JUNE 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Defence minister from CSTO member states flew into Dushanbe for their annual meeting, set to begin on June 4. The Collective Security Treaty Organisation includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 234, published on June 4 2015)
APRIL 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have reportedly broken ranks with other former Soviet states and declined to sign a memo calling for sanctions on Russia to be dropped.
At a meeting of foreign ministers in Bishkek most members of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) agreed to back the petition which was to be sent to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (April 3).
But Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan — along with Ukraine and Moldova — declined to sign the document, the local language service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
All three of the Central Asian and South Caucasus countries have form.
Azerbaijan’s cause is probably a sovereignty issue. It doesn’t want to set a precedent that would allow the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh to drift further from its control.
Uzbekistan’s reasons are more deep-rooted and linked to its traditional unilateral stance on issues concerning Russia.
And Turkmenistan could be just aiming to irritate Russia.
It appears that Ashgabat is locked in a worsening row with Russia over gas supplies and the devaluation of the rouble. Earlier this year, Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berdymkuhamedov blamed Russia for Central Asia’s economic troubles.
Regardless, the failure to secure the full backing of CSTO members in Bishkek is a — largely overlooked — diplomatic miss for Russia.
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(News report from Issue No. 226, published on April 8 2015)
JULY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia accused Azerbaijan of intensifying shelling of pro- Armenian forces in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Tension has been rising around Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s defence minister, Seyran Ohanyan, also rejected calls for the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to monitor the cease-fire around Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 190, published on July 2 2014)
MAY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appears to have triggered a minor international row by snubbing a meeting of a former Soviet military group in favour of talks with a senior US diplomat.
Mr Nazarbayev had been due to travel to Moscow for a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a military group that includes Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Instead he decided to meet with the US deputy Secretary of State, William Burns, in Astana.
Officials were quick to deny there was a problem even though all the other CSTO leaders turned up in Moscow for a meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr Nazarbayev was conspicuous by his absence.
Back in Astana, to make the situation even more uncomfortable for Mr Nazarbayev, diplomats told journalists that Mr Burns had asked Mr Nazarbayev to try and use his influence with Mr Putin to relax Russia’s pressure in eastern Ukraine.
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(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)
SEPT. 24 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Russia-led military group, will arm Tajik forces along its border with Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a meeting in Sochi, south Russia. The CSTO is worried about the spread of the Taliban from Afghanistan after NATO leaves in 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)
AUG. 2 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s lower house of parliament passed a decree that will prevent it from either joining any military alliance in the future or hosting any foreign military bases. Media had speculated that the US may be looking to open a base on Uzbek territory after Uzbekistan withdrew from the Russia-lead CSTO military alliance earlier this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 099, published on Aug. 3 2012)
JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has suspended its membership of the CSTO, a Russia-lead military alliance that includes many of the former Soviet states, a CSTO spokesperson announced in Moscow. No reason was given for Uzbekistan’s decision. Uzbekistan has increasingly earned a reputation as a unilateralist.
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(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)
NOV. 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Through the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Russia agreed to boost military support to Armenia by increasing training and helping to modernise its army, media reported. The CSTO is a military pact involving many ex-Soviet states but not Azerbaijan, Armenia’s enemy. Russia has a large military base in Armenia.
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(News report from Issue No. 67, published on Dec. 1 2011)
AUG. 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan could allow militant Islam to spread into Central Asia, Russian media quoted Nikolai Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as saying at a meeting in Astana. The CSTO is a loose security group of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
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(News report from Issue No. 53, published on Aug. 17 2011)