In a conversation with Aravot.am, the Honorary President of the Switzerland-Armenia Association and the Secretary General of the Switzerland-Armenia Friendship Group Sargis Shahinyan mentioned that the danger in the Armenian-Turkish negotiations is that since Armenia is a losing party, difficulties can be wrapped around our necks.
“The issue of the Kars Treaty, the issue of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, which should include forgetting Karabakh’s right to self-determination with all its consequences, and, of course, the cessation of the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. A much more complicated agenda can be provided here. First of all, it is the issue of the corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, and in that way, as Azerbaijan expects, a corridor that will be absolutely not under the clarity of the RA state, which was done on the Goris-Kapan road without any opposition from us. The same can be done in this case by completely separating Syunik, which separates it from the rest of Armenia. It is impossible for us to go that route. If we do that, we will pay the price decisively in a very short time.”
According to Sargis Shahinyan, this sense of urgency in this situation and negotiating with Turkey is dangerous. “This will lead to the Turks having to solve what they did not solve in 2009, and crushing, discriminatory conditions will be put under our noses… It is a difficult challenge. The state in front of you is both a state and a negotiator. We, as the losing side of the war, have no right to approach this reality blindly at all. Do not think that we have no leverage. We have the right to say no, we must take this process equally. If we can advance the issue in this way, we will remain a people, a state, if we lose, it will be our last breath.” In his opinion, the difference between today’s relations and the “Zurich Protocols” is that at least the then President Serzh Sargsyan, to whom, as he says, he did not have much sympathy, listened to the specialists. Our interlocutor clarified his position in the Armenian-Turkish relations.
“I am in favor of negotiations, but with the right person, it does not mean that we have to come to a final conclusion. Do we have to come up with something out of the ordinary? As an Armenian, I am interested in showing the outside world that I am ready to sit down with people and talk, but with the right person who knows what is in his arsenal. And we do not have much. But we have something to say and something to do. Has this doctrine been developed? I want to know if our arsenal is ready. Yes, they say, of course, Ruben Rubinyan should be surrounded by people who are knowledgeable. I want to know who those people are. Maybe Jirayr Liparityan is involved, which I do not rule out, but should he solve the problem alone?”
Read also
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
