The Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Yuri Khachaturov, will arrive in Dushanbe tomorrow on a two-day visit, according to the CSTO Secretariat.
While in Dushanbe, Khachaturov will hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Security Council Secretary Abdurahim Qahhorov, Defense Minister Sherali Mirzo, and chief of the General Staff of Tajikistan’s Armed Forces.
The purpose of the visit is for the CSTO secretary-general to discuss with Tajik state officials issues related to making preparations for a session of the Collective Security Council and a joint meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers, CSTO Council of Defense Ministers and the CSTO Committee of Security Council Secretaries that will take place in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, this autumn.
Yuri Khachaturov (born May 1, 1952) is the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia.
He graduated from the Tbilisi Artillery Command of the Red Banner School in 1974. After graduation, Khachaturov was appointed commander of the platoon firing artillery regiment of infantry divisions of the Far Eastern Military District. He served as a battery commander, chief of staff, deputy commander of an artillery battalion commander of the anti-tank artillery battalion in the Far Eastern Military District from 1976 to 1982. From 1987 to 1989, Khachaturov served in Afghanistan. After serving in Afghanistan, Khachaturov was appointed commander of a separate tank army artillery brigade of the Belarusian Military District in October 1989. After the Fall of the Soviet Union, a special decree of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus for Khachaturov's services had been seconded to the Ministry of Defense of Armenia and he was appointed commander of the Armenian 2nd infantry regiment in April 1992. In September 1992, Khachaturov became Chief of the Border Troops and the Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces of Armenia. On March 21, 2000, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia. Khachaturov served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia from April 2008 to October 2016. On May 2, 2017, Khachaturov was appointed the CSTO Secretary-General, replacing Nikolai Bordyuzha.
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.
