YEREVAN. - The parties and alliances of Armenia participating in the election campaign are for activation of relations with neighbors.  

The representatives of 7 out of 9 participants of the parliamentary elections slated for April 2 expressed their position on this issue at the debate held Monday. The representatives of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) didn’t take part in the debate, finding it inappropriate at the current stage.

ARF-D representative Giro Manoyan noted that their party attaches importance to the development of relations with Georgia, which also starts realizing the importance of developing relations with Armenia. As to Turkey, the party thinks that the protocols, which were earlier signed but not ratified, should be annulled. Apart from this, according to the ARF-D, it is necessary to strengthen the relations with Iran. “But if the relations between Iran and the West get worse, we will find ourselves in an awkward situation,” he noted.

Responding to his colleagues’ observation on the possibility of exporting Armenian goods to Turkey, Manoyan noted that pursuant to the conducted study, this is problematic, since the Turkish legislation has been brought in conformity with the European requirements, and thus Armenia needs internal changes.  

Representative of Yelk (Way Out) alliance, Mane Tandilyan, for her part, noted that Armenia’s relations with its neighbors are at a low level. “It is necessary to intensify the talks on the transit of Iranian gas to Georgia and open the borders with Turkey, not linking the Genocide recognition with economic issues. We have no questions regarding the fact of the Genocide. Therefore, the issue should be placed within the legal framework,” she noted.

Representative of Armenian Revival Party, Mher Shahgeldyan, noted that Armenia remains beyond the framework of regional projects. Therefore, it is necessary to activate the relations with Iran and consequently find niches in the Iranian market. Furthermore, according to him, Armenia should use its position in the EAEU and deepen its relations with Georgia. Moreover, the party supports normalization of relations with Turkey, but it finds it important to first understand how internally stable and predictable that state is.

Representative of the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance, Gegham Nazaryan, expressed pessimistic opinion that Armenia overall lacks foreign policy. “Since the head of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, like my colleague mentioned, is Mr Man of Few Words. It is necessary to think of having foreign policy, and [only] then about relations with neighbors,” Nazaryan said.