The authorities have blamed Islamist terrorists for the protests that left Almaty’s city hall and several other key buildings in flames
VASILY KRESTYANINOV/AP
The protests in Kazakhstan that erupted last week are unlikely to turn into a democratic spring. They may not mark a longed-for beginning of the end to authoritarian rule in the huge, mineral-rich country wedged between Russia and China. The floundering regime blames Islamist terrorist cells for the uprising. The police have thus been ordered to shoot to kill and wound, a purge is under way and President Putin’s Spetsnaz paratroopers are on the ground to support a spurious “peace” mission.
This rebellion may continue to simmer, as does discontent in Belarus. It may yet cost Russian lives, as revolt in Ukraine has done. But the Kazakh troubles are unlikely to open up new space for democratic reform. Russia, it is true, is paying a
