Kazakhstan Announces End of CSTO Peace Mission | News

The president of Kazakhstan, Kasim Yomart Tokáyev, announced on Tuesday the cessation of the mission for the maintenance of peace of the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO) in the country, after a series of riots that shook the country and that were suffocated two days ago.

ALSO READ:

Kazakhstan reports that the situation has stabilized in the country

According to the president, the situation in all regions is stable, adding that the main mission of the CSTO has been completed. Likewise, he specified that the withdrawal actions will begin on January 13.

“In general, the acute phase of the counterterrorism operation has passed. The situation in all regions is stable. In this regard, I declare that the main mission of the CSTO peacekeeping forces has been successfully completed, "he said.

In two days, the withdrawal of the CSTO's united peacekeeping contingent will begin in stages. The withdrawal process will not take more than 10 days ”, he added.

Tokáyev stressed that the CSTO's response managed to recover the city of Almaty, the largest in the country and its capital city, and in this way ensure control of all of Kazakhstan, as he said, “in preparation for the seizure of power they worked professionals".

"If we had lost Almaty, we would have lost the capital and the entire country," said Tokáyev, who also appointed Aliján Smailov as the new prime minister on Tuesday, by decree.

The President of Kazakhstan forms a new Government

The lower house of Parliament had approved his candidacy, after Tokayev recommended to the deputies to consider his candidacy.

In this sense, he instructed Aliján to present an action plan for the coming weeks and announced a five-year moratorium on salary increases for ministers, heads of regions and deputies.

The Kazakh president also made other changes to his government by appointing former Deputy Prime Minister Roman Skliar as First Deputy Head of Government, while current Deputy Prime Minister Eralí Tugzhanov kept his post.

Among other changes, Bakhit Sultanov also became Deputy Prime Minister, retaining his post as Minister of Trade and Integration.

The Ministry of Information and Social Development will be headed by the former Deputy Minister of the body Askar Umárov, in turn Kanat Musin will become the Minister of Justice, while the Ministry of Health will be headed by the former Deputy Head of the body Azhar Guiniyát ..

The Kazakh head of state considers that there were attempts to undermine the unity of the nation in a methodical way, "according to professional scripts", but the National Security Committee did not eradicate the threat.

“Specific executors of radical measures were being secretly prepared. The National Security Committee, as an authorized body, could not and did not want to give a clear evaluation of this subversive work, it did not see a critical threat to national security, ”he criticized.

The Kazakh leader pointed out that, although the attack plan included a wide series of aspects and the military intended to seize power, "the coup attempts have failed."

“The coup attempts, the threats to the integrity of the country have failed. Together, as one nation, we defended Almaty and other regional centers. They will be restored as soon as possible ”.

After the violent riots that began in the Central Asian country since the beginning of the year, the authorities described the actions in some cities as terrorist attacks and declared a state of emergency.

The CSTO announced on January 5 that it would send peacekeeping forces to support the authorities.