Azerbaijan a threat to regional peace: Richard Giragosian

Azerbaijan proved that it is a threat to the peace in the region, Richard Giragosian, the director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies, has said in an interview with local Armenian business daily Capital.

"Well, we can say that Armenia's foreign policy is stronger today compared to the same period last year. Turkey showed to the world that it has not been fair with Armenia. Azerbaijan proved that it is a threat to the regional peace and what it means to be Azerbaijan," Giragosian said, when asked on diplomatic achievements Armenia had this year.

"This year, it was also affirmed that Nagorno Karabakh will never return to Azerbaijan," he added.

However, according to him, there is also one important issue for Armenia to consider: the success in Armenia's foreign policy will not last long given it has very serious internal problems.

"The most serious problem Armenia has today is the absence of democracy and the oligarchic economic system. To be able to become a strong power, Armenia needs to make reforms in internal political, legal and economic systems," Giragosian explained.

Further, he said that no country has ever had strong foreign policy, if it has had problems at home.

"No single state has throughout the history been able to have strong foreign policy, if it has problems inside, if it is weak inside. To have a powerful state, Armenia's authorities must take this into account," Giragosian said.