Jeltoqsan — the December 1986 protests

On 16 December 1986 Moscow removed Dinmukhamed Kunayev, head of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, and replaced him with Gennady Kolbin, an outsider with no ties to the republic.

The next day thousands of students and young people gathered in Almaty's central square. On 17–18 December the protests were crushed by force: many were injured, arrested or expelled from study and work, and some were killed. The student Kairat Ryskulbekov was sentenced to death and died in prison in 1988.

Jeltoqsan ("December") is regarded as the first great Kazakh stand for national dignity and independence. The Independence Monument on Almaty's Republic Square and Zheltoksan Street keep its memory alive.