Author: Ani Basmajian

Turkish Press
Dec 8 2004
Russia and the West
BYEGM: 12/8/2004
BY SAMI KOHEN
MILLIYET- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ankara this
week coincided with a problematic period in terms of our relations
with the West. Before and after the visit, Turkey’s warmth for Russia
stood in contrast with its coldness towards the US and certain EU
members. In fact, Putin’s visit highlighted the positive atmosphere
between Ankara and Moscow. For example, the Turkish media’s interest
and positive take on relations with Moscow surprised even Russian
observers. However, there’s been a negative shift in Turkey’s feelings
for old friends. Particularly its anti-US feelings are about to upset
relations. The key factor in this is criticisms of US policies in
northern Iraq and towards PKK terrorists. As a decision on our EU
membership talks looms, there’s also difficulties and discomfort in
our relations with Europe. Particularly certain EU members’ recent
stances and a draft statement for the summit caused disappointment.
Putin’s visit to Ankara in such an atmosphere, taken as the
beginning of a new era for Turkish-Russian relations, served to
relax Turkey. However, we shouldn’t consider this an alternative
to our relations and common interests with the West or an escape
from the West by leaning towards Moscow. If Russia is seen in terms
of multidimensional relations, relations are positive. Ankara and
Moscow still have common views on many issues, for example, Iraq
and the Middle East. However, they disagree on others, for example,
Cyprus, Armenia and Northern Karabakh. We have good cooperation in
some areas, particularly economics. However, there is disharmony over
Straits traffic and energy transportation. Putin said in Ankara that
if Turkey becomes an EU member, due to EU restrictions, it wouldn’t
be able to buy inexpensive energy from Russia, as it has done, and
that many Russian tourists would no longer be able to visit Turkey.
In fact, these negative predictions for the next 10-15 years were
surprising. Putin gave the impression that he didn’t favor Turkey’s
EU membership and that Ankara should prioritize its relations with
Moscow. I wonder if he was trying to send a message even as Turkey
is working to get a date for EU membership talks.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Transitions Online, Czech Republic
Nov 15 2004
Awkwardly Successful

by Haroutiun Khachatrian
The government beats its own poverty-reduction target eight years
ahead of schedule. From Eurasianet.
YEREVAN, Armenia–A recent economic survey in Armenia showing a
significant decline in the number of citizens living in poverty has
placed President Robert Kocharian’s administration in a somewhat
awkward position. While Kocharian has been eager to show Armenians
that living standards are improving, the report’s findings could
complicate the Armenian government’s efforts to secure international
aid for poverty-reduction programs.
The annual survey of household incomes by the National Statistical
Service contained a full range of startling statistics. Among the
most surprising: The percentage of Armenians living below the poverty
line fell from 50 percent in 2002 to 42.9 percent in 2003. Similarly,
the number of poorest Armenians–those who earn less than 7,742 drams
(about $15) per month–also took a surprising plunge, from 13.1
percent of the population in 2002 to 7.4 percent in 2003. At the same
time, the survey indicated that the country’s income gap between rich
and poor narrowed slightly.
The statistics reveals that the poverty reduction rate in Armenia far
exceeds the projections that the government outlined in its Poverty
Reduction Strategic Paper (PRSP) released earlier this year. In one
example in the PRSP, officials estimated that that it would take
until 2012 before the “very poor” could be reduced to less than 8
percent of the population. The NSS figures show that this benchmark
has been surpassed a full eight years ahead of the government’s
schedule.
Given the NSS findings, questions are already being raised about the
accuracy and potential effectiveness of the government’s anti-poverty
blueprint. While officials have been happy to tout the reduction in
poverty, one government minister has already disputed the NSS
findings. Vardan Khachatrian, the finance and economy minister, told
reporters that the results were difficult to trust and too
optimistic.
Some economic experts share Khachatrian’s doubts. “I cannot see the
reasons that could bring about such a drastic change in the
percentage of the population made up by the very poor,” said Ruben
Yeganian, a researcher at Yerevan’s Institute of Economic Problems.
The decrease was particularly improbable for 2003, when Armenia’s
inflation rate soared in response to an increase in foreign grain
prices, Yeganian asserted. That year, bread prices increased by 31
percent between January and December, causing an overall 8.6 percent
increase in the consumer price index, compared with a 2-percent rise
the previous year.
A report published on 18 October by the International Crisis Group
(ICG) echoes Yeganian’s assessment. Its study, entitled “Armenia:
Instability Ahead,” states that while the market reforms of the 1990s
may mean Armenia is now enjoying a relative boom, relatively few
Armenians have seen a vast improvement in living standards. “The
benefits of economic recovery are not equally shared,” the report
found. “There is little sign of poverty decreasing.”
Contradicting the NSS, the ICG report cited statistics that show 55
percent of the population lives in poverty, with wealth concentrated
in Yerevan and in “circles close to the government.” Meanwhile, the
exodus of educated, well-trained workers–one of the main obstacles
to an Armenian economic comeback–continues. Favored labor markets
include Russia, Central Europe, Ukraine, and Turkey, where potential
salaries are higher than the $78 average monthly salary to be had in
Armenia.
