ARMENIA BECOMING INTERESTING
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:44:10 – 08/11/2011

It seems that Azerbaijan and Turkey seize to be seen as reliable
regional partners able to resort to reasonable concessions for the
sake of regional partnership. Armenia is considered as a more reliable
way for the creation of regional infrastructures and integration
mechanisms.

The visits of the Iranian and Georgian Foreign Ministers to Armenia
made it clear that not only Armenia is interested in involvement in
regional projects but also the neighbor countries.

First of all, this is determined by the uncompromising position of
Turkey and Azerbaijan which did not wish to make a concession in the
Karabakh issue and did not agree with the option “integration without
settlement”. Such an approach could allow deploying important regional
infrastructures, at the same time without provoking wars and conflicts.

Judging by everything, this was proposed to Baku and Ankara, but
they failed to overcome the psychological complexes and stand above
the primitive nationalism. Possibly, it seemed to them that their
uncompromising behavior would force others retreat, but, perhaps,
another way was chosen – isolation of Azerbaijan and Turkey and
deployment of new infrastructures with the participation of Armenia.

The visits of the Georgian Ministers of Economy and Foreign Affairs,
who dwelt, among other issues also on the Meghri-Batumi highway,
evidences that Georgia’s Western sponsors are interested in cooperation
with Armenia.

Tigran Sargsyan’s words that Armenia and Georgia are in the same
economic area proved Yerevan’s will to becoming a part of the Western
way of infrastructures.

In addition, Yerevan tries to diversify that project, agreeing
also with the infrastructure projects proposed by Iran, which
are economically supported also by Russia. The point is about
the Iran-Armenia railway, which, as the Minister of Transport and
Communication Manuk Vardanyan said, will be clear in 3-4 months. The
Minister said negotiations with Iran, China and Russia are underway
on this issue, as well as with international donors and investors.

More, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stated in Yerevan that
Iran and Armenia need to discuss the visa elimination.

A multi-layer game is taking place in the region, but it is evident
that Armenia’s significance is growing. If Armenia needed the
infrastructure programs more, then our ministers would have visited
Georgia and Iran.

The visits of the Iranian and Georgian officials prove the growing
interest of these countries in Armenia.

Both vectors of cooperation are necessary for Armenia and a task
of our diplomacy should be the provision of necessary conditions so
that none of the vectors destroys the other, and that Armenia owns
the right to the final word.