BRYZA: SET-UP OF CIS BLOC’S MILITARY NOT TO AFFECT GARABAGH TALKS
AzerNews Weekly
Feb 11 2009
Azerbaijan
The planned establishment of a common military by the countries of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the military arm of the
CIS, will not affect talks on settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict,
according to US mediator Matthew Bryza of the OSCE Minsk Group.
"We are not aware of any details regarding the creation of joint
military forces of the CSTO states, except the initial report on
potential plans to set up prompt-response forces within the group,"
he said.
Officials of the former Soviet republics included in the CSTO,
a group dominated by Russia, signed a final document on creating
collective military forces at the Kremlin last week. The CSTO also
comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan. Azerbaijan turned down membership in the group.
The Fergane.ru news agency reported that although Uzbekistan did
sign the document, it had agreed only to be involved in operations
on fighting drug trafficking, smuggling and terror.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said CSTO members considered
creating joint armed forces as being pivotal, but it is still uncertain
when such units will be set up.
Medvedev emphasized that the joint forces would be based in Russia,
although it was earlier reported that forces located in the territories
of home countries would be inferior to their own defense forces.
The CSTO was established in October 2002 to preserve the territorial
integrity of member countries, coordinate activities in the fight
against international terror, drug trafficking and organized crime,
and provide immediate military aid to a CSTO member in the event of
a military threat. The common army aims to serve these purposes.
Baku believes that the intended creation of the CSTO`s military
contingent will not affect Azerbaijan`s security. According to
Novruz Mammadov, head of the international relations department in
the President`s Office, the domestic and foreign political course
pursued by the Azerbaijani government ensures the country`s stability
as well as its independence and security.
Mammadov noted that CSTO countries have been operating within the
organization for many years and striving to protect their security
and independence by different means. The interests of these countries
within the organization currently overlap and they deem protecting
their security more feasible and appropriate within this framework,
Mammadov added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
