In his first appearance since the unrest, former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in a video address on Tuesday that there was no conflict among Kazakhstan's elite.

Several relatives of Nazarbayev have left senior positions in the public sector or at state companies in recent days.

Nazarbayev described himself as a "pensioner,"  saying full power was in the hands of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.