Updates
Interviews and press conferences
22
10, 2009
Interview of President Serzh Sargsyan to Artsakh Public TV
Mr. President, considering the frequency and regularity of your visits, do you see any changes from visit to visit? What is your assessment of army’s combat readiness?
Visits such as this one, are intended to follow the progress on the defense positions and in the army units, to follow the implementation of the current tasks or those that the army was assigned with during the previous visits. I do not believe it is possible to speak about the combat readiness of the troops, or about the morals and the existing psychological atmosphere while strolling on the carpet floors of a study room. I attach utmost importance to these visits. This visit differs from the others by the fact that it was made right after the random check up conducted by the Military Inspection in one of the army units. The check up revealed that that particular unit was combat ready; it comprises a number of subunits which know their job perfectly well. There are units which got excellent marks; there were also those which got good marks.
It testifies to the fact that we have well-trained soldiers, knowledgeable commanding staff and our troops are combat ready. I believe, right now our armed forces are going through the development phase. They established themselves long ago and we do have combat ready troops, unlike some countries of the region which have just groups of armed men. These are two different things. State of our combat units, their equipment, combat spirit and the existing moral and psychological environment allow to state unequivocally that at this time our troops are ready to carry out any task assigned to them. My visits are months apart while changes in the armed forces take place every day, every month, and it is of course very pleasing.
Mr. President, some time ago the President of Azerbaijan declared again that the agreement has been reached on the return of the territories adjacent to Nagorno Karabakh. He claims that such agreement had been reached years ago and accused Armenia of protracting the negotiations. Could you please comment on these statements?
I have already commented on that issue and have nothing to add. Just would like to stress once again that we take the entire process of negotiations responsibly and seriously. There is no more interested part in all this than Nagorno Karabakh, the people of Nagorno Karabakh. And they want this conflict to be resolved as soon as possible.
I am confident that there are solutions, realistic solutions. Those solutions can be found only if the parties are realistic in their approaches, if their expectations are realistic. We are seeking long term solutions, solutions which will bring peace and which will be durable. I don’t think it would be right to come to conclusions, solutions which will work for some time only but will not be able to support a durable peace. Of course in any negotiations parties are working toward getting the best possible option. However I don’t get it when one of the parties is trying to obtain everything, when is guided by “everything for me only” motto. In that case, negotiations for that particular party could be rather unpleasant, the results of negotiations will be objectionable but this is not our fault. We are living in the 21st century when hardly anything can be concealed and the situation is obvious for many, not only for us or the negotiating parties. When our partners in negotiations arrive at the conclusion that there should be a logical solution, the decision will be found easily. If they approach the problem from realistic positions, and along with making statements will really strive to solve the problem, the decision will come. Displeasure expressed after the negotiations or grumbling will not bring solution closer. On the contrary, it derails the process of negotiations and adds to uncertainty.
I would like to repeat that it is not proper to pluck something off the context of the negotiations – previous or current – and speak about that particular part, especially when there reservations are made regarding that very statement. If they admit that not everything has been negotiated yet, that not all points have been agreed upon yet, it speaks volumes. I trust it would be appropriate for us and for the Azeris to concentrate on the current stage of the negotiations rather that separate a part of prior negotiations and present it for domestic consumption.
Visits such as this one, are intended to follow the progress on the defense positions and in the army units, to follow the implementation of the current tasks or those that the army was assigned with during the previous visits. I do not believe it is possible to speak about the combat readiness of the troops, or about the morals and the existing psychological atmosphere while strolling on the carpet floors of a study room. I attach utmost importance to these visits. This visit differs from the others by the fact that it was made right after the random check up conducted by the Military Inspection in one of the army units. The check up revealed that that particular unit was combat ready; it comprises a number of subunits which know their job perfectly well. There are units which got excellent marks; there were also those which got good marks.
It testifies to the fact that we have well-trained soldiers, knowledgeable commanding staff and our troops are combat ready. I believe, right now our armed forces are going through the development phase. They established themselves long ago and we do have combat ready troops, unlike some countries of the region which have just groups of armed men. These are two different things. State of our combat units, their equipment, combat spirit and the existing moral and psychological environment allow to state unequivocally that at this time our troops are ready to carry out any task assigned to them. My visits are months apart while changes in the armed forces take place every day, every month, and it is of course very pleasing.
Mr. President, some time ago the President of Azerbaijan declared again that the agreement has been reached on the return of the territories adjacent to Nagorno Karabakh. He claims that such agreement had been reached years ago and accused Armenia of protracting the negotiations. Could you please comment on these statements?
I have already commented on that issue and have nothing to add. Just would like to stress once again that we take the entire process of negotiations responsibly and seriously. There is no more interested part in all this than Nagorno Karabakh, the people of Nagorno Karabakh. And they want this conflict to be resolved as soon as possible.
I am confident that there are solutions, realistic solutions. Those solutions can be found only if the parties are realistic in their approaches, if their expectations are realistic. We are seeking long term solutions, solutions which will bring peace and which will be durable. I don’t think it would be right to come to conclusions, solutions which will work for some time only but will not be able to support a durable peace. Of course in any negotiations parties are working toward getting the best possible option. However I don’t get it when one of the parties is trying to obtain everything, when is guided by “everything for me only” motto. In that case, negotiations for that particular party could be rather unpleasant, the results of negotiations will be objectionable but this is not our fault. We are living in the 21st century when hardly anything can be concealed and the situation is obvious for many, not only for us or the negotiating parties. When our partners in negotiations arrive at the conclusion that there should be a logical solution, the decision will be found easily. If they approach the problem from realistic positions, and along with making statements will really strive to solve the problem, the decision will come. Displeasure expressed after the negotiations or grumbling will not bring solution closer. On the contrary, it derails the process of negotiations and adds to uncertainty.
I would like to repeat that it is not proper to pluck something off the context of the negotiations – previous or current – and speak about that particular part, especially when there reservations are made regarding that very statement. If they admit that not everything has been negotiated yet, that not all points have been agreed upon yet, it speaks volumes. I trust it would be appropriate for us and for the Azeris to concentrate on the current stage of the negotiations rather that separate a part of prior negotiations and present it for domestic consumption.