The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO)
Date: 10 January 2022 Tags: MiscellaneousIssue
The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) has been working alongside Kazakh security forces to contain unrest in the country.
Background
Kazakhstan is in middle of a major unrest arising out of rising fuel prices in the country. The political section has been forced to retreat due to public anger.
Details
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The protests started as a large demonstration against rise in LPG cost but soon turned into a protest demanding regime change.
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The government asked help under the CSTO. Russia and Belarus Special Forces landed in the country to control the situation.
The organization
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The Collective Security Treaty came into force in 1994. It was a treaty between Russia and five of its allies in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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After the fall of Soviet Union in 1991, the Warsaw Pact dissolved. There was an alternative need for a security pact between former Soviet countries.
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In 2002, the organization was upgraded to a military alliance. Today it has six members: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
Functioning
In 2007, the CSTO raised 20,000 elite personnel who are kept on high alert. They conducted join-exercised including anti-terror drills.
Cooperation actions
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For the first time in the organization’s history, the Article 4 was invoked. The Kazakhstan’s President blamed foreign-trained “terrorist gangs” for the protests.
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The rotating chairman of the group, Armenia agreed to send in peacekeepers. In addition to Russia and Belarus, Tajikistan and Armenia also agreed to send contingents.
Russia’s growing influence
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The CSTO is a tool to strengthen Russia’s influence over central Asia and weaken Western and Chinese presence in the region.
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The CSTO member countries benefit from Russia’s advanced military technology. It also gives Russia veto over any other foreign bases in the region.
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Russia also claims that Central Asian nations are not real countries, and instead simply part of the “greater Russian world”.