CSTO Summit in Armenia

14.10.2016

In Yerevan, the Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization is gathering together officials and heads of state.

Agenda

It is expected that representatives of the participating countries, which include top officials such as President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the Presidents of Armenia, Tajikistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, and the heads of relevant ministries, will develop a collective security strategy for up to 2025.

In addition, the international situation and counter-terrorism will be discussed. A single list of terrorist organizations will be approved and a crisis response center will be set up. The total agenda comprises more than 20 questions.

In addition to the summit’s narrow format and several plenary sessions, also planned is a series of bilateral meetings between the presidents of member countries.

The event will end with the transfer of the CSTO chairmanship from Armenia to Belarus as well as the selection of the new Secretary General, who will probably be a citizen of Armenia.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit cancelled

Because of health problems, all of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visits have been cancelled until the end of the week, including the visit to Armenia. Despite the fact that the president’s daughter has said that he feels much better, Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev will still substitute for him during the summit.

However, Nazarbayev was awaited, perhaps more than anyone else, in Yerevan. The president of Kazakhstan plays quite a big role in the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Previously, it was he who contributed to the warming of Russian-Turkish relations.

However, we must not forget that the message that the leader is sick has generated a lot of rumors. The pro-American liberals will certainly take advantage of them in order to destroy Nazarbayev’s carefully arrayed Eurasian pole of power and the serious role which CSTO plays in it.

Terrorist factor

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon arrived in Yerevan the day before to meet with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan and hold several meetings at the highest level. It is reported that the problem of terrorism, an extremely urgent issue for both countries, is being seriously discussed.

However, in Armenia and Central Asia, terrorism has a different character, although it has the same roots in Washington. If Armenian terrorists try to present themselves as "fighters for justice” while holding hostage doctors, as it was last time when they seized a police office, then Tajikistan faces the threat of ISIS more than others. One of the leaders of this organization is a citizen of Tajikistan, the former commander of the Tajik police Gulmorod Halimov. In addition, during his so-called inauguration, he individually threatened his former colleagues. Before major public holidays in Tajikistan, he often calls representatives of the police and other law enforcement agencies with threatening messages with his signature. However, so far no terrorist act by ISIS or other similar groups has occurred in Tajikistan.

To counter this threat within CSTO, a single list of terrorists and terrorist organizations will be established, a crisis response center will be set up, and some additional measures will be taken. For this purpose, Russian Security Council Secretary Gen. Nikolai Patrushev is also taking part in the CSTO Security Council meeting.

External threats

However, the main threat facing CSTO countries comes from the White House. It is known that the US Embassy in Yerevan is the second largest US embassy in the world.The US is interested in Armenia given its position as a bridge between Russia and Iran. By subjugating Yerevan, the US will be able to cordon off Iran from different angles, which, of course, could complicate even if not freeze relations between Tehran and Moscow. By the way, the biggest US embassy is located in Baghdad, the capital of Iran’s western neighbor, Iraq. In addition, Armenia is on the border with Turkey, which the US has recently lost.

This explains Washington’s desire to destabilize the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has directly accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of escalating this long-standing conflict, which Vladimir Putin and his Eurasian counterparts are trying to solve. Aliyev was responding to Kerry's words that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to be blamed on both sides - Armenia and Azerbaijan. In addition, Kerry, occupying a mediating position, said that conditions for a resolution have not yet formed because none of the parties are ready for peace.

Political agenda

During the meeting, the heads of the Council of States plan to make some political statements. Most likely, they will deal with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and joint projects that will reduce US influence in the region.

In addition, it is known that immediately after participating in the CSTO meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to India, another extremely serious power pole, to attend the BRICS summit. Thus, a fresh strategy to strengthen Eurasia is likely to be immediately put into practice in Goa, India. This, in turn, will be relevant in light of Washington's attempts to weaken China, including by Uyghur terrorism and separatism, manifestations of which have also occurred in Kyrgyzstan. But relations between the two countries have not deteriorated as badly as the White house expected.

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CSTO Summit in Armenia

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