Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Policy Of "zero Problems With Neighbors" Is Actually More Applic

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

  • The Policy Of "zero Problems With Neighbors" Is Actually More Applic

    THE POLICY OF "ZERO PROBLEMS WITH NEIGHBORS" IS ACTUALLY MORE APPLICABLE TO ARMENIA THAN TO TURKEY
    Karine Ter-Sahakyan

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    July 9, 2010

    Neither the Arab world, whose support Premier Erdogan is so eager to
    enlist, nor the Balkans and all the more so Israel want to hear the
    mention of the Ottoman Empire.

    The widely-advertised policy of the Turkish Foreign Ministry - "zero
    problems with neighbors" - is, in fact, more applicable to Armenia than
    to Turkey. Except for the total absence of relations with Azerbaijan,
    Armenia is in relatively better terms with her neighbors than Iran,
    Georgia or Turkey. Moreover, Armenia has managed to maintain normal
    relations with the world powers, which in itself is very important. For
    such a small country without natural resources and with problematic
    neighbors, it is difficult to survive, constantly meddling in all
    regional affairs, as Turkey does.

    It's not even the absence of leverage against neighboring countries
    or military superiority - both of them will come with time. It is the
    accurate selection of priorities and absence of a history burdened
    with a dark past. Things are quite complicated in case of Turkey - the
    collapsed Ottoman Empire played a nasty trick on Kemal Ataturk and his
    followers. It so happened that all the current visits of the President
    and the Prime Minister to neighboring countries are aimed at reminding
    the Arab world and the Jews in which state they used to live. In this
    respect Turkey's foreign policy is not oriented as it should be. In
    our opinion, neither the Arab world, whose support Premier Erdogan
    is so eager to enlist, nor the Balkans and all the more so Israel
    want to hear the mention of the Ottoman Empire, where they lived as
    second-class citizens. Worse than the Arabs lived only Christians and
    the Jews, who even now are not very comfortable in modern Turkey,
    despite the assurances of the ruling Justice and Development Party
    (AKP). Enjoying the support of Turkey in her nuclear program, Iran
    does not approve of this activity. But, as we have already mentioned,
    neither will she recognize Turkey as a regional leader.

    As for Armenia, all is not so bad, while it could be worse. Of all the
    neighbors, Armenia enjoys the best relations with Iran, despite the
    difference in religious affiliation. It should be borne in mind that
    Armenians and Persians are not outsiders in the Armenian Plateau and
    the Middle East; they are titular nations, what cannot be said about
    the Ottomans, whose homeland, as they say themselves, is Altai. For
    Armenia Iran is the only normal overland route to the outside world.

    Besides, Iran treats the Armenian community normally, what cannot
    be said about Turkey, where the Armenian community of Istanbul may
    simply be butchered at any moment.

    Georgia, by and large, is a problematic neighbor too, but not so
    problematic as to close the border or, God forbid, break diplomatic
    relations. Armenia is not in a position where you can do anything you
    like without worrying about the consequences. By the way, any country,
    even the most powerful, has no right to make steps that can lead to
    undesirable deterioration of relations with neighbors. We must admit
    that it would be more advantageous for the Georgian leadership if it
    had not spoken against the "Russian outpost". Georgian rhetoric in
    relation to Russia more and more resembles a farce and is perceived,
    at best, with a laugh. Even the Armenian leadership does not allow
    itself of such statements with reference to Turkey.

    But we forgot about Azerbaijan. In truth, writing about the Azeri
    policy is boring and uninteresting, as Baku is engaged in nothing
    but extreme anti-Armenian propaganda and sales of oil and gas. Well,
    and from time to time they threaten to "liberate the lands". You must
    admit that there is no reason to talk about the intelligible policy
    of our neighbors. It is difficult to live with problematic neighbors,
    but we have what we have. And though difficult, it is yet possible,
    and this is exactly what Armenia is trying to do. Everyone is playing
    their game in the region: U.S., Russia, EU. The most important thing
    is not to be crushed or gutted to the end. We just wonder what Aliyev
    will do, when the need for his energy resources passes. Sooner or later
    this period will come and it may come much sooner than Aliyev expects.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X