PRESIDENT: ARMENIA TO TRY TO SETTLE DISPUTABLE ISSUES DURING ITS CHAIRMANSHIP IN CSTO

ARKA
Aug 22, 2008

YEREVAN, August 22. /ARKA/. Armenia is going to settle disputable
issues in cooperation between the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) member-countries while chairing in the
organization, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the meeting
of defense ministers of CSTO countries in Yerevan. Armenia is getting
prepared for chairmanship of the CSTO seriously, he said.

Armenia attaches importance to implementation of foreign policy
coordination mechanisms within the CSTO, including coordination of
views between representatives of member-courtiers in international
organizations, the UN and OSCE in particular, and provision of mutual
support, Sargsyan said as quoted by the presidential press service.

The President pointed to the recent UN "anti-Armenian" resolution, as
well as the resolution on Abkhazia as a serious failure of coordination
mechanism. Failure to ensure efficient implementation of CSTO documents
is another problem, the President said.

Sargsyan stressed the importance of consistent observance of
the existing agreements within the organization. In particular,
the protocol on formation of forces and means of CSTO-member
countries collective security system (Yerevan, 2001) is not being
implemented. The protocol provides for establishing a collective
security system of anticraft defense military systems in Caucasus,
electronic countermeasures,20reconnaissance, communication and other
fields through bilateral agreements.

The Agreement on mutual training of the military for CSTO-member
countries in military educational institutions as per uniform curricula
is also "dying on the vine", the President said.

At the sitting of the CSTO Defense Ministers Council, Defense Minister
of Kyrgyzstan transferred the Council chair powers to the Armenian
Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan.