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PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: LEADERSHIP OF AZERBAIJAN HAS LOST A SENSE OF REALITY
ARMINFO
Monday, January 21, 12:00
"I strongly believe that in the long term it does not suit anybody
to leave the issue unsettled. First of all, it is not suitable
for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, then the Republic of Armenia,
and I am also sure for Azerbaijan. Because living in conditions
of a constant threat of war is not that pleasant. And since 1988,
already for 25 years, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh has been
living in conditions of this threat. Consider that there is such a
threat for children, for young people, for everyone," President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian
Service ahead of the presidential election of Feb 18.
"Therefore, I am absolutely convinced that the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh want the problem to be settled as soon as possible.
And Armenia has additional problems. Unfortunately, we are not rich in
natural resources and naturally have no easy inflow of investments. We
have no other means to be able to develop our economy. That is,
the more open our economy is, the more developed our communications
are, the easier it will be for us to do. And the situation of the
unsettled conflict is a constant impediment to these circumstances,"
the president said.
There is also another problem, he said. "From its scarce resources
Armenia has to allocate a large share for security and defense. We
simply have to do it. We have to have the army that is disproportionate
by its size to the size of our state. I will tell you more. It does
not correspond to the dimensions of our state also in terms of its
combat readiness and armaments. But we have to have a combat-ready
army with modern armaments in the amount that will enable it to
fulfill the tasks set to it," Sargsyan said.
"Why should we be interested in having the problem linger on? I
have repeatedly said -- and was frequently criticized for that - but
today, too, I consider that a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
achieved as soon as possible will be only positive for the development
of Armenia. But as they say, it takes two hands to clap. Azerbaijan's
agreement is also needed for the problem to be resolved.
But in my opinion, the leadership of Azerbaijan has lost a sense
of reality. In my view, easy money, the petrodollars, do not have a
positive effect on the leadership of this country and their appetites
increasingly grow to the degree that they no longer limit themselves
to regarding only Nagorno-Karabakh as theirs. They already think that
Armenia, too, was created on Azerbaijani lands and that Yerevan is a
historically Azerbaijani land. And this is said by the president of
a country which got its name only about 100 years ago. Soon we will
mark the 2,800th anniversary of the foundation of Yerevan," he said.
He believe it is simply unrealistic to expect in these conditions
that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow Armenia will achieve a
result, create a document by some miracle, and ensure a peaceful
coexistence of the two peoples. "But on the other hand, I think that
the leadership of Azerbaijan cannot be as shortsighted as to attempt a
new gamble. After all, only 20 years separate us from the blunder of
Azerbaijan when it seemed to that country that very easily it could
capture Nagorno-Karabakh and thus ultimately solve that problem.
There is also another circumstance: It is clear that today's means
[in Azerbaijan] are the result of the sales of fuel resources, and
these fuel resources are sold to the international community. And
lately the international community on more than one occasion has
proved that the presence of fuel resources does not always play a
crucial role in making different decisions," Sargsyan said.
"But since we, as I already said, have to deal with a country that
has lost the sense of reality, or, as they say, with an irrational
country, we should always be prepared to defend our people -- first
of all the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, then the population of
the border regions of Armenia, and Armenia in general. Therefore,
we will continue to strengthen our armed forces. We will continue to
be constructive. We will always be ready to continue the negotiations
because the alternative is war. And as I said we do not want a war.
But if we are forced to wage a war, then I think we will never fail
the work of our companions, our perished heroes," the president said.
ARMINFO
Monday, January 21, 12:00
"I strongly believe that in the long term it does not suit anybody
to leave the issue unsettled. First of all, it is not suitable
for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, then the Republic of Armenia,
and I am also sure for Azerbaijan. Because living in conditions
of a constant threat of war is not that pleasant. And since 1988,
already for 25 years, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh has been
living in conditions of this threat. Consider that there is such a
threat for children, for young people, for everyone," President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian
Service ahead of the presidential election of Feb 18.
"Therefore, I am absolutely convinced that the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh want the problem to be settled as soon as possible.
And Armenia has additional problems. Unfortunately, we are not rich in
natural resources and naturally have no easy inflow of investments. We
have no other means to be able to develop our economy. That is,
the more open our economy is, the more developed our communications
are, the easier it will be for us to do. And the situation of the
unsettled conflict is a constant impediment to these circumstances,"
the president said.
There is also another problem, he said. "From its scarce resources
Armenia has to allocate a large share for security and defense. We
simply have to do it. We have to have the army that is disproportionate
by its size to the size of our state. I will tell you more. It does
not correspond to the dimensions of our state also in terms of its
combat readiness and armaments. But we have to have a combat-ready
army with modern armaments in the amount that will enable it to
fulfill the tasks set to it," Sargsyan said.
"Why should we be interested in having the problem linger on? I
have repeatedly said -- and was frequently criticized for that - but
today, too, I consider that a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem
achieved as soon as possible will be only positive for the development
of Armenia. But as they say, it takes two hands to clap. Azerbaijan's
agreement is also needed for the problem to be resolved.
But in my opinion, the leadership of Azerbaijan has lost a sense
of reality. In my view, easy money, the petrodollars, do not have a
positive effect on the leadership of this country and their appetites
increasingly grow to the degree that they no longer limit themselves
to regarding only Nagorno-Karabakh as theirs. They already think that
Armenia, too, was created on Azerbaijani lands and that Yerevan is a
historically Azerbaijani land. And this is said by the president of
a country which got its name only about 100 years ago. Soon we will
mark the 2,800th anniversary of the foundation of Yerevan," he said.
He believe it is simply unrealistic to expect in these conditions
that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow Armenia will achieve a
result, create a document by some miracle, and ensure a peaceful
coexistence of the two peoples. "But on the other hand, I think that
the leadership of Azerbaijan cannot be as shortsighted as to attempt a
new gamble. After all, only 20 years separate us from the blunder of
Azerbaijan when it seemed to that country that very easily it could
capture Nagorno-Karabakh and thus ultimately solve that problem.
There is also another circumstance: It is clear that today's means
[in Azerbaijan] are the result of the sales of fuel resources, and
these fuel resources are sold to the international community. And
lately the international community on more than one occasion has
proved that the presence of fuel resources does not always play a
crucial role in making different decisions," Sargsyan said.
"But since we, as I already said, have to deal with a country that
has lost the sense of reality, or, as they say, with an irrational
country, we should always be prepared to defend our people -- first
of all the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, then the population of
the border regions of Armenia, and Armenia in general. Therefore,
we will continue to strengthen our armed forces. We will continue to
be constructive. We will always be ready to continue the negotiations
because the alternative is war. And as I said we do not want a war.
But if we are forced to wage a war, then I think we will never fail
the work of our companions, our perished heroes," the president said.