Armenians choose independent path
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)
08 Sep 2005
By Ara Tadevosian director of Mediamax, an independent news agency in Yerevan.
Armenians meeting to discuss their country's future have rejected the idea that they should place all their hopes in Europe -- and, more surprisingly, Russia.
The 500 delegates at the unique conference held in Yerevan came from all walks of life - teachers, students, small business owners, manual workers and the unemployed - concluded Armenia should instead pursue its own path, increasing economic activity and productivity, fighting corruption, and ensuring the 2008 presidential election is free and fair.
[...]
The event was part of "Armenia 2020" -- a campaign led by several prominent figures from the Armenian diaspora, including businessman Ruben Vardanian, who is president of the Russian Troika-Dialog group of companies, and Nubar Afeyan, general director of the American group Flagship Ventures.
[...]
Full integration into Europe also received the thumbs down from many of the delegates, with that option getting only 120 votes compared with 136 for preserving the Russian alliance and 210 in favour of a dynamic independent path, the so-called Singapore model which organisers dubbed "Dare to Excel".
[...]
Many participants said Armenia's relations with neighbours like Georgia and historical enemy Turkey was more important than European integration. This despite the fact that Turkey, with which Armenia has no diplomatic relations, was not included in any of the possible development options offered by the organisers.
[...]
Azerbaijan, [...] {was} too sensitive an issue for conference participants even to discuss them as part of a picture of shifting regional alliances.
[...] Georgia, [...] was viewed as a partner by many participants. Rather than Europe, one person suggested that Armenia focus on Georgia in order to gain access to that country's ports. The two have been trying to forge closer ties, and this summer tens of thousands of Armenians took holidays in Georgia's Black Sea resorts for the first time in many years.
[...]
[...] the conference organisers admitted the current Armenian government was unlikely to pay attention to many of the findings [...].
Even in the best-case scenario, Armenia has a long way to go to meet the aspirations articulated by conference participants. [...].
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
08 Sep 2005
By Ara Tadevosian director of Mediamax, an independent news agency in Yerevan.
Armenians meeting to discuss their country's future have rejected the idea that they should place all their hopes in Europe -- and, more surprisingly, Russia.
The 500 delegates at the unique conference held in Yerevan came from all walks of life - teachers, students, small business owners, manual workers and the unemployed - concluded Armenia should instead pursue its own path, increasing economic activity and productivity, fighting corruption, and ensuring the 2008 presidential election is free and fair.
[...]
The event was part of "Armenia 2020" -- a campaign led by several prominent figures from the Armenian diaspora, including businessman Ruben Vardanian, who is president of the Russian Troika-Dialog group of companies, and Nubar Afeyan, general director of the American group Flagship Ventures.
[...]
Full integration into Europe also received the thumbs down from many of the delegates, with that option getting only 120 votes compared with 136 for preserving the Russian alliance and 210 in favour of a dynamic independent path, the so-called Singapore model which organisers dubbed "Dare to Excel".
[...]
Many participants said Armenia's relations with neighbours like Georgia and historical enemy Turkey was more important than European integration. This despite the fact that Turkey, with which Armenia has no diplomatic relations, was not included in any of the possible development options offered by the organisers.
[...]
Azerbaijan, [...] {was} too sensitive an issue for conference participants even to discuss them as part of a picture of shifting regional alliances.
[...] Georgia, [...] was viewed as a partner by many participants. Rather than Europe, one person suggested that Armenia focus on Georgia in order to gain access to that country's ports. The two have been trying to forge closer ties, and this summer tens of thousands of Armenians took holidays in Georgia's Black Sea resorts for the first time in many years.
[...]
[...] the conference organisers admitted the current Armenian government was unlikely to pay attention to many of the findings [...].
Even in the best-case scenario, Armenia has a long way to go to meet the aspirations articulated by conference participants. [...].
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 6:22 AM
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