Today we live in a society, which can not imagine life without expressing views on social media. Probably it does have certain advantages. Nevertheless, many participants of active discussions have already forgotten or do not even know about the developments, which unfolded in Armenia 5, 10 or 15 years ago.   

To fill the gap Mediamax presents 5/10/15 project, which introduce developments in Armenia 5,10 and 15 years ago.

•    15 YEARS AGO: 27 NOVEMBER-3 DECEMBER, 2002

The embassy that never was and has yet to open

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Ruben Shugaryan, who visited Israel for political consultations, stated that Armenia considered opening an embassy in Israel.

The embassy did not open after all in the past 15 years. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian stated recently that Armenia would open an embassy in Israel after the Jewish state establishes a diplomatic presense in Yerevan.

“Cooperate with Turkey with pleasure”

On November 27, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan urged not to dramatize the situation concerning the possible participation of the Turkish military in the Cooperative Best Effort 2003 exercise.

Serzh Sargsyan at the opening of Cooperative Best Effort 2003 exercise

Photo: Photolure

In reply to the statements that the Armenian and Turkish soldiers cannot be allies as the Cooperative Best Effort exercise presupposes, Sargsyan said: “Let us imagine that, God forbid, a militarized terrorist group, which would threaten both Armenia and Turkey, appears in the region. What shall we do in this case? Personally, I will cooperate with Turkey with pleasure.”

•    10 YEARS AGO: 27 NOVEMBER-3 DECEMBER, 2007

Madrid Principles

On November 29, Foreign Ministers of Russia and France Sergey Lavrov and Bernard Kouchner and the U. S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns met the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs in Madrid to present them the supplemented version of the principles of the NK conflict settlement

On the following day, November 30, Kouchner, Lavrov and Burns issued a joint statement, which reads that the parties to the conflict were given “just and balanced basic principles of the peaceful settlement of the conflict”.

Bernard Kouchner and Sergey Lavrov in 2007

Photo: REUTERS

“Moscow, Paris and Washington consider the document on basic principles, presented to the parties, to be the most viable foundation for future settlement. The parties to the conflict were strongly urged to bring to a close the current stage of negotiations by endorsing the proposed Basic Principles and commencing as soon as possible to draft a comprehensive Peace Agreement. Moreover, the parties were asked not to hinder resumption of the OSCE monitoring on the Line of Contact, continue realization of the measures on building trust in all possible spheres, prepare their population to peace, and cease making any statements implying that the settlement of the conflict may take place by means of a war”, the statement reads.

“I consider this step especially important, since for the first time all the agreements, which have been reached so far, are summed up in a single document. We believe that those additional steps, which are yet to be taken by the sides for reaching complete settlement, will be considerably facilitated by the existence of this document,” Sergey Lavrov stated.

•    5 YEARS AGO: 27 NOVEMBER-3 DECEMBER, 2012

Saakashvili and Barroso in Yerevan

On November 30, Yerevan hosted its first Eastern Partnership Summit of the European People’s Party (EPP).

José Manuel Barroso

 

President of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, Prime Minister of Moldova Vlad Filat, EPP President Wilfried Martens, and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso attended the summit.

Ara Tadevosyan