Will the “economic pie” suffice everyone?
Within the framework of an official visit to Germany, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan delivered a speech at the Conrad Adenauer Fund.
"I regret that the international borders in the South Caucasus, which stretch for more than 3 000 km divide peoples of the region rather than unite them. The end of the cold war secured stability and peace in the region. Yet, there were a few regions including the South Caucasus where the end of the cold war marked the start of heated conflicts accompanied by wars, coups, economic crisis. The societies of these regions became intolerable, militaristic and hostile. Two decades have passed since then. Have we learnt a lesson from our past failures? I think, we haven't," Serzh Sargsyan stated, adding that it's unacceptable to build own security and prosperity at the cost of neighbors. Neighbors do not easily forget this.
And will the "economic pie" of the South Caucasus suffice everyone? If the pie is divided into small pieces it cannot suffice everyone. But it is not wise to divide the pie between two-three countries. This is not the right solution. It is better to make a bigger pie," he added.
Speaking about Armenian-Turkish relations, President Sargsyan said, "Of course, the failure of the Armenian-Turkish normalization can be explained by the unwillingness of the Turkish political leadership and possibly Azerbaijan's pressures."
"Turkey's policy of "zero problems with neighbors" yields zero results. And this will continue until Turkey stops seeking for a solution in the context of collision rather than coordination of interests in the region," President Sargsyan stated.
Armenia is loyal to the principle of establishing a civil society based on democratic values and is ready to create and atmosphere of stability, security, solidarity and economic development envisaged by mutual commitments and interests," Serzh Sargsyan concluded.
