Armenian general rules out any provocations on Armenian-Turkish  border as long as Russian flag hoisted there 

ArmInfo. It is premature to talk about the withdrawal of Russian border guards from the land borders of Armenia. Armenia has neither the human resources nor the technical capabilities to replace Russian border guards at the border, the first commander of the border troops of Armenia, Major General Levon Stepanyan told ArmInfo in response to a request to comment on rumors about the possible withdrawal of Russian border guards from Armenia, given the current difficult geopolitical realities.

The general suggested making a short historical excursion and  remembering how it happened that Russian border guards were entrusted  with protecting the state borders of Armenia. According to him, this  happened during the first Karabakh war, when all forces were thrown  to the front, and in fact this direction of the state border was  exposed. Stepanyan recalled that at that time the border troops of  the USSR were no longer considered masters of the situation, since  the great country no longer existed. They were temporarily  subordinate to the CIS structures, the formation of Russian border  troops was underway, but everything was at a transitional stage,  which especially affected the Armenian border. The general noted that  of the 15 union republics, only Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and  Kyrgyzstan did not immediately move on to forming their own border  troops.

"During this period, officers of the USSR Border Troops gradually  dispersed to their national countries. A personnel shortage appeared  on our border. Russian border troops wanted to leave Armenia, arguing  that they had a shortage of personnel in other sections of their own  border, especially officers. That's when we and asked Russia to stay.  I was a participant in those conversations. And we managed to  convince the Russian side to stay. Moreover, there was an agreement  that 50% of the troops would be formed from the personnel of the  Armenian side, and 50% from the Russian side. Thus, financing should  also have been provided "- recalls Stepanyan, adding that it was  after this that the corresponding Armenian-Russian agreement on the  status of the Russian border troops in the Republic of Armenia was  signed in 1992.

At the same time, the general notes that, starting from 2000, the  Armenian side began to violate agreements both in terms of funding  and in terms of recruiting personnel, which in turn led to the forced  optimization of forces stationed on the border of border units.  However, according to him, no matter how it was, everywhere, on the  border, at border outposts, the Armenian and Russian flags were  hoisted side by side.

"In fact, the decision of the Armenian side to withdraw Russian  border guards from Zvartnots does not create any serious problem. We  see it as heroism, but on the other side it's an insult! This is not  a problem at all; in principle, we went through this without any fuss  , for example, at Gyumri airport," the general noted. The current  agreement provides for the gradual transfer of sections of the border  to the Armenian border troops as they become ready.

At the same time, Stepanyan believes that the current authorities of  Armenia are unlikely today to take such a step as the complete  withdrawal of Russian border guards from the territory of the  Republic. "No matter how much we criticize the current leadership of  our country today, nevertheless, I don't think that they will go to  such madness today. And there is a simple explanation for this, since  it was the Russian presence on this section of the border that led to  the fact that at no time "The first Karabakh war, there were no  serious incidents in this area during the 44-day war. It was the  Russian flag that ensured our peace of mind - this is a well-known  fact, the entire border population speaks about this," the general  noted.

To clarify whether the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem can take advantage  of the tension in Armenian-Russian relations and undertake some kind  of adventure, taking into account the fact that a few weeks ago  photos with footage from the Armenian-Turkish border, where you can  see people turned in Turkish guns sided with Armenia, Stepanyan  expressed the conviction that nothing like this should be expected.  "Although, as a military man, I believe that "if you want peace,  prepare for war," however, I am sure that nothing like that will  happen. In the current realities, this is impossible, especially  since Russian troops are still stationed there. When they will leave  is another question," he said.

At the same time, the general believes that if the Russian border  guards do leave, "there will be chaos on the border." According to  him, this is due both to the fact that the border will remain without  an owner, and because Armenia simply does not have the human  resources to guard it, there are no modern technical means of border  protection with which the state border security system will need to  be equipped.

Stepanyan also added that Armenia will also need time to educate a  generation of border guards, since this is a completely different  psychology. "And the consequences can be unpredictable both on  Turkey's part and on our part as well, since our citizens are not  very law-abiding and do not know how to behave at the border. For  many, the border regime, the border regime is nothing. In the early  90s, we observed all this and fought," the senior military officer  added.

When asked whether it is hypothetically possible that Armenia would  invite the European military to border the country's external  borders, especially taking into account that the country's  authorities are already openly talking about changing the political  vector of Armenia, and some Western-oriented political forces are  proposing to replace Russian border guards with representatives of  Frontex (European Border Agency and coast guard, supports EU member  states and countries included in the Schengen area in managing the  external borders of the EU - Ed.), Stepanyan expressed the conviction  that such a step will undoubtedly lead to another round of tension  between Yerevan and Moscow.

"This will also mean that the Armenian authorities are deliberately  leading Russia to leave our country. It is necessary to resolve all  problems in our relations at the negotiating table, and not as is  happening now. If a few years ago we were proud that we have our  allies are a nuclear power, then today for some reason we forget what  Russia is and acquire an enemy in its person. Do we need to have  hostile relations with Russia, will we survive such a situation?" the  general asked, adding that he is categorically against such a  development of the situation, since Armenia will not bear such a  load. According to him, today there is no country near Armenia that  would guarantee its complete security.

At the same time, he urged not to forget about the Iranian factor.  "Okay, Russia - good or bad, fulfills or does not fulfill its  obligations, but we also have plans for Iran. Official Tehran raises  the question of eliminating representatives of third countries from  the border. If Yerevan decides to deploy European forces on its  border, Iran will at least be offended," the general noted.

To clarify how realistic the conversations about the possibility of  introducing European forces in Armenia are and whether Europe has  such potential, Stepanyan noted that the European Union can afford  anything, since it has both financial means and resources. However,  according to him, Europe itself still needs to deal with its member  countries, since it is now, in fact, split into two parts.

"They do not have a common understanding on a number of issues  related to Ukraine. I am sure that in terms of Armenia it will be  even worse. Let's look at the situation using the example of the  latest resolution of the European Parliament. There, 4 deputies voted  against this document, and a number of other countries abstained.  Look , which countries refused to support this resolution. I am sure  that on the issue of granting Armenia EU candidate status, there will  be countries that will veto. We have no guarantees that this will not  happen. Let's look at history! Cilician Armenia was under the  protectorate of France - where is Cilician Armenia now? After the 1st  World War, the United States took over supervision of Armenia, soon  refused and handed everything over to the British, and they to the  Turks, and then there were well-known events.  The Treaty of SŠvres  hung in the air, and the countries that signed it fell silent for  more than 100 Let's just remember what happened at the beginning of  the 20th century - the loss of a huge territory and my native  Nakhijevan... I doubt that Europe will consistently defend Armenia  100% to the end. I believe that there should be no Europeans on the  Armenian-Turkish border," the general concluded.