“Nagorno Karabakh is not a CSTO member and the organization will not provide military assistance to Stepanakert”, during the Moscow-Yerevan-Astana-Bishkek-Minsk teleconference on the topic “The main threats to the military security of CSTO member states” stated Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, the head of the CSTO Joint Staff.
During the teleconference, Armenian reporters, reminding about Ilham Aliyev’s statement about returning Yerevan, asked Mr. Sidorov whether the CSTO will support Armenia if necessary. Sidorov responded: “Nagorno Karabakh is a subject not included in the CSTO, it is not a CSTO member. Armenia is a member of the CSTO and, therefore, all the documents and agreements that are in the contract also relate to Armenia. You have to be sure that the CSTO will not leave Armenia in danger if something happens”.
Referring to Aliyev’s statements, Mr. Sidorov said: “We hope that power and rationality will not allow the situation to come to point that the two peoples, who were members of one large family, in one republic, to take away a capital from one another.
Speaking about Russia’s policy of arming Azerbaijan, Mr. Sidorov advised not to treat this issue that seriously, and made a comparison: “Suppose you go to a store, you have money and want to buy something. If you do not like the goods in that store you leave for another store. The same is with military matters. If Azerbaijan does not buy arms from Russia, it will buy from another country”.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
