Robert Kocharyan: The corridor for acceptable and understandable  complementarity in foreign policy has extremely narrowed for Armenia

ArmInfo. The corridor for acceptable and understandable complementarity in foreign policy has been extremely narrowed for Armenia.

This opinion was expressed by the second president of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian, who is in prison on charges of overthrowing the constitutional system, in  an interview with the Voice of Armenia newspaper, answering the  newspaper's question about linking political scientists to his arrest  with some promises made by the Prime Minister to Western elites  regarding the weakening of Russian influence on Armenia.  According  to the conviction of the second president of the Republic of Armenia,  all this complicates the life of the authorities, who "changed" their  geopolitical landmarks overnight. "At the same time, they continue to  think as before, but are forced to pretend, imitate sincerity, which  is far from always possible. Hence political double-dealing, blurred  geopolitical landmarks, permanent punctures and, as a result,  inferior relations with partners. It's impossible to successfully do  what you don't believe and what you don't believe in, "Kocharyan  believes.

Meanwhile, when asked whether Armenia is ready to confront regional  challenges, or whether it can finally lose development, given the  increasing role of the Turkish-Azerbaijani factor in the Georgian  economy and new difficulties in relations between the US and Iran,  Kocharian expressed conviction that you need to ask yourself direct  question: what does Armenia need to become an influential player in  our region, how is it interesting, what are its advantages over its  neighbors, where are its problems?

At the same time, the second president of Armenia believes that an  honest answer will obviously be disappointing. Kocharyan stated that  Armenia is sandwiched between four countries. "With Turkey and  Azerbaijan, our relations, to put it mildly, have not developed. Iran  is in the black list of the United States, under constant sanction  pressure. Georgia is actively seeking a geopolitical alliance,  conflicting with where Armenia is registered, and from which we are  geographically torn off by the Georgian We have a small, aging  population with a steadily worsening demographic situation, which  deprives us of the effect of a large-scale economy, "said the former  head of the Republic of Armenia, adding that problematic relations  with two of the four neighbors do not allow the region to become flax  liberal platform for a wide range of different kinds of services.

Kocharyan also reminded that Armenia does not possess any significant  natural resources, which makes it attractive for large transnational  corporations. "We have a small territory, and it is easy to get  around new communications with us. The existing transport problems  affect the cost of production and severely narrow the possible  segments of industrial development. Inherited from the USSR  technically literate human capital necessary for the development of  high-tech industry is irretrievably wasted. Participation of the  diaspora in economic development Armenia has a clear downward trend.  The diaspora assimilates in the host countries as objective  motivations of the second and third generation emigrants Comrade, as  well as the erosion of the national idea under the pressure of  globalization. For the same reasons, the traditional institutions of  self-organization of the Armenian communities are weakening. Add to  this list the problem of the Karabakh settlement.

At the same time, he expressed the conviction that it is obvious that  populism and slogan chatter cannot solve these challenges. "To  overcome them, we need super-efforts, super-organization and super-  competence. We must be extremely effective in everything we do, and  we must do only what moves us forward. Today there are no signs that  the authorities adequately understand the complexity of the tasks  facing the country "- concluded Kocharyan.