On September 4 the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made a speech about the foreign policy of Armenia over the meeting with Armenian ambassadors and permanent representatives of the republic to international organizations. In a wide-ranging foreign policy speech made public, he indicated why Armenia doesn’t recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Akhazia. “The question why Armenia does not recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has become rather frequent recently. There is an exact answer to that question: for the same reason that held Armenia from recognizing Kosovo. The point is Karabakh conflict. Armenia cannot recognize any formation in a similar situation until it recognizes NKR,” the president said. “I am sure that the application of the right of identity through fragmentation requires a lot of time. And during that period all the sides must get accustomed to that fact, just like what happened in former Czechoslovakia and USSR.” The president said that Armenia’s negotiations with Azerbaijan testify to that. “The key goal of the Armenian party is to persuade Azerbaijan through peaceful methods and negotiations that recognition of Nagorno Karabakh’s right to self-determination is inevitable,” Sargsyan said. “The officials of Azerbaijan and diplomats declare their approaches in various international instances in various occasions. It is necessary to properly present the legal demand of Karabakh people to inform the international community of the war unleashed against NKR, of the attempts of ethnic purge in NKR that were failed due to the bravery and firmness of the people,” Sargsyan said. The Armenian leader specifically stressed the importance of reopening the Turkish-Armenian border, telling his top diplomats to help generate greater international pressure for the re-launch of the Gyumri-Kars rail link. “Arm yourselves with maps, statistical data and arguments: we must make sure everyone realizes that these several kilometers of railway can radically change the whole picture of regional partnership.”
