Turkey's Former Foreign Minister Deems Kazakhstan's Appeal to CSTO Unacceptable Due to Armenia's Presidency

Turkey's former Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, considers Kazakhstan's appeal to the CSTO unacceptable, citing the fact that Armenia currently holds the presidency of the intergovernmental organization. This was stated in an interview with Shahan Gantaharyan, the editor-in-chief of the Lebanese newspaper 'Azdak', in a conversation with Armenpress.

Gantaharyan highlighted that Davutoğlu's comments contain significant components. He referred to Kazakhstan's appeal to the CSTO as unacceptable due to Armenia's presidency, suggesting that this reflects Ankara's overall direction in the conflict. By conditioning the appeal's unacceptability on the Armenian factor alone, Davutoğlu creates a smokescreen, Gantaharyan pointed out.

According to him, when it is stated in the same announcement that Kazakhstan is the most central country of the Turkic world, it essentially promotes the ideology of a pan-Turkic project. 'Armenia's presidency is of secondary importance here; the arrow is fundamentally and directly aimed at Moscow, which fundamentally leads the CSTO,' emphasized the editor-in-chief of 'Azdak', adding that the Turkish concern relates to the deployment of Russian troops in Kazakhstan.

In his assessment, this points to a new strategic point of Russian-Turkish rivalry and conflicting interests. Gantaharyan believes that after Ukraine among the post-Soviet republics, Kazakhstan is becoming the second theater for the clash of Russian and Turkish interests.