DUSHANBE, June 7, 2011, Asia-Plus – Principal Deputy Defense Minister, Ramil Nadyrov, who is also Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, is representing Tajikistan at a session of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states that is opening in Minsk, Belarus today.
Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), says the meeting is dedicated to discuss an efficiency of interaction between heads of general (chief, committee of staff heads, unified) staffs of the armed forces of the CSTO member nations and improvement of activities of the CSTO Unified Staff.
Issues related to providing the CSTO Collective Operational Reaction Forces (CORF) with modern armament as well as military and special materiel are also among major topics of the meeting. The meeting participants are also scheduled to discuss formation of the CSTO peacekeeping forces and practical events on training the CSTO peacekeeping forces, the spokesman said.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is the regional security organization. It 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 became a full participant in the CSTO in June 2006. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
