PRESS RELEASE
Policy Forum Armenia
1250 I (Eye) Street N.W., Suite 710,
Washington, DC, 20005
Email: [email protected]
Dear Friends:
Our homeland has been through a great deal of ordeal in the passing
year. Fraudulent presidential elections, massive protests, rising
emigration, the misguided commitment to join the Russia-led Customs
Union, and mass arrests of activists protesting Russia’s Vladimir
Putin’s visit to Armenia have all contributed to that. The economy has
slowed down significantly and recorded practically no growth in the
second and third quarters of 2013 compared to the same periods a year
ago. According to the official statistics, one in every three Armenian
residents lives in poverty. Unofficial estimates are much higher. In
the meantime, the ruling regime continues to control in excess of an
estimated 60 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Although this may have been one of the worse years for Armenia since
independence, we have much reason for enthusiasm. The civil society is
stronger than at any point before. Those on the barricades are
determined to not only force the regime to leave but are also eager to
build institutional foundations for a freer and independent
Armenia. Our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora today are better
informed about the conditions on the ground in Armenia and the true
factors behind the misery and devastation observed outside of downtown
Yerevan. As never before we are united with the understanding that
with hard and persistent work we can turn Armenia into a country that
we all could be proud of and will one day return to live.
We believe we have contributed to this positive message. By visiting
our website you can see that with only modest resources (coming mostly
from our members) we have been able to maintain a high level of
analytical output and inform our stakeholders of the true problems
faced by people of Armenia and the country itself. Only when you have
the right diagnosis you can expect to find the right cure for the
illness. We are the only organization in the Diaspora that produces
consistent and professional output on completely volunteer basis
without being paid for what we do.
Highlights of our 2013 effort are as follows:
路 Election Research: within days from Armenia’s presidential election
on February 18, 2013, PFA issued its analysis of the election outcome
using statistical and econometric methodology and helped reveal
massive fraud in favor of the incumbent.
路 International Relations: In May 2013, PFA joined forces with the
United States Atlantic Council to hold a high level round-table
discussion with Washington-based senior experts on Armenia’s relations
with NATO.
路 Post-election Developments: In June 2013, jointly with the George
Washington University Law School and Elliot School of International
Affairs, PFA hosted Armenian presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian
for a conversation on foreign and domestic policy, and to hear his
views of the political and civil society development in Armenia.
路 Diaspora: In August 2013, we hosted a discussion on the conditions
of Armenians in Syria by Arm茅nag Aprahamian, the President of
Paris-based National Council of Armenians from Western Armenia, an
organization accredited by the United Nations to represent the
indigenous people of Western Armenia.
路 Economic and Social Issues: In October 2013, we released our third
State of the Nation Report on `Corruption in Armenia’ where we focused
on wholesale and retail corruption and offered mechanisms of reducing
the cancer of corruption in Armenia.
路 Environment: Subsequently we hosted a group of environmental
activists and scientists, who brought to the US a documentary showing
the extent of desecration caused by open mining in Armenia’s Southern
Syuniq region.
路 Institutional Development: we are extremely fortunate to have been
able to put together a world-class Academic Board, which serves as the
main quality-controller of our research, and receive a 501(c)3
tax-exempt status from the US Internal Revenue Service.
However, there is one area that leaves more to desire this holiday
season. It is the knowledge that we could have doubled the amount of
work we do to benefit Armenia and its people if only we had slightly
more financial resources at our disposal. Therefore, please consider
making a tax-deductible donation to enable us to continue to serve our
mandate of providing independent, high-quality analysis of issues of
true concern for Armenia today and tomorrow. A nation without a
forward-oriented think-tank is bound to remain on the sidelines of
history and is unlikely to make the jump forward that we are all
dreaming about.
In closing, we would like to thank you for staying engaged with
Armenia and with us. We wish you all Happy Holidays! May the New Year
bring joy and new opportunities for Armenia, its residents, and every
Armenian around the world.
Sincerely Yours,
Management and Fellows of Policy Forum Armenia
From: Baghdasarian