ARMENIANS DISAPPOINTED WITH WASHINGTON. UNITED STATES CUTS AID TO CENTRAL ASIAN AND SOUTH CAUCASUS FSU COUNTRIES
by Yuriy Roks
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Feb 16 2012
Russia
[translated from Russian]
Washington has published figures for the levels of assistance that
it intends to provide to FSU countries in 2013. Because of its own
problems, the United States’ subsidies to Central Asian and South
Caucasus states have generally been cut in comparison with previous
years. The cutbacks have virtually not affected the military segment
– Washington has merely attempted to equalize the numerical figures
for the countries in both regions. An exception has been made for
Georgia – it will receive 14.4m dollars through this channel, which
is more than all the other countries put together.
Tbilisi is exultant. For the authorities, such an exception from the
common run is proof of the correctness of their foreign policy and
confirmation that the alliance services being provided to Washington in
military campaigns, to the extent that its resources and opportunities
allow, are not going unnoticed.
The effect was intensified by a statement that James Appathurai,
the NATO secretary general’s special representative for the South
Caucasus and Central Asia, made on Armenian Public Television Channel
1 recently during a regional tour. “Georgia’s NATO membership is a
done deal…. Georgia is seeking to join the North Atlantic Alliance,
and to this end important reforms are being implemented with a view
to meeting NATO standards,” he said.
The news of 1.5m dollars in US military aid was also received
positively in Tashkent. Uzbekistan was completely denied American
subsidies in connection with the well-known 2003 events in Andijon.
Washington has been compelled to overturn the decision, which had been
in place for 10 years, by Tashkent’s support for the counterterrorist
operation in Afghanistan. According to the publication EurasiaNet,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will receive the same amount from the
American treasury, while Kazakhstan will get a little more (1.8m
dollars) and Turkmenistan will get 685,000 dollars.
Given the explosive situation in the South Caucasus and, evidently,
its demonstration of a neutral attitude towards the Karabakh conflict,
the United States has decided to help Armenia and Azerbaijan on
a parity basis in 2013 – they will each get 2.7m dollars. For
Azerbaijan, whose military budget is close to the $2 billion mark,
Washington’s assistance can be regarded as symbolic. Which cannot be
said about Armenia. And although the Armenian side, while expressing
gratitude, commented that the condition of its military structures
has never been dependent on American financial injections, definite
disappointment can be seen. Especially since Washington, despite
cutting overall assistance to the former Soviet Union countries,
as has already been noted, has “remembered” another regional
“friend” of Armenia’s – Turkey, offering it to 3.6m dollars for
the implementation of an international military education programme
with the explanation: “Ankara continues to play a growing role as a
strengthening global partner.” For a state like Turkey this money is
not all that significant, and this gesture should probably be seen as
a US appeal to Ankara to forget about a number of factors that have
introduced elements of contradiction and mutual irritation into the
bilateral relationship.
But Washington’s explanation of the motives for its decisions on
the countries receiving assistance has been little consolation to
Armenian public organizations in the United States. A statement
that was issued by the office of Ai Dat (“The Armenian Issue” – a
worldwide organization that is concerned with the global problems
of the Armenian people and which coordinates the work of various
national organizations) and has been cited by a number of Armenian
media expresses disappointment with US President Barack Obama’s actions
and says that he actually called for a 19 per cent cut in overall aid
to Yerevan and the granting of 27.2m dollars in fiscal 2013. And this
even after the Congress had approved a sum of 40m dollars.
At a news conference Aram Hambaryan, head of the Washington office
of Ai Dat, expressed regret that Obama is in no hurry to keep
his promises that he gave to the US Armenian community during his
election campaign. Not only has he “forgotten” about the genocide
issue but he is also cutting financial aid. “We notice yet again with
no surprise that the president is again trying to cut economic aid
to Armenia despite the serious economic consequences of the blockade
being carried out by Turkey and Azerbaijan and despite Armenia’s
comprehensive support for US operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and
Kosovo,” Hambaryan noted.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, the office’s press secretary, made it clear
in an interview with Armenian journalists that the organization will
make every effort to ensure that the volume of annual aid to Armenia
gets increased in the course of the discussions in the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the House of Representatives of the US Congress
and the Senate and that a further 10m dollars for Nagorno-Karabakh
gets enshrined in a separate line item. She stressed that during the
election campaign, apart from recognizing the genocide, both Obama and
future Secretary of State and Vice President Hillary Clinton and Joe
Biden promised the liberalization and expansion of trade with Armenia,
a tough stance on the issue of Azerbaijan’s violation of the cease-fire
regime in Karabakh, and a deepening of the ties between Armenia and
the United States. But there is no progress in any of these areas;
even the reverse. Thus, Clinton stated recently that the genocide
of Armenians is a matter that needs to be discussed by historians
whereas 42 American states have officially recognized the genocide,
Chouldjian said.
[translated from Russian]
From: A. Papazian