Perhaps for the first time, Robert Kocharyan pronounced the name of his preferred successor in his interview given to “SPIEGEL” online.
“I support Serge Sargsyan. I have worked with him for a long time and the fact that the army is the state structure that enjoys the highest confidence is, first and foremost, his accomplishment,” said Kocharyan. He considers “economic reforms” as one of his accomplishments as president and, according to him, the next president must continue those reforms. Kocharyan also said that “our security forces are well-organized” and that the “citizens of Armenia feel the need for special protection based on the background of the complicated history of Armenia.” In response to the question as to whether Armenia pictures itself in the European Union, Robert Kocharyan replied:
“We are realistic. We have no goal to become a member of the European Union anytime soon.”
However, Kocharyan does promise to do everything possible to increase the level of cooperation between Armenia and the EU. As far as cooperation with NATO is concerned, Kocharyan is more careful.
“It is evident that our relations with our neighbors will get worse if we join NATO. Our level of security will not increase with that.”
As to why Armenia’s NATO integration should hurt relations with our neighbors (especially since two of those neighbors are going towards NATO and the other is already a member of NATO), Kocharyan didn’t go into detail.
The interviewing journalist noted:
“Georgia and Azerbaijan wish to become members of NATO, while Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Pact Organization. Do you want Armenia to continue being the outpost of Russia in the South Caucasus?”
Kocharyan didn’t like the formulation of the question and did not hide that.
“I don’t like that kind of formulation. Our participation in the Collective Security Pact goes along with our interests for keeping security. Of course, it is important for Armenia to develop its cooperation with NATO, but NATO membership will not raise our level of security; in fact, our activities will definitely not be comprehended,” he said.
As far as the Karabakh talks are concerned, they, according to the president of Armenia, are unproductive because “Azerbaijan doesn’t want to accept the reality of the situation and thinks wrongly that it is possible to turn back the wheel of history.”
“The people who have gained independence will never give it up,” said Kocharyan, presenting his view of the future of Karabakh. “I picture the future of Armenia and Karabakh in an asymmetrical view. Today, however, the Republic of Karabakh is a developed state and in many cases it has more successes than, let’s say, Azerbaijan.”
How possible is the restart of military operations, especially if we take into account that this year for the first time Azerbaijan’s military budget exceeded Armenia’s entire state budget? In response to that, Kocharyan said the following:
“I doubt that Azerbaijan’s military budget is bigger than our entire budget. I would advise you not make judgments based only on numerical figures. You must take into account the fact that the motives of the soldier defending the homeland and the soldier on foreign soil are different” (on the contrary, it just so happens that the Azeris are told that Artsakh, Zangezur and even Erevan are historical lands of Azerbaijan and the barbarian Armenians have occupied them).
In his interview with “SPIEGEL” online, Robert Kocharyan also mentioned that “Armenia is not preparing to be the first to start military operations, but in the case of a preplanned military aggression, we will make decisions that will be dictated by the military situation.” With regards to the parallels between Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh, Kocharyan said that “the people of Karabakh also have the right to gain independence just like the people of Kosovo and Albania, especially since the people of Karabakh have defended that right on their own without the help of the international community.” As for the final settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Kocharyan said that that depends on the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh and security guarantees. They, according to Kocharyan, predict the allocation of peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone.
The Azeri side has already responded to this interview. The speaker for the Azeri Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khazar Ibrahim has announced:
“Kocharyan’s interview shows that Armenia still hasn’t given up its seizure policy. Such announcements do not support the peaceful settlement of the conflict.”