Turkey can hardly be considered a regional actor today: Vigen Sargsyan

Armenia’s Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan praises the Armenian-Iranian relations and Iran’s role and balances policy in the region.

In his speech during the visiting session of Valdai international dialogue club in Yerevan, the Minister stressed Iran has demonstrated great wisdom since the first days of Armenia’s independence, establishing balanced relations with Armenia, including other countries of the region.

“Iran was able to display a balanced stance over the Artsakh [Nagorno Karabakh] conflict, always proposing its mediation mission and guided by the principle of not harming the mediators’ mission,” the Minister said.

He added that the stance of Armenia’s other neighbor, Turkey, drastically contradicts the stance of Iran.

“Not only has Turkey blockaded Armenia by shutting down the railways and state border, which in our opinion is an anachronism in the 21st century, but it has also adopted a pro-Azerbaijani stance over the Nagorno Karabakh issue,” Sargsyan said.

The Minister expressed opinion that by blockading Armenia and closing the border, Turkey has isolated itself from the South Caucasus region.

“Despite the close relations with Georgia, and brotherly relations with Azerbaijan, Turkey can hardly be considered a regional actor today,” he said.