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POST-SOVIET MILITARY ALLIANCE HOLD DRILLS
United Press International UPI
Sept 18 2012
The post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization this is week
is conducting joint military exercises in Armenia at a time when
Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.
YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The post-Soviet Collective Security
Treaty Organization this week is conducting military exercises in
Armenia at a time when Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.
The CSTO military alliance includes former Soviet Union members
Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and
has been established to bolster international security in the volatile
regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The exercises, dubbed Cooperation-2012, are meant help hone the CSTO's
rapid reaction commando force, which has been set up to be sent in
should one of the alliance's members be attacked by outside forces.
The exercises began Saturday at the Marshal Baghramyan training
grounds of the Armenian armed forces with welcoming remarks from
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and are scheduled to run
through Wednesday, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Some 2,000 soldiers and commando squad members were expected to be
involved in the military exercises this year, which are focused on
carrying out swift and effective defensive maneuvers with small forces.
That fits the threats Armenia sees to its own security, Russian
military editor Viktor Baranets told the Voice of Russia.
"It is not a secret that the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
remain unsettled, and the reason for this is the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem," he said. "Azerbaijan insists that it is necessary to resolve
the Karabakh problem once and for all. In view of the above-mentioned,
Armenia would strategically benefit from the CSTO military exercises
with the participation of many countries."
He told the broadcaster the training would include work with infantry
fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks, warplanes, MiG-29 jet
fighters and air defense missile.
CSTO military security department adviser Anatoly Timoshenkov told
the Armenian News Agency the exercises will help to strengthen bonds
within the 20-year-old alliance.
"This is a peculiarity and importance of our military brotherhood," he
said. "The military exercises help to develop organizational skills."
CSTO Press Secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov told the Belarusian Telegraph
Agency the International Committee of the Red Cross will take part
in the exercises, as will international observers from the United
Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The Armenian exercises came one day after another CSTO special forces
training operation held outside Moscow -- this one concentrating on
stemming the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, where NATO is battling
Taliban insurgents who are profiting from the drug trade. Those efforts
were headed by the CSTO and the Russian Federal Drug Control Service.
The government-run Voice of Russia pointed out last month anti-drug
operations are one of several areas of common interest between the
Russian-lead alliance and the United States-led NATO, which has
announced a 2015 pull-out date from Afghanistan.
But NATO has so far refused to cooperate with the CSTO as an
organization.
"We don't think we need new institutional frameworks, but ... NATO
very often meets with individual members of CSTO and we cooperate with
individual members of CSTO also when it comes to counter-narcotics,
which I think is a very important project," NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Moscow this year.
"So we cooperate with individual nations. We don't think it's necessary
to build new institutional structures between NATO and CSTO as an
organization."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/09/18/Post-Soviet-military-alliance-hold-drills/UPI-48051347964200/
United Press International UPI
Sept 18 2012
The post-Soviet Collective Security Treaty Organization this is week
is conducting joint military exercises in Armenia at a time when
Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.
YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The post-Soviet Collective Security
Treaty Organization this week is conducting military exercises in
Armenia at a time when Russia is advocating its recognition by NATO.
The CSTO military alliance includes former Soviet Union members
Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and
has been established to bolster international security in the volatile
regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The exercises, dubbed Cooperation-2012, are meant help hone the CSTO's
rapid reaction commando force, which has been set up to be sent in
should one of the alliance's members be attacked by outside forces.
The exercises began Saturday at the Marshal Baghramyan training
grounds of the Armenian armed forces with welcoming remarks from
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and are scheduled to run
through Wednesday, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Some 2,000 soldiers and commando squad members were expected to be
involved in the military exercises this year, which are focused on
carrying out swift and effective defensive maneuvers with small forces.
That fits the threats Armenia sees to its own security, Russian
military editor Viktor Baranets told the Voice of Russia.
"It is not a secret that the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
remain unsettled, and the reason for this is the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem," he said. "Azerbaijan insists that it is necessary to resolve
the Karabakh problem once and for all. In view of the above-mentioned,
Armenia would strategically benefit from the CSTO military exercises
with the participation of many countries."
He told the broadcaster the training would include work with infantry
fighting vehicles, armored vehicles, tanks, warplanes, MiG-29 jet
fighters and air defense missile.
CSTO military security department adviser Anatoly Timoshenkov told
the Armenian News Agency the exercises will help to strengthen bonds
within the 20-year-old alliance.
"This is a peculiarity and importance of our military brotherhood," he
said. "The military exercises help to develop organizational skills."
CSTO Press Secretary Vladimir Zainetdinov told the Belarusian Telegraph
Agency the International Committee of the Red Cross will take part
in the exercises, as will international observers from the United
Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The Armenian exercises came one day after another CSTO special forces
training operation held outside Moscow -- this one concentrating on
stemming the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, where NATO is battling
Taliban insurgents who are profiting from the drug trade. Those efforts
were headed by the CSTO and the Russian Federal Drug Control Service.
The government-run Voice of Russia pointed out last month anti-drug
operations are one of several areas of common interest between the
Russian-lead alliance and the United States-led NATO, which has
announced a 2015 pull-out date from Afghanistan.
But NATO has so far refused to cooperate with the CSTO as an
organization.
"We don't think we need new institutional frameworks, but ... NATO
very often meets with individual members of CSTO and we cooperate with
individual members of CSTO also when it comes to counter-narcotics,
which I think is a very important project," NATO Secretary General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Moscow this year.
"So we cooperate with individual nations. We don't think it's necessary
to build new institutional structures between NATO and CSTO as an
organization."
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/09/18/Post-Soviet-military-alliance-hold-drills/UPI-48051347964200/