Mukhtar Yerman: the CSTO has a concrete legal framework of treaties

“We are dealing with an obvious factor of external influence on our country,” said Mukhtar Yerman, a member of the Standing Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Secretary of the Committee on International Affairs, Defence and Security of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan in an interview to Kazakhstan’s Khabar-24 TV channel.

“It was a very correct and deliberate decision taken by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as Head of the Security Council, to turn to the CSTO”, said the Secretary of the Commission on International Affairs, Defence and Security of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Mukhtar Yerman reminded that the CSTO is “a very significant political and military institution with a very clear, concrete legal framework of treaties.”

“There are levels of interaction, starting from the highest political level,” he reminded, stressing that “an important political concept at this level is interaction with deputies, our colleagues, through the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.”

Mukhtar Yerman expressed confidence that the invitation of a CSTO peacekeeping contingent would not affect the sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

“Involvement of a peacekeeping contingent, which does not perform, according to its mandate, any combat tasks, but is only engaged in protection of strategic facilities, allows the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and the National Guard of the Republic of Kazakhstan to redeploy their forces and reconfigure their activities; in other words, it shows that this is a balanced step.”