In the framework of his visit to Georgia the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan met with the students and professors of the State University of Tbilisi.
“Starting from the first years of its independence one of the priorities for Armenia was to establish and continue good and friendly relations with other countries. Relations with Georgia are also priority for us. Our main goal was to play the role of a sovereign state in the international arena. The history proved that the states cannot survive on their own and it’s a tactically wrong policy to be passive about world processes. Based on this fact the foreign policy of Armenia is aimed at deepening its role and inclusion in regional and international projects, expand friendly relations with neighbors as well as Europe, USA and Russia,” mentioned Sargsyan and added that such relations will conduce to overcoming the historically formed hostility in the region and live in a friendly and safe environment. The international community considers Armenia as a reliable, trustworthy and predictable state. “Our countries consider themselves as an inseparable part of Europe and in the process of becoming close with Europe Armenia and Georgia must walk on the same path,” stated Sargsyan and mentioned that the membership of Armenia to the OSCE serves as a key tool for safety and security in the region. According to him the conflict of Nagorno Karabakh, the regulation of which proceeds in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, is reviewed in the context of free national determination of the people living there. He supports the peaceful resolution of the conflict and stated that the conflict cannot be successfully solved if the historical, legal and political facts are not taken into account. “Due to the efforts of the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group from the US, Russia and France certain achievements were registered in the process of the conflict resolution. These achievements are based on compromise. These facts rely on the Madrid principles. I am sure those can become basis for the peaceful regulation of the conflict,” mentioned the president. “Any such conflict increases the value and importance of Turkey and hence – Azerbaijan, in the eyes of the west and especially Russia. At the same time, it also reduces Armenia’s potentials for conducting a complementary policy. Therefore, the maintenance of the “window” looking to the West through Georgia is Armenia’s only guarantee ensuring the on-going nature of the policy it has adopted for raising its weigh and value for all the “players” in the region. In such conditions, neither Turkey nor Azerbaijan will view our country as a “change” for the “sworn friendship” with Moscow, and the Russian political scientists will no longer say that “the Armenians have nowhere to escape, anyway.” When speaking of the recent visit of the Turkish president Abdullah Gul to Armenia Sargsyan informed that he had made the invitation with the conviction that only direct communication can bring regulation of relations and opening the border of the two states. He thinks that it is the most productive way. “Indeed, the so-called “soccer diplomacy” has its own political context. By not forgetting the past we should also head to the future. We should start to develop an agenda, which will be of interest to both of the states and try to work in that direction. In the event of a friendly dialog we can resolve and talk about any theme, even the most “wrinkled” ones. We do believe that the establishment of normal relations between Turkey and Armenia will help our region prosper and become more stable. Armenia thinks that the best way to reach that goal is to resolve the issues instead of passing them,” said Sargsyan. As of the Armenian-Georgian relations Sargsyan said that those are based on mutual respect of the interest of the two countries and friendly environment. One of the main principles is to refuse the use force in relation to any of the neighbors. “Armenia is strongly interested in establishing a common security system in the region. We do believe in the potential of regional economic cooperation. I have numerously said that stability is no less important for Georgia than for Armenia. The problem is not only the fact that Georgia is the main gate for Armenia to the outer world but also the fact that thousands of Armenians live in Georgia. And we must take into account this fact by all means,” said Sargsyan.