'Why Award Ahmadinejad with Honorary Degree?' Sargsyan Responds

We cannot oblige our neighbours to think as we do, said Serzh Sargsyan in an interview with Euronews TV channel late yesterday evening, responding to the interviewer’s question as to why Yerevan State University would award Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an honorary degree in 2007.

“One should not narrow things down to a single person. To bestow upon the leader of a country an honorific reward signifies an expression of gratitude and recognition towards the people of that country. The Iranians have been our neighbours for centuries and they are very important to us,” Sargsyan continued.

Asked whether he would consider the university’s decision “Armenian ‘realpolitik’,” Sargsyan said:

“I would consider it as a particular approach by the State University of Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world.”