Secretary General: Armenia`s expulsion from CSTO is prerogative of  supreme commanders-in-chief

ArmInfo. The decision to expel Armenia from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is the prerogative of the supreme commanders-in-chief of the  countries, but all circumstances must be taken into account. CSTO  Secretary General Taalatbek Masadykov stated this in an interview  with TASS.

"The CSTO's decision to expel Armenia is the decision of the CSTO  Collective Security Council (CSC), where the supreme  commanders-in-chief of our member countries are members. This  decision is theirs. But I think that all circumstances and factors  must always be taken into account when making decisions," he noted.

As Masadykov noted, if the Armenian leadership, in this case Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has stated this, then there are likely  different agendas. "Politicians are politicians for a reason: to  raise this issue, to heighten the discussion, and then to dismiss  it," the CSTO Secretary General argued.

Responding to a question about what decision can be expected from the  November meeting of the Collective Security Council on Armenia's  membership in the CSTO, the Secretary General noted that the  decisions "to expel or not to expel" from the organization are made  by the heads of state of the CSTO member states. "We, as the  secretariat, cannot make decisions for one side or the other, so  everything is still ahead. Whether this issue will be seriously  discussed at the next CSC meeting in Moscow this November is also a  question; that's up to the heads of state themselves. Let's not rush  [events]," he said.

"We've heard the statements by Prime Minister [of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan]. I've always said that it's not just the country's  leadership that has an opinion, but also the opinion of the Armenian  people on certain issues. Therefore, we won't prejudge the outcome,"  the agency's source emphasized.