Oleg Esayan: Armenia and Russia are forever!

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia in Russia Oleg Esayan is well-known in the homeland. Exactly he was the first prime minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region, later headed its parliament, the corresponding member of the Russian humanitarian academy. Within three years he was the ambassador of Armenia in Byelorussia and since 2009 represents the interests of his country in Russia. The correspondent of an Internet portal "The World and we" was present at Oleg Esayan's meeting with the community.

We are together!

The independence of Armenia will be twenty this year. September 21, 1991 is a special date among the state and national holidays of the Republic of Armenia. During the long time we have been deprived the possibility to master our own destiny, therefore the declaration of Independence Day is an all-important date for the development of national consciousness. And that is the twentieth year Armenia confidently goes on the selected way.

Our purpose is the creation of the program of safety and economic prosperity of the people of Armenia. The USSR was the powerful political and economic system. The economy of the union republics, so as their national boundaries were conditional. Both the Russian Federation and Armenia were only the parts of integration. Therefore the complicated questions were after the disintegration of the USSR, namely to generate the contours of national economy and to provide the transition to market conditions. The young states so hastened that made all too quickly. And Armenia had to solve all these questions in the conditions of very difficult geopolitical and military-political conditions. Today Armenia is integrated into the modern European structures but there is no a membership in the NATO and in the European Union in the agenda. We participate in the regional structures and first of all in the CIS and CSTO (it is the major element of our national safety) along with our cooperation with other countries.
The principal direction of foreign policy of Armenia is the Russian direction. Our cooperation has begun not yesterday. It was formed during the long historical period. Yes, there are relations between the countries, there are interests but there is also an orientation. It is a military-political, economic, moral, spiritual spirit of one people in relation to another. The comprehension of national state responsibility of the Russian people and Russia for the destiny of Armenia and the Armenian people was generated long ago. The economic, cultural, political and military relations of Russia and Armenia can be specified, supplemented but they can't be reconsidered! It is forever! Such is my firm belief.
Let's look the figures – Russia is the main economic partner of Armenia. About one billion dollars, just 40 percent of all foreign trade falls on Russia. Russia is the main investor in economy of Armenia. Many leading enterprises belong to the Russian side or are the joint property. As an example I can make the Armenian nuclear power plant and the Armenian railways. The Armenians live hardly less in the territory of Russia, than the population size of Armenia – here is the greatest Armenian community in the world. The Russian community even has bypassed the Armenian community in the USA.
Armenia and Russia effectively function in all international and regional structures. Do you know that the 102d Russian military base is stationed and term of its finding in the territory of Armenia is prolonged till 49 years that is almost to the middle of XXI century at the very least. The level of our military cooperation is defined by the membership in CSTO. We have a state treaty of friendship and cooperation of 1997 and the goal of our embassy is to serve the relations of two countries effectively as much as possible. Our employees perform this work with a sense of special duty.
About two hundred contracts and agreements are a base of the Russian-Armenian relations. About fifty of them are devoted to the questions of regional cooperation. There are accurate instructions of two presidents – to strengthen the work in the regional relation. Today 70 Russian regions have the economic relations with Armenia. 16 of them have the relations on the basis of the signed agreements. Four agreements are preparing now.

The consulate general in Siberia is necessary!

The question on consulate general opening in Novosibirsk is really one of the serious and urgent problems. About one million citizens of Armenia live in Russia and many Armenians are the citizens of Russia. Naturally there are a lot of problems which need to be solved. It is necessary to solve in Moscow, it is necessary to wait although it is very heavy and expensive. Therefore the consulate generals are already in St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don, there is a representative in Sochi. It is impossible to open the consulate generals everywhere but there are also other variants. For example, to send the employees of embassy on a business trip or let there will be an honorary consul … I think that we should have constantly operating consular offices in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. Each two-three months the employees will come here and in prospective it is necessary to think nevertheless of the organization if not the consulate general but about the presence of constantly operating diplomat. I discussed this question with the governor and the plenipotentiary.

Our society is politicized

The political activity of the people is the line of the modern time. The youth and students are traditionally active in the western countries. Why is the youth? Because this is the time when the people choose the profession, consider over the questions connected with the future, plus the real situation defining the political activity. Some political scientists say that the Armenian society is insufficiently politicized. But I don’t think so. Owing to the mentality the Armenian people are hot. Unfortunately, it also is scattered worldwide. As only one third of all Armenians live in Armenia. It is also affects the character of political behavior of people. Also there are national questions which directly demand that the person would form the answers: it is a question of the Armenian-Turkish relations, Nagorno-Karabakh, a question on genocide recognition. It also affects a situation. Then the political processes are visible more in the small countries before and after elections than in the large countries.

You would solve nothing with the help of war

The very complicated question is the Karabakh settlement. The Minsk group of OSCE works. There is a negotiating process – goes long, slowly. But the position of Armenia remained all these years invariable: the questions of similar character are possible and necessary to solve exclusively peacefully. It is necessary both to the Armenian and Azerbaijan people. The war can't solve such questions. One war has come to the end, but neither the second, nor third would solve nothing – all the more the following war will be more terrible the previous one …

The main task on the Caucasus is safety

As someone has told that was the question of association of the Caucasus – in my opinion he meant the association of efforts of all countries and the people of the Caucasus for the decision of the general problems. Not association of the states in any uniform state, in a single whole and association of efforts for the decision of problems which can't be solved alone –that are safety problems. The problem is to transform the Caucasus into world region, safety region. It seems to me that it is necessary to see all in such context. The Southern Caucasus is a crossroads of the modern world processes and the questions in this region have an international value, therefore it is not in vain that the interests of many states here became intertwined. We see, how the force centers change in the modern world … And who could tell what would be in the Arabian world several months ago!? But the similar can't be in Armenia. Because any politician doesn't presume, that similar processes occurred in our country – there are more important questions. There are no bases to assert that such can happen in Armenia.

About the Russian military base

Why the military base of Russia is in the territory of Russia? Because Armenia needs it. It corresponds both to interests of Russia and interests of Armenia. The military base together with the armed forces of Armenia carries out the functions of protection of the Russian interests and state security of the Republic of Armenia on perimeter of its frontiers. This base is there because there are the real threats in relation to Armenia. And the base presence is not the restriction of freedom of citizens of Armenia, it doesn't belittle any freedom and independence of Armenia.