Opposition bloc OK with CSTO mission, slams sending Armenians to Almaty

PanARMENIAN.Net - The opposition Armenia bloc believes Yerevan should not have prevented the deployment of the CSTO contingent to Kazakhstan, but the Armenian forces should not have been sent to Almaty, lawmaker from the bloc Gegham Nazaryan said in a statement on Facebook Friday, January 7.

"Kazakhstan adhered to a clear pro-Azerbaijani position during the 44-day war [in Nagorno-Karabakh in fall 2020]. Kazakhstan congratulated Azerbaijan on November 9," Nazaryan said.

Nazaryan added that in a situation “when haven't healed the wounds of the war, haven't overcome the consequences", Armenia should not be sending a single serviceman abroad, especially to Kazakhstan, "where only intra-clan – not inter-clan but intra-clan – issues are being resolved."

Almost immediately after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for help, the CSTO decided to deploy a peacekeeping contingent in Kazakhstan, with Armenia sending 100 troops to Kazakhstan as part of the contingent.

Throughout the mission, the Armenian peacekeeping unit will only protect buildings and infrastructures of strategic importance, the Defense Ministry said.