President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev used a New Year's speech as the first anniversary approached of deadly unrest in Kazakhstan to claim credit for "saving the country" from "a great challenge" in its three decades of post-Soviet independence.
He said on January 1 that "thanks to the indomitable unity of our people, we turned back this threat."
He called 2022 "the beginning of large-scale changes and the start of a new era" in Central Asia's biggest and economically mightiest republic.
Rights groups and other critics have continued their calls for thorough and independent investigations into violence during the January 2022 unrest, which was initially sparked by rising fuel prices but morphed into anger over years of corruption and nepotism.
WATCH: The father of 4-year-old Aikorkem holds President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev responsible for his daughter's death -- and says he'll never stop demanding justice.
Officials have acknowledged 238 deaths in connection with the unrest, including 19 police officers and dozens of detainees who appeared to have been tortured in custody.
Toqaev declared a state of emergency after the unrest erupted on January 2, 2022, and eventually invited Russian and other CSTO troop support to put down the protests, heightening concerns of increased Moscow involvement and influence in Kazakhstan and the region.
In his speech on January 1, Toqaev claimed that "significant progress" was made in the defense of human rights in the country.
But Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other groups have said the investigations into the unrest were "one-sided" into abuses, and failed to hold police and other officials to account.
Toqaev has previously blamed "20,000 bandits" and other "extremists" trained abroad for attacking Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, without publicly producing any evidence.
Toqaev organized a referendum in June to extend presidential terms to seven years and an extraordinary election in November, leaving him in office until 2029.
"The presidential election was open and fair," he said of the vote, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said was lacking "real" competition.
"In a difficult geopolitical situation, we increased the international reputation of Kyrgyzstan [and] became a reliable partner of a number of giant countries," Toqaev said in his New Year's speech.
He said the government's "first task" is tackling inflation, increasing the real income of citizens, and kick-starting production."
After several tumultuous years, Kazakhstan has local and gubernatorial elections slated for 2023.
Toqaev said he was "confident that new democratic traditions will be formed and political culture will be raised in this country."
