“Kazakh people not to join Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation under any circumstances” Caliber.Az interview with expert Arman Shuraev

Kazakh political analyst Arman Shuraev has said that any participation of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is excluded in any format.

“When it comes to hot conflicts or full-scale war, I think that neither the Belarusians, nor the Tajiks, nor the Kyrgyz, nor the Russians, who are now in a difficult situation in Ukraine need the second front. Moreover, fraternal Kazakh people will not join the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation under any circumstances,” Shuraev told Caliber.Az while commenting on the attempts of the Armenian leadership to involve the CSTO in hostilities on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which began as a result of the provocations of the Armenian side.

“The Kazakh people will not interfere, because President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s recent visit to Azerbaijan, and demonstrative negotiations with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in their native languages, without using the Russian language, at which the leaders of our countries perfectly speak, shows that Kazakhstan is withdrawing from Russia’s influence and, accordingly, from all the military, economic and other unions inspired by it. Therefore, I absolutely exclude the participation of Kazakh peacekeepers in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict,” the political analyst said.

Shuraev noted that in general, the CSTO will not take part in this process.

“If the forces of the military bloc are involved in the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, this will mean a direct confrontation not only with Baku but also with Ankara. Moreover, the Azerbaijani army demonstrated new warfare technologies and army equipped in accordance with the latest technology to the whole world during the 44-day second Karabakh war. Therefore, the CSTO will be ashamed if it interferes in this process at Armenia’s request. For these reasons, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the CSTO member states will not take responsibility for such a deplorable outcome,” the analyst added.