On February 10 the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vardan Oskanyan through “Azg” daily responded on the recent publications of the media abut the recent statements of the Minister made in the National Assembly on February 7. According to his statements the railway Kars-Akhalkalak doesn’t isolate Armenia at all and doesn’t harm Armenia’s economy.
"I’ve been following our press for the last two days, and I’d like to respond to those expressions which have appeared regarding my statement that the Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku railroad can’t result in Armenia’s isolation and can’t cause additional injury to Armenia’s economy. I have great respect toward the members of our press corps and I know that they are neither inattentive nor naïve, and that they cannot not see the most obvious realities. Nevertheless, those defeatist attitudes which appeared in our press and in various public statements, truly surprised me. I understand that there are ‘objective’ reasons for these expressions. A difficult election campaign awaits us, and each grouping is attempting to acquire a piece of the pie, by exploiting various issues at all appropriate and inappropriate opportunities, often, in my opinion, coming up against our own national interests. In this context, I understand the motivation, but I can’t justify it. Because we’re talking about elections, efforts are made to plant such attitudes in the broadest possible electoral field. This is what I think is dangerous and this is exactly what our adversaries desire. In criticizing my assessment that even when this rail line becomes operational, Armenia will not face any new problems, my critics do not present any evidence. Let’s evaluate the situation together. What additional problems could the Kars-Akhalkalak line create? The reality is that if we take into consideration the economic conditions which exist today and which have existed for the last 15 years, then it’s obvious that this new railroad can’t be additionally damaging to Armenia’s economy. If the existing Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi rail line were operating, and this new railroad came to supplant it, or to run in parallel to it, then yes, we could say that this new railroad would have adverse affects on Armenia’s economy. However, that’s clearly not the case. This criticism would also have been acceptable if the Armenian-Turkish border were closed because of Armenia, or the Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railroad did not work, because of Armenia, or if Armenia insisted on preconditions to normalizing relations with Turkey. However, that’s clearly not the case, either. Today, the border is closed because of Turkey and because the Armenian side refuses to comply with Turkey’s demands. All those who insist that the gas pipeline or the oil pipeline or the railroad could have gone thru Armenia, should have known full well that that would have been possible only by relinquishing our rights regarding certain issues which constitute our national interest and a national value. That is the price we would have had to pay; yet we haven’t. That is the political situation, and it is not possible to ignore that truth and to irresponsibly insist that in this political atmosphere, things could have been otherwise. Those experts and organizations which have assessed this rail project have said and continue to say that it is not economically sound and at the same time, politically, it endangers regional cooperation. The decisions by the US, the EU and other countries not to provide government assistance to this project reflect these assessments. We, too, consider this project to be, above all, a political project, aimed, yet again, at bringing additional pressure to bear on Armenia and attempting to secure certain concessions. In this context, this project can create further complications in an already complex region. The experience of these past years should have been sufficient for our adversaries to understand that it is not possible to use such steps and such language with Armenia, particularly regarding the Nagorno Karabakh issue. There are matters which are non-negotiable values for us. We have repeated frequently, and today, too, I will disappoint Azerbaijan and those who support it by saying: Karabakh is not a tradeable commodity for Armenians. From this perspective, Karabakh was not negotiable during the Baku-Ceyhan discussions, nor during the Baku-Akhalkalak-Kars discussions, and will not be negotiable at any time in the future. Our approach is different. We believe that as regional cooperation deepens and includes all the countries of the region, then existing regional tensions will weaken, it will fuel greater reciprocal trust, and strengthen linkages. All this, taken together will create an environment so different from today’s that the many complex political issues facing us will find a resolution. This is not just a policy, but the guideline for the work that we do every day. What concerns me is not the political exploitation so much as its consequence – the defeatism being sown in our people. What we have today is not Armenia’s isolation. What we have is two neighboring countries who are willfully attempting to isolate Armenia. And, in spite of such efforts, we have an Armenia that is active – in some cases even more than those same neighbors – in every international organization from EU, to Council of Europe, the CIS, NATO, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and other international organizations. Where is the isolation? It’s time to put an end to this willful self-deception. Don’t judge Armenia by what Turkey and Azerbaijan do. Judge Armenia by what we do, by our own resources and opportunities. We are faced with many foreign and domestic challenges, and we all know well where they come from. To overcome them, it is essential that we consider issues sensibly, assess the situation and the opportunities accurately, demonstrate firm will, confidence and unity.