TASHKENT, December 13 (RIA Novosti) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed a bill Wednesday on restoring the Central Asian country's membership in a security alliance of former Soviet republics.
One of the founders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 1992, Uzbekistan suspended its membership in 1998 over what it viewed an excessively dominant role from Moscow, and opted for military cooperation with the United States.
But Tashkent signaled a reversal of its policy at a summit of post-Soviet leaders in August 2006.
Uzbekistan's lawmakers passed the bill on CSTO membership on November 21, and the upper house gave its approval on December 1.
Tahkent's security cooperation with the United States received a boost in the "War on Terror", after Washington launched an anti-Taliban campaign in Afghanistan after 9/11, and positioned an airbase in southeast Uzbekistan.
However, relations with the U.S. and other western powers deteriorated after a public revolt in the Uzbek city of Andijan in 2004, at which government troops allegedly opened fire on thousands of protestors. Since then, the ex-Soviet republic has come under international scrutiny for other alleged human rights abuses, show trials, and torture.
Uzbekistan ousted the U.S. base from its territory and moved to restore ties with Russia following criticism from Washington over its refusal to investigate the uprising.
The country was previously a member of an alliance of post-Soviet states set up to counter Russian influence in the region, GUUAM (Georgia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova). However Tashkent has severed relations with the U.S.-funded organization.
Explaining the reasons for the country's decision to rejoin the CSTO, President Islam Karimov said in August that it is only logical for a member of the Eurasec economic cooperation organization to be part of the CSTO, as the two organizations are "closely related bodies."
Eurasec, comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, seeks to create a customs union and common economic space, and to harmonize tariffs.
Uzbekistan is also a member of another regional security group, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose members are the post-Soviet Central Asian states plus China and Russia. India, Pakistan, and Iran are observers.
CSTO members - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - use the organization as a platform for fighting drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime, and have pledged to provide immediate military assistance to each other in the event of an attack. The bloc has a Collective Rapid Reaction Force deployed in Central Asia, and is continuing to build up its military forces.
The CSTO is widely viewed as a post-Soviet instrument for preventing NATO's further eastward expansion keeping CIS countries under Russia's military protection.
