Kansans, Armenians forge partnership to aid former Soviet nation
By JOHN MILBURN, Associated Press
Kansas City Star
June 18 2004
TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas and Armenia are working to share information
and skills through a budding partnership between the Kansas National
Guard and southwest Asian nation that is struggling to develop in
the post-Soviet era.
At a ceremony Friday at the State Defense Building in Topeka, a
delegation of Armenian Americans and National Guard officials marked
the program’s progress.
“We really want this to be a two-way street, where we learn as much
from them that they learn from us,” said Col. Joe Wheeler, plans,
operations and training officer for the Kansas National Guard.
The Armenian relationship, which began in 2003, replaces the shared
duties Kansas had with California to assist the Ukrainian government.
Wheeler said exchanges were planned between the two nations’ military,
civilian government and civilians themselves.
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, state adjutant general, returned from Armenia
in late May. He said while the country has a history that is centuries
old, Armenia is a developing country that is seeking greater standing
in the world 14 years after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
After becoming part of the Soviet Union in 1920, Armenian leaders
remained at odds with Azerbaijan, an Islamic neighbor, over disputed
territory. The two countries began fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region in 1988 and fighting escalated in 1991 when the both countries
were independent from the Soviets.
Bunting said the concept of “citizen soldiers” embodied by the National
Guard is foreign to Armenians, where people are used to being servants
of the government.
“Through this program, it is we the people of Kansas who are reaching
out in a spirit of cooperation to the people of Armenia to show them
who we are and how we live.”
A common interest in both countries, he said, was emergency response.
While Kansas has its tornadoes, Armenia is prone to earthquakes and
sharing response techniques could prove beneficial.
Armenia is the size of Maryland with a population close to the 2.6
million of Kansas. While the Sunflower State has its plains of wheat,
Armenia is a rocky country, known for its apricots, tomatoes and
mountains. There are about 480 Armenian Americans living in Kansas.
One of them, Alex Kotoyantz of Junction City, said several issues,
including the long-standing tensions with Turkey, divide Armenians
and their neighbors. Millions of Armenians were killed in what is
considered a genocide attempt by the Turks during their war.
He said Armenian Americans continue to provide millions of dollars
in economic support to their homeland as the economy struggles.
“The mentality is tough to break away from,” he said.