Wednesday, January 22 2020 17:32

ArmInfo. Lack of relations with Turkey is a challenge for Armenia, a threat to its national  security. On January 22, RA Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan  stated this from the rostrum of the Armenian parliament, answering  the question of the National Assembly MP Taron Simonyan about the  steps that Yerevan is taking to access to the seas, including the Turkish seas.

As the Minister emphasized, a working group has been formed within  the UN, consisting of representatives from more than 30 countries of  the world, which works in this direction. However, the lack of  relations with Turkey does not allow implementing the provisions of  international treaties. "This is one of the most pressing issues on  the national security agenda," said Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. He noted  that the Armenian side is making efforts to resolve the issue in the  legal field. The Minister did not exclude the appearance of the post  of deputy minister for legal affairs, who would deal with such  issues. Moreover, the solution of the issue in the legal field must  be compared with the political component, and appropriate  calculations for the implementation of specific actions should be  carried out.

It should be noted that back in 2011, Armenia signed a multilateral  agreement <On the establishment of an analytical center on the  problems of landlocked developing countries>. Under this agreement,  an analytical center should be created to study the possibilities of  more active involvement of landlocked countries in international  trade, and to facilitate the process of providing them with financial  and technical support in solving urgent problems through ongoing  cooperation with the UN. However, based on the development of the  situation, we can conclude that the results of this work did not give  the desired result.

To recall, earlier the UN adopted a resolution welcoming the idea of  creating an international think tank.  Landlocked developing  countries with a combined population of over 470 million are one of  the most vulnerable groups of countries around the world. This  heterogeneous group of 32 countries located on four continents unites  this difficulty in overcoming the problems caused by their  geographical position and remoteness from the nearest seaports. Due  to the large distances from the sea and the need for transit through  neighboring countries, combined with burdensome border crossing  procedures and inadequate transit and transport infrastructure,  landlocked developing countries face disproportionately high costs  associated with transportation and trade. This undermines their  competitiveness and affects economic growth.