CSTO cannot intervene in conflicts between member states - expert

Bishkek, May 4, 2021. / Kabar /. The Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) does not provide for measures in case of conflict between the member states of the organization, political scientist, expert on regional security in Central Asia Mars Sariev explained. “I would like to draw your attention to the fact that they chose a very apt moment. They began military operations when the CSTO members were meeting in Dushanbe for two days already, and our Defense Minister and the Secretary of the Security Council were attending it. Prime Minister Ulukbek Maripov flew to Kazan for a meeting of the EAEU, and the head of the State Committee for National Security, in charge of the border troops, Kamchybek Tashiev, left for Germany for treatment. Only President Sadyr Zhaparov remained in the country. The fact that the attack on Kyrgyzstan took place on the very day when he was almost beheaded suggests that this is a deliberate provocation,” Mars Sariev said and reminded that Tajiks prepared for it in advance. The expert noted that before that they had brought gravel to the head water intake by KamAZ, then they defiantly installed video cameras nearby and hung out the Tajik flag. “In the same way they provoked a year ago. At that time, the Tajik side deliberately hung its flag on the border of the Vorukh enclave on the pedestal that the Kyrgyz side built back in Soviet times (then, however, there were administrative boundaries). And the neighbors put their banner on it, and this was the beginning of the conflict,” Sariev said. “And, finally, the Tajik side knew that if it starts hostilities, the CSTO cannot intervene, because its charter does not provide for measures in case of conflicts of the member states of the organization between themselves," the political scientist explained.