TASHKENT. Oct 2 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan has an opportunity to return to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but this issue so far is not on the agenda, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
"There is certainly such an opportunity. CSTO's doors are always open to Uzbekistan. However, this issue is not on the agenda now," Matviyenko told reporters during her visit to Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
Regulations, which so far do not enable Uzbekistan to join this kind of union, are stipulated in Uzbek legislation, she said. "However, I do not rule out that this will probably be put on the agenda one day," the parliamentary speaker said.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a regional international organization. The Collective Security Treaty was signed in Tashkent on May 15, 1992 by the leaders of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 1993, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Georgia joined the CSTO. Azerbaijan and Georgia later walked out from the CSTO. Six countries, namely, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan remain CSTO members.
Uzbekistan withdrew from the CSTO for the first time in 1999 and allowed the United States to use the Karshi-Khanabad military base during an operation in Afghanistan. In August 2006, the late Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, reinstated his country as a CSTO member. Uzbekistan suspended its membership in the organization on June 28, 2012.