EXPERT: ARMENIA’S POSITION ON JAVAKH IS FORMED IN THE WEST
Regnum, Russia
Oct 17 2006
An extended dialog is being carried out now between Armenia
and Georgia, where Yerevan takes an inferior position. However,
the determining role in the dialog is played not by the bilateral
relations, but by the West’s position and goals in the Javakh area
(Armenian-populated region in Georgia – REGNUM). Armenian political
analyst Igor Muradyan expressed such opinion talking to reporters in
Yerevan on October 17.
In general, Muradyan motivates the assumption by the fact that Armenia
has nothing to take from Georgia, and Yerevan does not interfere
into the Javakh process only because there is such directive by the
West. The expert finds it difficult to say what the price of Armenia’s
neutrality on this issue is. He believes that West’s interest in
Javakh should not be underestimated. A narrow group of top-level
experts is being occupied with the problem in the West; key figures
are EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Javier
Solana in Europe, and US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and
Eurasia Daniel Fried in the USA, Igor Muradyan believes. "The matter
is, that Western expert community derives from the fact that Georgia
cannot secure its safety on its own. In this connection, the West is
going to settle the task on its own," Igor Muradyan says.
Grounding on this logic, he considers the process at the US parliament
aimed at easing the process of deploying US military forces in the
territories of other countries. Importance of the problem, the analyst
believes, is stressed in connection with the fact that the US-Turkey
relations and relations between the USA and the Black Sea countries
depend on the future of Javakh. In this connection, the expert says,
the West is trying to rule out internalization of the Javakh issue
and prevent the situation from exacerbating, so, Armenia is being
engaged in this very process.
"There is no conspiracy between Armenian and Georgian leadership
concerning the Javakh problem. It is just Armenia having serious
obligations to the West in this aspect," Muradyan says. As an example
of cooperation of Armenia, Georgia and the West he cited recent arrest
of one of United Javakh leaders, Vahagn Chahalyan. "They should release
this guy, persuade United Javakh members to go into parliament,
initiate a political process and work at settling problems of the
region." As for Russia’s stance on the issue, Muradyan believes it
is inactive, for which there are objective reasons.