Month: May 2021

BY ARAM SUREN HAMPARIAN

Our U.S. Department of State has a bad habit of lying about Armenians.

The facts are clear.

The pattern is evident.

In our American public record.

They shamelessly denied and covered up for Turkey about the Armenian Genocide for a century – A CENTURY+.

MULTIPLE GENERATIONS.

FULL LIFE-TIMES.

FOR 106 YEARS.

They still won’t admit the obvious truth that Azerbaijan attacked Artsakh last fall – EVEN AFTER ALIYEV HAS PROUDLY BOASTED ABOUT HAVING ATTACKED ARTSAKH.

They resist clearly calling out Azerbaijan for invading and currently occupying Armenian territory – DESPITE THE CLEAR EVIDENCE OF THIS FACT.

They claim – against all reason – that $120,000,000 in U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan didn’t contribute to Baku’s offensive military capabilities – A PAINFULLY OBVIOUS FALSEHOOD.

They take credit for post-war humanitarian aid – WHEN THEIR OWN RECORD SHOWS JUST $5 MILLION TO HELP ALL THOSE AFFECTED (ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI) SINCE LAST FALL.

They advanced the career of Matt Bryza, misrepresenting him as an “honest broker” – WHEN HE WAS CLEARLY BIASED AGAINST ARMENIANS (unsurprisingly, after retiring, he raked in millions working for foreign/pro-Azerbaijan oil industry interests).

They lied about financing the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission – ONLY TO HAVE THIS LIE UNCOVERED BY A CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE REPORT.

They talk about a diverse Foreign Service – EVEN THOUGH LESS THAN A DOZEN OF THE 23,000 AMERICANS WORKING FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT ARE OF ARMENIAN HERITAGE.

They lied about Armenian prisoners of war, calling them “detainees” – UNTIL YESTERDAY.

YESTERDAY!

The list goes on.

All too often, when they do tell the truth – it’s because of community, coalition, and Congressional pressure.

When it comes to serious issues impacting Armenians, truth is their exception, sadly, not their rule.

Their default remains falsehood: Expedient. Convenient. Lies.

A very bad habit, hardened over a very long time.

We might – for the sake of courtesy or a misguided desire for comity – politely ignore these lies – but that would be a disservice to America, an abdication of our responsibilities as citizens.

For nothing good can be built upon a foundation of lies.

Lies hurt. They destroy. Sometimes they kill.

We must – as Americans and as Armenians – confront each of these dangerous falsehoods.
Standing up to lies is a hallmark of American citizenship.

Accepting them is wrong – irresponsible on every level.

And, so we must and will call them all out, one by one.

Turn them toward truth.

Toward justice.

Aram Hamparian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

The OSCE Mink Group Co-Chairs and the European Union on Friday added their voices to the growing international concern over the deepening crisis along Armenia’s border, which was breached on May 12 with Azerbaijani forces advancing into Armenia’s Syunik and Gegharkuik provinces.

On Thursday, six Armenian soldiers were captured by Azerbaijani forces in Gegharkunik and despite wide-spread international calls for Azerbaijan to release them and all prisoners of war, Baku has refused to do so. Azerbaijani forces also shot and killed an Armenian soldier, Gevorg Khurshudyan on Tuesday in the same area.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States, in a statement released on Friday said they held talks with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer and UN High Commissioner of Refugees Filipino Grandi in Geneva on May 27 and 28 with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also in attendance.

“The Co-Chairs take note of the reported detention of six Armenian soldiers on May 27 and call for the release of all prisoners of war and other detainees on an all for all basis. The Co-Chairs underscore the obligation to treat detainees in accordance with international humanitarian law. The Co-Chairs strongly urge the sides to lift all restrictions on humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh immediately, and call on the sides to implement in full the commitments they undertook under the November 9 ceasefire declaration,” said the statement.

“The Co-Chairs also note with concern several recent reports of incidents on the non-demarcated Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The use or threat of force to resolve border disputes is not acceptable. We call on both sides to take immediate steps, including the relocation of troops, to de-escalate the situation and to begin negotiations to delimitate and demarcate the border peacefully. The Co-Chairs stand ready to assist in facilitating this process,” added the Co-Chairs.

“Having in mind the terms of their OSCE mandate and the aspirations of all the people of the region for a stable, peaceful, and prosperous future, the Co-Chairs again call on the sides to reengage under their auspices at the earliest opportunity,” added the statement.

Recent developments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border are both dangerous and worrying, Peter Stano, lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a statement, adding that immediate de-escalation is needed.

“The European Union urges both sides to refrain from any further military deployment and actions. All forces should pull back to positions held before 12 May and both sides should engage in negotiations on border delimitation and demarcation. We continue to call on Azerbaijan to release all prisoners of war and detainees without delay. We welcome all efforts aimed at decreasing tensions, including proposals for a possible international observation mission,” said Stano.

“The EU is ready to provide expertise and help on border delimitation and demarcation, as well as to support much needed confidence building measures, in order to move towards sustainable peace and prosperity for the South Caucasus,” he concluded.

Also on Friday, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission Josep Borrell has said that a group of European ministers would visit the Caucasus to assess the situation there first hand.

“A group of [European Union] Ministers will visit the three South Caucasus countries on my behalf to show our readiness to further engage in the region,” Borrell said at the informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers in Lisbon, Portugal.

