zas recalled

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. It’s too early to say that the situation in Kazakhstan went back to normal, although it has improved, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said on Rossiya 24 television channel on Friday.

"It’s apparent that the tide has turned," he said. "To say that the situation has come back to normal is perhaps too early."

The state of emergency is still in effect in some regions, Zas said.

"Still, one can say the country is returning to the normal life," he said.

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with ransacked buildings and attacks on police, military servicemen and government offices in many cities, mostly in Almaty. Thousands of people were injured, while the exact number of fatalities hasn’t been reported. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev requested assistance from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization and the bloc deployed peacekeepers to Kazakhstan. Law and order were generally restored to all of the country’s regions, Kazakh authorities said.