PREMATURE TO TALK ABOUT AZERBAIJAN’S ACCESSION TO CSTO – OHANIAN

Interfax
Nov 30 2009
Russia

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian has said that Azerbaijan’s
accession to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has
not been discussed yet, the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press office
told Interfax on Saturday.

"Each state decides itself whether to cooperate with any particular
organization. Recently, Russia and Azerbaijan have broadened their
cooperation in the CIS framework, but I think it is to do with energy,
and the question whether Azerbaijan could join the CSTO has not been
discussed yet," Ohanian was quoted by the press office as saying at
his meeting with Poland’s Defense Minister Bogdan Klich.

Azeri media outlets said earlier, citing Azeri MP Gudrat Gasanguliyev,
that Azerbaijan could join the CSTO and host a Russian base.

Klich called for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts in southern
Caucasus, the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press office said.

The CSTO consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.