"Tsarukyan" Alliance and Their Foreign Policy Priorities: Interview with Naira Zohrabyan (EXCLUSIVE)

• 04.07.2017, 12:25
•  Armenia,  Interview

As a result of April 2 Parliamentary elections of the RA 4 political forces will enter the RA National Assembly. These forces will define the foreign political course of the country. "Armedia" IAA presents interviews with the representatives of political forces conducted during the campaign on their foreign policy priorities.

"Armedia’’ IAA presents an exclusive interview with the representative of the "Tsarukyan" alliance, the deputy of the RA National Assembly, Naira Zohrabyan.

 

 - Will you, please, name the three main priorities of the foreign policy directions of your political power?

 

-  Our main priority is the international recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the most important component of it is that Artsakh returns immediately to the negotiation table. No problem should be discussed without returning the NKR to the negotiation table. For us, this is a matter of principle. Armenian diplomacy should work clearly, our delegations in international structures, as well as our Diaspora's potential, all this cooperation should correctly and competently work in direction of the international recognition of NKR and, more importantly, we must put maximum efforts for the return of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the format of negotiations.

As the second priority, we can note Russia and the European Union. We view as partners both the Russian Federation and the European Union. It is clear that we have strategic relations with the Russian Federation; it is clear that with Russia we have interests related to security, including the energy security. In addition, we are members of the EAEU, and it is understandable that we must be able to maintain relations and make good use of membership in the EAEU for the benefit of Armenia.

In my personal opinion, unfortunately, we have not been able to ensure the interests of Armenia through proper integration work with the EAEU until now. With the help of proper work, we can get dividends.

The relations with the EU are immeasurably important for us, as our number one trading partner. It is very important that the talks over the new agreement of the RA-EU are over, as was also stated by Donald Tusk. It is very important that the agreement contains provisions relating both to human rights and democracy, and also to such a global problem for us, as the widespread corruption, which simply broke the economic backbone of the country. There are some provisions in the agreement relating to the fight against corruption, as well as provisions on cooperation on energy issues. I regret that the economic component is not included as much in the current agreement as it was in the past, and that the Deep and Comprehensive Trade Agreement was not signed. However, having all balanced, I can say that we have two large security blocs. The first one is the strategic relationship with the Russian Federation. But we also have another very important security bloc for us, for a country, which security is beaten by corruption. In a country, where freedom of speech, democracy, human rights are at stake, security is also being beaten. In this second security block, our main partner is the European Union.

The election program of the Tsarukyan Alliance clearly balances relations with Russia as a strategic partner and with the EU, which is an impetus for building democracy, human rights, a country of law, and good governance.

Our foreign bloc also includes the issue of relations with Turkey and I do not think that any political force will be creative in its approaches.

 

 - Do you consider it possible to restore the Armenian-Turkish relations in the near future? What is the key to progress in this direction? And what steps should be taken for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide?

- We have always been supporters of normal relations with Turkey. The closed border with Europe in the 21st century is a nonsense. But Turkey must leave its preconditions on Karabakh issue. Turkey-Armenia relations cannot be restored by any preconditions, since any precondition for us is categorically unacceptable. As one of the top priorities, I would also note the international recognition of the Genocide, which is enshrined in the foreign policy bloc of the "Tsarukyan" alliance. Here we need a serious work. In the recent years, in particular, the right to self-determination has become much more important, since it is one of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and the Armenia-Diaspora unity should be able to correctly and competently present to the world a fair requirement for recognizing the Genocide.

 

- What is your position on Karabakh conflict settlement process? 

- The Republic of Artsakh should return to the format of the negotiations. At the moment this should be the main goal of our diplomacy. We must explain to the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group that in many cases their non-addressed statements are simply detrimental to the negotiation process. We should try to make them explain to Azerbaijan that no document can be signed if NKR does not participate in negotiations. At the moment, we must direct all our diplomatic potential to reach this. Our policy should be more proactive and demanding, as we see signs of equality between Armenia and the aggressor Azerbaijan. We must stop silently swallowing all the statements of the MG that are biased in many cases. In fact, Azerbaijan's political elite has been talking about preparation of war since last April, and MG's silence at the moment is puzzling at least.

Recently, frankly speaking, I have been worried about the mandate of the MG. Still, it is the only professional structure that has a mandate and owns all the nuances of the negotiation process.

 

- How do you see the development of relations with the neighboring countries, in particular, with Georgia and Iran? What steps are needed in these directions?

- I think we actually managed to build a correct and competent relationship with Iran. Of course, there is a serious potential of economic programs here, and I see readiness from the Iranian side to meet the economic programs. I think, if people express their absolute confidence to the "Tsarukyan" alliance on April 2, then we have very serious programs for the full use of the potential of economic relations with Iran.

As for Georgia, of course, our relations with this country were not always smooth. However, Georgia is also a very important neighbor for us, especially now that Georgia-EU relations have moved to a new qualitative level. It is clear that Georgia has very specific relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, taking into account the interests of these countries in Georgia. However, taking into account all risks, it is necessary to conduct a competent foreign policy with our neighbors.

 

- What are your political force’s views on regional security issues?

- We have conflicts in the region that are not frozen. For example, the Karabakh conflict is not frozen. In April, we saw the second Artsakh war. The only way to reach a regional security is negotiation and dialogue. I do not want to say trivial things, but the peaceful region is in the interests of any country in the region. I say this in order that Azerbaijan, which is preparing for war, simply understands that it itself will be the first to suffer.

 

- How do you see the development of the Armenia-Diaspora cooperation? What should be the priorities of the overall agenda of this relationship?

- I have to express my thoughts rudely. Very often we considered the Diaspora as a "cash cow", which makes donations to various funds and marathons. We do not use the youth potential of the Diaspora. I deeply admire those celebrated Armenians from Diaspora who are members of the "Fund Armenia", and who have done a tremendous job in Armenia and Artsakh. However, I saw brilliant, talented young people who work in large world centers, including NASA, the global IT giants. We must be able to attract them, connect them with Armenia. At the genetic level they understand their Armenian identity, but do not imagine how useful they can be for Armenia, since neither the Armenian embassies in their countries, nor any organization of the Diaspora can correctly and competently use the youth potential.

 

- What are your approaches to the processes that are ongoing in the Middle East and the policy of Armenia towards them?

- I do not think that it is correct to say that Armenia can actively intervene in the events taking place in the Middle East. Syria is a vital country for us, where we used to have the most organized community. I do not think that humanitarian steps taken in this direction are sufficient.

In the Middle East, however, the peace is immensely important. And not only for the reason that our compatriots live there in large numbers, but also because any instability will move to other regions by the domino effect. In PACE, I personally raised the issue, according to all international conventions on assistance to refugees, that the Armenian refugees from Syria have the right to receive the assistance that other refugees do. Armenia as a host country for Syrian Armenians, should use the benefits given from the donor-organizations, which we do not see yet. And we should correctly represent this problem to the international community.