Tatevik Shagunyan. Attraction of Yuri Khachaturov as a defendant in the criminal case may negatively affect the image of Armenia in the CSTO. The director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan expressed this opinion at the press conference.

He recalled that Khachaturov's appointment as Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was difficult due to the opposition of Belarus and Kazakhstan, and only with the assistance of Russia this became possible. "Taking into account all this, the recent processes will lead to additional difficulties for Armenia within the organization," Iskandaryan assured.

At the same time, he considered it more expedient to first withdraw Khachaturov from the post of CSTO secretary general, and only then begin the procedure for his replacement. "All these legal procedures can cause opposition of member states," the expert said. According to him, CSTO members can negatively react to the arrest of the second president of Armenia. "However, Armenia should explain to all clearly that all this should be considered exclusively in the context of internal political processes," Iskandaryan said.

Khachaturov is held as a defendant on March 1, 2008, he is charged with overthrowing the constitutional order in Armenia. At present, he is released on bail, since he has diplomatic immunity. Armenia appealed to CSTO members to begin the procedure for recalling Khachaturov. So far only Moscow has responded to this. Russia's response was tough by diplomatic standards: "In a telephone conversation with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that it was Armenia that should withdraw the General Secretary if such a decision was made in Yerevan."