Lusine Vasilyan
Public Radio of Armenia
No progress was registered in Armenia’s foreign policy field in 2013, representative of the Armenian National Congress Vladimir Karapetyan told reporters today. “We remain isolated; all major projects bypass Armenia,” he said.
According to Karapetyan, there has been no breakthrough in the relations with neighboring countries. For example, there is still some tension and misunderstanding in the relations with Georgia, he said. “The ties with Iran have not deteriorated, but no progress has been observed, either,” he said, adding that a 10% decline has been registered in the commodity turnover with other countries.
Vladimir Karapetyan’s assessment of relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan are even more pessimistic. He considers that the relations with Turkey have returned to the level of 2006-2007, when the Turkish authorities were seeking meetings with the Armenian side to create an impression of contacts between the two countries, prevent the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and maintain the blockade. The same happens today, he said.
As for the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict, even the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting after a two-year break did not ensure progress, Karapetyan said.
According to the ANC representative, the change of the political vector from the European Union to the Customs Union was the main challenge. According to him, this pushed the process of European integration to the background. He added that “the Armenian National Congress stands against the hastiness in joining the Customs Union rather than the intention and perspectives.” “The member countries have not even reached agreement on many issues, and in this respect Armenia’s hastiness raises certain questions,” he said.
