We must leave our children a legacy of peace, not revenge, says Alen Simonyan

Leaving Armenia’s children a legacy of peace rather than revenge, and preventing reasons for war from arising, is one of the country’s most important security guarantees. Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Alen Simonyan said this during the second Global Armenian Summit, responding to a question about why Armenia was seeking to normalise relations with Türkiye rather than focusing on strengthening itself.

Simonyan said Armenia needed a strong army that would make any attack on the country extremely painful for the adversary.

“I believe we must have an army that would make an attack on the Republic of Armenia so painful that the adversary would not even feel the need to attempt it. But if we look more deeply, I think we must ensure that there is no reason at all to wage war against one another. Why should we go to war with the Turks? If they want to attack us, we will not have time to become stronger. The illusion we have been fed for 70 years — that we must cling to Russia’s tail or the Turks will devour us — has nothing to do with reality,” Simonyan said.

Simonyan also addressed the significance of the TRIPP project, stressing that trade and the development of shared interests were important expressions of peace.

“One of the main expressions of peace is trade and having shared interests. TRIPP was one of the best expressions of peace. It also has significance for security. TRIPP is an Armenian–American economic project. Today, when there is effectively a war between the US and Iran, the project will run approximately 15 metres from the Iranian border. I want to consider its role and significance not only from our perspective, but also globally, in the context of the US, Iran and the entire region. Underestimating TRIPP’s role and significance will lead to nothing good. This is an economic and diplomatic project, an instrument of peace. It is also a guarantee in economic terms,” Simonyan concluded.