Andranik Hovhannisyan: Armenia wants to show it has bad relations only with Russia, not with other CSTO countries

The Armenian authorities publicly demonstrate that they have tense relations only with Russia, not with other CSTO member states, Expert in Oriental Studies and International Relations Andranik Hovhannisyan told Alpha News.

“Today, Armenia does not operate within the CSTO, and, to be honest, it has frozen its status in the organization. However, it is still trying to continue its military-political relations with the CSTO member states, including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. I do not rule out that soon, that is, within this year, similar visits may take place to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and other CSTO member states. Thus, the Armenian authorities publicly demonstrate that they have tense relations only with Russia, not with other CSTO member states,” Hovhannisyan emphasized.

Hovhannisyan noted that Armenia may even purchase some equipment from the CSTO member states.

“With the exception of Russia, Armenia is trying to develop its relations with the CSTO member countries outside the organization, including signing various types of agreements in the military sphere. It is possible that Armenia may purchase equipment from CSTO member states, and parallel events will certainly be held in 2024. It is important to note that today Kazakhstan is a member of the organization of Turkic-speaking states and has neighborly and close relations with Azerbaijan. As we see, Armenia fails to continue the normalization process with Azerbaijan on the European platform.

Also, Armenia cannot restart its peace process in Russia because it depends on the West, and it cannot continue the normalization process with Azerbaijan in Russia. Perhaps this is why the Armenian authorities are showing some cunning and are trying to use the platform of Kazakhstan, which could contribute to the resumption of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the achievement of a positive result,” Hovhannisyan said.

Andranik Hovhannisyan does not believe that Kazakhstan will maintain neutrality in the process of normalizing Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

“I do not believe that Kazakhstan is a state that can act much more independently, in particular independently of the European Union and Russia, because it is to one degree or another dependent on these states. So, I think that Armenia will not be able to normalize bilateral relations with Azerbaijan through Kazakhstan,” Andranik Hovhannisyan concluded.