It's an interesting time for the CSTO, with the president of Belarus criticizing it for not taking action in the recent unrest in Kyrgyzstan, and questions about the base for the rapid-reaction force base Russia had apparently wanted to build for the CSTO in southern Kyrgyzstan. So it's fortuitous that Nikolay Bordyuzha, secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, has given an interview to Jane's Defence Weekly (subscription only). Unfortunately, Bordyuzha's interview provides more questions than answers. For example:
Providing stability in a volatile region - particularly in light of the violent ousting of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev - will be one of the CSTO's most challenging tasks. "Our organisation quickly sent a team to Bishkek to monitor and mediate [alongside] the OSCE, the UN and the EU. ... While we were watching closely, using our joint rapid-reaction force was out of the question," he said....
Should situations such as the one experienced in Kyrgyzstan deteriorate, then KSOR battalions could be deployed to any CSTO member state "with or without a UN mandate, at any time", Bordyuzha noted.
So, why was it "out of the question" to use the rapid-reaction force before, but if the situation in Kyrgyzstan deteriorates, it could be used "at any time"?
Further on:
There had been talk of Kyrgyzstan hosting two CSTO bases (one located at Kant and another at an unidentified base near the southern city of Osh), but Bordyuzha pointed out that "we don't have a base at Osh. What was discussed was the issue of [having a] training centre on Kyrgyz territory, but a location for this [centre] was never mentioned in any documents".
What do documents have to do with anything? Does the CSTO want to build a base, or a training center, or anything, in Osh? I guess we'll have to wait longer to find out...
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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