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Recent updates: >President Tokayev says that he is the chairman of security council from now, instead of Nazarbayev https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/14787

by r721 5y ago

Recent updates: >President Tokayev says that he is the chairman of security council from now, instead of Nazarbayev https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478713537065369601 https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478713537065369601 >The building of the Almaty Police Department has been seized by protesters, according to several Orda.kz sources. Weapons also captured >Big proliferation event in Kazakhstan, hundreds of small arms will flow on the streets https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478723503918653440 https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478723503918653440 (UPD: unclear whether this is confirmed, according to some sources assault on police department is ongoing https://t.me/sputnikKZ/13893 https://t.me/sputnikKZ/13893 (in Russian)) UPD >Almaty airport(IATA: ALA, ICAO: UAAA) has been reportedly seized by protesters. Evacuation of employees ongoing >The press service of Almaty International Airport(IATA: ALA, ICAO: UAAA) confirms the lost of control. "There are now about 45 invaders at the airport" https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478747716356345861 https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1478747716356345861 (source in Russian: https://t.me/orda_kz/13180 https://t.me/orda_kz/13180)

kspacewalk2 5y ago
>President Tokayev says that he is the chairman of security council from now, instead of Nazarbayev This is a huge deal. Conventional wisdom was that Nazarbayev, an unchallenged strongman for almost 30 years, only gave up the day-to-day duties of running the country to a younger sycophant but retained the ability to make "higher-order" decisions via his chairmanship of the security council - one of the models which Putin might follow as well, since he cannot ever simply retire. This either means Nazarbayev doesn't want to be associated with the fall of Tokayev and will attempt to feign conflict with him to retain power in case shit goes south, or perhaps Tokayev just used the situation to perform a "forced retirement" coup against Nazarbayev.
- r721 5y ago
  It's also unclear (judging from my twitter feed and a few liveblogs I follow) where Nazarbayev is currently located (and what he thinks about this mess).
- hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
  I wonder if finally someone (Russian/China?) convinces him to go down and retire? After all he has been there for three decades, and maybe the other countries are not exactly happy about his way.
- q1w2 5y ago
  Nazarbayev is 81 years old. It doesn't seem likely he'll emerge as the new ruler, even with Russian backing. ...but he might lend legitimacy to any new leader the Russians try to muscle in.
ashtonkem 5y ago
By the point you’re seizing small arms from police stations you’re toeing the line between riot and revolution
- lgeorget 5y ago
  As a Frenchman, it's also what we are taught about the French Revolution. One of the goals of the attack on la Bastille on July 14th 1789 was to seize the weapons there and march upon the rest of Paris and Versailles.
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    Powder and shot, more specifically. They’d seized cannons and small arms from the Hôtel des Invalides, but the under manned commander had transferred all his powder to the Bastille before the mob stormed his position.
irthomasthomas 5y ago
Amazing how quickly a protest can become a revolution in some parts of the world.
- holoduke 5y ago
  Can happen everywhere. Wait what happens if you cut down food supply to a rich nation like for example the Netherlands. Within a week people will kill each other for food.
  - thejackgoode 5y ago
    It’s completely off topic but the example is hilariously terrible — the Netherlands are second largest world food exporter
    - zwkrt 5y ago
      Per capita? I find that really surprising!
      - desdiv 5y ago
        I'm not sure which metric GP is referring to, but by total value of food exports they're 7th in the world. Extremely impressive for a country of only 17 million people. [0] https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/WLD/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/Export/Partner/by-country/Product/16-24_FoodProd https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/WLD/Yea...
        kaybe 5y ago
        It helps that most things I've seen so far are pretty high value per volume such as more expensive vegetables.
        adriand 5y ago
        It's probably because the Dutch diaspora has succeeded in getting their children hooked on stroopwafels (syrup waffles), salt licorice and those amazing dense raisin buns that seem to be approximately 50% raisins... I for one am happy to continue supporting their export economy!
hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
So apparently one group of oligarchies are winning over the other.
tinus_hn 5y ago
Apparently most of the government has been deposed as the president attempts to cling to power: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rare-protests-draw-resignations-and-shake-kazakhstan-to-the-core/ar-AASsF2x https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rare-protests-draw-resi...
rasz 5y ago
>>The press service of Almaty International Airport(IATA: ALA, ICAO: UAAA) confirms the lost of control. "There are now about 45 invaders at the airport" That is a weird place to stage a protest. Im getting little green men flashbacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_green_men_(Russo-Ukrainian_War) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_green_men_(Russo-Ukrain...
- int_19h 5y ago
  It should be noted that Kazakhstan is often mentioned as one of the potential flashpoints when it comes to Russian irredentism. This map shows why: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_demography_of_Kazakhstan#/media/File:Russians_in_Kazakhstan_Rus.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_demography_of_Kazakhsta...
  - Guessnotgauss 5y ago
    That map makes no sense in relation to your comment. The country is mostly ethinic Kazak, and peoples similar in the sense they are more Turkic than Slavic. Calling them Russian seems weird, making a case for irredentism even weirder considering they wont have the same idea as what is the "motherland." Russia trying to recreate the USSR, I can see. They will start with the states the West is concerned with the least.
    - kgran 5y ago
      >Russia trying to recreate the USSR, I can see. USSR? Nope. Russian Empire? Maybe. Any resemblance to USSR, IMHO, requires at least some kind of Marxism derivative and state-planned economy.
      - int_19h 5y ago
        USSR had a nationalist component to it from Stalin onwards (see e.g. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1945/05/24.htm https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1945...). It is that part that the modern ideologues tap into, blending it with similar stuff from the Imperial Russia period.
r721 5y ago
>Kazakh president appeals for help from Russia-led security bloc https://finance.yahoo.com/finance/news/kazakh-president-appeals-help-russia-183803258.html https://finance.yahoo.com/finance/news/kazakh-president-appe...
petre 5y ago
Euromaidan mk2. Putin now has a new problem on his hands, ahead of the Jan 10th talks on Ukraine with the US and now the EU as well. This is just great timing.

