An uneasy calm has descended over Kazakhstan after a week of unrest that left more than 150 people dead and thousands behind bars. In a video conference call with Russia and Collective Security Treaty Organisation partners on January 10, 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called the protests, which are the largest to hit the Central Asian nation since gaining independence in 1991, an attempted coup organised by foreign terrorists. The government issued a statement alleging that "a substantial number of foreign nationals" were detained, but declined to elaborate further.
