Two years ago, in the first decade of January 2022, a terrorist attack thrust Kazakhstan into the global spotlight nearly causing its government to fall and the country to lose its unity. Up to now, the events of those days, known as the Almaty Tragedy or Kan tar (January in Kazakh), remain largely an enigma, with a local civilian protest quickly spreading across the country and dissolving into hostilities. The authorities claimed that at least 20,000 terrorists, who were trained, among other places, in Afghan camps, had attacked the former capital.
In a lengthy interview published in early 2024, Tokayev reiterated the following points: