A month after a controversial CSTO summit in Yerevan, the issue of Armenia’s role in this organisation remains a question of debate in Armenian society. Commonspace.eu correspondent Vahagn Antonian reports on the views of ordinary Armenians in different parts of the country
Armenia is a founding member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The Treaty stipulates that "if any of the member country is subjected to aggression, then it will be considered an aggression against all member states." Hence, the main argument behind Armenian authorities' decision to join the institution remains the same: membership in the organization is important for Armenia's security.
According to proponents of Armenian membership in CSTO, there is one primary factor that determines Armenia's choice - the preferential conditions for strengthening the level of the member states' military supplies and equipment. That factor is particularly important for Armenia due to its complicated relations with its neighbours. However, major discontent over Armenia's membership in the CSTO can be currently observed among some civil society representatives as well as in some of the country's political circles. Increasingly one can hear the view that the CSTO has stopped being an effective security guarantee for Armenia.
One of the reasons for such sentiments was a statement by an official of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on April 2, 2016 (during the 4-day war with Azerbaijan) regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which prompted the Armenian Foreign Ministry to send a protest note to the Belarusian side.
Another incident occurred during the recently held meeting of the CSTO Council in Yerevan on October 14, 2016 where the tendency of the institution to ignore Armenia and the latter's interests was noticeable. It showed that there are very deep disagreements within the CSTO alliance. The candidate of Armenia was not approved as the Secretary General of the organization, as was expected based on the rotation principle of the CSTO charter.
In general there is an impression that because of the mistakes of the Armenian authorities, amongst other reasons, Armenia's position in this organization is not strong enough. On the other hand, Azerbaijan, whilst not even a member of CSTO, has more influence in the organization than Armenia thanks to the friendly disposition of the other member states. The cancellation of the visit of Nursultan Nazarbaev, the president of Kazakhstan, to Yerevan to participate in the CSTO summit was interpreted in Armenia as a sign of solidarity with Baku and Ankara at the expense of Yerevan.
Armenian political experts increasingly express the view that the CSTO is an artificial institution without a unified structure, and that a deeper integration of Armenia in this institution is not only dangerous in terms of putting the country's sovereignty at risk, but also because it has not given any benefits to Armenia so far, and membership can potentially become even more dangerous and harmful later. During the Council held in Yerevan, it was particularly stressed that the NATO and Western Partnership are potential threat to the CSTO and the common territory of the member states.
Aside from the opinions of the political pundits, it is interesting to know the opinions of ordinary people on this subject and what their attitude towards the membership of Armenia in this institution is. Ordinary Armenians are often expected to pay for the mistakes and shortcomings of their leaders with their own blood, as was witnessed in the renewed hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in April. Often it is noticed that when big decisions on the future of the country are taken, such as whether to proceed with an Association Agreement with the EU or to join the Eurasian Economic Union the opinions of politicians do not always coincide with that rest of the population
In order to learn more about the public sentiments in regarding that issue, an informal survey was conducted among more than two dozen residents of different regions of Armenia.
There was an assumption initially that for people who live in Armenia the priority issue was that of security and there must be a positive attitude of public towards the membership of Armenia in the CSTO, as it was observed in the case of the combination of opinions on negative and positive aspects of Armenia's joining the Eurasian Economic Union. The first thing that immediately caught the eye in the survey was that most respondents were not aware of the CSTO and what it was all about; many had never heard about it while others said that they had heard something about it in the news or on TV but had little knowledge about what it does. It should be noted that not only young people who are generally not interested in politics were unaware of the subject, but the older generation, that is considered to be interested in politics, was also unaware. People had a vague knowledge that Armenia is part of an organization which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and "a few other Asian countries". These ideas were mainly intermingled with the EEU, while the name CSTO did not ring a bell.
"Frankly, I do not have deep knowledge about it, so I cannot answer your questions in a more profound sense, but I think many people do not know anything about it just like me."- said one of the respondents who introduced herself as Anna, a Master's student.
"Theoretically it must be a good thing, but I personally have never heard of that organization. The fact that few people know about the organization tells a lot about that organization, for example that it has not been active. The English have a very good saying 'Politics is like sausages- it is best not to see how it is being made'. I follow this saying. Perhaps that is why I haven't heard about the CSTO. However, if they would have done anything notable, I would have definitely heard about them. For instance 'Rostock' is a huge rock festival and it is organized every four years. All great bands gather there and have concerts and everyone knows about it, even those who are not really interested in rock music."- said Erik Khandoyan from Vanadzor.
A few others, who were not aware of the topic also, justified their lack of knowledge by the fact that they did not see their future in Armenia and intended to move to another country for permanent residence, therefore they were not actually interested in anything related to the Armenian politics.
Other respondents were able to make relevant conclusions and answer the questions only after clarifying specific information, or asking a few questions regarding the topic or doing a research on their own. "When you analyze it, it's not a bad thing. Maybe one day Armenia is attacked by some force which Armenia cannot resist on its own, or maybe the same happens to Kazakhstan, that's when the other member states can help them. It's a good thing also in terms of armament. The joint military trainings are already a positive aspect in terms of increasing military preparedness", said one of the respondents named Ararat.
A resident of Gavar, Tigran Hovakimyan agrees with Ararat:" It's good when in case of a threat to the country there are joint consultation mechanisms put forward, in terms of privileged conditions as well as military and technical support."
Besides a few respondents who were in favor of the CSTO and Armenia's membership in it, there were a few respondents who had positive opinion of the organization with some reservations. For example Hrayr Ghulinyan did not have a negative opinion of the organization itself, but was a little hesitant about the role of Armenia in it. He mentioned that CSTO is not a bad organization, however the negative thing about it is that Armenia is not able to properly defend its rights in the organization; instead it took the position of a stooge which is already bad.
Gayane Vardanyan from Yerevan mentioned first of all that she did not know enough about the issue but half-joking half-serious added: "I think Armenia's joining the CSTO was a big mistake, but since we are already in it and unfortunately nobody is calling us to join NATO, it means as a security system the membership in CSTO is better than not joining anything at all."
Another respondent, Samvel Kirakosyan, who has just finished his military service, thinks that, regardless whatever alliance Armenia joins, it is important and beneficial to cooperate with the others and to try to keep the due balance in the relations.
In general, the majority of the respondents were against Armenia's membership in this organization. The other revelation was that this time the opinions of political circles and ordinary citizens, at least those of the respondents, over this issue mainly coincide. Even those respondents, who had never heard of this organization, were immediately raising a question as to whose interests this structure serves. A bigger state seals a military-political and economic alliance with smaller states but it seems that such an alliance should be most profitable for smaller states because their economies are the weak ones. In that case, why do the USA and Russia altruistically become the initiator of such structures if they may never even need the help of such states like Armenia? This and similar questions were repeatedly popping up during the discussions with the participants.
Different respondents brought different arguments for their negative opinions. First of all, some of the respondents were raising questions about the formal aspect and effectiveness of the organization. It should be noted that those who paid attention to these particular aspects of the organization, did not really care that Armenia joined the organization without Nagorno Karabakh. However, they considered the inactivity of the CSTO during the military actions in NK in April strange, to say the least. "The main purpose of the CSTO is the military assistance to the member states, but as we witnessed during the April war, and as far as I am informed, we did not receive any kind of assistance from the CSTO member states. If you sign a cooperation agreement, and then there is a real risk and you do not provide assistance to your partner state, then doubts arise as to what kind of hidden goals you pursue in joining that membership. If you already have an agreement and you do not act on it, then I do not know what sense all that activity makes."-said the Master's student Anna.
Andranik Hovhannisyan finds it important to be part of an alliance. However, he is concerned that the organization is simply a fictitious formal structure and Armenia has an invisible presence in it. "I am not a military man but I think that we need to join an international military organization, but a real one, not a fictitious one, where the size of the member state won't matter,and where there will be equal decision rights for everyone."
For those who were against the Armenia's membership in the CSTO, the major factor was Russia's presence, and the fact that CSTO was the latter's initiative. "Actually I am not very well-informed; however from what I know, I think Armenia's membership in this organization is not good. Maybe the reason why I have this opinion is that I am more pro-European in everything concerning Armenia. I am absolutely against Russia's role in this organization in particular and its influence on Armenia in general. I prefer Armenia not to be in any alliance which includes Russia", said Arthur Manukyan. He added, "I consider it bad because I am not sure that Russia does not have an influence or compulsion on Armenia be it a founding member or not, taking into consideration that Russia has regularly had its influence on the post-Soviet Armenia and interfered in everything Armenia has done, even allowing or not allowing it to do certain things. The only thing that scares me is the subordinate alliance with Russia."
For a large number of other respondents who were against the CSTO, just like Arthur, the major argument was that the involvement of Armenia in such organizations may be a threat to its sovereignty and independence.
"I think, I intuitively feel, that there is nothing good in it. As a simple citizen, I think it will not end up being anything good. Armenians should rely on themselves but we do not have that privilege. History showed that when Armenians relied on themselves they were able to deal with all challenges. Everyone gambles: Russia, Europe, America, everyone. Even the Armenian Genocide is a playing card for them. If we rely on ourselves and know our worth, we will be a force to be reckoned with and we will be treated equally. However, since our officials just cringe in servitude in front of everyone, we are losing our face. In fact we have already lost it. This is how I see it. When we rely on random parties nothing works out.", said Aleksey Avetisyan.
"I prefer Armenia to be a little more independent, which I don't see here. In general, there is a priori no independence in any alliance which has three or four members, or more. I want an independent Armenia. I want it to be as independent as possible," concluded Arthur Manukyan.
source: This report was prepared by commonspace.eu correspondent Vahagn Antonian
photo CSTO Summit meeting in Yerevan.
