THEY AGREE THAT THE BEST INITIATIVE IS BUILDING A STRONG STATE

Lragir
Dec 21 2007
Armenia

The foreign policy of Armenia, especially on the relation with Turkey
should come up with initiatives, say Kiro Manoyan, ARF Bureau member in
charge of Hay Dat and Political Affairs, and Member of Parliament from
the Heritage Party Larissa Alaverdyan, who expressed their opinions
on this issue on December 21 at the Hayeli Club. Larissa Alaverdyan
even thinks that Armenia should try to set up relations of different
levels with Turkey regarding regional development, human rights and
other universal issues.

"We have not knocked at the doors with initiatives, and spoken about
issues of universal and regional importance. For instance, we discuss
trafficking but we have never contacted their government agencies
to know what to do about this problem," Larissa Alaverdyan says. In
answer to the question whether it depends on Armenia only Larissa
Alaverdyan says God owes to the doer.

Kiro Manoyan is also for initiatives. He says, however, that relations
between the societies will be meaningful only in case relations are
set up between the states. "They cannot replace relations between the
states," Kiro Manoyan says. He is for such initiatives on behalf of
Armenia which will make Turkey start a dialogue with Armenia through
a third party.

In that case, could the best initiative of Armenia be building a
strong and modern state which Turkey would have to take seriously?
Both Manoyan and Alaverdyan agree to this opinion. "In other words,
the way to have them take us seriously, both our neighbor and the
international community, is to become what we have declared us to be:
sovereign, I already start to doubt, democratic, it also arouses doubt,
social, highly doubtful, and a legal state. In other words, if we
want to solve external issues in the best way and most effectively,
we must at least become a legal state," Larissa Alaverdyan says. Kiro
Manoyan says the foreign policy is the continuation of the internal
policy. According to him, you cannot be free in external policies if
there is no freedom inside. "Without creating a necessary climate
inside the country we cannot be independent and active enough,"
Kiro Manoyan says. He thinks it is important to be strong inside
the country. "And internal strength is not only the army," Kiro
Manoyan says.