Kazakh leader declares ‘coup d’etat’ over as Putin claims victory

President Tokayev says ‘counterterrorism’ operation to end soon after days of bloody protests. After more than 160 people died in the most violent unrest since Kazakhstan’s independence more than 30 years ago, its president on Monday described protests as an “attempted coup d’etat” as Russia claimed victory in defending its Central Asian neighbour. The Kazakh president, who has blamed the unrest on foreign-trained “bandits and terrorists”, said that a large-scale “counterterrorism” operation would soon end, along with the CSTO’s deployment, which he claimed numbered 2,030 troops and 250 pieces of military hardware. Speaking alongside Tokayev, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the military alliance of ex-Soviet states had prevented “terrorists, criminals, looters and other criminal elements” from undermining the basis of power in Kazakhstan and said its troops would be withdrawn once its mission was complete. Al Jazeera’s Robin Forestier-Walker, an expert on Central Asia reporting from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, said: “A lot of questions are being asked, namely where is the real evidence that terrorist groups were operating … Instead, a lot of people think that perhaps this was more an internal affair, and an elite power struggle for control of Kazakhstan.”