All demands, expressed in a peaceful manner, were heard, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his address to the people on Jan. 7, AzVision.az reports.

"I express my gratitude to those citizens of Kazakhstan who during these days kept calm, made efforts to ensure stability and public order. Despite provocations, destructive calls, you remained faithful to the law and your country," Tokayev noted.

"I thank the students of large cities, members of labor collectives, industrial and agricultural workers for the civic consciousness, and the residents of the regions who ensured a peaceful order of protest. As a result of the dialogue, a compromise was reached, solutions on acute social and economic problems were developed," the president emphasized.

"Therefore, in the regions, where the situation is stable, we’ll gradually lift the state of emergency," he stressed.

Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.

Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.

After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance.

Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the government initiated anti-terrorist operations to deal with the ongoing riots.

Also, the divisions of the united peacekeeping contingent of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) arrived in Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order and help protect strategic objects of the country.

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