Robert Kocharyan criticizes Levon Ter-Petrossyan for his statement that
Azerbaijan should become key outlet for Armenia into outer world
2008-02-01 20:45:00
ArmInfo. President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has criticized Levon
Ter-Petrossyan for his statement that Azerbaijan should become the key
outlet for Armenia into the outer world.
"I think that only a person with a very vague idea of geography can
make such statements. Just open the map and you will see that
geographically Azerbaijan cannot play such a role for us," Kocharyan
said today while visiting the construction of the new building of the
Defense Ministry of Armenia.
According to the president, most probably, the main thing for these
statements became the fact that during the USSR, 85% of the freights
really came from Azerbaijan. However, it is necessary to take into
consideration that these was internal freight traffic of the Soviet
Union and Armenia was not a subject of foreign trade. "This shows that
people don’t have information about the structure of foreign trade of
modern Armenia, in particular, about the fact that in trade relations
with Europe, the USA and other countries Azerbaijan is not in such
positions as to play an important role for our trade", R. Kocharian
said. The president drew attention on the fact that Armenia has
established trade contacts with Russia through the Georgian territory
and the Black Sea and this direction is fortified also by ferry
traffic. "I’d propose trying to look at such statements from another
angle. Karabakh peace process is currently being held and some
dizziness connected with the oil factor is observed in Azerbaijan. As
judged by oil expectations, Baku may try to stiffen its positions. If
the geographic knowledge in Azerbaijan remains at the same level, this
country will by all means try to stiffen its positions in the Karabakh
issue, stating that besides oil, it is also the main outlet to the
external world for Armenia", Kocharyan said. Levon Ter-Petrossyan’s
love for Azerbaijan and his attitude to this country is becoming
unhealthy and causes a lot of questions and doubts, he added.