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YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS: Armenia manages to keep balance in its foreign policy, according to Ashot Melkonyan, director of the History Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences. He said today in an interview with Armenpress that 90 years ago, when the Turkish invasion in Transcaucasia and Armenia started, the geopolitical reality of the region was changed seriously. ‘In that period Kemalist Turkey began allying with Bolshevist Russia, and Azerbaijan’s hostility was obvious.
Armenia had to stand the danger of Turkey’s invasion alone, Ashot Melkonyan said. He says in that period the newly-established Armenian state did not have the inner potential to fight against the Turkish danger. ‘The main reason of collapse of the first Republic of Armenia was connected with foreign relations.
Armenia’s allies did not help Armenia,’ the historian said. Ashot Melkonyan says Armenia has learnt lessons from those historical events and tends to keep balance in the relations with various geopolitical forces. ‘Armenia has allied and friendly relations with Russia; the cooperation with NATO is being deepened. We should follow the processes of our neighbors – Iran and Turkey – in order to go on leading a balanced policy,’ he noted.