A protest was organized near the Foreign Ministry demanding the termination of Armenia’s membership in the CSTO. Arman Babajanyan, chairman of the For the Republic party, read the list of agreements that were signed with the Russian Federation and are not valid.
“In 1997, a friendship and mutual assistance cooperation agreement was signed with Armenia. In 2000, an agreement on the joint planning of the use of troops and forces in order to ensure joint security was signed between Armenia and Russia. In 2013, a bilateral military-technical cooperation agreement between the Armenian government and the Russian government was signed. In 2015, an agreement on the creation of a joint air defense system between Armenia and Russia was signed.”
Arman Babajanyan said, “Can you imagine that such agreements are in force, and the enemy’s anti-aircraft guns are continuously roaming in our bordering settlements?” The next agreement we signed with Russia is the following: “On the creation of a unified regional air defense system in the Caucasian region of collective security between Armenia and Russia in 2016.”
According to Babajanyan, we have been led to believe for years that the CSTO cannot intervene in the Artsakh issue because it is not internationally considered the territory of Armenia, while this agreement defines the territory that is not limited to the territory of Armenia.
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“This is not complete, but the framework of agreements that do not work at all. They ask me: well, if we leave the CSTO, what will we get instead? I think that in parallel with the implementation of these agreements, we should carry out active work, and at the same time start strategic, allied relations with those countries that have brought this proposal to Armenia at this moment, extended their hand and are waiting for the answer. We can overcome the situation we are in at the moment, only if we stop our membership in the CSTO. This is already the question of Armenia’s existence because, in fact, we are in a military-political alliance whose members do not recognize Armenia’s territorial integrity. Those allies have not once sent a word of condolence regarding the victims of civilian settlements, schools, and hospitals as a result of the encroachment on the borders of Armenia on September 13.
We do not need such allies. We cannot be surrounded by such allies. Either the CSTO or Armenia. Either the CSTO or security. We cannot continue this shameful campaign of fear and cowardice at the cost of the lives of our children, our sons, the price of which we are paying dearly and we are paying the price of our children’s lives for Russian-Turkish agreements. Armenia cannot acquire the necessary defense and self-defense capabilities if it continues to be in the CSTO, because Article 8 of that agreement does not allow us to even start a discussion with non-member countries about such cooperation.”
Babajanyan had brought a Russian galosh with him and waving it, he said, “What is the Russian army if not this galosh? No matter how much you develop and modernize it, it will remain the same Russian galosh. We cannot continue to modernize our army with this galosh logic. The necessary space technologies that we need to provide the necessary security coverage along our borders compel us to establish partnerships with countries that possess these technologies. I hope that we will properly shake the hand that has been revealed to us and take effective steps, we will carry out the necessary work, and we will really put our armed forces and defense on new foundations and move forward.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
