Uzbekistan's suspension of CSTO membership is temporary measure - Bordyuzha
MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax-AVN) - Uzbekistan's decision to suspend its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) does not mean the drift of Tashkent towards NATO, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said in an interview with the RT channel.
"I do not think so. Anyway, the foreign policy concept of Uzbekistan says the country does not engage in military-political blocs and does not deploy foreign bases or contingents on its territory," he said.
He noted that Uzbekistan had suspended participation in the CSTO activity.
"I must emphasize that it did not suspend its membership; it suspended its participation [in the CSTO activity]. We hope this is only temporary," Bordyuzha said.
"The main reason is the major differences of CSTO member countries over the collective security system," he said.
"Six countries deem it necessary to pool efforts, to form joint contingents, to create coordination mechanisms and to do this work together, and the Uzbek administration insists on bilateral actions and says it is not interested in collective activity. Take, Afghanistan, for instance. We say we should coordinate efforts to assist the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan. Uzbekistan says, 'No, we will cooperate only in the bilateral format. We object to any collective steps,'" Bordyuzha explained.