Several hundred people gathered in downtown Yerevan today demanding that Armenia leave the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The demonstrators say CSTO, of which Armenia is a member, has not come to the aid of Armenia following this week’s Azerbaijani attacks along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Azerbaijani artillery fire targeted several towns within Armenia.

The demonstrators argue that CSTO has violated its treaty obligation to forthrightly condemn the latest round of Azerbaijani aggression against a member state.

“We believe that the organization is outdated, useless and harmful for both the Republic of Armenia and other CSTO member sovereign republics,” one of the demonstrators read in a prepared statement.

A CSTO fact-finding mission arrived in Armenia on September 15 and is supposed to submit a detailed and accurate report on the situation on the ground to the CSTO Collective Security Council.

Elen Danielyan

YSU Journalism faculty