When your neighbor’s house catches fire…

Armenia reacts to the Georgian war

by Armen Hakobyan

Published: Saturday August 30, 2008

Yerevan - When your neighbor's house is burning, some of the sparks may land on your roof. By August 10-11, the consequences of the war in Georgia could already be felt in Armenia.

Armenia's Foreign Ministry on August 11 announced that some 850 foreign nationals, including foreign diplomats accredited in Georgia and their families, had made their way to Yerevan with the assistance of Armenian authorities.

Armenia also decided to waive the visa fee for foreign nationals entering Armenia from Georgia. Passengers from Georgia who were flying out of the region via Yerevan's Zvartnots airport were exempted from the mandatory airport departure tax.

The government also made arrangement to transport thousands of Armenian citizens vacationing on the Black Sea coast, at resorts in Ajaria, back home.

On August 13, President Serge Sargsian had a telephone conversation with Russian Dimitry Medvedev of Russia. He expressed his personal condolences as well as the condolences of the Armenian people regarding the deaths caused by the Georgian attack on South Ossetia. There were a large number of civilian victims, most of them Russian citizens, as well as Russian peacekeepers.

In a telegram on August 14, and in a telephone conversation on August 15, Mr. Sargsian told President Mikhael Saakashvili of Georgia, "Personally and in the name of the people of Armenia, I express my condolences regarding the latest events, the consequences of which has left many victims. Please express our sympathy to the families of those victims. We wish to see peace and a swift restoration of our neighbor Georgia, which is an important component for security in the region. Armenia is ready to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance for the victims and quickly help to solve, in a rapid manner, all emerging problems."

Armenia's president on August 14 called a special session of Armenia's National Security Council, where the situation in the region over the preceding days was discussed. During that session, Mr. Sargsian once again stressed that Russia is Armenia's strategic partner, and Georgia is a friend; consequently, it is in Armenia's great interest to see a quick and peaceful solution of the conflict. At the same time, he once again reiterated Armenia's willingness to act as a humanitarian corridor and stressed that the country is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to all the victims.

In an interview with the Austrian Der Standard newspaper, Mr. Sargsian stated: "Tragic events in South Ossetia proved that the attempts to give a military solution to the struggle for self-determination in the South Caucasus are charged will very serious military and geopolitical consequences. Recent developments showed the real danger of the arms race, unjustified increase of military budget, and belligerent calls in the South Caucasus. At the same time these events proved that the free will of the people struggling for self-determination must be at the core of the resolution of these conflicts, and that any solution must be based on the expression of that free will. Any other approach inevitably leads to ethnic cleansing and violation of the international humanitarian law."

Mr. Sargsian also noted, "The events proved once again the importance of the efficient use of the existing infrastructure, highways, transportation routes, and pipelines, as well as the necessity of creating alternate routes and extensive infrastructure nets in the region."

Opposition declines to criticize

Armenia's former president Levon Ter-Petrossian, a vociferous critic of the government, in an interview with the A1+ news service on August 20, praised Russia's military intervention without reservation.

Nobody can dispute the fact that it was Georgia that unleashed the war, aiming to do away with the South Ossetian Republic by force. Nobody can dispute also that Russia with its decisive intervention saved the people of South Ossetia from genocide. If the Russian intervention were delayed by six hours, there would be no South Ossetia today."

In response to a question about whether Mr. Saakashvili would have started the war without the approval of the United States, Mr. Ter Petrossian said, "I consider such claims baseless and less than credible, because I think it is impossible for a serious country like the Unites States to prod anybody toward such recklessness. President Saakashvili may have simply misjudged or misinterpreted certain friendly gestures from the West."

Mr. Ter-Petrossian declined to criticize the position and reaction of Armenian authorities to the events in the region. When asked by A1+ how the Armenian government should have reacted to the war and what steps it should have taken, Mr. Ter-Petrossian said, "If you are talking about the official or diplomatic reaction, then positive neutrality was probably the maximally reasonable position the Armenian government could have adopted toward the armed conflict between two friendly states. In this regard, there are few reasons to complain about the position of the Armenian authorities."

Karabakh welcomes recognition

Authorities in Karabakh are welcoming the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Karabakh's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on August 28 which states that Russia's recognition "completely meets the principle of self-determination of nations and fundamental norms of the international law set in basic documents and legal acts of the UN, OSCE, and other international organizations." The statement goes on to say, "We have frequently warned that the threat or use of force, the excessive growth of the military potential, and the desire to resolve issues only by means of weapons are fraught with humanitarian catastrophe."?