CSTO will face the same fate as the EEU - sooner demise, Aydos Sarim, Kazakh political expert, said in response to ArmInfo's question in an online press conference.
He said CSTO is nothing but Russia's attempt to create its own NATO. Sarim recalled that CSTO failed to do anything even in Kyrgyzstan. "Meanwhile, in Yerevan they naively think the CSTO will protect them from Azerbaijan," the political expert said.
"If your leaders think the CSTO is the cornerstone of the national defense and security, they are fool. The relations of Armenia and Russia are true, but the CSTO is a fiction. If there is war for Karabakh, God forbid, our army will not help yours even as part of the CSTO," Sarim said.
He is sure that the ordinary people in Kazakhstan will rather become volunteers in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, he said, the cooperation of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan may grow to a military-political level in future. Such a union will be much more efficient and responsible than Astana's ephemeral liabilities within the CSTO.
"I don't know what national security problems Kazakhstan's CSTO membership settles. Maybe they are training soldiers and officers and upgrading their combat efficiency. We have bilateral projects in the field of anti-aircraft defense and military-technical cooperation. However, it is a different issue," he said.
The online press conference was organized as part of the project of the "Region" Research Center "Urgent Dialogues for Armenia Media" and is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia.