Yana Stavskaya14:12, 27.04.23

Tokayev said without mentioning the Russians that “all provocations on interethnic, linguistic and social grounds will be severely suppressed by the state within the framework of the law.”

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is sympathetic to Putin’s policies, said that he would severely suppress attempts at separatism in the country, citing “foreign information wars.” Tokayev’s announcement came just as a pair of Russian propagandists were calling northern Kazakhstan “historical Russian lands.” 

“The situation in Ukraine is clearly mirrored on Kazakhstan. There are also huge areas inhabited by Russian speakers,” said the Komsomolskaya Pravda propagandist. 

Then another asked the first one if the Russian Federation could wrest territories from Kazakhstan “according to the Ukrainian scenario.” “I believe that we have a historical right to these lands. This is an industrial region. These are the cities that our ancestors built … Why did we give them as a gift?” his colleague answered. 

Following this, Tokayev stated without mentioning the Russians that “all provocations on interethnic, linguistic and social grounds will be severely suppressed by the state within the framework of the law,” Central Asia quotes . “At the same time, every citizen of our country must be aware of responsibility for their words and actions. We must not succumb to emotions,” lead “on the agenda of enmity and hatred. We do not need other people’s information wars and ideological disputes,” Tokayev said. 

The authors of the IPSO, Tokayev believes, “have nothing to do with Kazakhstan, trying to sow seeds of discord in society, while acting from abroad”: “We, as responsible citizens, must resist any manifestations of radicalism, extremism and separatism, be delicate and at the same time tough, to be ultimately fair.”

(C)UNIAN 2023