ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 24 2006

ARMENIA HAS TO CLARIFY ITSELF IN WHAT REGION TO LIVE: LEADER OF
"HERITAGE" OPPOSITIONAL PARTY RAFFI HOVANNISIAN

"Geopolitical and regional challenges, set to Armenia, can be
generally called a challenge of the region transformation that is
actual for all the Caucasian countries", a secret leader of the
"Heritage" non-parliamentary oppositional party, the first Foreign
Minster of Armenia, Raffi Hovannisian, said in an interview to
ArmInfo.

According to him, the interest of power centers of the world to the
South-Caucasian region continuously increases. In particular, the EU
gets more and more interested in a stability, steady development and
security of states, covered by the policy of the new European
neighborhood. The USA, Russia, Iran and Turkey are interested in the
problem of keeping the maximum extension of its influence in the
region. "In this situation, our neighbors learn unique lessons.
Georgia thinks over a vast change of its foreign policy vector,
reorientation of the own political system. Both Georgia and
Azerbaijan, having made use of the growing interest of superstates in
the region, try to involve them, as serious players, in a context of
their own conflicts and, thus, to change the status-quo to the
detriment of the opposite side", R. Hovannisian said.

Hovannisian believes that the political support provided to
Azerbaijan in this context has already become obvious: the economic
capacities of our neighbors are growing and Armenia’s key task at
present is to successfully rival with them.

Asked about the challenges Armenia is facing under present
geo-political and regional conditions, Hovannisian said: "Armenia is
faced with a number of serious questions. First: how to reform its
political system and the structures involved in state and democracy
building lest our vital interests might be affected by sharp or
gradual geopolitical changes? Second: what will the breach of the
status quo bring to – war or stable peace? Third: how to revise the
policy on the Karabakh problem and what steps to take to this end?
Fourth: what and to what an extent should be emphasized in Armenia’s
foreign policy? Fifth: how to prevent the gradual isolation of the
country from the regional programs, the last example of which is the
plan to build Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad? Sixth: what national
security strategy to adopt and how to respond to new and old
challenges to self-identity and security, particularly, to the
problems of Turkish-Armenian relation and Javakhq?"

Hovannisian believes that Armenia must clearly decide in what region
it wants to live or it will have to put up with existence imposed in
the framework of a sub-system formed by other states.