Armenia must retain CSTO secretary general post, foreign minister says
16.11.2018,
17:04
In an interview with Russian news agency TASS Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said Armenia has many candidates, capable of assuming the position of secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and holding it until the end of Armenia’s rotating term.
YEREVAN, November 16. /ARKA/. In an interview with Russian news agency TASS Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said Armenia has many candidates, capable of assuming the position of secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and holding it until the end of Armenia’s rotating term.
The position became vacant after Yuri Khachaturov was dismissed as secretary general of the Russia-led organization October 30. In Armenia Khachaturov has been charged by law-enforcement authorities with inciting a coup in Armenia in connection with the March 1, 2008 post-presidential election crackdown on opposition protesters, when eight civilians and two police officers were killed.
The leaders of the CSTO member countries were supposed to elect a new secretary general at their meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this month, but then agreed to postpone it until December 6, when they meet in Russian St. Petersburg.
According to Mnatsakanyan, the regulatory framework of the organization does not provide for a specific solution to resolve this concrete issue; secondly, CSTO decisions are made by consensus; thirdly, the credibility, viability and efficiency of the organization are extremely important to Armenia and as a member of CSTO, Armenia is interested in a strong organization and is working to contribute to it.
Asked whether a statement by Kazakh president to delay the election of secretary general until the ST. Petersburg meeting means that the job would not be given to a representative of Armenia, Mnatsakanyan said it did not as there are six equal members in the CSTO where decisions are made by consensus.
A Yerevan district court late on July 27 ruled that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) could hold former president Robert Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured. Kocharyan is now charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons, and the agency has applied to court for a detention warrant.
The same charge was brought against Yuri Khachaturov, who had been the chief of the Yerevan garrison at the time of the bloody events. Khachaturov was detained by then released on a 5 million dram bail. Also former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan is wanted by the law-enforcement authorities as a defendant in the case. He is accused of illegally using the Armenian armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the disputed presidential election held in February 2008. -0---
The position became vacant after Yuri Khachaturov was dismissed as secretary general of the Russia-led organization October 30. In Armenia Khachaturov has been charged by law-enforcement authorities with inciting a coup in Armenia in connection with the March 1, 2008 post-presidential election crackdown on opposition protesters, when eight civilians and two police officers were killed.
The leaders of the CSTO member countries were supposed to elect a new secretary general at their meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this month, but then agreed to postpone it until December 6, when they meet in Russian St. Petersburg.
According to Mnatsakanyan, the regulatory framework of the organization does not provide for a specific solution to resolve this concrete issue; secondly, CSTO decisions are made by consensus; thirdly, the credibility, viability and efficiency of the organization are extremely important to Armenia and as a member of CSTO, Armenia is interested in a strong organization and is working to contribute to it.
Asked whether a statement by Kazakh president to delay the election of secretary general until the ST. Petersburg meeting means that the job would not be given to a representative of Armenia, Mnatsakanyan said it did not as there are six equal members in the CSTO where decisions are made by consensus.
A Yerevan district court late on July 27 ruled that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) could hold former president Robert Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured. Kocharyan is now charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons, and the agency has applied to court for a detention warrant.
The same charge was brought against Yuri Khachaturov, who had been the chief of the Yerevan garrison at the time of the bloody events. Khachaturov was detained by then released on a 5 million dram bail. Also former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan is wanted by the law-enforcement authorities as a defendant in the case. He is accused of illegally using the Armenian armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the disputed presidential election held in February 2008. -0---
