Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia cannot consider the possibility of recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh — this might be possible only if hostilities are resumed, said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in a recent interview with Moskovskiye Novosti (“Moscow News”).
“They ask another, more direct question all the time: ‘Why doesn’t Armenia recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh?’ Because we are in negotiations and recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh would mean their failure. It is better to continue negotiations,” he said.
Speaking on Armenia’s achievements during its 20 years of independence, the Armenian leader emphasized the main achievement is to maintain stability in the country.
“After all, times were tough. Along with the problems of transforming the economy from an established path to a market economy, we had to ensure public safety. Azerbaijan kindled the war, Turkey was fully supporting Azerbaijan, there was a civil war in Georgia — under these conditions, it was extremely difficult to provide the population with goods, even the basic necessities. We had serious issues with energy supply. And all this against the backdrop of the consequences of the terrible earthquake, when hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless. On the background of the refugee problem — the fact that almost 500,000 people came to little Armenia; people who had escaped destruction. They had fled, leaving everything they had in abandoned homes. And the greatest achievement lies in the fact that we were able to ensure stability.
“Leaders are always tempted to criticize predecessors. As the saying goes, ‘everyone fancies himself a strategist, seeing the fight from the outside.’ I assumed the post of the country’s leader in 2008 and from the first day, I’ve avoided this approach. Criticizing predecessors means to shift the responsibility from your own shoulders to others. This is wrong. I am grateful to my predecessors and to all those who have done something good for Armenia,” he said.