Armenia will depend on Georgia as long as the Armenian authorities are guided by business requirements, rather than by national interests, Haykazun Alvrtsyan, Director of the Center for Problems of Western Armenia research fund, told NEWS.am.
“A factor of pressure and dependence has always marked the Armenian-Georgian relations, but the Armenian side is overestimating it due to the lack of political thinking. We have not elaborated a normal system of relations with Georgia so we always prove to be sufferers. The Armenian side applies business, rather than political, thinking is dealing with problems,” Alvrtsyan said.
According to him, Javakhk can serve as a prime lever for exerting pressure on Georgia. “Any state having such a lever would take control of the situation and dictate its own terms. We can bring the issue of Javakhk Armenians up for discussions at inernational organizations thereby protecting their rights,” Alvrtsyan said. He also stated that it is not at all for any of his services that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was awarded the Order of Honor. Rather, “orders like this are worn as symbols in politics.”
Alvrtsyan believes that the warm reception given to President Saakashvili in Armenia will not in any way affect the Armenian-Russian relations. Commenting on the Russian parlamentarians’ statements, he pointed out that they must not be viewed as political statements. Rather, they are “acrimonious and tactless”.
On the other hand, he pointed out a possible dangerous consequence: “By making steps like these the Armenian authorities have repeatedly broken the spirit of resistance and will of the Javakhk Armenians, discouraged them and forced them to remain silent.” “They should not have made such a naïve step — awarding an order to a politician whose future is open to question. By making such a step Armenia poses as political support for the Georgian Government with its shaky foundations,” the expert said.
He also pointed out that Georgia, which has lost the support of the West and made an enemy of Russia, is looking for a new ally and strategic partner and views Armenia as such, but Georgia “will never be a reliable partner for Armenia.”
