Political analyst: Armenia must recognise neighbouring countries’ territorial integrity

Former Armenian MP, political analyst Mikayel Zolyan has said that the most dangerous thing for Armenia is an uncritical approach and the habit of creating idols.

“The Declaration of Independence is a very important document that had historical significance. During that period people accepted it, we are grateful to them, but accepted it in 1990 on August 23, when there was a completely different historical context. Now we take this declaration of independence without critical analysis of the context and make it the basis of our identity. I think this is the danger,” Zolyan told the Armenian media, Caliber.Az reports.

“I think that it is very dangerous not to have any doubts at all, the person who has no doubts will sooner or later fall into a hole, and we fell into a hole in 2020 and still cannot get out. We should not think about Azerbaijan’s further actions, we should think about what is right for us. We have to decide whether our people prefer realism or some historical justice, a dream, etc. Azerbaijan can always find something it can use. The statements are not important. Armenia must be ready to respond. First of all, we must present to the international community a position in which there are no internal contradictions,” he noted.

“What are we doing today? In fact, we realised that we should not rely on Russia. Russia is simply using us in relations with Azerbaijan and Türkiye. Now we are trying to restore the disrupted balance while working with the West and Iran. Iran and the West have clearly stated that they stand for the inviolability of borders and territorial integrity. When we talk about Syunik [Zangezur], this principle is favourable for us, but when we talk about 'Western Armenia', this is not favourable for us, and we cannot juggle both at the same time. We must clearly state whether we accept this principle or not. If we accept this principle, therefore we must accept it completely. If we don’t accept, then Azerbaijan will say that it doesn’t accept either. As for the territorial integrity, our new allies expect our clear and consistent position, which we must have,” the political analyst said.