Vahan Shirkhanyan: Armenia needs needs to pursue aggressive diplomacy (video)
We are dealing with a treacherous partner and it has many serious surprises for us, a former deputy minister of defence said on November 17. Speaking about the downing of the Artsakh army helicopter by Azerbaijan, Vahan Shirkhanyan said the assessments made by the international community are nothing but meaningless words. “The OSCE and the US Department of State made toothless statements as they do not have a problem with security,” the former defence official said adding that Armenian should demand rapid diplomatic steps from the international community. He believes that the OSCE should adopt a resolution concerning Azerbaijan saying that the latter is not a reliable partner in the negotiation process. “Otherwise, Armenia should refuse the service of the OSCE,” he said. Mr Shirkhanyan is also surprised that Russia has not punished Azerbaijan yet. “To sign a contract with Azerbaijan and to believe that Azerbaijan will maintain peace, is a infantile,” he said. “Azerbaijan had better light a candle for our helicopter was unarmed otherwise our pilots would have destroyed their missile,” he said adding that Armenia failed to properly plan the training near the Contact Line. Mr Shirkhanyan regrets to say that Armenia has been unable to develop aggressive diplomacy for 20 years. As a solution he suggests that Armenian should unify around their country as people leaving Armenia are ‘taking away the problems with them.’ “Migration is not a solution. The only way out is to build a country of law and justice,” he concluded.
