Armenian and Russian experts talked about the challenges brought about by the developments in the Arab world during a spacebridge between Yerevan and Moscow at the Novosti Armenia international press center today.
Vladimir Sazhin, the chief science officer at the Academy of Sciences of Russia, talking about the developments in Egypt, noted, “Morsi, the newly-elected President of Egypt, is a good politician, but it is known that there are controversies between him and the military. Analyzing the policy he has pursued, one can notice that he wants to act independently – he didn’t wait until the top brass would allow him to come to power. However, I don’t predict happy future for Egypt. I think that the top brass in Egypt will not lay down their arms to the finish. A so-called diarchy has been established there. And the influence of the US and Israel is big on this issue. In the latest revolutionary period Egypt lost much money, therefore the economic crisis is visible and I don’t think that Egypt will be able to recover without foreign aid. And aid traditionally comes from the other side of the Atlantic, the US.”
As for what impact the developments in the Muslim world had on Armenia, Alexander Iskandaryan, the director of the Caucasus Media Institute, noted, “The situation in Egypt is disturbed, but I think Syria envies that condition. A civil war wages there at the moment. I predict that there will be a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria.”
Getting to the condition of the Armenian community in Syria, Mr. Iskandaryan stated, “400 Syrian Armenians wanted to become citizens of Armenia last year, whereas this year that number has reached 2000. The factor of Syrian Armenians’ return starts to play a certain role on the Armenian house market. These are indications that testify to the situation that exists in Syria.”
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Talking about the war in Syria, Alexander Ignatenko, a member of the Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations under the Russian Federation President, noted that this war had been instigated by Saudi Arabia, at the end of the day, it was a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. And Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan said about the impact of the developments concerning Iran on the Republic of Armenia, “If military operations against Iran suddenly commence, Azerbaijan will take that opportunity and try to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict militarily. Azerbaijan is carrying out big strategic projects with Israel and thus wants to get the green light from the US for military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh.” And in A. Iskandaryan’s opinion, Israel’s arming Azerbaijan is not the most dangerous factor that can be predicted. On the other hand, the expert doesn’t share the opinion that the West needs Azerbaijan for the war against Iran.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
