Kazakh president issues ‘shoot to kill’ order as protesters clash with troops

Judy Woodruff:

Today, Kazakstan's president promised to shoot to kill protesters after a week of demonstrations.

Kazakstan lies at the strategic crossroads of Russia, China, and Central Asia, and has large energy reserves with billions invested by American companies.

Despite that wealth, many Kazakhs live in poverty.

And, as Nick Schifrin reports, economic frustrations are boiling over into demands to upend the country's authoritarian politics.

Nick Schifrin:

In Western Kazakstan, the protest became a revolt.

Protesters chant "Shal, ket, "Old man out," a reference to 81-year-old Nursultan Nazarbayev, who's helped lead Kazakstan since independence 30 years ago, and is the symbol of a corrupt elite whom demonstrators tried to topple.

They rallied to target a system they say enriches political cronies, and neglects the people.

Rafik Zharylkasyn, Protester (through translator):

You have to understand what has happened here. The coiled spring has now been unleashed after 30 years.

Richard Hoagland, Former U.S. Ambassador to Kazakstan: Kazakstan is wealthy, but, technically, it's listed as a lower-, middle-income country. And the actual day-to-day incomes of the majority of the population, it's really quite low.

Nick Schifrin:

Richard Hoagland is a former U.S. ambassador to Kazakstan, and is now at the Caspian Policy Institute.

Richard Hoagland:

Most of the money has gone into very few pockets, and those tend to be the pockets of the oligarchs and the pockets of the Nazarbayev extended family.

Nick Schifrin:

Nazarbayev stepped down as president in 2019, but, as the so-called father of the nation, installed current President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as his successor.

Tokayev recently increased the price of fuel, sparking protests in Western Kazakstan earlier this week. That ignited a political flame. In the cultural capital, Almaty, they stormed government buildings. By Thursday, the mayor's office and the presidential residence both burned out.

Authorities turned violent. Police said they — quote — "liquidated" more than two dozen protesters. Over multiple days, demonstrators attacked police, burned police cars, and authorities say they killed more than 18 cops, at least one by beheading.

President Tokayev called the protesters foreign terrorists, cut off the Internet, and, today, told police to shoot to kill.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakstan (through translator): The militants have not laid down their arms. The fight against them must be pursued to the end. Whoever does not surrender will be destroyed.

Nick Schifrin:

And now, for the first time, an alliance of post-Soviet states deployed militarily, and Russian troops are in a neighbor considered the region's most stable country.

Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken question the need for Russia's presence.

Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: Kazakh authorities and government certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests, to do so in a way that respects the rights of protesters, while maintaining law and order.

Once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave.

Nick Schifrin:

Tokayev has maintained a partnership with the U.S., in part through American oil giants' presence in Kazakstan's west. But Russia's influence is greater, and President Vladimir Putin's may increase with a Russian deployment, says Hoagland.

Richard Hoagland:

What he's probably doing is, in a way, making sure that a new Western-looking generation of leadership does not come into power immediately in Kazakstan, that it will stay with the people who understand Russia, who are partners with Russia. And Russia gets a leg up that way.

Nick Schifrin:

And it looks like Kazakstan's leaders will try to keep their power by targeting their own citizens.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.