Armenia pursues cautious policy toward Israel

PanARMENIAN.Net - The active Israel-Turkey economic and political cooperation compels Armenia to pursue cautious policy toward the Jewish state, a Russian expert said.



"Israel is displeased with the Iran-Armenia cooperation, the more so because there are influential supporters of closer ties with Tehran," head of the interethnic department at the institute of political and military analysis Sergei Markedonov wrote in "Israel: Caucasus Priorities" article.



"The initial serious contacts between the foreign ministries of Armenia and Israel were established in early 1990-ies. However, in 2002 Israeli Ambassador to Georgia publicly refused to name the Armenian massacre in the Ottoman Empire a genocide," he said. "Israel in also discontent with the way Armenia media covered the developments in Lebanon in 2000 and 2006."



"Nevertheless, an Armenian delegation which included then-Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and CB President Tigran Sargsyan visited Israel in 2005. According to Alexander Zinker, first chairman of the Israeli-Armenian parliamentary friendship, the two states could become partners in IT development, for Israel is the third major exporter of hi-tech while Armenia is remarkable for its programmers and specialists in electronic devices," Markedonov concluded, politcom.ru reports.