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ARMENIA ASKS FOR OBSERVER STATUS IN SCO
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 11 2013
September 11, 2013 - 9:18pm, by Joshua Kucera
Armenia is seeking to become an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, as Yerevan seems to be establishing its own unique
brand of multivector diplomacy.
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made the announcement on a
visit to China, and Chinese PM Li Keqiang said he would bring the
issue up with other SCO members.
The SCO is a China-dominated political-military bloc that also includes
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The SCO has been expanding west, though, recently: Turkey became a
"dialogue partner" earlier this year, a status Belarus also holds.
Sargsyan offered no explanation of what Armenia might be looking
for with the SCO, so it's up to us to speculate. Armenia, of course,
raised eyebrows when it came out that it had gotten multiple-launch
rocket systems from China, and Armenia could be casting around for new
partners, Emil Sanamyan, editor of the newspaper Armenian Reporter,
told The Bug Pit. "My sense of this is an extension of the outreach
to China that is made relevant by the recent diplomatic setbacks with
both Europe and Russia. The recent leak re fresh weapons purchase
from China seems to also be part of that," Sanamyan said. "With
the EU accession document killed by Russian pressure, there will be
some new entity to fill the airwaves with." (Sanamyan also noted that
Armenia is an observer in the Arab League, another organization whose
connection to Armenia looks somewhat tenuous.)
Another analyst, Sergey Minasyan of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan,
downplayed Sargsyan's statement, telling The Bug Pit that it was
likely a "formality" and that nothing would come of it, either for
the SCO or for Armenia. That seems a safe prediction. The SCO's summit
is Friday in Bishkek; let's see if the issue of Armenia comes up.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67494
From: A. Papazian
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 11 2013
September 11, 2013 - 9:18pm, by Joshua Kucera
Armenia is seeking to become an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, as Yerevan seems to be establishing its own unique
brand of multivector diplomacy.
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made the announcement on a
visit to China, and Chinese PM Li Keqiang said he would bring the
issue up with other SCO members.
The SCO is a China-dominated political-military bloc that also includes
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The SCO has been expanding west, though, recently: Turkey became a
"dialogue partner" earlier this year, a status Belarus also holds.
Sargsyan offered no explanation of what Armenia might be looking
for with the SCO, so it's up to us to speculate. Armenia, of course,
raised eyebrows when it came out that it had gotten multiple-launch
rocket systems from China, and Armenia could be casting around for new
partners, Emil Sanamyan, editor of the newspaper Armenian Reporter,
told The Bug Pit. "My sense of this is an extension of the outreach
to China that is made relevant by the recent diplomatic setbacks with
both Europe and Russia. The recent leak re fresh weapons purchase
from China seems to also be part of that," Sanamyan said. "With
the EU accession document killed by Russian pressure, there will be
some new entity to fill the airwaves with." (Sanamyan also noted that
Armenia is an observer in the Arab League, another organization whose
connection to Armenia looks somewhat tenuous.)
Another analyst, Sergey Minasyan of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan,
downplayed Sargsyan's statement, telling The Bug Pit that it was
likely a "formality" and that nothing would come of it, either for
the SCO or for Armenia. That seems a safe prediction. The SCO's summit
is Friday in Bishkek; let's see if the issue of Armenia comes up.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67494
From: A. Papazian