Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 20 / Trend E. Kosolapova /
The Collective Security Treaty Organization members should cooperate to counteract religious extremism, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview with Soyuzniki. ODKB magazine (The Allies. Collective Security Treaty Organization), Novosti-Kazakhstan reported.
According to Nazarbayev, all CSTO members are secular states by constitution, so it is logical to share experiences on strengthening secular principles in the society between the countries.
Thus, Nazarbayev called CSTO members to cooperate in studies on international relations and history of religions.
"But it is important not just of academic interest, and the search for evidence of alien ideology, malignancy, and the unacceptability of various forms of religious fanaticism and extremism," he added.
According to Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has built a tolerant model of interethnic and interfaith society during independence. However, nowadays number of extremist movements, including religious is growing in Central Asia
"There are forces which do not like peace and harmony in our society," Nazarbayev said.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance of Post-soviet countries. It was created in 1992. The CSTO charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating countries to abstain from using threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In 2012 Kazakhstan will chair the organization.
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