Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed the head of the Yerevan Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan.
- What do you think about the visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy? What fresh ideas on the settlement of regional conflicts did it bring?
- I don’t think it brought extremely fresh ideas. I think the problem of conflict settlement is the problem of a certain balance between two sides, internal and external. And it cannot be solved at the moment. However, work on it should be continued. Sarkozy played a definite role in the settlement of the conflict after the Russian-Georgian war. France is a co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. It is important for Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moreover, France is the only European co-chairman of the Minsk Group. The conflict started long ago and cannot end tomorrow. I don’t expect any serious changes will follow this visit.
Sarkozy has a lot to discuss with Armenian politicians. Armenia and France have warm relations. France is a member of the UN Security Council. It is also interested in Armenia in the sphere of the economy. So the presidents have enough issues to talk about.
Azerbaijan is a country of energy projects, which involve the European Union, if not France directly.
As for Armenia, this visit is important for Sarkozy, as he prepares for elections. Sarkozy has not very high ratings, and the voices of thousands of French citizens of Armenian origin will come in handy. From this point of view, his visit to Armenia is more delicate than those to Azerbaijan and Georgia.
- Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin recently published an article devoted to the Eurasian Union. Does this project have any prospects in the South Caucasus?
- I don’t think the prospects are serious. For Georgia, any type of union with Russia is unacceptable, at least in the near future. As for Azerbaijan, it is a country with enormous energy resources, and it treats any kind of unions very carefully. Armenia is very enthusiastic about cooperation with Russia, but the countries have no common border, which makes economic inter-relations difficult. Armenia's main partner is Germany. Geography defines economic policy. There is a black hole between Armenia and Russia – Georgia. That is why I don’t think prospects for the project are bright.
- Could you comment on the fact that Russia has supported Azerbaijan in elections to non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council? How did Armenia react to that? How could it affect Russian-Armenian relations?
- Armenia shows no special reaction to the information. There are a lot of similar events. The situation is clear: Russia has its national interests in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Though the values of these partners of Russia are different. Armenia sees that Russia sometimes acts in favor of the opposite side. But what can we do? Nobody is glad about it, but it is not the first time such events happen.
- What can you say about prospects of improving Armenian-Turkish relations in the context of the active geopolicy of Turkey?
- This is connected with its position on Syria and Libya. Along with serious progress in its Middle East policy, Turkey has serious internal problems. A war is taking place in Kurdistan. Furthermore, the internal political situation is difficult. It seems Turkey is trying to change the constitution. They will try to elect a president, and Erdogan will try to become the president. All these factors prevent any reanimation of Armenian-Turkish relations.
Interview by Sergey Rekeda. Exclusively to VK.
