KIRO MANOYAN: THE HISTORIC MISTRUST SHOULD BE OVERCOME
Yerkir, Armenia
Oct 1 2007
The Region Research Center conducted an interview on September 18
with Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau’s Political Affairs
Office director Kiro Manoyan, who has answered questions by Armenian,
Georgian and Azerbaijani journalists. The interview is posted on the
Caucuses Journalists web site:
Irakli Chikhladze, an independent reporter (Georgia)]
What is your standpoint about the issue of the repatriation of deported
Meskhetins? It is common knowledge that the new law on repatriation
envisages their return to the motherland starting from next year.
Answer
The issue of the return of Turk-Meskhetins into Georgia does not
directly have to do with Armenians. Firstly, because according to the
law passed in Georgia they will return to Georgia in general and not
necessarily to Samtskhe-Javakheti. And the places where they used to
live previously are now occupied by Georgians and not Armenians. We
think that the announcements by Georgian political figures according
to which it is Armenians who hinder the return of Turk-Meskhetins are
incorrect. At the same time, the sincerity of Georgian power about
this issue should be treated with some reservation, for we see that
Georgian authorities do not demonstrate the appropriate and necessary
care towards the ethnic minorities already residing in Georgia.
Bartkulashvili A.G.(Azerbaijan)
Mr. Manoyan! How are the chances and the participation of the
Dashnaktsutyun Party assessed for the coming presidential elections?
RUKH ¬ Journalists’ Protection Committee
Answer
We highly estimate the possibility of our party’s victory in the
Presidential elections of the RA. We hope that the people will
correctly evaluate the political situation and for the formation of
balanced power in the country will elect the candidate nominated by
Dashnaktsutyun for the post of the President and not the candidate
from the Parliamentary majority.
Nino Narimanishvili, The Samkhretis Karibche, Samtskhe-Javakheti
(Georgia)
What do you think of those projects which are meant to be implemented
in Samtskhe-Javakheti ¬ Kars ¬ Akhalkalaki ¬ Baku, Millennium and
others? How can they influence Georgian and Armenian relations? What
is your party’s standpoint on these projects? Will they serve, in
your opinion, the development of the region?
Answer
Both projects you mentioned are different in their essence. The
program Millennium Challenges pursues the goal of integrating
Samtskhe-Javakheti into Georgia and into the whole of the South
Caucasus in general. And Kars ¬ Akhalkalaki ¬ Baku is a program
directed towards isolating Armenia. From this perspective we think
positively of the Millennium Challenges Program and we treat the
project Kars ¬ Akhalkalaki ¬ Baku with some reservation. In both
programs the fact that the local Armenian population does not partake
in the construction work, just as in the case of Baku-Jeyhan, makes
one suspect that the local population will not gain much from these
programs. At least we are convinced that there may be a project
on the integration of Samtskhe-Javakheti into Georgia which may be
implemented through joint Armenian and Georgian efforts and once again
with the aid of international funds, for some balance in political
goals pursued by the railroad Kars ¬ Akhalkalaki.
Irakli Chikhladze, an independent reporter (Georgia)
Why doesn’t Karabakh take an active part in the meetings and various
events of similarly unacknowledged territories in the post-Soviet
space? (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Pridnestrovye)
Answer
The Kaharbakh issue is inherently unique, not only in comparison
with other conflicts in the post-Soviet space. There are no other
external political powers in the Karabakh issue due to which and
because of which this conflict continues. As a state, Karabakh does
meet international requirements and standards, and there is no need
to hazard this achievement.
Elza Tsiklauri, The Rezonanzi (Georgia)
Lately an opinion was voiced in Armenia on opening an Armenian
University in Akhalkalaki. Who, do you think, will finance this
undertaking?
Answer
The issue of the foundation of a joint Armenian and Georgian University
in Samtskhe-Javakheti is not a new one and comes from the Armenian
population in the region. During the past few years the attempts of the
Georgian authorities to establish branches and affiliates of Georgian
Universities in Samtskhe-Javakheti, the goal of which was to provide an
opportunity for the local population to study at a Georgian University,
failed, and today these affiliates have already closed down. Many young
Armenians from Samtskhe-Javakheti study at Universities in Armenia
as a result of which they continue to fail to know and to master the
Georgian language. The existence of a joint university would have
guaranteed that the Armenian youth would receive higher education
right there and as a result would know the state language and would
be ready to integrate into the cultural, social and political life
of Georgia. Of course, it is necessary that both states would make a
joint decision on this issue and naturally would fund it jointly, too.
Nino Narimanashvili, The Samkhret Karibche; Irakli Chikhladze,
a free-lance reporter; Elza Tsiklauri, The Rezonansi (Georgia)
How did the Russian economic blockade against Georgia affect the
Armenian economy? Didn’t this fact affect the attitude of the political
circles of Armenia with regard to strategic cooperation with Russia?
Answer
Specifically our party has publicly spoken of this problem, for some of
the economic steps of Russia undertaken against Georgia, did have as
much negative influence on Armenia as they had on Georgia, something
that does not come from the principles of strategic partnership. From
this perspective, it can be stated that the right application of
the Armenian and Russian strategic partnership may be considered a
stabilizing factor for the region as a whole.
Shirinyan A.A. (Armenia)]
Hetq On-line. The other day the issue of building a correctional
facility in Samtskhe-Javakheti was raised in the Armenian Parliament.
Opinions differed in the Parliament. What is your opinion on this?
Answer
The program of turning Samtskhe-Javakheti a place of detention is not
new. Such a program used to exist still under President Gamsakhurdia
when the inmates of Georgian prisons had an opportunity to leave for
Samtskhe-Javakheti with limited possibility of moving around instead
of spending the whole sentence term in prison. It seems (though the
leader of the Armenian church in Georgia does not share this opinion)
that the construction of a new prison pursues the purpose of changing
the demographic situation in this region. The construction of a prison
for 2 ¬ 3 thousand inmates envisages the presence and residence in
the region of at least as many support personnel, which serves as
a basis for such concerns. A similar concern is brought about by
the construction for the purpose of the extension of the orphanage
in Ninotsminda, which is an orphanage where children from all over
Georgia are brought to live. Of course, one may respond that all
this is directed towards the improvement of the social and economic
situation of the residents of the region, since, for example, they
will provide the prison with food and so on, but in this case the
authorities should have spoken and consulted the local people for
them not to treat such undertakings with suspicion and fear.
Anvar Ursoy, reporter (Azerbaijan)]
Hello, Mr. Manoyan! Why couldn’t your party win in the Parliamentary
elections?
Answer
Two reports from Azerbaijan asked one and the same question, that
is why I will answer both of them at once. The political power that
won in the Parliamentary elections made use of all its resources,
including the administrative ones. Secondly, the influence of the
propaganda against our party led during the Soviet times and in the
times of the former President of the RA can still be felt among the
population. There remains only to note that the popularity of the
Dashnaktsutyun Party among the population is increasing from election
to election.
Shoshiashvili M.N. (Georgia)
Mr. Manoyan. On behalf of the present Georgian reporters and the
reporters from the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and
Development, I thank you for your cooperation and sincerity.
Answer
I also thank all the reporters. And I think that the role of mass
media is great in our region in establishing mutual trust, and I hope
that this interview will serve that purpose, too.
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