BISHKEK, November 12 (Itar-Tass) — Kyrgyzstan will take over CSTO presidency after the Moscow summit in December of this year, the presidential press service said on Monday, November 12, after a meeting between Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha.
“During the meeting Bordyuzha informed the president about the upcoming session of the CSTO Collective Security Council to be held in Moscow on December 19,” the press service said.
“In accordance with the CSTO procedures, Kyrgyzstan will assume the presidency in the Organisation from Kazakhstan on December 19,” it said.
Atambayev and Bordyuzha also discussed “pressing issues of interaction within the CSTO”.
The CSTO is a military-political alliance of seven countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Uzbekistan suspended membership in the Organisation several months ago.
On October 7, 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, signed a charter in Tashkent, founding the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organisation. On June 23, 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on March 28, 2008. The CSTO is an observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly.
The charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organisation cooperation.