Kazakhstan’s Tokayev sets state of emergency as fuel protests spread

Bloomberg

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government’s resignation on Wednesday after increases in fuel prices led to clashes between protesters and police in central Asia’s largest energy producer.
The unrest intensified even after Tokayev declared a state of emergency in and around the country’s largest city, Almaty, and the oil-rich Mangystau region. The declaration allows him to impose a curfew, ban protests, and restrict internet access.
The protests quickly swelled to the biggest Tokayev has faced since he took over in 2019 as successor to the country’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. They were ignited by rapid increases in prices of liquefied petroleum gas, a popular motor fuel, before growing into a broader display of discontent, which has seen inflation soar and its wealth gap widen during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Any calls to attack civilian or military buildings are absolutely illegal,” Tokayev said in an address to the nation late Tuesday, while also promising to consider protesters’ demands. “I again appeal to you to show prudence and not succumb to provocations from within and from without, the euphoria of demonstrations and heedlessness.”
Protesters swarmed the city administration building in Almaty Wednesday, Interfax reported, giving an unconfirmed estimate of over 1,000. Social media posts showed a massive police presence in Almaty. Workers at the Chevron Corp.-led Tengiz oil venture in the Mangystau region are continuing to participate in demonstrations.