ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
July 15, 2007 Sunday 04:41 PM EST
Armenia develops relations with NATO, won’t become member
Armenia will develop relations with the North Atlantic Alliance but
will not become its member, President Robert Kocharian said in an
interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel published in Yerevan
on Sunday.
The entry into NATO would not enlarge Armenia’s security, but it
would spoil the Armenian relations with neighbors, the president
said.
“The accession to any military bloc cannot be a goal in itself or a
fashion,” Kocharian said. “Meanwhile, the accession to the
Collective Security Treaty (CST), whose member Russia is, will meet
our security interests.”
“It is important for Armenia to develop relations with NATO, but
membership in that alliance will not enhance our security. It will
make our position ambiguous,” he said. “We live in an complicated
region. We have constructive relations with Iran and close contacts
with Russia.”
As for the affiliation to the European Union, the Armenian leader
said, “We are realistic and do not set the goal of entry into the EU
for the near future. Plenty of states have voiced their wish to enter
into the European Union.”
He said, however, he “will do his best for bringing cooperation with
the EU to a higher level.”
Armenia objects to new international sanctions on Iran and thinks
that the Iranian nuclear problem should be resolved with political
methods, Kocharian said.
“Tighter sanctions will escalate tensions. It is hard to predict
where such negative dynamics may lead,” he said.
“We are against sanctions that may be harmful for us and other
states,” he said. Punitive measures “will hardly pave the way to
the solution of the Iranian nuclear problem,” he added.
“The Iranian administration is convinced that it acts in compliance
with international agreements,” the chief of state said. “Iranian
officials said that their nuclear program does not have military
goals, while the West thinks the opposite.”
“However, if the pressure on Iran escalates, the country feels that
it is not being treated fairly and the Iranian people think that the
West is applying double standards, Iranians will decide that they are
ready to make sacrifices for the benefit of the just cause,” he
said.
Armenia “has constructive relations with Iran and develops economic
cooperation,” Kocharian said. “Relations with the other two
neighbors, Azerbaijan and Turkey, leave much to be desired, so we do
not want to spoil relations with the third neighbor, Iran.”
Kocharian reaffirmed the Armenian position in the Karabakh conflict.
Karabakh residents have a right to independence and
self-determination, he said.
“An asymmetric confederation is the future of Armenia and
Karabakh,” he said.
“Karabakh residents have no less rights to independence than Kosovo
Albanians,” the president said. The unrecognized Karabakh republic
“has developed into a full-scale state,” he said.
He called for using peacekeepers in the Karabakh settlement. “It
should be an international peacekeeping force,” Kocharian said.
The president admitted the permanent threat of war in the region but
said, “Yerevan has no intention to start a military operation.”
“However, we will act in compliance with the military situation and
our security interests in case of an aggression,” he said.
Azerbaijan strongly disagrees with the Armenian position. Azerbaijani
officials have said many times they will not allow the independence
of Karabakh, which is a part of Azerbaijan. Baku demands that Yerevan
must withdraw from the occupied lands. The settlement of the
conflict, which has been on for over 15 years, involves
representatives of Russia, the United States and France that make up
the OSCE Minsk Group. The consultations of intermediaries with the
leaders of the conflicting sides are held in parallel with the
negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders. The
Karabakh ceasefire agreement has been in effect since 1994.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress