DISINFO: The West tries to destabilise Kazakhstan
SUMMARY
In 2023 there were several attempts to manipulate language issues by nationalist radicals and their Western curators. There were also attempts to whitewash participants of January protests. Some media outlets, linked to a fugitive oligarch or direct US funding, emphasize that peaceful activists supposedly tried to resist "Russian CSTO occupiers." The analysis of the chronology of some events followed by an attempted coup in Kazakhstan easily reveals connections between various groups, including strikers, democratic activists, religious believers, organised crime, and Western sponsors.
RESPONSE
There is no credible evidence to substantiate claims of foreign interference in the unrest in Kazakhstan in any form. This claim also aligns with the recurrent disinformation narrative that suggests a Western policy of orchestrating “colour revolutions” globally to destabilise Russia. In this case, the allegations seem to have been tailored to justify the Russian-led intervention of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in the country and to smear US and EU.
In January 2022, peaceful protests 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 Organization (CSTO). The crackdown included internet shutdowns, a massive wave of arrests and detentions.
The actions of the authorities have raised questions. According to opinion polls, 43.6% of citizens disapprove of the intervention of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) contingent. Overall, more than half of Kazakhstanis (53%) do not trust the information provided by official sources regarding the events that took place in January.
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.