This year marks the 2nd anniversary of the January incident. The protests started on January 2, 2022 due to the sudden increase in the price of liquefied gas. These events turned into the most intensive and violent conflict in the 30-year history of independent Kazakhstan.
The people demanded from the city and regional governors to stabilize the price and eliminate the shortage of blue fuel. Protests continued the next day to prevent these demands from being met. On January 4, the government of Kazakhstan announced that the price of liquefied gas in Mangistau region was reduced to 50 tenge per liter. And President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced an appeal to the people of Kazakhstan and asked them to prevent illegality.
The march, which started in Zhanaozen, continued in Almaty, Aktobe, Aktau, Atyrau, Karaganda, Astana, Shymkent, Kokshetau, Ural and many other cities. People took to the streets and began to demand political changes along with economic demands. The initially peaceful protests turned into armed clashes and looting. The riots that began on January 5 were officially called a coup d'état.
During the January massacre, the Head of State Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev announced that he asked for help from the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. On January 10, the NSC announced that all administrative facilities seized during the riots had been returned, and the situation in the country had stabilized.
By January 11, the number of people who took part in riots and were arrested was almost 10,000. Due to robbery and hooliganism, the amount of damage caused to entrepreneurs exceeded 100 billion tenge. A day of national mourning was declared for the incident.
The General Prosecutor's Office announced that 238 people were killed. According to official data, 1,205 people were convicted and 1,095 people were pardoned for mass disorder. During the tragedy, 19 employees died and more than 3 thousand police and military personnel were injured.
It was also said that 20,000 "terrorists" attacked Almaty during the January incident. However, this information was not proven.
This year, on January 3, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev also spoke about the January incident in a long interview with "Egemen Qazaqstan" newspaper. According to them, the tragic situation was caused by socio-economic problems accumulated over the years, as well as by the general stagnation, which undermined the authorities and the society.
"The situation at that time was very complicated, our country was about to be destroyed. In order to prevent this, I personally watched all the activities day and night and every hour. Information was received through the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the residence of Akorda is about to be attacked, and trucks will be used for it. I have been offered many times to shake my head, leave the residence, or even go abroad. But I was strongly against it. In one of my televised statements, I made it clear that I would stay at my job no matter what. I was in Akorda for two weeks and held emergency meetings day and night. "In those troubled days, saving our state and restoring the rule of law and order in the country was the most important task," he said.
