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The original was posted on /r/armenia by /u/ar_david_hh on 2024-09-18 22:25:11+00:00.
Original Title: Washington's secret message to Karabakh \ Pashinyan speech: EU membership; Nuclear reactor choice; Borders; Russia; Faux patriotism \ Military manufacturing & Border fortifications rise \ $100 billion ethnic cleansing \ Cyberattack \ "Coup" attempt \ and...
13 minutes of Armenia coverage in Transcaucasian Telegraph's Sep/18/2024 edition.
Global Armenian Summit was held in Yerevan to connect Armenia with Diaspora
Over 1,000 participants from 60 countries arrived in Yerevan to take part in panel discussions organized by the Diaspora Office.
... from Q&A with Prime Minister Pashinyan
Pashinyan repeated that Armenia's traditional defense architecture, which relied on Russia, turned out to be ineffective.
Pashinyan said it was a bad policy to maintain the state of conflict with Turkey and Azerbaijan while relying on a foreign state as a guarantor of security. He said the "guarantor" can abandon you at any time if it's in their best interest to settle issues with your enemy.
Pashinyan said he froze Armenia's participation in Russia's CSTO military bloc because the bloc has become a direct threat to Armenia's existence and independence. [The CSTO didn't recognize Armenia's internationally recognized borders and allowed Azerbaijan to invade Armenian territories].
Pashinyan repeated that he will consider resuming Armenia's activities in CSTO only if the bloc ends its current stance and addresses the issues raised by Armenia.
Pashinyan made it clear that he has given up on CSTO ever changing its stance; he's been waiting for years. Pashinyan said the longer CSTO fails to address the issues, the more it pushes Armenia away from CSTO. Pashinyan said Armenia is close to crossing the "point of no return", adding that "no one will have the right to blame us for it."
Pashinyan said there is no country and no military bloc that can guarantee Armenia's security. Only Armenia with a peace agenda can ensure Armenia's security; a peace agenda is the only functional guarantee. "There are no other guarantees, and my administration's policy is to create that guarantee while recognizing how challenging it is."
Pashinyan said the Armenian army is undergoing reforms and also purchases new weapons but at the same time, Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Azerbaijan must end the occupation of over 200 km2 of Armenian territories, yet Armenia doesn't plan to return those territories through military action, said Pashinyan, citing the successful progress by the AM-AZ border delimitation commissions that can end the occupation peacefully.
Pashinyan said his administration is working with the US and EU to diversify Armenia's economy. Armenia's trade must grow with the West without intentionally capping trade with Russia's EAEU, he said.
Pashinyan does not want the Armenian public to feel disappointed in the EU which is why he is not rushing to make formal announcements about Armenia's membership to the EU at this time, because there are EU states that might not approve Armenia's membership. "It's not a one-way process. It's not even a two-way process." Pashinyan said Georgia's relations with the EU will play an important role in Armenia's future ties with the EU. He said Turkey-EU and Armenia-Turkey relations are also important.
Pashinyan said as soon as he sees the slightest realistic chance for Armenia to become a full member of the EU, and as soon as Armenia has the resilience to withstand [Russian] threats on that path, he will use that opportunity to submit a bid for EU.
Pashinyan said Armenians don't know their own history in depth because most history books were written by the Russian empire which decided to feed faux patriotism to Armenians to keep them in a permanent state of conflict and thus dependent on Russia. Pashinyan admitted that he was also brainwashed by the empire and admitted that it was a big problem before [the war of] 2020. Pashinyan said Armenia's declaration of independence, from day one, was based on a model of patriotism that did not envisage a free and independent statehood.
Pashinyan, sitting in front of hundreds of diasporans, told them that the model of patriotism practiced by Armenians and Diasporans all these years is very appealing because it makes the person love the homeland, but at the same time, it is crafted in a way to lose statehood. He said the propaganda convinced Armenians to voluntarily become [Russia's] fortpost [satellite, servant]. A fortpost is not a citizen-oriented state, but rather a tool to accomplish other tasks, said Pashinyan, adding that the "outsiders" saw the opportunity to brainwash Armenians and planted the seeds for that fortpost. Pashinyan urged all Armenians to recognize the "disastrous" angles of "our patriotism" for "our own sake". Pashinyan said it would have been better for Armenia if he wasn't "patriotic" before 2020. "I loved Armenia differently now." He urged Armenians to reject the empire's model of patriotism. Tens of thousands of Armenian families removed their boys from Armenia to avoid military conscription under this model of "patriotism", said Pashinyan.
Pashinyan said Armenia is on the path of forming a professional army today, and receives defense support from the EU's peace facility and separate states, including from the EU. He added that Azerbaijan is also receiving weapons from EU states like Italy, Slovakia, etc. Pashinyan said the Armenian army reforms and acquisition of weapons are not a threat to its neighbors.
Pashinyan said Armenia must establish diplomatic relations and open the borders with Turkey in the coming years. He sees not a huge but a significant shift of attitude in Turkey toward Armenia.
Pashinyan urged the diasporan guests to personally visit the newly delimited borders in Tavush and speak with local residents who were very concerned before the delimitation. Pashinyan said the Tavush villagers are generally satisfied with the situation now, and that during a recent trip to Syunik, other villages urged him to delimit their borders as well. Pashinyan urged the diasporans to ignore social media labels like "traitor", "land giver", etc., and recognize that many border residents support the delimitation for safety and stability.
Pashinyan said Armenia needs economic relations with as many countries [neighbors] as possible to increase its physical security. He believes other countries should rely on Armenia for goods or transfer of goods. When the products on their grocery store shelves come from Armenia, there will be fewer threats to Armenia.
Pashinyan said he is interested in learning more about a proposal to form a Transcaucasian union, and promoted his logistics project called Crossroads of Peace.
Pashinyan invited Azerbaijan to use the territory of Iran to connect to Nekhijevan if they continue to throw a tantrum, but he reiterated his offer to open the Syunik path for Azerbaijan in exchange for Armenia gaining a similar path through Azerbaijan, with full respect to sovereignty and customs procedures.
Pashinyan has not yet decided whether Armenia will participate in the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan has no plans to submit a bid to join BRICS. He received an invitation to attend a BRICS summit in Russia as a guest.
Pashinyan said his administration has chosen a more balanced foreign policy [increased West's role] and says he is beginning to see signals that it's an effective policy.
Pashinyan was asked about diversifying Armenia's energy sources. He said solar energy is advancing rapidly and that more needs to be done to tap into its full potential; need "batteries". Green hydrogen is on the watchlist.
Pashinyan said his administration has made a decision that the new nuclear reactor(s) will be small and modular. Why? Experts said SMRs are safer, and in the event of an incident, the danger would remain localized without affecting communities hundreds of meters away. Pashinyan said several countries have reached the implementation phase of modular reactors: the United States is the most advanced, also France, Russia, and South Korea. The problem is there are no modular reactors in use today, they are under construction, said Pashinyan. "It's inevitable, though." Pashinyan said he visited a nuclear energy summit in Brussels last year and became convinced that modular reactors are the future and that it's a matter of time until they are mature enough to be implemented.
the government wants 25%-30% of Armenian army weapons, equipment, and ammunition to be manufactured domestically
The statement was made by NatSec Armen Grigoryan during the Diaspora summit. He said it's a "strategic goal", adding that today Armenia's top weapon partners are India and France. Russia's share has dropped from 96% to below 10% after 2022.
The Government aims to have domestic companies supply up to 30%, and additionally have ~4 foreign partners that will have up to 20% share each.
Grigoryan said the volume of government contracts with domestic manufacturers to purchase weapons ...
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