The poverty issue has figured prominently in the ongoing power
struggle between Kocharian and opposition political parties. In an
attempt to outflank his critics, Kocharian unveiled a 12-year plan
for fighting poverty in June. Yeganian speculated that the government
may have cast doubt on the NSS findings in order to prevent a
decrease in foreign aid programs. An additional factor feeding
official concerns, Yeganian suggested, is the decrease in value of
the U.S. dollar against the Armenian dram over the last year. As a
result, the incomes of Armenians, when denominated in dollars, appear
to have increased.
The Armenian government counts heavily on international aid to
promote economic stabilization efforts, including anti-poverty
programs. Armenia hopes to receive $100 million for various economic
development schemes in 2004 from the U.S. Millennium Challenge
Account program, aid monies that are contingent on the country’s
record for democratic reform and human rights. Also in support of
Kocharian’s agenda, the World Bank has pledged to deliver $250
million by November 2004 for work on rural schools, infrastructure
and irrigation systems.
Some representatives of the NSS themselves have admitted to being
caught off guard by the survey’s results. Hovik Hohannisian, head of
Food Security Statistics, raised questions about the criteria used to
determine who is “very poor,” saying that the food basket used to
determine purchasing power was actually more like a “bread basket.”
Meanwhile, one of the country’s main creditors, the World Bank, said
it saw no reason to doubt the NSS data, the Bank’s Yerevan
spokesperson, Vigen Sargsian, told Eurasianet. Aside from the World
Bank, the NSS’s data is routinely cited by international
organizations, including the International Monetary Fund. The NSS
also receives advice from representatives of the European Union and
the U.S. Agency for International Development.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Interfax
Oct 20 2004
Putin invites Aliyev to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
Moscow. (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed
that he and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev discuss the
situation surrounding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.
The two leaders are meeting in the Kremlin where they arrived after
attending an assembly of the All-Russia Azerbaijani Congress earlier
on Tuesday, an Interfax correspondent reported.
Putin invited Aliyev “to talk in a calm atmosphere about an acute
problem, one of the most acute ones in the Caucasus. I mean the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Putin said.
Aliyev replied that he hopes “Russia will continue to make
significant efforts to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict both
as our neighbor and as a co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pioneer Press , MN
Oct 7 2004
Who killed Joshua?
Mother and two brothers going to Armenia to look for answers to
4-month-old crime
BY ALLEN POWELL II
Pioneer Press
Last May, Joshua Haglund was beaten and stabbed to death in front of
his apartment in Armenia after returning from a visit with a friend.
After four months and little new information about how the
33-year-old died, members of his Shoreview family will leave today on
their first visit to Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. They hope to find
answers and closure.
“Even if it’s good news or bad news, we’d like to know,” said his
mother, Maxine Haglund-Blommer. “We’re frustrated, disappointed.
Sometimes we get angry and mad. It’s just sad that my son never came
back.”
James Haglund, Joshua’s brother, said the family feels stymied by
both Armenian and U.S. State Department officials. Neither government
has offered much information about the killing of Haglund, who died
while working as an English teacher at a Yerevan university.
The teaching program was funded by the State Department but run by
the School for International Training.
Haglund was beaten the night of May 17 outside his downtown apartment
and stabbed three times.
Armenian officials have never contacted the family directly, and the
only new information about the case has been gleaned through reports
from Armenian newspapers and rumors from Joshua’s friends in Armenia,
said James Haglund, who will fly to Armenia with his mother and a
brother.
“We haven’t seen a police report, autopsy – basic information,” James
Haglund said from his mother’s home in Shoreview. “We’re told this is
a highest priority to the Armenian officials, but we’ve had no direct
contact with them. I think it’s a lack of closure and that’s a very
important part of our healing process.”
Kelly Shannon, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs in
the State Department, said officials have issued weekly reports to
the family including all information available. They also paid for
the return of Haglund’s body and personal effects, and they helped
arrange the family’s trip to Armenia.
The State Department spokeswoman stressed that local police are
handling the case.
“We can’t make the outcome of the investigation different,” Shannon
said. “Just like in the United States, some crimes remain unsolved
when police cannot go past a certain point.”
Haglund-Blommer said the family simply hopes police will explain to
them how her son died.
The family plans to stay in the country for 10 days. They expect to
meet with the Yerevan prosecutor investigating the case and police.
James Haglund said the family also plans to meet with Joshua’s
co-workers and friends, and they hope their presence will prompt
someone to come forward with new information.
In addition, James Haglund said his family has come to suspect that
the killing could be linked to that fact that Joshua was gay. Haglund
said the family has learned that there is hostility toward gays in
Armenia, something they say Joshua was unaware of when he left for
his fellowship.
As recently as 2002, there was a law banning homosexuality, and in
1999 several people were convicted. Haglund said the State Department
should have alerted his brother to the potential dangers he faced.
