by Paul Murphy, member of RISE in Ireland and member of the Irish Parliament, posted on Facebook, Jan 7:
Just had a call with Айнур Курманов one of the leaders of the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan about the uprising that is taking place there.
The uprising has been under way since 2 January, with the oil workers in Zhanaozen (who I had the privilege to meet 10 years ago) at the epicentre of it. The strike is now effectively a general strike across most of the west of Kazakhstan. The trigger point was the fuel price rises, but of course this is really about accumulated discontent against the dictatorship and the poverty which contrasts with the great oil wealth.
The uprising has been met with really brutal repression – with the army joining the police in it. He estimated that 100 people have been killed in the city of Almaty alone, saying it’s impossible to know how many more have been killed outside of Almaty.
3,000 troops from the OKDB have been sent in – this is effectively the Russian equivalent of NATO. He says they haven’t been actively involved in clashes yet, leaving the dirty work to the Kazakh police and army – but they are there as an intimidating force potentially to be put to use later.
Ainur pointed out that all of the opposition forces have been made illegal and liquidated by the regime over the last years. There does not appear to be any political force in the leadership of it – instead it is spontaneous with various committees of workers and strike committees playing roles in different areas.
He used a very good phrase to describe the response of the international community – “bourgeois class solidarity.” Putin is 100% behind the dictator Nazarbayev and the regime, as evidenced by the troops sent on the ground. But US imperialism and European imperialisms have also been supportive of the ‘stability’ and oil provided by the Nazarbayev regime too. It is western companies where a lot of the strikes are now taking place. Now they just issue statements calling for both sides to be peaceful!
In that context, Ainur said what we need is workers’ solidarity – the solidarity of our class with the uprising in Kazakhstan. He’s 100% right, and we should rise to the challenge.
More reports and initiatives to follow.
