Putin: 'External Forces' In Play In Attempted Coup D'Etat

Kazakhstan Has Weathered an Attempted Coup D'Etat, President Tokayev Says at CSTO Summit

Sputnik

Speaking at an extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Monday that the recent unrest in the Central Asian country had been prepared for a long time.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told an extraordinary online meeting of heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that the main goal of the terrorists was undermining constitutional order, the seizure of power and an attempted coup.

"A hot phase unfolded and groups of armed militants who were waiting in the wings came into action. The main goal became obvious - the undermining of the constitutional order, the destruction of governance institutions, the seizure of power. We are talking about an attempted coup," Tokayev said.

He added that foreign militants had participated in aggression against Kazakhstan. According to Tokayev, the situation was critical, Almaty and 9 regional centres were held by terrorists.

The Kazakh president described the unrest as the most difficult in the entire history of the country since its independence and suggested that the violent riots were coordinated from one center. Militants pretended to be participants of mass protests and used demonstrators as human shields, Tokayev said, mentioning that foreigners participated in the aggression against Kazakhstan.

He promised to provide the international community with evidence of an aggression against Kazakhstan soon.

Maidan Technologies Used in Kazakhstan, Putin Says, as Country Faced Threat to Its Statehood

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, addressing a meeting of heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), said that the main goal of the terrorists was undermining constitutional order, the seizure of power and an attempted coup, as he spoke of the wave of protests that swept across Kazakhstan earlier in January.

'Maidan technologies' have been resorted to in Kazakhstan, with the country facing a genuine threat to its statethood, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated at a video conference of the heads of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

Maidan Nezalezhnosti, literally "Independence Square", is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. A colour revolution rocked Ukraine in February 2014, when its democratically-elected president was overthrown in a Western-backed coup d'état.

Vladimir Putin warned on Monday that what started as peaceful protests against higher gas prices in Kazakhstan and quickly escalated into violent riots and acts of terrorism was not the first and would not be the last attempt to meddle in the region from abroad.

Stating that the Kazakh President had turned to the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation for help in the face of an “unprecedented challenge to its security, integrity and sovereignty,” Putin added that the threat was caused not by spontaneous protests over fuel prices, but by the fact that “destructive internal and external forces had taken advantage of the situation.”