ArmInfo. Armenia is in a deep security crisis, with the authorities unable to protect the country's territorial integrity. Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian announced this on September 28 during a press conference in Yerevan.
"The recent processes also showed that the Armenian authorities cannot involve our partners in fulfilling the obligations stipulated by the agreements. The authorities, obsessed with the utopian thesis of opening an "era of peace", ignored many security issues that exist within the framework of this thesis. This is a key failure of the chosen path," the Armenian second President said.
At the same time, he stated that the role of Baku and Ankara in the light of recent developments has grown significantly, and the levers of influence on Azerbaijan and Turkey have decreased. "They are extremely limited both on the part of Russia and the CSTO. And in this situation, ignoring security issues at least within the framework of one's own forces, I think, is criminal inaction," Kocharyan said.
At the same time, he expressed his conviction that the speech of the Prime Minister of Armenia at the UN General Assembly in its content was akin to a memorial service for the "peaceful era".
"This meant that there were no such expectations. And after that, it is pointless to use the same vocabulary within the country. During the memorial service, no one wishes health to the deceased. You just need to close this page and open a new one on other foundations," the second president of Armenia is convinced.
At the same time, he stated that the situation inside the country is explosive, as evidenced by the spontaneous rally on September13. According to him, on the one hand, there is an imposition of a solution, and on the other hand, there is a threat that this decision will explode the situation in Armenia from the inside.
"And maybe that is the factor that left the expected decision in uncertainty. This is a natural result of the policy pursued in Armenia after 2018, and especially after the 44-day war. Our role in the region has seriously decreased. We ourselves brought it to such a low level," Kocharyan believes, repeating once again the previously voiced thesis that Armenia is not at the negotiating table today, but on the table.
In this regard, he emphasized that no one likes the weak and whiners, and no one makes friends with this category of people. " It is the same in the international arena as well. Beggars are given something, but not out of respect but out of pity. It is unacceptable to turn the country into a beggar if we want respect for our statehood," he said.
Speaking about what needs to be done, he voiced three sets of actions. "First, this is definitely social consolidation. Without this, nothing will work out. Consolidation is not abstract and happens in the name of achieving high goals. Now the following thoughts are being voiced - let's unite to make difficult decisions. You know, unity is for achieving victories, there is no need for unity to surrender, for it, deconsolidation is needed," the politician said, finding it difficult to say whether these concepts are being replaced intentionally or not in Armenia. At the same time, he added that surrender leads to degradation, causes a feeling of powerlessness.
According to him, the thesis of uniting around the authorities is also being voiced. " In order to solve the problem, first of all, it is diagnosed in order to find ways to fix it. Now they tell us, let's unite around the problem. But what is our goal now - to save Armenia or save the problem of Armenia? This is the core that remains of these proposals," he said, noting that in medicine if they see a tumor, then it is eliminated - and this is the absolute truth.
According to him, in the context of the consolidation of efforts, the change of the current authorities is an imperative requirement. "The change of power in a parliamentary country can be complete or partial. If, for example, the parliament changes the prime minister, then this is a partial change, since power remains in the hands of the ruling power and this may be a topic for upcoming discussions in the political field. One thing is obvious, we cannot heal in the environment that caused the disease, it needs to be changed," he said.
According to Kocharyan, the second set of actions is the reform of the army. In this regard, he drew attention to the fact that for two years the Armenian authorities were talking about reforms, and then the idea was born - to have the opportunity to be released from military service for 24 million drams (58.5 thousand dollars), which became destructive for the RA Armed Forces.
According to him, he has theses on how to restore the Armenian Armed Forces step by step. "For me, the ratio of losses in the light of recent events is incomprehensible. We should not have such a ratio if the soldier was protected. It is incomprehensible to me why a serious defense line was not built in two years. Only a few strongholds were normally equipped for template photos, the rest are in a deplorable state. They say (Armenian authorities - ed. note) there is money, why was the line of defense not equipped? This would be a deterrent for the enemy, reducing losses," Kocharyan said, adding that Armenia's losses testify to the deplorable state of the defense line.
According to him, the authorities say that there is money, why attack drones were not purchased in two years. In this vein, he urged not to believe the assurances that it is impossible to purchase weapons. "We acquired weapons from Russia, and from Europe, and from China, and from others. This is not a problem. You know, Azerbaijan started the war not because it became stronger, but because it knew that we were weakened. This was the main the cause of the outbreak of war," he said. According to Kocharyan, the last, third important step should be a reassessment of Armenia's security architecture. According to him, it is necessary to soberly assess which states can influence Turkey and Azerbaijan. "And it should be taken into account that the levers of influence of Russia and the CSTO have been seriously reduced. The CSTO has no instruments of influence at all," Kocharyan repeated, recalling that all the CSTO countries have more friendly relations with Azerbaijan than with Armenia.
"Obviously, Russia is doing everything possible and will do everything possible so that there are no clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But, these will be diplomatic and political steps. Today, when Russia has allied relations with Azerbaijan, to think that it will start military actions against Baku are simply absurd, this will not happen," Kocharyan added, stating that fertile ground has been created for inciting anti- Russian sentiments in Armenia.
From this point of view, he continued, the remote control of anti-Russian sentiments in Armenia is in the hands of Aliyev, a couple of shots and a new wave is ready.
According to him, this is also connected with the Russia-Ukraine war. Kocharyan believes that neither Russia, nor the United States, nor France have serious leverage on Azerbaijan and Turkey. "Nobody can influence Turkey at all. It can be stated that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is giving a master class on protecting national interests today. Ignoring all types of pressure, he does what he considers right to protect the national interests of his country," the former president said.