Armenia: CSTO reaction to border situation "strange" for several reasons

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ruben Rubinyan from Armenia's ruling Civil Contract party has described the reaction of the Collective Security Treaty Organization to the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as "strange", citing several reasons.

CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas earlier described the Azerbaijani military's incursion into Armenia as a "border incident" which he said does not fall under the provisions of the CSTO charter on collective defense.

"First of all, Mr. Zas noted that, thank God, there are no casualties. Unfortunately, however, there is one casualty as one Armenian serviceman was killed by an Azerbaijani soldier, and others were captured," Rubinyan said in an interview with the Armenian service of RFE/RL.

"Second, Armenia has applied to the CSTO to trigger Article 2 of the treaty, as well as the organization's Crisis Response Regulations."

According to Article 2, "in case of menace to safety, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or several Member States or menace to international peace and safety of the Member States shall immediately launch the mechanism of joint consultations for the purpose of their positions coordination, develop and take measures for assistance to such Member States for the purpose of elimination of the arisen menace."

"The CSTO has the tools or an obligation to respond not only to direct aggression or hostilities, but also in the event of a threat to the CSTO member's territorial integrity, sovereignty or security. I think no one can argue that the situation on our borders is 100% in line with Article 2," Rubinyan said.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military alliance in Eurasia, of which Armenia is a member. The CSTO was contacted days after the Azerbaijani forces violated Armenia’s border in several sections in the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik on May 12 and 13. The Azeri military is still refusing to withdraw their troops from the area. One Armenian serviceman was killed in Azerbaijan’s shooting on May 25, six troops were captured on May 27, although four of them have already returned home.