by r721 5y ago

kspacewalk2 5y ago

>President Tokayev says that he is the chairman of security council from now, instead of Nazarbayev This is a huge deal. Conventional wisdom was that Nazarbayev, an unchallenged strongman for almost 30 years, only gave up the day-to-day duties of running the country to a younger sycophant but retained the ability to make "higher-order" decisions via his chairmanship of the security council - one of the models which Putin might follow as well, since he cannot ever simply retire. This either means Nazarbayev doesn't want to be associated with the fall of Tokayev and will attempt to feign conflict with him to retain power in case shit goes south, or perhaps Tokayev just used the situation to perform a "forced retirement" coup against Nazarbayev.

r721 5y ago
It's also unclear (judging from my twitter feed and a few liveblogs I follow) where Nazarbayev is currently located (and what he thinks about this mess).
hnthrowaway0315 5y ago
I wonder if finally someone (Russian/China?) convinces him to go down and retire? After all he has been there for three decades, and maybe the other countries are not exactly happy about his way.
q1w2 5y ago
Nazarbayev is 81 years old. It doesn't seem likely he'll emerge as the new ruler, even with Russian backing. ...but he might lend legitimacy to any new leader the Russians try to muscle in.

ashtonkem 5y ago

By the point you’re seizing small arms from police stations you’re toeing the line between riot and revolution

lgeorget 5y ago
As a Frenchman, it's also what we are taught about the French Revolution. One of the goals of the attack on la Bastille on July 14th 1789 was to seize the weapons there and march upon the rest of Paris and Versailles.
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  Powder and shot, more specifically. They’d seized cannons and small arms from the Hôtel des Invalides, but the under manned commander had transferred all his powder to the Bastille before the mob stormed his position.

irthomasthomas 5y ago

Amazing how quickly a protest can become a revolution in some parts of the world.

holoduke 5y ago
Can happen everywhere. Wait what happens if you cut down food supply to a rich nation like for example the Netherlands. Within a week people will kill each other for food.
- thejackgoode 5y ago
  It’s completely off topic but the example is hilariously terrible — the Netherlands are second largest world food exporter
  - zwkrt 5y ago
    Per capita? I find that really surprising!
    - desdiv 5y ago
      I'm not sure which metric GP is referring to, but by total value of food exports they're 7th in the world. Extremely impressive for a country of only 17 million people. [0] https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/WLD/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/Export/Partner/by-country/Product/16-24_FoodProd https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/WLD/Yea...
      - kaybe 5y ago
        It helps that most things I've seen so far are pretty high value per volume such as more expensive vegetables.
        adriand 5y ago
        It's probably because the Dutch diaspora has succeeded in getting their children hooked on stroopwafels (syrup waffles), salt licorice and those amazing dense raisin buns that seem to be approximately 50% raisins... I for one am happy to continue supporting their export economy!

hnthrowaway0315 5y ago

So apparently one group of oligarchies are winning over the other.

tinus_hn 5y ago

Apparently most of the government has been deposed as the president attempts to cling to power: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rare-protests-draw-resignations-and-shake-kazakhstan-to-the-core/ar-AASsF2x https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rare-protests-draw-resi...

rasz 5y ago

>>The press service of Almaty International Airport(IATA: ALA, ICAO: UAAA) confirms the lost of control. "There are now about 45 invaders at the airport" That is a weird place to stage a protest. Im getting little green men flashbacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_green_men_(Russo-Ukrainian_War) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_green_men_(Russo-Ukrain...

int_19h 5y ago
It should be noted that Kazakhstan is often mentioned as one of the potential flashpoints when it comes to Russian irredentism. This map shows why: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_demography_of_Kazakhstan#/media/File:Russians_in_Kazakhstan_Rus.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_demography_of_Kazakhsta...
- Guessnotgauss 5y ago
  That map makes no sense in relation to your comment. The country is mostly ethinic Kazak, and peoples similar in the sense they are more Turkic than Slavic. Calling them Russian seems weird, making a case for irredentism even weirder considering they wont have the same idea as what is the "motherland." Russia trying to recreate the USSR, I can see. They will start with the states the West is concerned with the least.
  - kgran 5y ago
    >Russia trying to recreate the USSR, I can see. USSR? Nope. Russian Empire? Maybe. Any resemblance to USSR, IMHO, requires at least some kind of Marxism derivative and state-planned economy.
    - int_19h 5y ago
      USSR had a nationalist component to it from Stalin onwards (see e.g. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1945/05/24.htm https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1945...). It is that part that the modern ideologues tap into, blending it with similar stuff from the Imperial Russia period.

r721 5y ago

>Kazakh president appeals for help from Russia-led security bloc https://finance.yahoo.com/finance/news/kazakh-president-appeals-help-russia-183803258.html https://finance.yahoo.com/finance/news/kazakh-president-appe...

petre 5y ago

Euromaidan mk2. Putin now has a new problem on his hands, ahead of the Jan 10th talks on Ukraine with the US and now the EU as well. This is just great timing.