Kazakhstan has gone through a huge crisis, the worst since its independence, says president.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev warns of the seriousness of the crisis the country is going through.
Sputnik - "In just a few days in January, Kazakhstan suffered a major crisis, which became the worst in its 30-year history since independence," declared President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev at the extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council of the CSTO.
The head of state stated that the events in Kazakhstan earlier in the year had become links in the same chain with destructive intent.
"All the events [in Kazakhstan] since the beginning of this year are links in the same chain and are subordinate to a single destructive design, the preparation of which has been underway for a long time. How long this preparation lasted – one year, two or three – will be determined by the investigation. The destructive forces made several attempts to undermine stability, provoke disorder and test the stability and strength of the State. All these actions were vigorously repressed," Tokaev said during his speech.
The president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, who also participated in the meeting, said he was certain that external forces were behind the events in Kazakhstan, but at the same time, he appealed for people not to exclusively blame external factors.
"The analysis of events in Kazakhstan shows the presence of an external factor; its scenario is recognizable. There's no need to look far for analogies," Lukashenko said during the extraordinary session.
Furthermore, the Belarusian president added that "it should not be allowed to portray the peacekeeping forces [in Kazakhstan] as occupiers. We see that such attempts are already being made. We are not occupiers, we did not come of our own free will. We were invited by our brother, our friend, who is responsible for this enormous country."