At this moment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia has no information on the Russian Federation citizenship of Yuri Khachaturov, who represents Armenia in the post of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General.

Anna Naghdalyan, Acting Press Secretary of the MFA, noted about the above-said at a press briefing on Tuesday. She said this when asked whether a citizen of another country could represent Armenia as the CSTO chief.

Naghdalyan said the ongoing process toward replacing the serving CSTO Secretary General was still in progress. Also, she stressed that Armenia seeks to detach its domestic legal processes from the CSTO and to ensure the latter’s undisrupted activities.

“The rest of the steps will be discussed within the framework of the organization, at various levels,” Anna Naghdalyan added. “The [respective] arrangements will be submitted for the discussion and approval of the [CSTO] Collective Security Council.”

Incumbent CSTO Secretary General and Armenia’s former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov has been charged in the country, within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan in March 2008. On July 27 of the current year, however, Khachaturov was released on bail.

On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.