BISHKEK. Nov 18 (Interfax) - With the military-technical help from allies in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Kyrgyzstan can changes its national army, country's President Roza Otunbayeva said on Friday.
"We can create an army of new formation, if this effort is supported by the military-technical help obtained from allies in the SCO and the CSTO," she said at an annual stocktaking and meeting of senior Kyrgyz defense officials.
In 2010-2011, the republic's Defense Ministry received $25 million in aid from the SCO and the CSTO, she said.
"With this military-technical help you can respond to modern challenges with dignity," Otunbayeva said.
The country's armed forces also need to address the problem of ethnic integration within the Armed Forces, the Kyrgyz leader also said.
"All the ethnicities inhabiting our country can and must serve in the Armed Forces," the Kyrgyz president said.