As an uneasy calm returned to Kazakhstan’s cities following an aggressive crackdown on the largest and most violent protests in the country’s post-Soviet history, the government sought to send a signal that it was preparing to tackle the grievances behind the unrest.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told parliament on Tuesday that he intended to launch a battle against the country’s entrenched inequality — an issue that sparked protests that began in the western city of Zhanaozen on January 2, spread rapidly across the country and left 164 dead, before being quelled with the aid of Russian troops.
But analysts say meaningful structural reform is unlikely, with wealth remaining in the hands of elites.
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