AGHASI YENOKYAN: "RUSSIA HAS MORE INFLUENCE IN JAVAKHK THAT ARMENIA DOES"

Panorama.am
20:40 18/10/2007

"The issues we have with Georgia are, firstly, economic, but also
the issues related to Armenians living in Georgia," noted political
scientist Aghasi Yenokyan in response to a question by a Panorama.am
journalist about current Armenian-Georgian relations and the method of
solving existing problems. In his words, Georgia has passed Armenia
in the economic sphere, and somehow has found the road to continue
this progress, whereas Armenia has fallen short in this realm.

"Concerning Armenians living in Georgia, here we seem to be overstating
the reality of the situation," Yenokyan said, adding that the best
way to solve problems facing Armenians living in Georgia is for
them to integrate into Georgian society and turn into full-fledged
Georgian citizens. "Armenia’s role should be to assist culturally
and economically," he said.

To the question as to the influence of third parties on
Armenian-Georgian relations, considering the fact that Russia at
times uses the Javakhk card when punishing Georgia, Yenokyan said,
"I think the influence of this third party is diminishing, with time,
yet this influence remains noticeable, at least for the time being. But
I think that Russia has more influence in Javakhk than Armenia does,"
he said in conclusion.