SARKISIAN OFF TO CSTO SUMMIT IN KYRGYZSTAN; ALLIANCE SET TO FORMALIZE NEW BASE

Asbarez
to-summit-to-formalize-new-base-in-kyrgyzstan/
Jul y 30, 2009

BISHKEK – Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian is due to arrive in
Kyrgyzstan on Friday to attend a two day informal summit of the
Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, where member
states are to sign off on the establishment of a military base
in Southern Kyrgyzstan to host the CSTO’s newly established Rapid
Reaction Force.

The summit will bring together heads of state from the member countries
for talks on the establishment of the base and on broader regional
security issues in the resort town of Cholpon-Ata, near Lake Issyk Kul.

The new base will serve as a training ground for the post-soviet
alliance’s new permanent military and peace keeping forces.

The CSTO, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, agreed in early February to set
up the rapid-reaction force, transforming the loosely organized CSTO
into a more NATO-like military alliance, complete with UN-Peacekeeping
responsibilities and armed with modern compatible weapons and military
hardware.

The new forces, which is slated to hold drills in Kazajhstan in
September, will consist of large military units from Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Rapid Reaction Force
has been described by the Kremlin as comparable to NATO forces. It’s
primary role will be to repulse military aggression, provide
peacekeeping operations in conflict zones, conduct anti-terrorist
operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking, and
neutralize the effects of natural disasters.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress