At the end of the Executive Body Session of the ruling Republican party of Armenia, Eduard Sharmazanov, the RPA Spokesperson, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, referred to his voiced opinion during the discussion in Parliament of the ratification of the agreement on the joint armed grouping of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which was criticized.He said that Armenia can not ensure its security alone and that Turkey is the CSTO’s alternative.
“Countries like us which, unfortunately, are not the superpowers, should be able to fully organize their security system. We can not do it alone. It’s not only about us. Even the country like Germany, cannot ensure its security alone. If Armenia could fully ensure its security system, what does the Russian military base do here? Did we bring it for formal purposes?”, asked Sharmazanov.
According to him, Armenia has not joined the CSTO to please any country but because it is profitable and beneficial for Armenia. “There is no problem in Armenian-Russian relations in terms of the military alliance. Armenia’s interest requires us to be in the CSTO. It is in our best interests to deepen relations with the CSTO and allied relations with Russia. This does not mean we should stop cooperating with other organizations”.
Sharmazanov assured that he had no problem to please neither Russia nor the West or the South. “My task is to serve the interests of Armenia. And what is Armenia’s interest? During the time of the three presidents, the Armenian-Russian allied relations never had any serious alternative, which would have been beneficial for Armenia՞.
As regards Turkey, according to Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, that country is a threat. “It was one of the unique countries that supported the criminal policy of Azerbaijan during the April War”.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
