Chaos is seen as a result of complex Kazakh tribal politics. President Tokayev took the upper hand, pushing the faction away from his predecessor, Nazarbayev.
After the protests against rising fuel prices in Kazakhstan were crushed, causing dozens of deaths and more than 11,000 detainees, the 3,600 soldiers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (OTSC, in Russian) mission – a kind of former NATO Soviet republics, led by Russia – are preparing to withdraw by Thursday, announced Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.