Appeal was not to Russia, but to CSTO - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

ArmInfo. In conditions of chaos and virtual anarchy in the regions, at a meeting of the Security Council it was decided to appeal to the CSTO to introduce a peacekeeping contingent into our country for the period necessary to ensure stability and security, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated in an interview with Egemen Qazaqstan newspaper.

"I emphasize: the appeal was not to Russia, but to the CSTO, of which Kazakhstan is a member," he said.

"At the time of the appeal, the chairman of the organization was Armenia, and this year the chairmanship passed to Kazakhstan. The CSTO contingent was truly a peacekeeper and played the role of a deterrent in the orgy that played out in those tragic days. By agreement with the member countries of the organization, its contingent left the country without any preconditions, and ahead of schedule.

"The CSTO peacekeeping contingent did not participate in the counter-terrorism operation and did not fire a single shot. The Armenian contingent guarded the city water canal and the Aksai bakery, the Belarusian - the airfield in Zhetygen, the Tajik and Kyrgyz - respectively, CHPP-1 and CHPP-2 of the city of Almaty, the Russian - CHPP-3 and telecommunications facilities. There were threats of terrorist attacks at vital support facilities, so the contingent was sent there. But most importantly, this allowed us to free up our forces to carry out a counter-terrorism operation," the Kazakh president said.