Yerevan /Mediamax/. Today the representative of Armenia Yuri Khachaturov has been elected Secretary General of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The election of Yuri Khachaturov, Secretary at the National Security Council of Armenian President, took place at the informal meeting of CSTO member states in Bishkek.

Yuri Khachaturov will begin working in the new office on May 2. Before being appointed Secretary of the National Security Council, Yuri Khachaturov was Chief of the General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces.

Mediamax finds it worth mentioning that election of the Armenian representative to the position of CSTO Secretary General was postponed for several times. Informal sources claimed the reason for that was the position of Kazakhstan and Belarus leaders.

In October of 2016, former Defense Minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan told Mediamax that having Armenian representative as CSTO Secretary General will be “very useful” for the country.

“That position will increase Armenia’s authority. It will allow making the CSTO influence on our defense more effective within the concept of CSTO security and regulations,” Vagharshak Harutyunyan said.

He noted that “taking the office of CSTO Secretary General cannot settle the NK conflict, but will allow protecting the interests of Armenia and Artsakh.”