1 / 4

Armenia as a normal member of the international community, normal participant, should always react to similar disasters, especially to disasters in such scales and propose aid, in case of consent help the people. During the parliamentary briefings held on February 13, answering to the journalist’s question what influence will have it on Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations the humanitarian aid sent to Turkey from Armenia, the deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Sargis Khandanyan said. The deputy added that the aim of Armenia had been in order to respond to the disaster.

“Regarding the negotiations going on between Armenia and Turkey and the impact of this step to those negotiations, of course, that nuance is there, at least in terms of perception. I believe that in certain sense it is a positive impulse, of course, in case of such scale, it is hard to speak about positive impulse. Nevertheless, yes, we see that if case of wish it is possible to open the border, operate the roads, the communications. We hope that the Government of Turkey will more tend to this process, and we’ll see quicker results,” Sargis Khandanyan underlined.

What will be with respect to the opening of the Lachin Corridor, what do you see at this moment? The journalist inquired, taking into consideration the impact of the earthquake on the regional processes.

The Secretary of the Civil Contract Faction Artur Hovhannisyan urged the journalist not to look at the disastrous earthquake in Turkey from other viewpoint, as Armenia had taken humanitarian step, and does not make military-political analyses on the basis of the disastrous earthquake.

“The Lachin Corridor should operate interruptedly. The peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation should set the control of the Lachin Corridor, and the security should be ensured by Azerbaijan, as it is noted in the November 9 statement,” Sargis Khandanyan added.

Why is it not possible to send humanitarian aid to Artsakh, and it is possible through the closed road to Turkey? Answering the journalist’s question Artur Hovahannisyan clarified that the Lachin Corridor is closed between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, as the paragraph 6 of November 9 Agreement is not fulfilled. “As if the ecologists of Azerbaijan closed it to cause humanitarian crisis in Artsakh, for terrorizing the people of Artsakh and for reaching their insidious goals. The border between Armenia and Turkey is one-sidedly closed by Turkey. Disastrous earthquake took place in Tuekey, and Armenia sent humanitarian aid and made a proposal to send a rescue team, and Turkey accepted it. Yes, in the humanitarian context these relations can reflect on the normalization dynamics of the Armenian-Turkish relations,” the deputy said, underscoring that Azerbaijan closed the corridor for depopulating Armenians of Artsakh, causing humanitarian crisis, and devastating earthquake hit Turkey, and Armenia sent humanitarian aid. According to him, these two realities cannot be observed on the same plane.

The journalist inquired about the issue of the EU Observation Mission in the context of Ararat Mirzoyan-Sergey Lavrov telephone talk. Does this mean that the Armenian side tries to explain the Russian side or assure that the Observation Mission is not directed against Russia?

“There is no need to explain anybody that the EU Civil Observation Mission is against anybody. The Republic of Armenia due to its diplomatic efforts after the two-month Observation Mission could have an agreement with the EU colleagues that the term of the Observation Mission will be extended. And it stems exclusively from the interests of the Republic of Armenia,” Artur Hovhannisyan said.

He assured that the Republic of Armenia pursues very active policy with the Russian Federation, Iran and the Western colleagues. And in this context Armenia stems from its interests.

Artur Hovhannisyan urged not to spread West-Russian Federation confrontation on the developments being spread around Armenia and don’t take the starting point as a basis. The authorities of Armenia stem from the state interests of Armenia, the deputy noted, adding: “The EU Observation Mission is a civil mission, it is not directed against anybody, it is here to exclusively carry out observation mission, to fix the problems, the situation that exists on the borders of Armenia,” the deputy said, urging the journalist not to see geopolitical context there.