Send-off ceremony for CSTO peacekeepers takes place in Almaty

A send-off ceremony for CSTO peacekeepers took place on the parade ground of the Sagadat Nurmagambetov Military Institute of Land Forces was attended by CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, Deputy Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan major general Mukhamedzhan Talassov, and Mayor of Almaty Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

The event started with a minute of silence in memory of those killed in the mass riots across the country.

In his speech, Talassov noted that Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces – President of the country Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the CSTO Heads of State to bring in the collective peacekeeping troops to help stabilize the situation within the country.

Some of peacekeepers were awarded the medals for the contribution to international cooperation and certificates.

Corresponding to the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s decision peacekeeping troops were deployed in Kazakhstan to protect the State, military and social facilities. A total of 2,030 soldiers and 250 vehicles were sent to Kazakhstan from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan as brotherly help in restoring the constitutional order as part of the good-neighborliness and military cooperation principles.

The deployment of CSTO peacekeeping troops, whose main task was to protect the key facilities, led to engage more forces and resources of the Armed Forces, law enforcement bodies of the country in the fight against terrorists.

The gradual withdrawal of the CSTO peacekeeping troops began starting from today and will continue in the next 10 days.