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RFE: Sarkisian Urges West To Engage Iran
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2080626.html
23.06.2010
Armenia -- President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at the Konrad Adenauer
Foundation in Berlin, 22June 2010.
President Serzh Sarkisian has urged Western powers to respect Iran's
geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus and held up Armenia's
economic projects with the Islamic Republic as a model for regional
cooperation.
Ending an official visit to Germany late on Tuesday, Sarkisian also
asserted that the Western-backed energy projects involving Azerbaijan
and excluding Armenia have only complicated a peaceful resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In a speech at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation headquarters in Berlin,
he said: "I do realize that in the light of the sanctions imposed
on Iran some people will treat my approach with skepticism, but I
am convinced that it is wrong and not possible to ignore Iran in
regional solutions."
"It is extremely important for the region to address Iran's sense
of being in danger. Without that, there can be no solution to future
challenges or even the current [Iranian] nuclear problem," he said.
Sarkisian did not specify what concrete role Iran should play in
regional security. Nor was it clear whether he thinks Tehran should
have a major say in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
The Armenian leader instead promoted his administration's plans to
implement more multimillion-dollar projects with Iran. He singled
out the planned construction of an Armenian-Iranian railway and the
unfolding upgrading of Armenia's main highways stretching from the
Iranian border to southern Georgia.
"These infrastructure projects could have a truly revolutionary
significance in terms of transport communication as they would connect
the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean," he declared.
Sarkisian juxtaposed them against the pipelines carrying Azerbaijani
oil and gas to international markets through Georgia and Turkey. He
said the resulting windfall revenues have only enabled Azerbaijan to
embark on a military build-up, thereby increasing the likelihood of
renewed war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"What has that project given the region?" he said, referring to the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. "Deepening of division lines, an
arms race, an increase in bellicose rhetoric. Was this the anticipated
'security and prosperity?'"
"Oil and gas pipelines, communication lines stretching only from the
east to the west can not guarantee stability, security and prosperity
in the region," he added.
Sarkisian also denounced Azerbaijan for rejecting any economic
cooperation with Armenia before a resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
He said "economic integration processes" involving all regional states
would greatly facilitate a Karabakh settlement.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/2080626.html
23.06.2010
Armenia -- President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at the Konrad Adenauer
Foundation in Berlin, 22June 2010.
President Serzh Sarkisian has urged Western powers to respect Iran's
geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus and held up Armenia's
economic projects with the Islamic Republic as a model for regional
cooperation.
Ending an official visit to Germany late on Tuesday, Sarkisian also
asserted that the Western-backed energy projects involving Azerbaijan
and excluding Armenia have only complicated a peaceful resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In a speech at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation headquarters in Berlin,
he said: "I do realize that in the light of the sanctions imposed
on Iran some people will treat my approach with skepticism, but I
am convinced that it is wrong and not possible to ignore Iran in
regional solutions."
"It is extremely important for the region to address Iran's sense
of being in danger. Without that, there can be no solution to future
challenges or even the current [Iranian] nuclear problem," he said.
Sarkisian did not specify what concrete role Iran should play in
regional security. Nor was it clear whether he thinks Tehran should
have a major say in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
The Armenian leader instead promoted his administration's plans to
implement more multimillion-dollar projects with Iran. He singled
out the planned construction of an Armenian-Iranian railway and the
unfolding upgrading of Armenia's main highways stretching from the
Iranian border to southern Georgia.
"These infrastructure projects could have a truly revolutionary
significance in terms of transport communication as they would connect
the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean," he declared.
Sarkisian juxtaposed them against the pipelines carrying Azerbaijani
oil and gas to international markets through Georgia and Turkey. He
said the resulting windfall revenues have only enabled Azerbaijan to
embark on a military build-up, thereby increasing the likelihood of
renewed war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"What has that project given the region?" he said, referring to the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. "Deepening of division lines, an
arms race, an increase in bellicose rhetoric. Was this the anticipated
'security and prosperity?'"
"Oil and gas pipelines, communication lines stretching only from the
east to the west can not guarantee stability, security and prosperity
in the region," he added.
Sarkisian also denounced Azerbaijan for rejecting any economic
cooperation with Armenia before a resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
He said "economic integration processes" involving all regional states
would greatly facilitate a Karabakh settlement.
From: A. Papazian