Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
December 2, 2017 Saturday


The National Defense Research University's Geostrategic Project on the
eve of the Agreement with the European Union



YEREVAN, DECEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS.Statement by Lieutenant General Hayk
Kotanjian, Head, National Defense Research University, MOD, RA, Doctor
of Political Science, Professor, at the parliamentary hearings on
“Armenia-EU: Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership between the
European Union and Armenia”, 1 December, 2017.

In July 2017 facing the conclusion of Armenia’s agreement with the
European Union, the National Defense Research University, MOD, RA,
embarked on the elaboration of the geostrategic initiative of the RA’s
integration into China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) project. It is
targeted at the assessment of the possibility of launching a new
alternative China-Europe route in the context of the OBOR initiative,
by integrating the China-Iran sea transit into the “Persian Gulf-Black
Sea” multimodal transport corridor.

The given elaboration was previously discussed in July 2017, during
the visit of the delegation headed by MG Chan Inli, former Head of the
School of Defense Studies of China’s National Defense University, to
our University. The project was reviewed with the Chinese side by Azat
Davtyan, NDRU Research-Fellow, on 20-28, July, at the international
strategic conferences in Xian and Shanghai.

In order to review the outcomes of the meetings with the Chinese
strategic analysts with the Iranian side, with the support of the RA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the RA Embassy in Iran, Benyamin
Poghosyan, my Deputy Head on Research—Head, Institute for National
Strategic Studies, and Azat Davtyan, Research-Fellow, took a mission
trip to Tehran. On 24 October of this year they attended the
international conference “Central Asia and Caucasus”, hosted by the
Institute of Political andInternationalStudiesof Iran’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

During the expert discussions of our joint elaboration in
July-November, 2017, Chinese and Iranian specialists have underscored
this project designed by the prime RA state think-tank. This very
strategic integration project was delivered to the Central Military
Commission of the People’s Republic of China. Iranian specialists in
particular have highlighted Iran’s interest in providing for the
transit route to Europe across Armenia’s territory. The NDRU-developed
project is to endow Armenia’s geopolitical role in the region with a
new strategic caliber, and raise to a qualitatively new level the
European Union’s bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Iran and
China with participation of Armenia.

Meanwhile, I believe, it is necessary to mention that the further
delay of the launch of the interstate discussions on this matter with
Iran and China may essentially reduce the possibility of implementing
the given program targeted at surmounting Armenia’s strategic
isolation.