KZBlog

Housing problems in Almaty are nothing new. Real estate prices are incredibly high and cheaper housing is destroyed to make room for new and inevitably high-priced development complexes. A number of regions on the outskirts are home to squatters who are forcibly ejected and denied compensation, or given inadequate compensation, when the land is marked for development.

The controversy is exacerbated by of the financial crisis which is causing unemployment, rises in prices and an increase in the cost of living. The poor have no place to live. There have been clashes with police in Shanyrak and other regions as well as protests, letters to the akimat and other political actions in the past few years. However storming the akimat building in Almaty is something new.

On 10 Dec dozens of protestors tried to meet with the akim to protest the demolition of their homes. When they were not given a meeting, they tried to force their way into the building. Then on 16 Dec, Independence Day, 400 protesters assembled on Republic Square to protest housing issues, calling for the government to resign.

16 Dec was chosen as Independence Day because it commemorates protests on that day in 1986 against the Soviet Union’s choice of an ethnic Russian to be head of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.

It is not a surprise that the events received no coverage in the local news. However it is a good sign in a country that has been perceived as cracking down on human rights that the head of the 16 Dec protests was sentenced to only 15 days in prison for leading an unregistered assembly. Ainur Kurmanov is the chairman of the unregistered Talmas movement. Talmas is Kazakh for Persistence.

Many commentators have noted the high level of approval for the government in Kazakhstan and the general political apathy of the population, especially compared to other post-Soviet states such as Georgia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. Many believe that the high standard of living in Kazakhstan and the availability of consumer goods has made people content with the political situation. If the financial crisis causes the economy and the consumer market to shrink, there may be more protests on the horizon.