Global News Post: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan reports more deaths after clashes in oil town

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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ASTANA (RIA Novato) - Death toll form clashes in the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country> oil town of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Zhanaozen</st1:city></st1:place> has reached 13, official spokesman for the country's Prosecutor General's Office Nurdaulet Suindikov said on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Violent clashes broke out on the town's central square on Friday when a group of men attacked police officers as the country marked the 20th anniversary of its independence. Local media reports identified the attackers as employees of the state-controlled KazMunaiGas energy company.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Eyewitnesses claim police fired on unarmed protesters, a charge denied by the authorities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"According to latest data, 13 people perished in the unrest, 86 were injured," Suindikov said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Earlier reports put the number of dead at 11.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared a 20-day state of emergency in Zhanaozen on Saturday and ordered an investigation into the worst violence in the former Soviet state in years.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Kazakhstan reports more deaths after clashes in oil town

ASTANA (RIA Novato) - Death toll form clashes in the Kazakhstan oil town of Zhanaozen has reached 13, official spokesman for the coun...

Kazakhstan Declares State of Emergency after Deadly Protests

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</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has declared a state of emergency in the western town of <st1:city w:st="on">Zhanaozen</st1:city>, where <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s independence celebrations turned deadly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Nazarbayev issued the presidential decree on Saturday after at least 10 people were killed in clashes between police and oil workers in the Caspian town on Friday. The state of emergency will last until January 5. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Oil workers in Zhanaozen, including some fired from their jobs, have been demanding better wages. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Officials said the clashes erupted after some of the protesters tore down traditional yurts, or tents, that had been put up in the towns's central square. But demonstrators told social media networks that they had been surrounded by police, who opened fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">The sound of what could be gunfire could be heard on video from the scene obtained by the Associated Press, but officials in the capital of Astana denied police fired their weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Friday marked the 20th anniversary of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region>'s independence, when it separated from what was then the <st1:place w:st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 16.8pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Oil and resource-rich <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region> has been <st1:place w:st="on">Central  Asia</st1:place>'s largest and most successful economy. But the mainly Muslim nation of 17 million has seen an increase this year in small-scale bombings and shootouts, many blamed on Islamist extremists.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> ---</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">VOA News</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Kazakhstan Declares State of Emergency after Deadly Protests

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has declared a state of emergency in the western town of Zhanaozen , where Kazakhstan 's indepen...

Kazakhstan Hires Former British PM Blair as Consultant

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kazakhstan</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> has hired former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a consultant to attract new investment to the Central Asian nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kazakh officials Monday said Mr. Blair has set up an advisory group to help President Nursultan Nazarbayev implement economic reforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It has been reported that Mr. Blair will be paid millions of dollars for his services, which also are aimed at helping <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region></st1:place> present a better image to the West. Mr. Blair's former aide, Alastair Campbell, and his former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, will be working with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Blair's office confirmed the former prime minister will be advising the Kazakhs, but it gave no details.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kazakhstan</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> has an authoritarian government and an all-powerful presidency.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Nazarbayev has ruled the country since it gained independence from the <st1:place w:st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place> in 1991. He was re-elected in April with 95 percent of the vote.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Critics say the country pays little attention to Western democratic standards.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But many Kazakhs enjoy a higher standard of living than others in <st1:place w:st="on">Central  Asia</st1:place> because of the country's oil wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Last month, the upper house of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s parliament approved tough new legislation on religious activity. The new law would ban prayer rooms in state institutions and would require existing minority religious organizations to dissolve and re-register with the government. About 70 percent of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s population is Muslim.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The U.S.-based watchdog group Freedom House calls the law “troubling,” saying it grossly curbs citizens' right to freely practice and express their faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Kazakh authorities also have blocked access to a number of foreign Internet sites, alleging they contribute to terrorism and religious extremism.---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Kazakhstan Hires Former British PM Blair as Consultant

Kazakhstan has hired former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a consultant to attract new investment to the Central Asian nation. Kaza...