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  • 'instability Rooted In External Support Of Extremism'

    'INSTABILITY ROOTED IN EXTERNAL SUPPORT OF EXTREMISM'

    Russia Today
    http://rt.com/politics/instability-rooted-caucasus-situation-259/
    Nov 1 2011

    The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has named regions
    forming an "arc of instability" in the Caucasus and Middle East and,
    consequently, causing major concerns for the body.

    The organization is made up of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
    Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

    "Events in Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and
    Karachaevo-Cherkessia have had a destabilizing impact on the
    situation in the Caucasus," stated CSTO Deputy Secretary-General
    Valery Semerikov during a round-table discussion on Tuesday. He went
    on to say that those Russian republics have become the "epicenter
    of externally-supported criminal extremist activities" which shifted
    there from Chechnya.

    "In particular, serious problems that determine the state of security
    in the Caucasus region are the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and efforts
    to deal with the aftermath of the August 2008 crisis," Semerikov added.

    The territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and the unrecognized
    republic of Nagorny-Karabakh dates back to 1991. When Nagorny-Karabakh,
    which used to be part of the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, declared
    independence, a deadly military conflict broke OUT. THE END OF THE
    WAR THREE YEARS LATER DID NOT LEAD TO A settlement.

    Recent developments, namely Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia
    in 2008, added to the unstable security situation in the Caucasus.

    Afghanistan, which is in close proximity to the CSTO area of
    responsibility, is another part of the "instability arc", according
    to the body's deputy head.

    "There's been no progress in Afghanistan," Semerikov noted. "Only
    last year around 7,000 civilians were killed."

    The country remains a major stronghold of terrorism, he stressed,
    adding that the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan will
    have "a direct impact on the situation in Central Asia". Together
    with Pakistan, which possesses nuclear weapons, they could become an
    "extremely dangerous source of tension."

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