China’s economic rise and active investment sector has grown its influence in Central Asia - but money alone is not enough to change the complex realities in the region’s domestic politics.
While the trigger was the removal of a price cap on vehicle fuel, the protests furthered owing to widespread feelings of inequality, poverty, and corruption prevalent in the country.
"Before foreign intervention, the Kazakhstan government and the protesters must end the ongoing unrest through dialogue," Taliban member Al-Hanafi Wardak told Newsweek.