DISINFO: Kazakhstan unrest is a US attempt to drag Russia into new conflicts
SUMMARY
It is clear that no country is more interested in destabilising Kazakhstan than the United States, and Turkey is the next potential beneficiary.
In general, Washington's policy of dragging Russia into conflicts on its borders is old and well known. The role of the United States in the Ukrainian and Belarus coups is clear, and the role of Turkey, a member of NATO, in the Karabakh war is also clear.
And if chaos or civil war breaks out in Kazakhstan, Russia will have to send troops there, which will weaken its ability to resist the US on other fronts.
RESPONSE
A new disinformation around the crisis in Kazakhstan presented with no evidence.
The pro-Kremlin media frequently falsely portray popular protests around the world as instigated from abroad, often by the US and the West. The disinformation narrative has been applied, among others, to reports about protests in Georgia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Belarus, Venezuela, Slovakia, Hong Kong, with the aim of portraying protest movements as aggressive actors supported by foreign powers who constantly prepare new coups.
The trigger and immediate cause of the protests in Kazakhstan was the government's lifting of price controls on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that took place in early January. France 24 reports that this measure caused prices of gas to more than double for Kazakhs, many of whom depend on LPG for its low cost.
There are however more deep-rooted causes for the protests in a country that suffers from a lack of democracy, corruption and economic difficulties despite being rich in economic resources. For example, Kazakhstan ranks 128 out of 167 countries in the 2020 Democracy Index, and also ranks 94 out of 180 countries in the 2020 Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
See also the statement by the EU High Representative here.
See similar cases that Protests in Kazakhstan are a new Western attempt to organise a colour revolution, and that US-sponsored Kazakhstan protests aimed to undermine CIS stability.