The topic of “Face to Face” talk show of Aravot is discussed between Narine Mkrtchyan, the President of the National Press Club, and the publicist Zaruhi Hovhannisyan.
Aram Abrahamyan – Since you, as far as I understand, are a like-minded person, I will bring your opponents’ arguments. Russia is our ally, and we should support it and we cannot reject it under any circumstances. Argument No. 1.
Narine Mkrtchyan – It is a long time since Armenia is not combining its interests with the interests of official Russia, i.e. Moscow, moreover, it derives from it. Armenia’s interests are nowadays subordinated to the interests of the Russian Federation, and the decisions that we make, I mean official Yerevan, in the face of Serzh Sargsyan, do not derive from the interests of the Armenian people. These arguments that Russia is our ally do not even withstand criticism, because they are worthless arguments. Serzh Sargsyan is making a sole decision and is acting on behalf of the Armenian community at the higher instances.
Aram Abrahamyan – Why is it worthless? Isn’t Russia our ally?
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N. M. – Russia is our ally, at the same time we cannot subordinate our interests.
Aram Abrahamyan – If we reject Russia, it will take Karabakh and give to Azerbaijan. It will also turn off the gas, water, electricity, and telecommunications.
Zaruhi Hovhannisyan – I want to remind that the UN adopted the resolution on Karabakh component for 4 times, and Russia voted against Armenia, in other words, recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, it had taken Karabakh from Armenia and given to Azerbaijan, hence, there was nothing to be afraid of, Armenia could have easily at least vote abstained to the resolution, and at the same time not to appear in such a combination of authoritarian regimes.
A. A. – And what about the rest: gas, water, and electricity. Can Russia punish us, if we do not listen to its orders?
Z. H. – It may happen every minute, and you have appeared in the role of a puppet and have lost all chances of conducting a foreign policy independently, in fact, Armenia shows that it had lost its sovereignty.
N. M. – In recent years, Armenia has allowed Russia to thrust into Armenia’s economy with its economic levers and become an integral part. The economic levers were replaced with political levers, and now with military-political and more dangerous geopolitical levers. Today, Armenian along with Russia has appeared in the absolute isolation in the world.
A. A. – Your opponents are saying that the Crimean issue is a matter of self-determination, and it is natural that we having the Karabakh problem should be against the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Z. H. – I would never consider the issues of Karabakh and Crimea comparable, as there was an aggression from Russia, in the first place, then the dubious referendum was held, in addition, no one would force Russia to ratify the treaty in 1994, according to which it was recognizing the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In short, it also occurred a violation of the international law.
A. A. – Don’t you agree that the issue of Crimea is a matter of self-determination, in other words, Russian population dominates there, it always dreamed of being reunited with Russia, eventually, it voted for reunification.
Z. H. – Didn’t Russian nation exist in 1994, when Russia recognized Ukraine’s territorial integrity in replacement of its nuclear weapon, in short, a deal was committed, in the replacement of which, Russia has already agreed that Crimea is going to be a part of Ukraine, and now, Ukraine is trying to be liberated from the direct influence of Russia and reject accepting the offer to appear in the same Customs area along with it.
A. A. – My interlocutors among your opponents say, Scotland, Catalonia, Kosovo, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, in short, they are listing a number of countries, and also are including Crimea and Karabakh to this list.
N. M. – Armenia’s foreign policy is so vulnerable, so situational that even the arguments brought up by them is senseless discussing. It has been several days since the international experts and theorists of the world are insisting that each conflict is different, and with regard to specifically the Crimean referendum, it is dangerous to compare it with the Karabakh referendum. The Crimean referendum was conducted under the control of Russian troops and snipers, in violation of all standards of international law, and it was held on demand of Russia, with annexation, it was not the demand of the population of Crimea, therefore, it makes no sense to compare these referendums.
Prepared by ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
“Face to Face” talk show is released by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia. This views and analyzes found in this program express the opinions of the participants, and are not approved by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia, or its Board. This program is made possible thanks to the comprehensive financial support by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia, under the mass media support program, grant No 18624.
