DISINFO: The West continues its attempts to destabilise Kazakhstan
SUMMARY
The January events [2022] were not merely the result of a high-level official's personal initiative but a component of the Western strategy to destabilise the region. It is evident that there are ongoing efforts to influence Kazakhstani society and spoil its relations with Russia and China.
RESPONSE
There is no credible evidence to support claims about foreign interference of any kind during the unrest in Kazakhstan, which occurred in 2022, or in any other country. This claim also fits well into recurring disinformation narrative suggesting a policy of Western countries to stage “colour revolutions” worldwide with the aim of destabilising Russia.
In this case, it appears that the allegations were specifically crafted to justify the Russian-led intervention of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in the country. Additionally, these allegations aim to tarnish the image of the US and EU, portraying their foreign policies as sinister.
In January 2022, peaceful protests in Kazakhstan against rising liquid gas prices led to nationwide protests against economic inequality. The protests descended into riots, and prompted a massive security response from the government, including a shoot to kill order and the unprecedented deployment of forces from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). The crackdown included internet shutdowns, a massive wave of arrests and detentions.
The actions of the authorities have raised questions. Numerous human rights violations were documented during the protests. In its World Report 2024, Human Rights Watch stated that:
“Two years after large-scale anti-government protests rocked Kazakhstan in January 2022, few officials have been held accountable for their part in disproportionate use of force against protesters, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, and torture and ill-treatment of detainees.”
See the statement by the EU High Representative here in which the EU expressed its concern about the situation.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that the West supported the 2022 protests in Kazakhstan, US-sponsored Kazakhstan protests aimed to undermine CIS stability, that protests in Kazakhstan are a new Western attempt to organise a colour revolution, that events in Kazakhstan are another Western-made colour revolution or that EU and US aim to generate a new wave of anti-government protests in Belarus.