Armenian political experts welcome prospects of cooperating with NATO

The Armenian-Russian relations are no obstacle to Armenia's cooperation with the NATO, said Jamie Shea, the Assistant to the NATO Deputy Secretary General. Deeper cooperation with NATO will enable Armenia to rely on the guarantee of Turkey's non-interference in the Karabakh conflict, believe the political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The NATO respects the choice of Armenia in its desire to maintain good relations with Russia, including its membership in the Eurasian Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); and does not treat the creation of the Armenian-Russian Joint Group of Armed Forces as an obstacle to the development of Armenia-NATO relations. Jamie Shea announced it on November 17 at a press conference in Yerevan.

Manvel Sarkisyan, a political scientist and the Director of the Armenian Centre for National and International Studies, believes that cooperation with NATO allows Armenia to rely on the Alliance's guarantee to restrain Turkey by ensuring non-interference of this country in the Karabakh conflict, and allows hoping for assistance in removing the ongoing Turkey's blockade.

In his turn, Ruben Megrabyan, a political analyst and an expert of the above Armenian Centre, believes that the Armenian-Russian relations are an obstacle for the development of the Armenia-NATO relations.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.