Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 14 / Trend V.Zhavoronkova /
Uzbek President Islam Karimov is right in saying that the Organization of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) can defend its members only in the event of an external threat, Azerbaijani political analyst and Trend Expert Council member Fikret Sadikhov said today.
"Karimov voiced the truth and the truth is that the CSTO can only protect its members in case of an external threat," he said.
Uzbekistan urges CSTO member states to approach to the use of collective forces to suppress violence inside the organization's member countries with caution.
"The purpose of the CSTO is, first and foremost, to protect member countries from an external threat rather than to participate in solving various confrontations and clashes between CSTO member states and countries in the CIS," Karimov said at a CSTO summit in Moscow on Friday.
Sadikhov said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan cannot raise the issue of Armenia's protection from Azerbaijan in the event of an escalation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as the liberation of Azerbaijan's territory is not an external threat for Nagorno Karabakh.
Sadikhov said such requests made by Armenia following the "fruitless negotiations" to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are "complete nonsense and more nonsense."
"First, because Azerbaijan's territorial integrity is recognized by all states and international organizations, and second, because we have every right under the principles of international law for the release of our territories, and we have repeatedly stated this," Sadikhov said.
No one has questioned Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Moreover, Azerbaijan's territorial integrity was adopted together with Nagorno Karabakh at the U.N. in 1992, he said.
Sadikhov said it is clear that the CSTO has disagreed with Sargsyan, but, nevertheless, Azerbaijan should not be complacent and rely on the CSTO as a humanitarian organization.
"Everything is possible, nothing is excluded, and we must be ready to repel military attack on our territory," Sadikhov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.