Collective Security Treaty Organisation

October 20, 2021 February 20, 2022

The Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is an international military alliance. The headquarters of the alliance is located in Moscow, Russia. It was formed in 2002. It was formed based on the Collective Security Treaty signed in 1992. The treaty is also called Tashkent Treaty.

About CSTO

The Tashkent treaty was signed by Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in 1992. They were all former members of Soviet Union. The countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus joined the treaty in 1993. The treaty is renewed once in five years. Later in 1999, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan refused to sign the extension treaty. In 2002, the rest of the members established the CSTO. Uzbekistan re-joined CSTO in 2006. It again quit in 2012.

Aim of CSTO

The main objective of CSTO is to promote international peace, regional security, territorial integrity, protection of sovereignty of member states.

Collective Rapid Reaction Force

It is the official arms task force of CSTO. It was formed in 2009. The main purpose of the force is to fight against drug trafficking and terrorism. Currently, the force mainly comprises of army units from Russia, Tajikistan. Kyrgyzstan. Armenia, Belarus. Kazakhstan.

Major events

In 2009, Belarus boycotted CSTO summit due to “Milk War” with Russia.
In 2010, ethnic clashes broke out between the Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Both the countries demanded the assistance of CSTO. However, CSTO remained neutral to maintain regional integrity. The CSTO comes to aid only during foreign invasions. Following this, Uzbekistan quit CSTO in 2012.
In 2014, CSTO conducted a large scale psychological and cyber warfare exercise for its member countries
In July 2021, after Taliban insurgents took control in most of Afghanistan, several Afghans fled to Tajikistan. This included government troops and police. This forced Tajikistan to seek help from CSTO members

CSTO and Commonwealth of Independent States

The CSTO grew from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). CIS was formed under the Collective Security Treaty signed in 1992. The CST was signed by Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Kazakhstan. The CIS was formed following the disintegration of Soviet Union.