Armenia not to leave CSTO in near future - pundit

Political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan has said that Armenia is not going to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the near future.

“In a sense, Armenia is no longer a real part of the CSTO,” Iskandaryan noted, Caliber.Az reports.

Commenting on the question whether Armenia will leave the Organization in the near future, Iskandaryan said, "What's the difference? In a sense, Armenia is no longer a real part of the CSTO. Armenia is not involved in the activities of the CSTO. When the Prime Minister announced about freezing relations with the CSTO, he did not speak about his intention to do so. He was stating a fact.

Speaking on the air of Trigger program, the political scientist noted that in reality the current relations between Armenia and the CSTO cannot even be called a crisis. According to him, the current realities mean one thing: Armenia needs efforts just to become a real member of the CSTO. "Under such conditions, whether Armenia remains a formal member of the CSTO, by and large, matters as much as Armenia's or other countries' membership in the CIS," the political scientist noted.

According to him, in case of Armenia's withdrawal from the CSTO, nothing will change in terms of the organization's work and Armenia's security situation. However, it will become a kind of "symbol", "challenge", "statement" on the part of Armenia. This step can be made when a specific political moment arises and as a challenge, he said. At the same time, Iskandaryan doubts that Armenia will take such a step in the near future.