Mukhtar Ablyazov cast himself as the leader of the opposition protests in Kazakhstan

Ablyazov lives in France where he has been granted refugee status

Mukhtar Ablyazov, a former banker wanted in Kazakhstan who is the leader of an opposition movement called Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, said the West needed to enter the fray, Qazet.az reports citing AKIPress.

"If not, then Kazakhstan will turn into Belarus and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will methodically impose his programme - the recreation of a structure like the Soviet Union," Ablyazov told Reuters from Paris in Russian.

"Kazakhstan is now in geopolitical play," he said. "Russia has already entered, sent in troops. CSTO is Russia. This is an occupation by Russia."

Wanted at home for fraud and embezzlement, Ablyazov lives in France where he has been granted refugee status. He has dismissed all the charges against him in Russia and Kazakhstan as politically motivated.

Ablyazov cast himself as the leader of the opposition protests and said he was consulted every day on tactics on the ground in Almaty.

"I see myself as the leader of the opposition," he said. . "Every day the protesters call me and ask: 'What should we do? We are standing here: What should we do?'"

He said he was ready to fly into Kazakhstan to head a provisional government if the protests escalated and said his activists were awaiting him.