Andre Ismagambet
Journalist
An attempt to destabilize Kazakhstan, the largest state in Central Asia, unexpected for an average European, brought the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to the military-political arena. It is a military alliance of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Created 30 years ago to “strengthen peace, international and regional security and stability”, the CSTO, perhaps for the first time in its history, is showing its efficiency.
According to the organization’s charter, the decision to send troops to one or another CSTO country is taken collectively at the request of the head of the state which is affected by some external aggression. The protests in Kazakhstan started as internal socioeconomic disagreement. However, with a stunning speed, the protests escalated into uncontrolled pogroms with political demands. It soon became clear that they were directed from abroad. In particular, the “peaceful protests”, but in fact the riots, are coordinated by the notorious Telegram channel NEXTA, which is under the external control of the Polish special services and was previously used to coordinate the rebellion in Belarus (the NEXTA platform even changed its avatar, adding the flag of Kazakhstan).
Soon, Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev publicly stated that the street criminals who seize city administrations and police stations and kill police and military personnel are “terrorist gangs” that have been “trained abroad.” Thus, foreign invasion to a Central Asian republic was officially announced. “In this regard, relying on the collective security treaty, today I have appealed to the heads of the CSTO states to assist Kazakhstan in overcoming this terrorist threat,” Tokayev said.
According to incoming information, well-trained militants from radical bandit formations actively operating in the countries of the Middle East, primarily Afghanistan, have revealed themselves among the pogrom-mongers. Obviously, if such a terrorist threat is not stopped in Kazakhstan, it is likely to spread throughout the Eurasian space, including the territory of the CSTO countries. As a result, the CSTO headquarters agreed on the entry of a peacekeeping force in Kazakhstan, numbering 3.6 thousand servicemen. They included military from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
Thus, the CSTO peacekeeping operation is not only legitimate according to the internal legislation of the member states of the organization, but also the only possible one, since the first days of the confrontation between the Kazakhstani security forces and the militants showed that the terrorists took the advantage.
The task of the CSTO forces was announced – to ensure security at infrastructural facilities: airports, train stations, administrative buildings, oil and gas storage facilities, hospitals, etc. Due to such assistance, military forces of the Kazakh army will be released to participate in counter-terrorism activities. Experts already say that only the statement about the CSTO troops entering the country immediately discouraged treachery and desertion, making the army of Kazakhstan stable.
In addition, it should be noted that the deployment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization forces in Kazakhstan has become a “cold shower” for NATO. It is obvious that the CSTO was created as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Alliance, but all these 30 years the West has considered the CSTO a “dead lion”. And the lion turns out to be just dormant.
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