Maidan Technologies Used in Kazakhstan, Putin Says

Maidan Nezalezhnosti, literally "Independence Square", is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. A color revolution rocked Ukraine in February 2014, when its democratically-elected president was overthrown in a Western-backed coup d'état.

Vladimir Putin warned on Monday that what started as peaceful protests against higher gas prices in Kazakhstan and quickly escalated into violent riots and acts of terrorism was not the first and would not be the last attempt to meddle in the region Stating that the Kazakh President had turned to the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization for help in the face of an “unprecedented challenge to its security, integrity and sovereignty,” Putin added that the threat was caused not by spontaneous protests over fuel prices, but by the fact that “destructive internal and external forces had taken advantage of the situation.”

Speaking of the events in Kazakhstan, the Russian president emphasized that Russia would not allow the situation to be rocked at home and the "scenario of the so-called color revolutions to be implemented."

With that in mind, Putin underscored the need for the CSTO to develop measures jointly with to counter terrorism and protect security, Sputnik reported.

Mass protests in Kazakhstan began earlier in the week as residents of Zhanaozen and Aktau opposed a two-fold hike in prices for liquefied petroleum gas. The originally peaceful protests subsequently spread to other cities, spiraling into violent clashes with the police, looting and vandalism. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency until 19 January, inviting the CTO peacekeeping forces to help bring the situation under control.

After an appeal by the President of Kazakhstan, the CSTO forces “in a matter of hours” succeeded in preventing any undermining of foundations of state power in Kazakhstan, the complete degradation of the internal situation by “terrorists, criminals and marauders,” said Vladimir Putin.

The Russian President applauded the high level of mutual trust, cooperation and readiness to swiftly spring to action demonstrated by CSTO colleagues.

The forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization would remain in the country as long as needed, added Vladimir Putin.

"A contingent of collective peacekeeping forces of the CSTO has been sent to Kazakhstan and, I want to emphasize this, for a limited period of time, for as long as the president of Kazakhstan, the head of state, finds possible to use it," he said at the extraordinary session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

President Putin also proposed that on the basis of the CSTO further measures be developed to jointly counter such attempts at destructive external interference in the area. He accentuated that CTSO should never be blindsided by tragic events of the kind witnessed by Kazakhstan, and member-states ought to be “fully mobilized and ready to rebuff any provocations."

Also on Monday Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov said that Kyrgyzstan hopes that there will be an open and fair investigation into the involvement of foreigners, including Kyrgyz citizens, in protests in his country. Japarov warned that there remained the risk of the movement of terrorists who took part in Kazakhstan riots between CSTO member states.