Is it fair to ask whether the CSTO exists or not? Andranik Kocharyan

The CSTO still has a long way to go before it becomes a stable organization, but the CSTO is not just Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, or any other country; we are a founding member, and Russia is there as well. However, we have a serious strategic cooperation agreement with Russia separately, and Russia is the guarantor of ceasefire maintenance, which was violated yesterday.

This was stated by Andranik Kocharyan, the Chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security, in an interview with Public Television, regarding the situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

“Today's discussion in the National Assembly centered around whether our presence in the CSTO solves problems in addition to our obligations. Society is justified in questioning whether the CSTO exists or not and what it is needed for. I, too, raised the question in my speeches: Does the CSTO exist or not? Until yesterday, our ally was able to fulfill its obligations as a guarantor of the ceasefire, but something has been violated today. I hope that our strategic ally will fully restore its status today and tomorrow.

Our armed forces fought today, which is the most important hope. This means that if there was another logic in the recent events, and it was perceived that after the war we would not be able to fight for our sovereignty, today we fought for that. We do not only see a very passive role or do not see it at all; however, our demands are becoming stricter day by day before the CSTO. Now, there has been an encroachment on the territory of Armenia by a non-member state, and we say, at least conduct ongoing monitoring; now we must impose that on them so that we can peacefully engage in the active phase of demarcation and delimitation,” Andranik Kocharyan said.