DUSHANBE, April 12, Asia-Plus – The Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Nikolai Bordyuzha, who is arriving in Tajikistan tomorrow afternoon, is scheduled to hold talks with President Emomali Rahmon on April 15, according to the Tajik MFA.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Davlat Nazriyev, the head of the MFA information department, said that their talks will focus on prospects of further expansion of cooperation within the framework of the CSTO.
On April 14, Bordyuzha will hold meetings with Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev, Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi and Chairman of the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES) Khairullo Latipov.
On Tuesday, before meeting with the Tajik head of state, the CSTO secretary general will hold talks with Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev, Chairman of the Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament), and the Security Council Secretary Amirqul Azimov.
The CSTO is the regional security organization that 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 member states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002 the group was renamed as the CSTO. Uzbekistan joined the group in 2006.
