DUSHANBE, July 16, 2014, Asia-Plus — The task force of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (MoD), led by Colonel Ilhom Aliyev, is participating in military exercises involving members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that are taking place in Russia.
“Units from the CSTO”s Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) began joint tactical exercises at the Chebarkul training ground in Russia’s Chelyabinsk oblast on July 15,” Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for a MoD, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
The exercise, dubbed Rubezh-2014 (Frontier-2014), include units from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
The press service of Russia”s Central Military District said the exercises also involve representatives of the Joint Staff and Secretariat of the CSTO, which also includes Armenia and Belarus.
The exercises, which end on July 18, are aimed at improving a single protocol of operation for military commands, planning joint operations, arranging troop support, and practicing crisis-settlement methods.
The regional security organization was initially set up in 1992 in a meeting in Tashkent and Uzbekistan once already suspended its membership in 1999. However, Tashkent returned to the CSTO again in 2006 The regional security organization was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) — Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year. A 1994 treaty reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force, and prevented signatories from joining any “other military alliances or other groups of states” directed against members states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO. Uzbekistan that suspended its membership in 1999 returned to the CSTO again in 2006 after it came under international criticism for its brutal crackdown of antigovernment demonstrations in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005. On June 28, 2012, Uzbekistan announced that it has suspended its membership of the CSTO, saying the organization ignores Uzbekistan and does not consider its views. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
Five member nations of the CSTO (Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan) reached an agreement to create the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) on February 4, 2009. The force is intended to be used to repulse military aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking, and neutralize the effects of natural disasters.
