Kazakhstan

From Unrest to Reforms

Report Mission by Alberto Turkstra 

During a working visit to Kazakhstan in February 2022, I had the chance to join a group of 9 European journalists to travel across various Kazakh cities and meet with relevant stakeholders including, inter alia, Secretary of State Erlan Karin; Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials; Deputy Chief Prosecutor Bulat Dembayev; Human Rights Commissioner Elvira Azimova; local officials in the cities of Almaty and Shymkent; and members of public commissions (Akikat and Amanat) led by prominent human rights lawyers. We were able to familiarise ourselves with the ongoing investigations into the January events and the preparatory work towards the substantial package of reforms that President Tokayev will be announcing in a major policy speech in mid-March....