Jeltoqsan

Jeltoqsan Kazakh: Желтоқсан көтерілісі
Part of Revolutions of 1989 and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Fragment of the monument to the Independence of Kazakhstan
Date 16–19 December 1986 Location Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union Result Protests suppressed; massive casualties after clashes
Belligerents
Kazakh protesters	Soviet Union OMON KGB
Commanders and leaders
No organized leadership	Mikhail Gorbachev Gennady Kolbin
Casualties and losses
168–1,000 civilians killed More than 200 injured

The Jeltoqsan (Kazakh: Желтоқсан көтерілісі), also spelled Zheltoksan, or December of 1986 were protests that happened in Almaty, Kazakh SSR, when Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Dinmukhamed Kunaev to Gennady Kolbin, a Russian who never lived in Kazakhstan, as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan.^[1][2]

The protests happened from 16 to 19 January 1986. The protests started in the morning of 17 December, as a student march. The government sent troops, and violence broke out. In the following days, protests spread to Shymkent, Taldykorgan, and Karaganda.

1. ↑ "Kazakstan - Reform and Nationalist Conflict". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
2. ↑ Putz, Catherine (16 December 2016). "1986: Kazakhstan's Other Independence Anniversary". The Diplomat. Retrieved 19 January 2024.