Armenian president arrives in Kazakhstan for security summit

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
17 Jun 04

[Presenter] President Robert Kocharyan has left for Astana. The summit
of the leaders of the member countries of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization [CSTO] will be held on Friday [18 June]. Deepening
the member countries’ military and military-technical cooperation
will be on the agenda. The heads of state will also touch upon issues
concerning CSTO cooperation with other international organizations. The
summit will also discuss the situation in the regions of the CSTO
member countries, in particular, how the member countries will take
part in the restoration of Afghanistan.

To recap, six countries, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan, are included in the CSTO. Before the meeting
of the leaders of these countries, CSTO member countries’ defence,
security and foreign ministers will held a joint session in Astana.

[Correspondent Lilit Setrakyan, over video of meetings, by telephone
from Astana] The delegation led by President Robert Kocharyan has
arrived in the Kazakh capital. Kazakh officials met the Armenian
delegation at Astana international airport. A meeting of the leaders
of the CSTO member countries will be held tomorrow as part of
the CSTO summit. The defence and foreign ministers will also meet
separately. Before the CSTO summit the presidents will also take
part in a forum on the theme of Eurasian Integration: Contemporary
Development Tendencies and Globalization Challenges of the Eurasian
Economic Community. The six leaders will discuss and sign agreements
on adopting unified laws and the circulation of securities among the
Eurasian Economic Community.

The presidents of Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan will discuss regional and international security issues
during the CSTO summit.

The delegation led by the Armenian president will return to Yerevan
tomorrow evening.