The secretary general of CSTO is the chief civil servant of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance. The officeholder is one of the foremost political official in the organization. The secretary general is elected for a three-year term. The current secretary general is Kyrgyz politician Taalatbek Masadykov, who took office on 1 January 2026.
History
The CSTO countries selected the first secretary general in October 1996. Since that time, eight different military/security officials have served officially as secretary general. Five countries have been represented, with five secretaries general hailing from Russia and one each from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The position has also been occupied temporarily on two occasions by an acting secretary general between appointments.
Secretariat The Secretariat has divisions in charge of legal, financial, economic and other issues. The number of quota posts in the Secretariat is assigned to the CSTO member states in proportion to their contributions to the budget. The appointment of officials to the quota positions of the Secretariat is carried out by the Secretary General on a rotational basis every three years on the proposal of the CSTO member states.
Leadership
CSTO Secretary General: Taalatbek Masadykov (Kyrgyzstan) Deputy Secretary General Valery Semerikov (Russian Federation) Samat Ordabaev (Kazakhstan) Mirlan Turgunbekov (Kyrgyzstan)
Structure The CSTO Secretariat includes the following main structural units:
Department of Political Cooperation Department for the Management of Military Security Problems Department for Countering Challenges and Threats Case Management Department Organizational and Planning Department
List of secretaries-general The following have served as heads of the CSTO: Portrait Name Term of office Country Took office Left office Time in office 1 Vladimir Zemsky October 1996 March 2000 2 Valeriy Nikolayenko May 2000 28 April 2003 2 Nikolay Bordyuzha 28 April 2003 31 December 2016 – Valery Semerikov 1 January 2017 2 May 2017 3 Yuri Khatchaturov 2 May 2017 1 November 2018 – Valery Semerikov 1 November 2018 31 December 2019 3 Stanislav Zas 1 January 2020 31 December 2022 4 Imangali Tasmagambetov 1 January 2023 31 December 2025 5 Taalatbek Masadykov 1 January 2026 Incumbent
See also Secretary General of NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) equivalent
Citations