Analysts explain CSTO’s refusal to intervene in Baku-Yerevan conflict

Experts in Baku have regarded the unwillingness of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to intervene in the Armenian-Azerbaijani border conflict as confirmation of Yerevan's wrongness. In their turn, Armenian experts link the CSTO’s statement with Russia's position on this issue.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Armenia and Azerbaijan periodically exchange accusations of shootouts and other incidents on the border. On July 3, Stanislav Zas, the CSTO’s Secretary General, treated the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as a "border incident", which does not fall under the provisions of the CSTO Charter on collective defence.

There are explanations for the CSTO’s refraining from interfering in the border conflict, Azad Isazade, military expert and a former employee of the information and analytical department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD), believes. According to his version, there is no documentary evidence that Azerbaijan had violated the Armenian border, since the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border has not been agreed upon.

“In this situation, we have border disputes, not aggression; therefore, the CSTO refrains from interfering,” Mr Isazade has noted.

The CSTO's negative response to Armenia's appeal is an indicator of the fact that even Yerevan's allies disagree with its position and accusations against Baku, says Telman Abilov, the head of the NGO “Military Officers”.

In the opinion of Alexander Iskandaryan, a political analyst and Director of the Caucasus Institute, the statement of the CSTO’s Secretary General means the political position of Russia, and not of the organization as a whole.

Russia needs no big war; and, apparently, there won't be one, the expert is sure. “And where and which section which party will control, Russia is very little interested. Therefore, attempts to attract the CSTO to Armenia’s side to defend its interests were initially doomed to failure,” Mr Iskandaryan has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 7, 2021 at 09:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.