Actions of authorities pose threat to Armenia`s stability and future  - political scientist

ArmInfo. Suspicious, manipulative processes are taking place in Armenia: the authorities stigmatize all those who speak out about the existing problems. Critics of the government are portrayed as warmongers. Naturally, it is clear that everyone wants peace, but the question is: where are the international guarantees? Political scientist Arman Ghukasyan said at the meeting with journalists.

According to him, Armenia and Azerbaijan decided to begin the process of delimitation and demarcation, but in fact this process is nothing more than unilateral concessions by the Armenian side and there are no guarantees that Azerbaijan will fulfill the general agreements.

"These authorities were dissatisfied with the Russian Federation and refused the mediation of the Russian side, but I do not see that there is Western mediation in this process. That is, there are no international guarantees and it is not clear why the Armenian authorities are so confident that Baku will fulfill its agreements, and that delimitation and demarcation shall be, and peace shall prevail. This is a very dubious process, and in the absence of international guarantees, it does not inspire confidence at all, given the traditional actions of the Azerbaijani side," he said.

As Ghukasyan pointed out, global changes are taking place in the world; within the framework of geopolitical processes, some international roads and communications are becoming irrelevant, others, on the contrary, are becoming more relevant, for example, the North-South road through the Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus in general is becoming interesting in this sense.  According to the political scientist, in the current realities, Armenia should look for its interest in this, have the opportunity to maximize it, and not allow some countries to try to promote their interests at the expense of Armenia, as is happening today.

"Today's actions of the RA authorities, and perhaps a not entirely correct perception of the processes, give reason to think that we are, to put it mildly, not in the best position. I see that Turkiye and Azerbaijan, as well as some countries, foreign policy forces are trying to solve their problems through interests of Armenia. And if we are talking about delimitation and demarcation processes, then they should have started on both sides, but we still see a one-sided process, which gives reason to believe that the process is happening at our expense, because it is not implemented in an equitable manner," he noted.  Regarding Armenian-Russian relations, Ghukasyan noted that the RA authorities, while creating problems in the political path, nevertheless perfectly understand the benefits of the economic side, and that the Russian market, as well as the EAEU, today really do not have an alternative for Armenia.

"We see that the Armenian side participates in summits and other meetings regarding the EAEU, and the most surprising thing is that among government officials there is an opinion that the economic and political can be separated. This is fundamentally wrong, it is not and cannot be that Armenia, for example, leaves the CSTO, and it does not affect the economy, this is impossible, and this is a very dangerous course: it is impossible to save the economy by rejecting politics," he emphasized. "Today, a very polarized situation has developed in the political and expert field of Armenia. There are circles that say that there are no problems or issues in Armenian-Russian relations, that they are artificial, and there are circles that, on the contrary, blame Russia for everything," he said.

"I think that problems have arisen in relations between Armenia and Russia not only because of the wrong orientation and wrong policy of the Armenian side, but also because of due to natural causes, taking into account changing geopolitical and regional realities. And in this sense, naturally, there is something to work on: there must be a dialogue, a clear and transparent dialogue to raise these issues, so that the pressing issues and how they can be resolved are clear. Unfortunately, I do not see such a process from the Armenian side, but, again, it is natural that such issues arise, because the interests of the Russian Federation are changing in the region. We need to understand what exactly Russia wants from the region, we need to understand that Armenian-Russian relations are moving to a new level, and we need to understand what it can give us. But there is no dialogue and, to put it mildly, this is bad," he said.

According to the political scientist, in the current harsh realities, Armenia should be guided in its actions first of all by its own state and national interests. Ghukasyan is confident that with the right diplomacy, Armenia could diversify its relations without harming relations with Russia.  "It is obvious that diversification should not be carried out to the detriment of third parties, including to the detriment of Armenian-Russian relations. Although today this is exactly what we are seeing, and the authorities are doing it in a rather cruel way. So in this sense, serious work remains to be done. I think that in the near future Armenia will find itself in an even more turbulent state, as global processes will accelerate, the world will become even more unstable and this will affect our region. And in this situation, the course of the Armenian authorities is very dangerous for the stability of Armenia itself, because the policy of diversification, carried out at the expense of what we have, carries threats and already brings problems. Yes, everyone strives for peace, but can we achieve peace in this logical construction? I seriously doubt it," Ghukasyan emphasized.

He also added that Armenia must resolve all issues with its ally Russia through dialogue and within the framework of the new reality, thereby forming a new level of Armenian-Russian relations.