State interests more valued than people’s security, Armenian paper

Aravot, Yerevan
2 Oct 04

Text of an unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 2
October headlined “State interests and security of community”

Very soon the Armenian National Assembly will put a full stop to the
question of whether it is worth sending Armenian servicemen to Iraq or
not. Today the problem is being discussed by political scientists, who
are arguing for and against the dispatch. Those who do not approve
this plan worry about the fate of the large Armenian diaspora in Iraq.

Incidentally, not waiting for the Armenian parliament to take a
decision to this end, the Iraqi Armenians have already asked the
Armenian government not to take such a step. It is clear that they do
not want to become hostages in the hands of terrorists.

We do not know what our government’s reply to their request was, but
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has already questioned
whether it was expedient for the Armenian diaspora in Iraq to
influence Armenia to tackle its problems with other countries.
Following his logic, given that the [Iraqi] diaspora is not as
influential to lobby the interests of Armenia as the diasporas of the
USA and France, and also is not so rich to construct roads or
airports, then it should understand that the Armenian authorities
cannot take into consideration a possible danger to the Iraqi
Armenians, after our servicemen enter Iraq.

It is clear that those who approve the plan of sending our servicemen
to Iraq, including the Armenian prime minister, have their own
reasons. Recently Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan admitted some of
them in a televised interview. According to him, Armenia cannot stay
away because: a) Georgia and Azerbaijan are not staying away; b) given
that we support the fight against world terrorism, we cannot approach
it only as consumers; c) Iraq is very close to our borders and this
fact does not allow us to remain observers.

It is very likely that the Armenian parliament will adopt a decision
to send our servicemen to Iraq. But to declare that our state
interests are more important than the security of any Armenian
diaspora is little bit cynical.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress