All news

Kazakh president says situation stabilized, law and order are restored

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also ordered immediate measures to strengthen national security
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kazakhstan's Presidential Press Service via AP
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
© Kazakhstan's Presidential Press Service via AP

NUR-SULTAN, January 27. /TASS/. The situation in Kazakhstan has fully stabilized while law and order have been restored after the unrest of early January, the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in a statement on Thursday.

Tokayev held a Security Council meeting where he said "the situation in the country has been fully stabilized and law and order have been restored," according to the presidential press service. "All measures are being taken to increase the protection of individuals, society, and the state," he was quoted as saying.

Tokayev also ordered immediate measures to strengthen national security.

The president said the government must draw lessons from the events that took place, and that the modernized national security system must be prepared to deal with any challenges.

"We need to take measures so criminals and terrorists don’t overrun our cities anymore, disrupt the peaceful lives of people and their families or threaten the government," he said. "That’s what the reorganization of the security system seeks to achieve."

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities in early January, with attacks on police and the military. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev described the events as an attempted coup. The situation was stabilized by January 7 while the emergency situation lasted in some regions until January 19. As a result of the events, 225 people were killed and more than 4,500 injured.