Vartan Oskanian: I wanted to achieve the maximum for Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Most important foreign policy legacy of the two governments I were a part of was clearly our willingness to enter into relations with Turkey with no pre-conditions," RA FM of 1998-2008, Head of Civilitas Fund, Vartan Oskanian stated.



According to him, the history will show that the first administration did what it could to secure Karabagh's security during and after a time of war.



"The other is our clear commitment to Europe. Although we haven't done enough I think to move towards European values and traditions, we have stated clearly from the beginning that our view is toward Europe, that is where we belong," Armenian politician noted.



The ex-FM emphasized that applying a complementary policy it means one act among different countries.

"I wanted to achieve the maximum for Armenia. Not only did we have little diplomatic or political experience, we also had limited resources. So, if we only had 10 or later 20 embassies around the world, it is difficult for us to communicate with the other 180 capitals around the world. The first thing international organizations made possible was direct contact. It was during those annual or semi-annual meetings that we could converse with ambassadors of those other countries and make sure they understood our perspectives, our policies, our positions. We also learned a very important lesson about multilateralism, that is, if you want others to be interested in your issues, your causes, your problems, you must be interested in theirs. We cannot be a member of the world community and not be concerned with global issues like weapons of mass destruction, climate change, minority rights, migration, reforming international institutions. If we're not interested in those topics, if we don't have something to say about them, then we shouldn't be surprised if they leave the room when we start talking about self-determination or genocide recognition or regional cooperation. International organizations force you to become a member of the international community," asbarez.com cited the Head of Civilitas Fund as saying.