DUSHANBE, November 1, 2011, Asia-Plus — Mr. Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), is arriving in Dushanbe today evening on a two-day visit, a well-informed source in the Tajik government said.
Tomorrow, Bordyuzha will hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. The CSTO secretary-general is also expected to meet with heads of Tajik power-wielding structures to discuss cooperation within the framework of the Organization and other issues being of mutual interest.
We will recall that the last visit of the CSTO secretary-general to Tajikistan took place last March in the framework of consultations on regional security as well as strengthening of stability in Afghanistan.
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 became a full participant in the CSTO on June 23, 2006; and its membership was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
