Emergence of a more or less pro-Russian party in Armenian Parliament to only balance current power landscape

 Many in Armenia view the World Armenian Congress (WAC) President Ara Abrahamyan’s intention to create a party as “a hand of the Kremlin”. How would you comment on this situation? 

Sometimes it seems to me that some people in Armenia act only by order. Those people are ordered to defame or praise certain persons. All of a sudden, everybody has started speaking of Ara Abrahamyan's relevant ties with the President of Russia and his membership in the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations. All this was known long ago and no one made a secret of it. Instead of feeling pride for our compatriot's capacities in the information policy of Russia, we present these ties and capacities as something criminal. Abrahamyan has clearly stated that if he carries out the instructions of the Russian President, he does it in the territory of Russia only.  I do not understand how one can find fault with Abrahamyan's statement. The West is also quite well aware of the WAC leader's plans, so I think we deal with a secret that every barber knows. It is simply ridiculous to build any in-depth geopolitical scenarios around this matter.

Following the constitutional referendum in Armenia we will have a different governance system. Do you expect any structural changes in the Armenian power system if Ara Abrahamyan’s attempts to run in the parliamentary elections in 2017 are crowned with success?

To be honest, it is hard to forecast the further developments. I can only say that today the Armenian Parliament lacks any more or less pro-Russian party. Meanwhile, there are pro-Western parties in the Parliament. Therefore, even if a pro-Russian party emerges in the National Assembly, it will only balance the current landscape. I think that the relations of Armenia and Russia will be allied and mutually confident for a long time. The two countries' interests are similar at least in the matters of national security. The mutual confidence will allow Armenia to play a more important role in the relations with not only Russia but also Europe and the United States. Amid the anti-Russian sanctions, this role will stem from everyone's interests. It will first of all meet Armenia's interests.      

You are speaking of allied relations, while many in Armenia and abroad are used to calling our country Russia’s outpost… 

Armenia is not an outpost - it is a country provided with all opportunities to be independent. Armenia is a member of the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union. So, it is quite natural that we are building special partner relations with the member states of these organizations with all that it implies. In fact, everything is restricted to a simple formula, under which Armenia can be independent only in case the voters respect and trust those they elect. Otherwise, Armenia will always depend on others' will.   

Do you think Yerevan should apply for the CSTO’s help in the light of the frequent ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan? Are we ready to get that help from the geopolitical point of view?

I guess it is a rhetorical question given that our army carries out its obligations quite well. Following all its sabotage attacks, ceasefire violations and provocations, Azerbaijan cannot boast of even small success. Certainly, the CSTO should react to such cases but it should do it at the level of statements officially condemning the aggression. It has not been done so far or, rather, it has been done at the level of the CSTO Secretary General’s unofficial remarks. As for the reasons why there are no official statements, we should understand that some member states of the CSTO do not want to spoil their relations with Azerbaijan. Armenia can apply for the CSTO’s help only if another country’s interests prevail over ours. In addition, I am convinced that no peacekeeping operation has brought real results so far. Quite the opposite, such operations deteriorate the situation even more.

Will Tigran Sargsyan's upcoming appointment as head of the Eurasian Economic Commission boost Armenia's partnership with other EEU countries?

To answer your question, let's look into the economic capabilities of Armenia when joining the EEU and what particularly our country is trying to increase. We even failed to use such factor as rich harvest this year. Quite lately I saw farmers damping grape and cucumber they could not sold. Artificial obstacles to exports of agricultural products are what must be blamed for such situation. For instance, to export products to Georgia, farmers have to pay high customs fees in Armenia, which is unbearable for them. The domestic market is overstocked, which once again demonstrates the real number of the population in the country. Armenia has been steadily receiving its millions from common customs fees of the EEU countries for all the three quarters of 2015. Has it contributed anything to the pool? I think the EEU is familiar with Tigran Sargsyan's professional skills. His political reputation is another matter. I think the EEU has decided to appoint him not because of his successes in Armenia, the more so as there were no such. Sargsyan was chosen for having no opportunity to act independently.  Moscow really looks to support Armenia, create certain enterprises able to reanimate the economy, and, Nairit Plant too. To implement these plans, signs of interest from inside Armenia are needed. Armenia's external debt consists of Western, not Russian loans, which is a very serious problems for us. We need to consider the efficiency of Armenia's EEU membership as a whole. 

Do you think Armenia’s EEU membership potential is fully used amid the removal of the sanctions against Iran?   

Armenian-Iranian ties have recently reached a new, higher and more concrete level. In this light, it is very important to construct a railway in the very near future, which will link Armenia to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. In this case, Armenia will finally become a transit country. Over the past 25 years Tehran has never kept in secret its interest in developing relations with Armenia. Today Iran seeks to get access to Europe through Armenia's territory. In this context, Yerevan should make every effort to open the Abkhazian railway, which will result in a fundamental geopolitical shift in the region. At the same time, being deeply egocentric, the clannish-oligarchic system of the Armenian economy excludes the state interests, which is the main obstacle for the development of the Armenian economy. Unfortunately, this also concerns the relations with Iran. Thus, we should blame ourselves for any problems of ours.