Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan, in Armenian
22 Sep 05

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER UPBEAT ON THE COUNTRY’S FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has said that political
stability and economic growth in the country, as well as Nagornyy
Karabakh’s independence, allow Armenia to make more progress in the
future. “There is political stability and economic development in
Armenia today. Nagornyy Karabakh is an independent political entity.
All this gives us an opportunity to make more progress in the next
decade,” Oskanyan said in an interview with Armenian Public TV in
connection with Independence Day on 22 September.

“Karabakh is part of Armenia and has demonstrated to the
international community that it can be an independent state,” the
foreign minister went on to say.

Commenting on Armenia’s foreign policy, Oskanyan said that “the main
goal of our foreign policy is to be vigilant and not to trample upon
the rights of our neighbours”. He added that Armenia has achieved
many positive results in its foreign policy and can manoeuvre
difficult situations in the region and achieve positive results.

At the same time, the minister expressed his satisfaction with
Armenia’s position in the recent UN human development report, but
added that a lot of problems still need to be resolved. “We are
several steps ahead of our neighbours. But I know that along with
this success, we also have shortcomings. More than 50% of our people
live in poverty. We are not a fully democratic country yet. There are
numerous problems which we should resolve,” he said.

Oskanyan also touched on constitutional amendments in the country and
urged the people to say yes to the reform. “This constitution will
help us with the process of democratization and change Armenia’s
authority in the international community,” he said. The minister
stressed that the leaders of the world support the amendments to the
Armenian constitution and believe that this reform is a historical
chance for Armenia.