From the Treaty of Kars to Armenia

In order to evaluate any document, it is essential to see the legal status of the signatory countries at the moment of signing, as the status of the contract is derived from that of the signatories. Speaking about the Treaty of Kars signed in October 1921, Ara Papian, the head of the “Modus Vivendi” center, stresses that any treaty must be signed by a legitimate representative of the legitimate authority of the recognized state. “We see that in this case none of the parties was compliant with the requirements,” says Papian.

The Kars Treaty was criticized also in Soviet years, but the critics could not say that it was illegal because the legitimacy of Soviet rule in Armenia could have been questioned. “Sure, it was illegal,” Papian emphasizes.

In the context of the Treaty of Kars and, in general, speaking about today's sovereign status of Armenia, Ara Papian notes that the independence of small countries is not absolute. “Independence can be maintained by “multi-dependence”, that is, to counterbalance the dependence from one country. Our current problem is not that we depend on Russia, but that we depend only on Russia. If we were dependent on Russia, the United States, the EU, and China, we would be more independent,” he says. Find the details of the conversation in the program “Paradigm”.