Collective Security Treaty Organization Reaffirms Support for Syria’s Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity

MINSK-The member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have called for the end of the crisis in Syria “by political and diplomatic means, through national dialogue without preconditions or external interference,” according to  final statement of the CSTO summit in Minsk, Agencia EFE reported on Thursday.

“The leaders of the CSTO member countries reaffirm their support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria,” the statement said.

 They also appealed for increased inter-state cooperation to track the movement of terrorists.

“We have observed cases of foreign terrorists being sent to their countries of origin or third countries to organize acts of sabotage and terrorism, in some cases camouflaged as refugees,” the members said.

“This dictates the need to increase inter-state cooperation in order to detect and stop foreign terrorists when they cross borders, as well as to improve the fight against international organized crime,” the text said.

The summit was attended by the leaders of Russia, Vladimir Putin; Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko; Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev; and the other three member-states: Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The organization, a post-Soviet military alliance led by Russia, was created in 2002 and its main objectives are political and military cooperation, the fight against terrorism and extremism, the illicit trafficking of drugs and weapons and other regional and global threat.

Hamda Mustafa