DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA,VIGEN SARGSYAN UNDERMINES ARMENIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY
By Appo Jabarian

USA Armenian Life Magazine
March 4, 2010

In February, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Armenia Vigen
Sargsyan visited the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) in Washington, DC, to discuss the prospects and "potential
benefits of normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia,"
according to the CSIS website.

During the question-and-answer session, in response to a question from
Mr. Kazari of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Washington,
DC, Mr. Sargsyan astonishingly said the following regarding the current
Armenian-Azeri border: "All those important parts of the borders can
be de-blocked. Our immediate borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan
have nothing to do with the territories around Nagorno Karabagh."

He continued: "Now as far as the occupation, our concerns are very much
in favor [of] … what is important [is that] the president of Armenia
[Serzh Sargsyan], who was the Minister of Defense of these territories,
has always stated that he does not think of these territories as
historic Armenian lands. He always stated that these territories
have to return to Azerbaijan when the settlement of Nagorno-Karabagh
is found."

In reference to the controversial former Foreign Minister of Armenia,
Mr. V. Sargsyan added: "Vardan Oskanyan’s reference to the word of
‘occupied territories’ [ignited] big internal discussions on what he
has to do" to mitigate the negative outcome in the mass media.

As many readers recall, in September 2007, I had called for Mr.

Oskanyan’s resignation or dismissal as Foreign Minister of Armenia.

The article was disseminated through several news outlets around
the globe.

In that article, I wrote: "Oskanyan has been Foreign Minister for
too long, without having achieved any substantial gains for Armenia.

Furthermore, Armenia squandered away many valuable opportunities
for diplomatic gains in the international arena and even sustained
self-inflicted damages thanks to Mr. Oskanyan’s mishandling of
several cases at the United Nations and elsewhere. It is absurd that
the foreign minister … mislabels the liberated Armenian lands as
‘occupied’ territories. … Isn’t it time for a change? The political
landscape is shifting. We need more proactive leaders in Armenia."

Is Mr. V. Sargsyan aware that the territories surrounding mountainous
Artsakh have always been part of Armenia?

The now-liberated territories around Artsakh are part of the entire
Region of Artsakh that extends to the Kura River, just east of the
border between the Republic of Artsakh and the former Soviet Socialist
Republic of Azerbaijan.

As Mr. V. Sargsyan should know, the Artsakh Region along with
Nakhitchevan was arbitrarily carved out of the 1918-1920 independent
Republic of Armenia. These regions were part of Armenia up until its
takeover by the Soviet occupation forces in November 1920.

In 1921, soon after Sovietization, Armenia was subjected to the
process of "Stalinization" when the infamous Soviet Dictator Josef
Stalin "gifted" the entire Region of Artsakh with its lowlands and
highlands; and Nakhitchevan to the then newly created Soviet Republic
of Azerbaijan.

Presently, the Republic of Azerbaijan continues to illegally occupy 1)
The northern Artsakh district of Shahumian; and Gandzak (Kirovabad); 2)
the outlying lowlands that extend to Kura River; and 3) Nakhitchevan.

One wonders if Pres. Serzh Sargsyan is aware of his Deputy Chief of
Staff V. Sargsyan’s latest serious international blunder (to say the
least), undermining Armenia’s national security interests during a
lecture in Washington, DC.

By using the misleading term "occupation," Mr. V. Sargsyan should
feel ashamed for having committed an act of blasphemy against the
memory of thousands of innocent Armenian victims of the 1988 Azeri
pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and Gandzak/Kirovabad and their deportation
staged by Azerbaijan.

Mr. V. Sargsyan also disrespected the memory of countless freedom
fighters that liberated Artsakh from the Azeri yoke during the Artsakh
Liberation War (1991-1994) which was in response to the 1988 Azeri
crimes against defenseless Armenians.

While still on the job, Mr. Sargsyan should steer away from or
remain unswayed by the influence of neo-con enablers in various
academic/diplomatic circles, such as the one inside the Fletcher
School of Diplomacy which he graduated from.

Interestingly, during recent years, the Fletcher School of Diplomacy
has been serving as the farming grounds for spineless Armenian
diplomats, among them former Foreign Minister Oskanyan.

To President Serzh Sargsyan’s credit, as soon as he took the helm
of Armenia’s leadership in 2008, he decommissioned Foreign Minister
Oskanyan because of his dismal performance.

It would only be logical, if Pres. Sargsyan were to deal with Mr. V.

Sargsyan, the way he dealt with Mr. Oskanyan. May be, Mr. V. Sargsyan
should not even wait – he should present his letter of resignation
sooner rather than later.

To listen to Mr. V. Sargsyan’s comments at CSIS, please fast-forward
to the last 5 minutes of his remarks, by using the following link:
( armenia-turkey-normalization-view-yerevan).