Yerevan will try to make sure that its representative is appointed as Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) secretary general following the dismissal of Armenia’s Yuri Khachaturov, head of the Armenian branch of Russia’s Institute of CIS Studies, Doctor of Political Science Alexander Markarov said in an interview with TASS on Friday.

YEREVAN, November 2. /TASS/. Yerevan will try to make sure that its representative is appointed as Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) secretary general following the dismissal of Armenia’s Yuri Khachaturov, head of the Armenian branch of Russia’s Institute of CIS Studies, Doctor of Political Science Alexander Markarov said in an interview with TASS on Friday.

"Armenia will definitely make every possible effort to make sure that its representative is appointed to this position after Yuri Kharaturov has been relieved of his duties," he said. "However, a thing to note is that the organization’s member states must reach a decision by consensus," the expert added.

According to Markarov, "Armenia places much importance on the CSTO’s role in ensuring the country’s security although it closer cooperates with Russia within the organization that with other member states." "Armenia’s former authorities many times pointed to the country’s ambiguous relations with other CSTO countries," he noted.

Earlier on Friday, the CSTO Collective Security Council relieved Armenia’s Yuri Khachaturov of his duties as the organization’s secretary general. The move had been initiated by Yerevan. The Armenian prime minister’s spokesman Arman Yegoyan told TASS that the CSTO would discuss the appointment of a new secretary general at the Astana summit scheduled to be held on November 8.

On July 26, the country’s Special Investigative Service accused CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov of overthrowing the constitutional order in 2008 and requested a court to arrest him. Khachaturov, who was the commander of the Armenian Armed Forces’ Yerevan Garrison back in 2008, pleaded not guilty. On July 28, the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction released him on his own recognizance and a bail of about $10,000.