Al Jazeera English published this video item, entitled “Kazakh leader declares ‘coup d’etat’ over as Putin claims victory” – below is their description.
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.
Speaking to an online meeting of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said order had been restored in the vast, Central Asian nation.
Scores of citizens and more than a dozen security forces personnel were killed last week as dissent that began over fuel prices swelled, while nearly 8,000 people were arrested.
Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.
About This Source - Al Jazeera English
The video item below is a piece of English language content from Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera is a Qatari state-funded broadcaster based in Doha, Qatar, owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network.
A coup d’état or just coup is the removal and seizure of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal, unconstitutional seizure of power by a political faction, the military, or a dictator.
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country mainly located in Central Asia with a smaller portion west of the Ural River in Eastern Europe.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country. It has a population of 18.3 million residents, and has one of the lowest population densities in the world. Since 1997, the capital is Nur-Sultan, formerly known as Astana. It was moved from Almaty, the country’s largest city.
Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Kazakhstan is the most dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region’s GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations (UN), WTO, CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasian Economic Union, CSTO, OSCE, OIC, CCTS, and TURKSOY.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and a former officer of the KGB who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.