On September 26, a number of NGOs and extra-parliamentary political forces organized a protest in front of the Foreign Ministry, demanding the termination of Armenia’s membership in the CSTO. “The CSTO is not a security structure. It is a system, but in fact it is a structure that generates conflicts.
Today, two CSTO member states are in conflict with each other, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. There was an obvious attack on the sovereign territory of Armenia, to which the CSTO member states did not respond, except for the monitoring group and the visit of the CSTO Secretary General. In addition, two CSTO member states, Russia and Belarus, are involved in the war against Ukraine. To be in this structure is to be vulnerable. Armenia should get out of this structure as soon as possible and create security tools for itself. This initiative was created to put this demand in front of our state authorities and we will have meetings with the representatives of the relevant sector,” said Edgar Arakelyan, head of the “Free Armenia” initiative, at the beginning of the demonstration.
Read also
Journalist Tehimne Yenokyan said that most of us cannot take up arms, but we can dig diplomatic trenches and keep war away from our country every day. According to Tigran Khzmalyan, chairman of the European Party of Armenia, many people ask whether a security vacuum will not be created during the withdrawal from the CSTO. “Naturally, these dangers exist and it is necessary to parallel these two processes. It is necessary to start negotiations with our real allies in the West, first of all, with the USA and the EU. We accept with deep satisfaction and a sense of hope the news that the Prime Minister has gone to Paris for negotiations with the French President, and the Secretary of the Security Council is in Washington, of course, to discuss security issues.
This is our common hope and I am sure that it will be our common nationwide success. We insist that Armenia should become a member of the EU and NATO. Other options include being a proud loner, Finlandization, non-NATO ally specially invited… these statuses become dangerous for us. Only membership in a structure like NATO can ensure Armenia’s development, physical existence, and security of our statehood. Any step taken outside the yoke of Russia, the Russian-Turkish trap, should unite the nation.” Khzmalyan said that after the war we have not lost as long as we are fighting, and we are fighting.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
