Why did Putin withdraw the soldiers of ‘Russian NATO’ from Kazakhstan?

The protests in Kazakhstan that erupted after the hike in fuel prices in early January raged on despite the resignation of the Kazakh government and the rescission of the increase in prices, as conflict ensued between police officers and demonstrators. Within this context, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev appealed to Putin for help to activate the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Subsequently, Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed a peace force to the country at the request of his Kazakh counterpart. Other CSTO members, consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, announced that they would follow suit. Russia deployed dozens of tanks, 200 military aircraft, and 2,500 troops to the country. “We regard the recent events in a friendly country as an attempt, inspired from the outside, to undermine the security and integrity of the state by force,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement. President Tokayev, for his part, said that the former capital and country’s largest city Almaty was under the attack of 20,000 “terrorists,” adding that they would shoot anyone who didn’t surrender. Furthermore, Tokayev said that armed terrorists had been trained by a single center and were accordingly given instructions.

Kazakhstan’s call for Russian help perturbed many countries, primarily the U.S. American Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he couldn’t fathom Kazakhstan asking for the help of the CSTO when they had the capabilities to quell the protests: "So it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance. So we're trying to learn more about it." On the Russians leading a peace force in Kazakhstan, Blinken said:

“I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry hit back at Blinken’s statement and said: “If Antony Blinken is so into history lessons, here’s one that comes to mind: When Americans are in your house, it can be difficult to stay alive, not being robbed or raped.” Leftist French newspaper Le Monde also gave its two cents in the polemic between the Russian and American sides. It claimed that the kerfuffle in Kazakhstan was planned to stir trouble against the Organization of Turkic States. Italian media, for its part, stated that Turkey was being targeted through that very organization.

"Kazakhstan was subjected to armed aggression by well-coordinated terrorist groups trained abroad," the country’s ambassador to Ankara Abzal Saparbekuly told reporters on Tuesday.

“Counter-terrorism operations are currently being carried out in my country. Especially around the city of Almaty, foreign-trained terrorists abound. Security forces and the national intelligence agency have made certain discoveries. There are hot clashes; they raided the police department and seized weapons. Chain markets and banks are being looted. Military forces are carrying out a sweeping operation.”

Stating that bandits are using both the weapons that they stole in raids and previously supplied firearms, Saparbekuly added: “Only terrorists are being targeted.”

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday announced that the CSTO peace force had successfully completed their mission in the country and that they would be gradually withdrawing from Thursday onward. Putin, for his part, pointed out that the Moscow-led military peace force would only be temporarily stationed in Kazakhstan, which was the victim of “global terrorism.” Furthermore, he vowed that Russia would not allow any revolutions in the region, and claimed that he had withdrawn troops from Kazakhstan.

However, security experts who reiterate Russia’s demand for the past two years to grant the northern regions of Kazakhstan certain rights (justifying this demand by pointing to the Russian population in Kazakhstan), say: “Kazakhstan's integration with global markets and the emergence of Russian hegemony, in addition to the revision of the education system based on Russian culture with its own cultural codes, have become sore spots where Russia is concerned. Kazakhstan, which signed the treaty of the Organization of Turkic States on Jan. 6, approved a law in the name of preserving its own culture that would see all Russian signs removed. It remains to be seen whether Russia made a covert imperialist agreement with Kazakhstan in return for its help, as the existence of such a deal will be sure to reveal Putin’s true colors that have up until now remained so well hidden.”