Mukhtar Ablyazov, the man who claims to be orchestrating the riots in Kazakhstan, explicitly described to the U.S. embassy in London in 2009 that he was already plotting regime change in Kazakhstan. Ablyazov’s activities in the 2005-2009 period were a frequent topic in U.S. State Department cables from Kazakhstan that were part of the famous WikiLeaks dump in 2012.
Ablyazov arrived in London in 2009 after being ousted as chairman of the BTA Bank by, he claimed, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Ablyazov gained control of the bank in 2005 after the mysterious death of Erzhan Tatishev, the previous chairman.
The U.S. embassy in London reported in a cable dated March 23, 2009 that from his base in London, Ablyazov was planning to continue supporting political groups opposing Nazarbayev and to actively seek regime change in Kazakhstan, supposedly in favor of “democracy.” “Ablyazov contends Nazarbayev remains focused on his arrest and censure because Nazarbayev knows that Ablyazov is one of the few individuals with the resources and influence to hinder the President’s eventual transfer of power to a chosen successor, likely someone from the President’s family,” the cable reports.
