CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas. File photoMOSCOW, Jan 16There is no need for a serious restructuring of the CSTO activities, said Secretary General of the organization Stanislav Zas. «Of course, this (the participation of the CSTO peacekeeping forces in resolving the situation in Kazakhstan — ed.) is a lesson for all of us. A little later, in a calm atmosphere, we will analyze this entire process, make certain conclusions for myself and, if necessary, some adjustments… Another question is that I do not see the need for a serious restructuring of our activities, because the system, the mechanisms that we created in the CSTO have now really worked — and they have worked well «, — he said in an interview with RT.Zas pointed to the politicization by the West of the assessment of the actions of the CSTO in Kazakhstan Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, during the protests in Kazakhstan, about 1,000 people were injured. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, 17 Kazakh security officials were killed, more than 1.3 thousand were injured. On the morning of January 5, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the government and headed the Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the integrity of the state and said that he had asked for help from the CSTO «in overcoming the terrorist threat.» The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. On January 7, Tokayev said that the terrorists, including those who had arrived from abroad, continued to resist, and promised to destroy those who did not lay down their arms. In addition, the president noted that all the demands of citizens, expressed in peaceful forms, were heard. On Thursday, January 13, the successful completion of the CSTO mission was announced, now the peacekeepers are returning from Kazakhstan.
The CSTO has proven its ability to ensure the security of the organization, Zas said
