Robert Kocharyan warned at the press conference held on February 17 that Armenia is following the path of Turkish influence.
“Armenia is going down this path, and the difference between these paths is the following: it is in Russia’s interest to have a strong ally in this region; we were like that until the last war. It is in Turkey’s interests to have a very weak Armenia, because only in that case, Armenia can not hinder the implementation of long-distance Turkish programs. All the polls show that our people are not ready for such a development, but I have seen Georgia’s example with my own eyes, how over ten years, they changed the mood of the people through active propaganda, and what kind of anti-Russian propaganda was propagated․․․ We must be honest and tell our people there are these routes․․․ It is not about whether we are loyal or not, we are not loyal to Russia, when we speak of state or national interests we must make a very sober calculation of what we get․․․ It is about the vision of the future of the Republic of Armenia.”
According to Kocharyan, it is a path that is not pleasant. That is, to accept the Turkish-Azerbaijani threat as an insurmountable factor – to submit to that threat. “To have an increased Turkish influence in Armenia as in Adjara. Turkey will stop seeing us as an obstacle to its plans only in one case- if it has a total impact on our political processes, our policy. This implies that Turkey must have a dominant position in our economy; Turkey must have a full influence on our political elite. When is this possible? When the Russian influence stops here and is replaced by the Turkish influence. This really implies total presence and domination in the economic sphere, and especially in the strategic sphere. And it is possible if Armenia refuses Karabakh. This is one of the preconditions that can work for an alternative direction; this policy will be supported by the United States, because the conflict that existed between Russia and the ‘West’ simply suggests that in this way, Russia’s influence can be removed.”
Read also
Nelly GRIGORYAN
