FRENCH AMBASSADOR’S GOODBYE LESSON OR COLD SHOWER FOR ARMENIAN DIPLOMACY

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 20 2006

The French investors are becoming increasingly interested in the
Armenian economy, and I am happy that this happened while I was the
ambassador, said the French Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuny in his
news conference on October 24. According to him, the Armenian market
is small and buying capacity is low, but it is of interest because
it is a door leading to other markets. Henry Cuny enumerates Asia,
the Near East and the Middle East, Russia as other markets.

However, everything would be different if the borders were open,
says Henry Cuny. And in this sense his next words, which were answers
to the questions of the news reporters, can be considered a lesson
for the Armenian diplomacy and certain social classes. It is clear
that the notion of the closed border concerns the Turkish border,
and the reporters asked Henry Cuny what France does to facilitate the
opening of the Armenian and Turkish border, and whether the law on
the genocide adopted by the lower chamber of the French parliament
favors the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and opening of the border.

Cuny’s answer to this question was logical and surprising at the same
time. "When I had just arrived in this country, something astonished
me. Most people, including young people came up to me and said we
have a problem, what can you do for us. And my first message in the
meeting with the students of the French University in Armenia was your
future is in your hands, the keys to your future are in your hands,"
says Henry Cuny. This part of his answer was logical rather than
surprising. The continuation of the answer was surprising, which was
on the role of the adoption of the law on genocide in the Armenian
and Turkish relation.

"I am not supposed to interpret the law adopted by the French
parliament. At any rate, I hear what the Armenians and the Armenian
youth tell me. They tell me two main things, both are very important.

On the one hand, they say we are grateful for this attentive attitude
of France, and Armenia feels less lonely in these matters. But they
also say our future, the future of the young people living in Armenia
depends on our friendship with neighbors, and we think it will be much
easier for us to overcome disagreement through a dialogue rather than
through a confrontation," says Henry Cuny.

This is surprising, considering that the ambassador considers the
opinion of young people as very important and much more legitimate,
because they are going to live and work in Armenia. However, he also
says that in expressing their gratefulness to France these young people
emphasize one but according to which the dialogue with the neighbors
is much more important. Henry Cuny’s answer is at least strange
and controversial in the sense that the law adopted by the French
parliament does not promote the Turkish-Armenian dialogue. And from
the point of view of the official Armenian diplomacy and propaganda,
Henry Cuny’s answers are a lesson for the people in charge of
foreign policies in Armenia, who are delighted to announce about the
diplomatic victory of Armenia. "I think the Armenians and only the
Armenians should decide the fate of their borders, and I repeat that
it is highly important for me to listen to young people, because the
existence of the nation depends on the youth," says Henry Cuny.

The French ambassador to Armenia, who will not be an ambassador in
four days, hints, in fact, that the adoption of the bill has nothing
to do with the Turkish-Armenian relations, especially the prospect
of opening the borders, and pursued a quite different goal. In other
words, Cuny’s words crash the delight of the Armenian state propaganda
and foreign policy that was aroused by the lower chamber of the French
parliament, and prove that this law did not solve any problems for
Armenia, if it did not create new problems.