Editor-in-chief of Beirut-based Aztag daily newspaper Shahan Kandaharian commented on the statement by NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia on the Atlantic Alliance’s intention not to mediate Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, thus accepting the OSCE Minsk Group as the only possible format for conflict resolution.
He noted that further development of Armenia–NATO ties will be accompanied by advancement of NATO-Iran relations given the Islamic Republic’s maximum isolation as West’s current goal in the region. The editor named closed border and absence of diplomatic relations with its neighbor Turkey, one of the leading member states of the Alliance as a key problem in Armenia-NATO relations, with Turkey continuing to undermine further development of ties between RA and the Atlantic Alliance.
Mr. Kandaharian also stressed a number of agreements with Russia as a major impediment to Armenia’s further inclusion in its sphere of influence.
Given Georgia’s and Azerbaijan’s open aspiration to join NATO, the editor named Armenia as NATO’s key area of activity in the South Caucasus region. Mr. Kandaharian cited this behind the Alliance’s statements on the irreplaceable role of OSCE MG and protracting talks by the Azeri side.
