‘Why Award Ahmadinejad with Honorary Degree?’ Sargsyan Responds

14:07 – 20.03.10

We cannot oblige our neighbours to think as we do, said Serzh Sargsyan
in an interview with Euronews TV channel late yesterday evening,
responding to the interviewer’s question as to why Yerevan State
University would award Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an
honorary degree in 2007.

`One should not narrow things down to a single person. To bestow upon
the leader of a country an honorific reward signifies an expression of
gratitude and recognition towards the people of that country. The
Iranians have been our neighbours for centuries and they are very
important to us,’ Sargsyan continued.

Asked whether he would consider the university’s decision `Armenian
`realpolitik’,’ Sargsyan said:

`I would consider it as a particular approach by the State University
of Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in
Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world.’

Tert.am