We Started to Seriously Fall Behind Azerbaijan. President Armen Sarkissian on the Causes of Defeat

The President of the Republic, Armen Sarkissian, gave an interview to Igor Chernyak, the chief editor of the prestigious Russian publication 'Arguments and Facts.' Below, translated with some abridgments, are the newspaper's preface and the interview.

Relations between Russia and Armenia have not been easy in recent years. Various comments have been made from Yerevan regarding our country (Russia), including the accusation that Moscow is to blame for Armenia's defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh. What is happening?

Chief editor Igor Chernyak of 'AiF' posed questions to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian:

- In your opinion, what are the reasons for Armenia's defeat in the second war? Is a third possible?

- Let's leave the possibility of a third war to God. We won the first war because we were ahead of Azerbaijan in organizing armed forces by 2-3 years, utilizing Armenians who had served in the Soviet Army and fought in Afghanistan. Yes, at that time, there was also Turkey, but not to this extent; NATO weapons were not used so overtly either.

Then came the 26 years following the war. We had a great opportunity to transform our victory into lasting peace. However, we did not take advantage of it. And we seriously fell behind. Because Azerbaijan, under Heydar Aliyev's leadership, understood that its advantage was oil and did everything to bring it to the international market. As a result, over time, we lost all advantages.

Moreover, Azerbaijan acquired a large amount of military equipment, openly brought NATO weapons to the battlefield through Turkey, and gathered thousands of mercenaries from around the world. I asked my colleagues in Brussels directly how they felt about the fact that a NATO member country declared war against Armenia. Of course, I received no response.