First Post-War Proposal Falls Far Short of Urgent ANCA, Congressional Armenian Caucus Calls for $100 Million in Emergency Assistance to Artsakh and Armenia

WASHINGTON—The Biden Administration called for a mere $24 million in U.S. assistance to Armenia in the Fiscal Year 2022 foreign aid budget issued Friday, a standard request that fails to address the ongoing humanitarian and economic disaster caused by Turkey and Azerbaijan’s attacks against Armenia and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh last fall, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“President Biden’s business-as-usual budget for Armenia – proposed amid a humanitarian crisis across Artsakh and Armenia created by Azerbaijan’s aggression – falls far short of the desperate needs faced by tens of thousands of Armenians displaced by Baku’s ethnic-cleansing,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.

“Our government has found the funds to ship $120,000,000 in U.S. military aid to oil-rich Azerbaijan, yet proposes just a fraction of this amount for the Artsakh families destroyed and displaced by the U.S.-financed Azerbaijani army. The Congress needs to set this right – zeroing out all U.S. arms and aid to Baku and sending a robust U.S. assistance package to Artsakh and Armenia,” added Hamparian.

The President’s budget includes $23,405,000 in foreign aid and $600,000 in military assistance to Armenia.  A separate line item in the budget calls for $6,050,000 in International Narcotics and Law Enforcement spending in Armenia.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of over 65 U.S. House members joined in the Congressional Armenian Caucus request for an FY2022 allocation of over $100 million in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh, an effort broadly supported by the ANCA.

Community members and coalition partners interested in supporting a $250 million aid package for Artsakh and Armenia can take action.

This year, as we mark Armenian Independence, it is more reminiscent of 100 years ago when Russia and Turkey colluded to quash Armenia and the aspirations of all Armenians of exercising their right to independence and self-determination.

For 44 days last fall we watched as Moscow and Ankara, once again, conspired and by aiding Azerbaijan and abating some of the most gruesome human rights violations, made another attempt of robbing Armenia of its independence and Armenians of their dignity and right to determine their own fate.

On Armenia’s sovereignty is in jeopardy and its very existence is threatened. Artsakh has been reduced to a fraction of its size; Ankara has a foothold in Aghdam along the tenuous line-of-contact with Artsakh; 1,000 Azerbaijani troops are camped out in Armenia; more than 200 prisoners of war and captives are being tortured by the Baku regime; and just this week six soldiers were taken hostage and one was killed by Azerbaijani forces.

How did we get here?

First and foremost, Armenia’s “strategic ally,” Russia, has abandoned its commitments to Yerevan. At every turn when Russian leaders boast of Moscow’s—and more specifically President Vladimir Putin’s—role in brokering a ceasefire in Karabakh, Armenia is forced to relinquish and surrender something—usually territories—while Azerbaijan is allowed to advance its destructive and aggressive policies.

Armenia’s Western “allies” talk a good game, but are short on action. During the war, France sounded the alarm about Ankara deploying mercenaries and pledged to broker peace, while the United States stood by and watched Artsakh burn. In the current border standoff, France, has again stepped up its rhetoric, while the U.S. is still practicing its false parity and has chosen to assist Azerbaijan enabling it to continue its killing spree.

Armenia’s leaders have also played their part in hastening this reality due to their opaque and misguided understanding of the concept of independence.

When Armenia declared independence in 1991, its leaders began a fire sale of Armenia’s key infrastructure—electricity, gas, communications, transport, IT—making Armenia solely dependent on Russia. Taking a page from the Soviet playbook successive governments looked at the population as being dispensable—and at times disposable—in their self-serving mission to amass personal wealth at any cost and at the expense of the people.

The current regime has treated Armenia’s independence as theater—or a reality show— replete with selfie sticks and props and has squandered the people’s trust that brought it to power. For 44 days, the regime, headed by the prime minister, lied not only to the population of Armenia but the entire Armenian nation by painting an optimistic outcome for the war despite the mounting causalities and reports of brutal attacks. On November 9, with one signature and hardly any remorse, the prime minister not only surrendered territories in Artsakh but, through his self-absorbed arrogance, paved the way for the crisis to reach such a point where foreign troops have encroached and have decamped on Armenia’s sovereign territory.

In 1918 Armenians were also left to their own defenses, but instead of clamoring they banded together and at all costs fought valiantly and established the Independent Republic of Armenia, shattering 600 years of tyranny and oppression. Those leading the effort, namely the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, were fully cognizant of the stakes, but they marshaled the people toward victory in Bashabaran, Gharakilise and Sardarabad. That same resolve shepherded our nation to another victory when Artsakh was finally liberated in 1994.

May 28, 1918, the day Armenia declared independence and established the first Republic of Armenia, has always been the “Phoenix rising from the ashes” moment that has inspired and emboldened generations of Armenians to take action and advance our national aspirations, making it an individual—and collective—struggle for each and every Armenian.

During the dark Soviet years, celebrating May 28 meant recommitting ourselves to the ideal of independence and working harder to realize our dream of an independent Armenia. When that day came on September 21, 1991, we, as a nation, rejoiced and pledged to do our utmost to strengthen our homeland and May 28 became that pillar upon which our homeland rested.

The great poet Paruyr Sevak made the clarion call when he urged all generations to know themselves from Sardarabad. This past year has shown that in order to emerge from our current national predicament we have to not only know ourselves but define ourselves by Sardarabad.

We are humbled by those who sacrificed their lives for our nation and bow our heads to their memory.