State of emergency in Zhanaozen could be lifted ahead of schedule

The state of emergency enacted till January 5 could be lifted ahead of time from Zhanaozen town in western Kazakhstan that has been hit by violences, RIA Novosti reports, referring to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Kazykhanov as saying in Moscow at the Council of Foreign Ministers of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) member-countries. “The situation in Zhanaozen has been fully stabilized and is under control. There are no plans to extend the restrictive measures to any other parts of the region. If the situation remains stable, the state of emergency regime and curfew restrictions may be lifted earlier than planned,”Kazykhanov said. The situation in the town is going back to normal. There was not a single report of any illegal activities or violence during the night of December 18-19. Mass violence took place in the town on December 16. 14 people died as a result of the clashes, dozens were wounded. On December 17 President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev declared the state of emergency in Zhanaozen.