Sargsian calls for peace and cooperation in the South Caucasus

The internationally recognized map of the South Caucasus is very different from the real one, President Sargsian tells the Munich Security Conference

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Friday February 13, 2009

President Serge Sargsian speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Feb. 7, 2009. Kai Mörk

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Yerevan - President Serge Sargsian of Armenia declared at the Munich Security Conference that Armenians are not afraid to defend Karabakh against Azerbaijani aggression, but they do not want war. The South Caucasus, the president argued, should turn into a crossroads of peace and cooperation. Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan described this outcome as impossible unless the Karabakh conflict is resolved.

The Armenian president said the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 "made it clear for everyone how tense the situation in the Caucasus actually is, and how serious the challenges and threats are." (See full text here.)

The war "was a reminder to all those involved that each careless word and each uncalculated step is potent with unpredictable consequences, and that the arms race, the substantial expansion of military budgets, and militaristic rhetoric charge the atmosphere," Mr. Sargsian said. The charged atmosphere "inescapably leads to provocations, actions, and situations" that "can get out of the control of those who are responsible for creating such atmosphere."

When Azerbaijan's foreign minister responded defensively, Mr. Sargsian added, "I have not mentioned any state other than Armenia in my speech, and if Azerbaijan's foreign minister attributes the expressions ‘militaristic rhetoric,' ‘arms race,' and ‘attempts to undermine peace' to his country, I believe he is completely right. However, he is not right when he attempts to dictate conditions to Armenia."

Elaborating, Mr. Sargsian said Mr. Mammadyarov cannot speak of Armenian aggression when, in fact, "Azerbaijan took aggressive actions against Karabakh. Karabakh stood up and was able to protect itself," and in this process took regions from which "hundreds of bombs were being dropped daily on women, children, and the elderly. Are these people guilty for being able to carry on living?"

Dividing lines

After discussing Azerbaijan's war preparations and war rhetoric, Mr. Sargsian turned to the matter of spheres of influence and dividing lines. "We should always remind ourselves that the Cold War is over, and the political logic and modus operandi of that big conflict should not survive."

Over the centuries, Mr. Sargsian said, empires and great powers have had an ambition to establish their hegemony over the South Caucasus. "That is also true today. The contemporary South Caucasus is a model of the multipolarity of the world. It is one of the regions where there are seemingly unyielding dividing lines, where the internationally recognized political map is very different from the real one, where stability is extremely vulnerable, and the reestablishment of peace requires joint and concentrated titanic efforts."

The time for "political railroads, roads and pipelines" is over

The Armenian president went on to discuss "the necessity to develop alternative transportation routes in the region."

He expressed confidence that the worldwide economic crisis "will make us switch to more effective models of regional development in the fields of energy and transportation." If, in the past, it was economically possible to disregard "the simple fact that the shortest route between two points is a straight line," today that is no longer feasible, he argued. "Now, when hydrocarbons are cheap and global economic activity has decreased, when returns on investments in regional infrastructures are getting more and more costly, the probability of masterminding irrational regional projects will significantly decrease," he said.

"This means that the time for ‘political railroads, roads, and pipelines' is over," he added. "One should acknowledge a very simple reality: it is senseless to talk about stability in the South Caucasus if the policy of mutual isolation and exclusion from regional projects continues. I regret to note that this unacceptable approach has been many times applied to Armenia, and it has never received a due response from the international community. There is only one conclusion one can draw: the global economic crisis will objectively compel the region to function as a single economic unit, and to function more efficiently."

Mr. Sargsian said the challenge is "not only to connect East and West, but also North and South, to turn our region into a crossroad of peace and cooperation. I am confident that the South Caucasus has a much bigger potential as a region than the sum of the individual potentials of the constituent states."

He concluded that today "there are leaders in the region who are ready to promote nonstandard solutions, who can make unconventional decisions, and demonstrate sufficient political will for their implementation. And this belief allows me to be more optimistic about the future of our region."

It was this call for cooperation that Mr. Mammadyarov rejected out of hand.

Turkey's Babacan met Sargsian, Nalbandian

In a panel discussion during the Munich Conference, Mr. Sargsian also referred to Armenian-Turkish relations. He said that Armenia and Turkey "are moving along the right path," and if they continue to do so, relations may be established by the second half of 2009.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, the highest-ranking Turkish official present at the Munich conference, had a short meeting with President Sargsian.

"At the meeting discussed were issues related to the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. Minister Babacan visited the president of Armenia following the instructions of the president of Turkey," the Armenian president's press service reported.