Monday, January 10 2022 13:41

ArmInfo.The actually commenced state disintegration, lost control of Almaty and, according to some information, beheaded Kazakh policemen, beyond doubt, proved a rather strong reason for Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to apply to  the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for help,  political scientist Stepan Danielyan told ArmInfo. 

"I would like point to steadily growing religiously tinged problems  between the Kazakh authorities and society, which is a serious  danger. In fact, the authorities are now battling terrorism, and I do  not at all believe that external forces' involvement in destabilizing  Kazakhstan must necessarily be in the form of armed groups. This is  especially so in view of the fact that a number of jihadis, who were  once involved in destabilizing Syria, are now present in Kazakhstan,"  he said.  

As regards a possible negative effect of Armenia's CSTO chairmanship  and Armenian troops' involvement in the anti-insurgency operation in  Kazakhstan, Mr Danielyan points out the presence of the Kyrgyz and  Tajik communities in Kazakhstan, which are much larger than the  Armenian community. This last fact could be viewed as a greater  threat to these communities in the context of prospective impact by  the involvement of the corresponding nations' troops in the military  operations in Kazakhstan.  

According to various data, 2,500 to 4,000 CSTO troops have been  deployed in Kazakhstan. Armenia has dispatched a hundred elite force  servicemen. The RA Ministry of Defense, the Armenian troops' mission  is protecting buildings, facilities and strategic infrastructures. 

As regards the criticism of Armenian Premier Nikol Pashinyan's  decision, Mr Danielyan said that Armenia's refusal to hold  consultations with the CSTO member-states, with Armenia chairing the  CSTO now, would have logically been followed by the country's  secession from the CSTO. That would be followed by the withdrawal of  Russian troops from Artsakh, from the Armenian-Turkish border and  from the Syunik section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, with all  the ensuing circumstances, namely, another Azerbaijani-Turkish  aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. 

Noteworthy is also a remark by Armen Grigoryan, Secretary of the RA  Security Council, in his interview with the RA Public Television: he  expressed hope for help by the CSTO should Armenia face a similar  situation. That statement would sound ordinary but for the fact that  it was made by a person accused by some Armenian and Russian circles  of being westward-looking and committed to the ideas of the renowned  U.S.-based exporter of democracy and billionaire George Soros.