“I think that there is an issue of study here. It is really a matter of serious state study. Armenia, Armenians, anywhere in the world where there are processes related to self-determination, we quickly see it as a precedent for NKR, and are sincerely thinking that the referendum is expressing the opinion of people and everything must be expressed in this way. As for the difficult situation between Ukraine and Russia, it is a matter of separate discussion”, said Vazgen Manukyan, the Chairperson of the Public Council, a former high-ranking official, in the conversation with Aravot.am. Recall that after Srezh Sargsyan’s phone conversation with the President of Russia, and expressing a positive position about the referendum in Crimea, a proposal was voiced in Kiev to withdraw the Ukrainian Ambassador from Armenia and rupture the diplomatic relations with Armenia.
Today, official Kiev had sent a note to official Yerevan demanding explanation about the position regarding the referendum in Crimea. On this occasion, our question addressed to the RA Foreign Ministry Spokesman is still unanswered. The ruling RPA MPs also do not respond to phone calls. Recall that some of the opposition forces, especially the ANC, have already stated their positive attitude about the Crimean referendum.
As asked Vazgen Manukyan whether it would not be correct for the official Yerevan to present its position initially and frankly to avoid appearing in such an awkward position. “I think that this was not the question for Armenia to go ahead and start talking about some things. Standing next to someone makes no sense for Armenia. A great geopolitical game is going on; the situation is quite complicated, this revolution puts Ukraine and Ukrainian people in a quite difficult and hard situation, making them unhappy. I do not think that the Ukrainian people should not be treated with sympathy. However, we also need to treat the people of Crimea with understanding, who want to come out of the situation by referendum, become an independent state and join another state, it’s up to them to decide,” said our interlocutor. To our observation that there is a large Armenian community in Ukraine, Mr. Manukyan added that we have great Armenian communities in Russia and the United States. To our question of how it will affect our state if the events were to receive a process that the Armenian-Ukrainian bilateral diplomatic relations would break off, he answered, “It would affect badly. Back to the beginning of these events, in one of my interviews I had called for Armenians to to maintain neutrality there. And vote in Crimea not followed by common, but individual decisions. Not to have an Armenian party. We absolutely do not need it.”
Nelly Grigoryan
