ANN.Az's Hamid Hamidov has interviewed Aleksandr Sobyanin, a political analyst at the Center for Strategic Conjuncture, a Moscow-based research group.
- How can Armenian-Russian relations be affected by the incident in Gyumri?
- Now we can say for sure that there will be no breakdown of Russian-Armenian relations because of what happened in Gyumri. It was a well-planned provocation to bring Armenian men out on to the street and chant anti-Russian slogans to overthrow the Sargsyan regime and turn Armenia toward the West. Why now? This would have been impossible six months from now as Armenia and Kyrgyzstan will join all structures of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
- By "provocation”, do you mean the killings of Armenians in Gyumri or the popular protests that followed?
- By provocation, I mean the training and brainwashing of Permyakov, the murderer who is from a sectarian family that’s directly connected with the United States. Their pastors are US citizens.
Today we know that the trial will be held under the jurisdiction of Russia, but in the territory of Armenia. Now we know that his trial will be held in Armenia under the Russian jurisdiction.
- As far as we can see, Russia is not going to hand over the soldier who killed an entire Armenian family in Gyumri. This is while Russia has done almost nothing to protect its another citizen, Dilgam Askerov, who has illegally been captured and tried in Azerbaijan’s occupied district of Kalbacar. What’s your take on these double standards?
- There are many shortcomings in the work of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rossotrudnichestvo (Russian federal agency for work with the Commonwealth of Independent States, with compatriots living abroad and international humanitarian cooperation). I have criticized Rossotrudnichestvo’s so-called soft power concept many times in the media. It often doesn’t work, especially when it comes to the protection of interests of Russian nationals and businesses.
By the way, there are quite influential Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in Moscow. Why do they not raise this issue? They are in a position to influence the political leadership in Russia. This is a question for Azerbaijanis in Russia and not the government in Baku. Honestly, I haven’t heard of any of them raising the issue of Dilgam Askerov with the Russian government.
- What’s your expectation from Azerbaijani-Russian relations in 2015?
- Nothing bad. I am very happy to see the way Russia’s relations are warming up with countries that are not represented in any blocs, above all with Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
I regret to say that economies like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan can be affected to some extend by the standoff between Russia and the West.
ANN.Az
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