EX-PRESIDENT STATED THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHO PROPOSED TO SET UP A RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE IN ARMENIA

Mediamax
December 6, 2007

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian stated
that he was the one who proposed the Russian President Boris Yeltsin
to set up a Russian military base in the territory of Armenia.

Mediamax reports that Levon Ter-Petrosian said this in an interview,
published in the Moscow "Kommersant" newspaper today.

"I will open up a secret to you: when Russia faced problems with the
stay of military men in our territory, I personally proposed Boris
Yeltsin to register that it was a base. He gave an order, there was
a document elaborated, and the problem was solved. This is natural,
since it met the interests of both the Russia and Armenia. And today,
the given interest still remains", Ex-President stated.

Ter-Petrosian also noted that all the most important Armenian-Russian
agreements were signed in the period of his ruling.

"Armenia was the first to join the agreement on CIS. Agreements
on collective security, on joint defense of borders, on a single
air defense system, on the base in Gyumri, on establishment of
"ArmRosGazprom", all this was established when I ruled. Today’s
authorities added nothing new. Can you remember only one agreement,
which they signed?" Levon Ter-Petrosian stated.

He also criticized the deal on handing Armenian enterprises over to
the ownership of Russia as a repayment of the debt.

"Here many people blame Russia, but Russia is not guilty here. It
is just that the present authorities of Armenia, to make their lives
easier and not to pay the interest for the Russian debts, solved the
issue this way – giving property in return. This one-hundred-million
debt could be solved in a different way. Putin himself repeated
twice that this was not the initiative of Russia, but Armenia",
Levon Ter-Petrosian stated.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress