Collective Security Treaty Organisation

On October 7, 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, signed a charter in Tashkent, founding the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) (Russian: Организация Договора о Коллективной Безопасности (ОДКБ~ODKB)) or simply Ташкентский договор (The Tashkent Treaty). Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organisation. On 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is an observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly.

The charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organisation cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership.

The CSTO employs a "rotating presidency" system in which the country leading the CSTO alternates every year. Currently Armenia has the CSTO presidency.

Member states

 * Current members:
 * 🇦🇲 armenia (2002)
 * Military of Armenia
 * 🇧🇾 belarus (2002)
 * Military of Belarus
 * 🇰🇿 kazakhstan (2002)
 * Military of Kazakhstan
 * 🇰🇬 kyrgyzstan (2002)
 * Military of Kyrgyzstan
 * undefined (2002)
 * Military of Russia
 * 🇹🇯 tajikistan (2002)
 * Military of Tajikistan
 * 🇺🇿 uzbekistan (2006)
 * Military of Uzbekistan


 * Former members of the Collective Security Treaty of the Commonwealth of Independent States who did not join CSTO:
 * 🇦🇿 azerbaijan (joined 1994, withdrew 1999)
 * undefined Georgia (joined 1994, withdrew 1999) - plans to join NATO

Future membership
In May 2007 the CSTO secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha suggested Iran could join the CSTO saying, "The CSTO is an open organisation. If Iran applies in accordance with our charter, we will consider the application." If Iran joined it would be the first state outside the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organisation.

History
The CSTO grew out of the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and first began as the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) which was signed on May 15, 1992, by Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, in the city of Tashkent. Azerbaijan signed the treaty on September 24, 1993, Georgia on December 9, 1993 and Belarus on December 31, 1993. The treaty came into effect on April 20, 1994.

The CST was set to last for a 5-year period unless extended. On April 2, 1999, only six members of the CST signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period -- Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead. At the same time Uzbekistan joined the GUAM group, established in 1997 by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova, and largely seen as intending to counter Russian influence in the region.

Recent Developments
During 2005, the CSTO partners conducted some common military exercises. In 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and joined the CSTO in 2006 in order to seek closer ties with Russia.

In June 2007, Kyrgyzstan assumed the rotating CSTO presidency.

In October 2007, the CSTO signed an agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.

On October 6, 2007, CSTO members agreed to a major expansion of the organisation that would create a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deploy under a U.N. mandate or without one in its member states. The expansion would also allow all members to purchase Russian weapons at the same price as Russia.

On August 29, 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Three days before, on August 26, Russia recognised the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On September 5, 2008, Armenia assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow, Russia.

Military force
On February 4, 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that the rapid military reaction-force that would be deployed during a military aggression against an CSTO member would be "just as good as comparable NATO forces". He added that Russia would be ready to contribute a division and a brigade.