The security of Armenia’s borders, especially on the Turkish side, has been unequivocally preserved as a result of the Russian military presence; Armenia has avoided war on that side for so many years as a result of that very presence. Ambassador Dzyunik Aghajanyan, stated this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.
To note, the secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, had noted that the control of Armenia’s borders should be carried out entirely by the Armenian services.
“On the one hand, it would be very good if the Armenian border guard forces were so strong and armed, and the army were so strong that there would be no need for a third country to ensure the security of the borders. But we know very well that the security of the borders, especially on the Turkish side, has been unequivocally maintained as a result of the military presence by the Russians. We have avoided war from that side for so many years as a result of that presence,” said Ambassador Aghajanyan.
According to her, the Armenian authorities have already started the process of withdrawing the Russian military presence from Armenia.
“And this is done by very well using the definitely negative attitude of the Armenian society in terms of the ‘[Zangezur] corridor,’ and under its guise of expressing willingness to take upon themselves the control of the borders. I will not be surprised that shortly after this agreement, the control of that railway will be handed over on a contractual basis to Western companies and foreign forces will enter Armenia, also transforming the EU observers into NATO’s military presence. This will be done very easily, taking into account the mandate of the EU observers, by which they are in Armenia today,” added the Armenian diplomat.
When asked whether this imply that these borders will not remain under the control of Armenia, Aghajanyan responded. “At the moment, taking into account the active processes that today’s [Armenian] authorities are carrying out in terms of removing the Russian factor from here, I will not be surprised that this is just the first step, which will be followed by ensuring the presence of the West here.”
And to the question as to what the reason is for the fact that the Azerbaijani side, despite the fact that it violates practically all the points of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 still defends this point, Ambassador Dzyunik Aghajanyan, responded: “In this case, it is attempting to get points from the Russian side by forming a positive image. But this is just a game, and in the next second, Azerbaijan can very calmly say: ‘if the Armenian side agrees, I have no problem.’”