Foreign Peacekeepers Begin Withdrawing from Kazakhstan within 2 Days

President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, announced today, Tuesday, that the withdrawal of the foreign peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will begin within two days and will take 10 days.

Tokayev told parliamentarians: "The main mission of the CSTO peacekeeping forces is over, and within two days the gradual withdrawal of the CSTO's forces will begin. The process of troop withdrawal will not take more than 10 days."

The damages caused by the riots in Kazakhstan have risen to nearly $220 million, according to the National Chamber of Businessmen of the country.

Since the first days of this year, Kazakhstan has witnessed a wave of protests that began with economic demands and turned into violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in a number of cities, including Almaty, the country's largest cities.

The protests began in the western regions of the country against the backdrop of a sharp rise in gas prices, and despite the authorities’ agreement to reduce prices to their previous level.

Despite the government's decision the demonstrations did not subside but spread to other parts of the country, prompting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to dismiss the government and declare a state of emergency across the country, including the capital, is Nur-Sultan.

The countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization announced earlier, the sending of peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the appeal of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the leaders of the member states of the organization to help his country overcome what he described as "the terrorist threat."

It is worth noting that the Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia that includes the post-Soviet states.

The treaty's origins go back to the armed Soviet forces, which were gradually supplanted by the United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The collective peacekeeping forces include, in addition to the forces of the Russian Federation, units of the armed forces of Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.