Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in a joint sitting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was attended by the leaders of the member states of the two organization either being physically present at the meeting or remotely. The situation in Afghanistan was discussed during the meeting.
At the beginning of his speech, Prime Minister Pashinyan welcomed the heads of the states and delegations and said, ‘’First of all, I would like to congratulate all those present on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Over the years, the SCO has emerged as an important platform for partnership in the sphere of regional security and cooperation.
I would also like to thank the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, for the warm reception and organization of today's meeting.
Our meeting is taking place at a time when radical changes in Afghanistan have created an entirely new situation in the country. Its nature has a significant impact not only on the developments in the country and the region, but also on the further development of the situation and events globally.
We are closely following the developments in and around Afghanistan.
The statements in the initial stage about the end of hostilities, the general amnesty of state officials, the intention to form an inclusive coalition government, respect for women's rights in the Islamic legal system, and the desire to eradicate drug production in the country were welcomed by the international community. Prompt and full implementation of such measures would contribute to the establishment of peace, order and stability in the country.
However, we have to state that at this stage those intentions have not yet been specifically reflected in the steps taken by the Taliban.
We are convinced that the guarantee of a long-term settlement of the situation in Afghanistan is a fair political process with the involvement of all Afghans and the representation of all ethnic and religious communities in the country.
For that, it is very necessary for all parties to show restraint, to reaffirm their readiness to resolve the disagreements exclusively through dialogue and negotiations.
As a CSTO member state, we wanted peace and tranquility in all areas of the Collective Security, within the entire perimeter of the CSTO zone of responsibility.
Armenia is extremely interested in effectively curbing the threats of international terrorism in the CSTO and SCO regions. In the absence of an adequate response at the right time, this could lead to further escalation of the situation, with the penetration of terrorist networks into neighboring countries, especially conflict zones.
We strongly condemn terrorism and extremism in all their forms and manifestations. The use of terrorist groups by certain countries to achieve certain military-political goals is especially unacceptable.
In this regard, we call for closer dialogue, cooperation, first of all, at the level of law enforcement agencies and special services, aimed at exchange of information and experience, as well as for carrying out effective joint actions to neutralize the threat of terrorism within the framework of the existing mechanisms of our Organization.
Thank you for attention.”
