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The Republic of Armenia relies solely on its own forces, and it shouldn’t despair over other countries’ lack of alliance in the fight with Azerbaijan for Karabakh, Armen Ashotyan, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), told media Monday. Ashotyan was commenting on current discussions over the passive position of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – of which Armenia is a member — as well as military ally Russia’s sale of weapons to Azerbaijan.
“The CSTO has a contract, the relevant articles of which have not yet been implemented. Armenia, in respect of these provisions, has not yet applied to the organization, either,” he said, adding that even if Armenia was not a member of the CSTO, it has not yet received any offer for an alternative security system.
“We have been an independent state for 25 years, but the West has not offered Armenia an alternative security offer, whereas the CSTO has,” said Ashotyan.
Ashotyan also disagreed with the idea that during the four-day war the myth of Russia’s being Armenia’s strategic ally broke.
“Russia remains our strategic ally. You know the opinion of our government about the sale of weapons. There has been no government during the first, the second and the third presidents of Armenia in office, which would call into question the need for a strategic partnership with the Russian Federation,” he said, adding that in foreign policy Armenian authorities should be guided by the overriding interest of the country and society, and the feelings are irrelevant in this case.
Ashotyan assured that Armenia has not exhausted its means of potential assistance from Russia and the CSTO, and he says recent anti-Russian sentiments expressed by some public figures in Armenia are not genuine.
The RPA’s deputy chairman also added that at a time when military actions are still going on, certain political forces are trying to create artificial agenda, demanding the resignation of the president and supreme commander.
The fact that Russia sells weapons to the adversary of its alley Armenia and the statements during the four-day war that have not been addressed to a specific side of confronting countries has raised a wave of public anger within different circles in Armenia.
There was even an organized protest near the Russian Embassy in Armenia, during which participants of the rally expressed their discontent by chanting different anti-Russian phrases, as well as throwing eggs at the embassy.
