NUR-SULTAN (Realist English). Three months after the unrest in Kazakhstan caused by rising natural gas prices, local residents still have serious doubts about the true background of the dramatic events. The official version of the authorities of the republic was the intervention of foreign militants. This has been repeatedly stated by the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. However, ordinary residents of Kazakhstan have a completely different opinion on this matter.
According to a survey, the majority of residents of Kazakhstan are convinced that in January the republic was overwhelmed by ordinary protests. In total, 51.8% of respondents expressed such an assessment. According to 14.4% of respondents, there were protests in the republic that turned into riots. Another 37.4% described these events as peaceful protests, which were used by looters and provocateurs.
The opposite point of view is shared only by 23.1% of respondents. 8.1% of respondents believe in the provocation of foreign states, and 15% believe in a planned attack involving foreign terrorists.
The study took place between March 31 and April 5. It was attended by 2,300 residents of all regions of Kazakhstan. Its margin of error does not exceed 2.5%.
It should be noted that the attitude of the residents of the republic to the January events is of fundamental importance for the situation in Kazakhstan. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev strengthened his political positions and launched a political reformatting of the power apparatus precisely on the wave of rhetoric about foreign interference in the protests. However, for three months, the authorities have not named the Central Asian city from which the militants could have arrived in the country. At the same time, the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Berik Asylov directly stated that “there were no twenty thousand militants.”
Given that hundreds of residents of the country are still in custody with regard to the criminal case of the protests, the fragility of the public consensus within the republic is becoming increasingly obvious.
