Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian talks about the closed border with Turkey, the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks and the role of the OSCE.

The Caucasus region is a bridge between Asia and Europe; as such it is a very important region. What is your overall view of the geopolitical situation of Armenia?

The Caucasus is a very complicated region. Historically there have been multilayered influences of cultures and peoples. Different empires have ruled the region. Different people still inhabit the region. This all makes the whole situation a complicated one.

The Armenian situation is even more difficult because of the geographic constraints that we found ourselves in right after independence. Relations with Turkey are not easy. The border is closed between the two countries. We are in conflict with Azerbaijan. So with two neighbours we have complications. Even in the nature of relations with the rest of the world the other two neighbouring countries add to Armenia's complications.

Despite all this we have managed to progress and move forward. We developed economically and we built our institutions. I think we are moving in the right direction.

You have been working in the Foreign Ministry for 15 years now, 9 years of it as Foreign Minister. What have you achieved so far and what do you still want to achieve?
It would be extremely difficult to nume­rate the things that have happened in the past nine years. Most importantly, the cea­sefire was held, negotiations continue concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, and we became engaged in integration processes with the European Union. Today it is a fact that the country is much stronger and in a much better situation than we were 15 years ago. Not that I'm claiming credit for this, but I brought my contribution in all this. There is still a lot to do. One of the things that I strive for is to find a resolution for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to improve the political environment in our region, to have normal relations with all our neighbours without any exception open borders, open communications.

Talking about Turkey, there is still the border closed. Armenia demands that the massacres during the Ottoman Empire are being recognized by Turkey...
That's not correct. We do pursue recog­nition of the genocide by international organizations and other countries. But we Armenians have never made the recognition of genocide by Turkey a precondition for normalizing our relations. We look at it as a two-track thing: recognition of the genocide by Turkey is one track; normalization of our relations is the other track. It is Turkey that is putting conditions for the normalization of relations and the opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia.

Which conditions are these?
First, that we denounce the genocide issue; second, that we yield on the Azerbaijani demands on Nagorno-Karabakh. These are the two main conditions they put. For us they are unacceptable. As we are not putting conditions for the normalization of relations, they should not put conditions such as renouncing the events of 1915. And our problem with Azerbaijan is a problem with a third country. Turkey should not meddle in this and should not link our bilateral ties with a third country problem.

Is the genocide issue a problem of definition (what is genocide) or a problem of recognition that it really was genocide?
All scholars researching on this topic clearly say that it was genocide. The genocide convention adopted by the UN in 1948 established the criteria for genocide qualification. What happened to Armenians in 1915 absolutely meets those requirements and fits the definition in all aspects: that the massacres and killings in 1915 were premeditated and that they intended to eliminate the whole nation. These two alone would suffice to qualify the events of 1915 as genocide.

The word genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish scholar, in 1943. The example he used for coining that term were the events of 1915, the killings of Armenians. There is no denying to this, and Turks eventually have to come to terms with this. It's inevitable. The evidence and proof is so overwhelming that it would be extremely difficult for Turkey to deny.

The law in France and Switzerland condemns the denial of genocide of 1915. What is the significance of such a law?
Let me say that those laws are reactions to the extensive state policy of denial of the government of Turkey. If one country wasn't aggressively denying genocide crime at the state level, there won't be any need for countries like France and Switzerland to pass laws like that. The same is happening now in the United States. There is a pending resolution. Turkey is fighting that. But they're exporting their 'denialism' from their country to other countries. And that is what we consider unacceptable. What France or Switzerland do is their own prerogative. There are similar laws on holocaust. The need for such things is up to them to decide.

Since 1994 there has been an armistice with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan demands that all Armenian troops leave Nagorno-Karabakh and hand back sovereignty to Azerbaijan. What is the view of Armenia and what is a way of reconciliation?
You're right, they demand that. But they are forgetting that the cause of this conflict was not the issue of territory that they lost during the war. The war started because they refused to recognize the right of people of Nagorno-Karabakh for self-determination. They tried to suppress those peaceful calls militarily. The whole thing turned into a military conflict and during that conflict they lost territories. A million refugees from both sides were created. You need to focus on the real issue for a solution which is the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until recently Azeri were insisting that they get the territories before anything else. But now they are also talking about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

They are accepting that eventually the people of Nagorno-Karabakh should have the right for self-de­termination through the instrument of a referendum. Only through this acceptance we have been able to make serious progress in our talks. Those demands can only be met if the status issue is ad­dressed and resolved.

Today you held a speech at the permanent council of the OSCE. How important is the OSCE for the peace movement?
For the peace talks the OSCE is the quintessential organization because the Minsk Group is a creation of the OSCE from 1992. The mediators Russia, France and the United States as part of the Minsk Group are mandated by OSCE to conduct the talks. That's why we attach so much significance to this organization. I visit and inform the OSCE on a regular basis about the development of peace talks.

What are the relations with Austria like?
We have very good relations. During my visit I met with the Foreign Minister Ursu­la Plassnik and we discussed our bilateral relations. Austria is an important country for us, a member of the EU, it has huge potentials, and we would like to develop extensive ties. There are direct flights from Vienna to Yerevan, so the link is there. We try to generate interest among the business communities in both countries, so that we activate our economic relations. Recently we signed the action plan with the EU which has many concrete programs in it and we would like to implement some of these programs with Austria.

What is a possible market for Austrian businesses in Armenia?
There are opportunities in banking, construction, in the energy sector, in trade and tourism. There are many areas we can develop cooperation.

In the field of tourism...?
Armenia is an attractive country. The nature of tourism is so-called niche tourism. We have strong religious aspects as we are the first nation that adopted Chri­stianity. There are monuments and churches dating back to the early fourth century. There is much to see. Our nature is very interesting; there is mountain tourism and winter tourism. We can both benefit from Austria's experience and also attract Austrian tourists.