Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Armenia is under the pressure of international projects

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Armenia is under the pressure of international projects

    PanARMENIAN.Net

    Armenia is under the pressure of international projects

    Karine Ter-Sahakyan

    In contrast to her neighbors, Armenia is stable and predictable, and
    in our restless region it is sometimes valued considerably higher than
    hydrocarbon reserves.
    25.06.2009 GMT+04:00

    Only in the last month Presidents of Croatia, Syria and Georgia
    visited Yerevan; two other visits - those of the Presidents of Cyprus
    and Serbia - are expected next month. Even if we do not take into
    consideration the shuttle visits of the Head of the Armenian MFA to
    Europe, it becomes clear that the West makes every effort to tear
    Armenia away from the Russian influence, or to reduce that influence
    to a minimum. However, yet only the mechanisms of `soft' pressure and
    promises are put to use.

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ It is natural that the weaker the country, the
    easier it is to prevail upon it, and Armenia, alas, cannot yet pretend
    to the role of a strong state in the South Caucasus. Sure, in contrast
    to her neighbors, Armenia is stable and predictable, and in our
    restless region it is sometimes valued considerably higher than
    hydrocarbon reserves. Not without purpose do the talks on Nabucco
    quietly come to naught after the Iranian events, just like the project
    of South Stream. No one will be discussing any project until relative
    stability is established in the region. And here, strange as it is,
    comes to the fore Armenia, a country that can become a bridge between
    the West and Iran, between the West and Russia not in words but in
    deed. Georgia cannot play this role because of her unpredictability
    and, to put it mildly, the indistinctness of her foreign and home
    policy.
    Nor is Azerbaijan fit for this role - it can only set conditions in
    the energy sphere and come out in one bond with Turkey and Israel. The
    visit of Shimon Peres can serve as confirmation to it. Quite possibly
    Peres goes to Baku to restore the somewhat cracked relations with
    Turkey after the operation `Cast Lead'.
    Remains Armenia, for whom launch of communications can become a real
    breakthrough into the world. The only matter is the price and whether
    Yerevan is ready to pay that price. At stake are the resolution of
    Karabakh conflict with minimum losses for Azerbaijan in exchange for
    the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, and perhaps the Check
    Point `Upper Lars'.
    It is also nonrandom that exactly this week Yerevan welcomed the
    International conference `Armenia at the Crossroads of
    Communications', organized by the Russian Institute of Eurasian
    Studies. In the words of the participants, thanks to her balanced
    policy Armenia very successfully cooperates with the CIS countries in
    military-political, commercial, economic and humanitarian aspects. And
    in this sense it is important to increase the level of participation
    of Armenia in current and upcoming international projects within the
    framework of transport, energy and other strategic corridors. At the
    same time, participants of the conference condemn irresponsible
    manipulation with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and with the
    normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.
    According to Richard Giragosian, Director of the Armenian Center for
    National and International Studies (ACNIS), Armenia is a key country
    for the region. `The USA, Europe and Russia desire to see Armenia
    weak, but stable. Now Armenia can become both weak and unstable. We
    have developed serious strategic relations with Russia, but it is
    necessary that these relations be balanced, and not vassal. Russia has
    always been and will be nearer to Armenia than to the USA or Europe;
    however, she should balance her position on Armenia,' said Giragosian.
    That Armenia is now intensely "coaxed' is evident by the naked eye. It
    is, so to say, the carrot, while in the role of the stick is the
    Azerbaijani-Turkish threat or the attempt to repeat the Iranian
    scenario, which this time will work in Yerevan much better than on
    March 1, 2008.
    On June 26 on the Ionian Island of Corfu will be opened the informal
    summit of OSCE foreign ministers, on which several issues might be
    solved. But since the summit is dedicated to security issues, it is
    assumed that the meetings of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Turkey
    and Azerbaijan will be in different formats. After the summit it will
    be possible to make some conclusions about the expected changes in the
    region, which will be fixed, most likely, at the OSCE annual summit in
    the winter of 2009. However, it may happen even earlier; everything
    depends on the course of events in Iran...
Working...
X