David Tonoyan: I believe that Armenia should continue its  chairmanship in the CSTO

ArmInfo. ''In a few days it will become clear whether there are any agreements on the issue of the CSTO Secretary General that I don't know yet''. On October 6 in  parliament in an interview with journalists, the Acting Armenian  Defense Minister David Tonoyan said.  He noted that his point of view  regarding the CSTO Secretary General remains unchanged; Armenia  should continue its chairmanship in this structure.

To the question, according to Tonoyan, whether the decision will be  made in favor of Armenia or not the the Acting Minister of Defense  replied: "I would not formulate this decision on the prince" for the  benefit of someone. "This decision should be made by the leaders of  the CSTO member countries. At this stage, it's our turn," the acting  Minister of Defense stressed, recalling that until 2020 the  chairmanship belongs to 

Armenia.  Answering the question whether it is true that the  candidacy of the former Minister of Defense of Armenia Vagharshak  Harutyunyan was nominated for the position of the CSTO Secretary  General, David Tonoyan said that he did not know.

To note, Khachaturov left this post on November 2 at the request of  Armenia.  To recall, CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov is  accused of  overthrowing the constitutional order in the so-called  "March 1, 2008  case." At that time he held the post of the head of  the Yerevan  garrison. By a court decision of July 28, he was  arrested and then  released on bail in the amount of 5 million drams.   The second  Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is also accused  within the same  case, as well as the former head of the Ministry of  Defense of  Armenia Mikael Harutyunyan who is on the wanted list. On  August 2,  the Special Investigative Service stated that the measure  of  restraint chosen against Yuri Khachaturov is not an obstacle for  him  to leave Armenia for some time. At the same time, the SIS did  not  detail the permissible period of his absence.  Official Yerevan  proposed CSTO counterparts to consider the possibility of replacing  the CSTO Secretary General from Armenia in connection with the  criminal prosecution of Yuri Khachaturov.