BATUMI — Turkey refuses to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and continues the policy of isolating Armenia accompanied by denying the justice and this is a security threat for Armenia, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan announced during the 16th Batumi international conference in Georgia on July 11, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Eastern Partnership.
Speaking about the Eastern Partnership, Mnatsakanyan said that it’s not just a region neighboring Europe, but is part of Europe based on common values. “These are our common values. values that we chose as the foundation of our statehood in 1991. from the very first day of independence. When we are drafting the bill, we send it to the Venice Commission, not to the other institution because we want to consider the compliance of the bill with the European standards. And in this context, the European Union has been one of the pillars of Armenia’s comprehensive security architecture for 28 years from the point of view of strengthening the democratic structures and introducing values, “Mnatsakanyan said.
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan underlined that 2018 was an important year of progress, which was exclusively related to Armenia and had nothing to do with geopolitics. a reality that was not easy to present to colleagues. “We were very patient about this issue. What happened in Armenia is not a geopolitical development. There is no need to try to look for some external context in Armenia’s domestic political processes as they are simply not there,” he said.
Speaking about the security challenges facing the Eastern Partnership participant countries, the Armenian Foreign Minister said, ”Turkey is a security threat for Armenia. It’s already 27 years that Turkey refuses to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and continues the policy of isolating Armenia, accompanied by the denialism of justice. For us it’s a security threat”.
Mnatsakanyan expressed hope that the common European values will not be subordinated to new partners, new opportunities for finding ways to diversify, and the EU will be steadfast in maintaining its principled position.
The Minister also underlined the importance of civil society, stressing that it is impossible to ignore their role as they are an integral part of public debate and decision-making. “In the context of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement, we have adopted a new working style of public discussion, with wide involvement of civil society,” Mnatsakanyan said.
