DUSHANBE, October 8, Asia-Plus — Next year Armenia will hold a rotating presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the president of Kyrgyzstan, which currently chairs the CSTO, said on October 6.
“Next session of CSTO will be held under Armenia”s chairmanship,” Kurmanbek Bakiyev said at the CSTO summit in Tajikistan”s capital of Dushanbe.
The next summit of the regional security organization will be held in Moscow in May or June 2008 together with the summit of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), Bakiyev added.
Earlier in the day the leaders of CSTO member states signed more than 20 documents. The documents stipulate the formation of a coordinate council on illegal migration and extraordinary situations, a legal basis of peacekeeping activities, and military and technical aid.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon called on the organization to play a more active role in strengthening the peace process in Afghanistan.
“We have discussed the reinvigoration of our efforts in regard to the Afghanistan issue so that the CSTO could considerably contribute to the peace process in this country,” Rahmon said adding that the CSTO turned into an effective and internationally acknowledged organization since it was formed 15 years ago.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the CSTO countries would be able to buy Russian weapons and military equipment at Russian domestic market prices.
“Significant concrete results were reached [at the CSTO summit], mainly in the sphere of military and technical supplies. We have agreed on and finally adopted a list of documents allowing the CSTO states to buy Russian weapons and military equipment on Russian domestic prices for their armies as well as for special services,” Putin said.
The CSTO comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This year the organization will mark a 15th anniversary.