Haglund said his brother never expressed fears for his life nor
mentioned any overt anti-gay actions directed at him while he lived
in Armenia.
Joshua Haglund was a graduate of Mounds View High School and earned
bachelor’s degrees in English and political science from the
University of Minnesota. He later received a master’s degree from the
University of Toronto and taught elementary school in Minneapolis.
Haglund was fluent in Japanese, Spanish and Hindi and taught English
courses in several countries. He was planning to travel to a new
assignment in the Middle East when he was killed.
TO HELP
The family of Joshua Haglund has set up a memorial fund to help
continue the education effort he championed. Donations may be made to
Joshua’s Memorial Fund (Joshua Haglund) at Affinity Federal Credit
Union, 3533 N. Lexington Ave., Arden Hills, MN 55126.

New Era (Windhoek)- Namibia
Sept 29 2004
A New Look At the Stars
Wezi Tjaronda
Windhoek
SCORES of scholars, researchers and scientists descended on Farm
Goellschau for the inauguration of the HESS telescope observatory,
which will provide answers to how the most violent of things happen
in the universe.
With the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) telescopes erected
two years ago, scientists have observed the gamma rays from a binary
system, in this case a Be star. The observations performed between
February and May this year are the first discovery of a binary system
emitting energetic gamma rays. It also observed a mysterious source
of gamma rays as the first unidentified TeV source discovered by the
HESS experiment.
The universe contains a large cluster of galaxies with very high
energy sources that emit gamma radiation.
“Gamma rays have highest energy in the spectrum of cosmic emissions.
High energy processes cause the radiation,” said the chairman of the
HESS Collaboration Board, Professor Heinrich Völk yesterday.
During observations with the antennae , a second hot spot had been
discovered which was a new, as yet unknown, source of high-energy
gamma rays.
“Detailed investigations of the emission characteristics of the hot
spot have shown that the according to scientists.
The system can also observe the explosion of stars by means of the
gamma rays and a lot of other cosmic objects that are invisible to
the naked eye or a normal telescope.
Other discoveries have also been made but have not yet been made
public.
HESS detects sources 100 times faster than previous experiments and
opens a new window on the high-energy universe.
“These are the best results worldwide,” said Prof Völk.
The project is one of four gamma ray observatories in the world with
the other three in Australia, the Canary Islands and the United
States of America.
The Gamsberg area is said to be a excellent site for the project
because it has clear skies and dark nights, thus making it one of the
best astronomical sites in the world.
It was set up to discover more about the very early universe and was
from the beginning planned to be the biggest gamma ray stereoscopic
system in the world.
One of its objectives is to provide a better understanding of the
properties of particles that challenge science and the understanding
of the laws of physics.
It will allow scientists to observe the most violent events in the
universe such as exploding stars, black holes and jets of matter
which move at incredible speeds.
The HESS equipment was inaugurated by Prime Minister Theo Ben Gurirab
yesterday, and he pointed out that astronomy was one of the
pioneering and instrumental sciences in helping the human race to
understand the solar system.
“The HESS instruments that we see here today will help to open up new
vistas for astronomy and will no doubt make Namibia one of the few
leading centres in the world, along with South Africa, Chile, Hawaii
and some others,” he said.
Gurirab said that through the collaboration of several countries in
the project – Namibia, Germany, France, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Armenia and the Czech Republic amongst others –
Namibian scientists would one day echo Isaac Newton’s words that ” if
I have been able to see further, it was because I stood on the
shoulders of giants.”
He said the project should serve as a centre of discovery and
excellence to Namibians to enhance the country’s quest for research
and knowledge in astronomy.
Scientists from France, Germany and South Africa hailed the project
and highlighted the importance of astronomical discoveries like the
ones from the HESS project on African soil.
Dr Khotso Mokhele, President of the National Research Foundation,
noted that astronomy was the key to all things contrary to the belief
that it was just the study of the blue sky with no use for the human
race.
For Professor Enos Kiremire, acting Dean of the Science Faculty at
the University of Namibia, yesterday was a day of victory for
science. And since Namibia and Africa were hungry for knowledge it
could now be obtained from the HESS project.
Namibia could now not be ignored anymore according to German
Ambassador Dr Wolfgang Massing since the project had put the country
on the world map.
The event was attended by the former president of the Max Planck
Society, Professor Reimer Lüst, and representatives of the French
Embassy, ministries of education and research in France and the
director of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle
Physics in France, Dr Michel Spiro.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri party urges leader to prevent Armenian officers’ presence at NATO event
Assa-Irada
6 Aug 04
BAKU
The board of the United People’s Front Party of Azerbaijan adopted an
appeal to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at its session held on
Thursday 5 August .
The appeal reads that the 10-year Azerbaijani-Armenian talks over the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict have not yielded positive results yet.
“The party hopes that President Ilham Aliyev will take in view the
fact that the issue is of moral importance for the Azerbaijani people
and express his position on preventing Armenian officers from visiting
Baku to attend NATO exercises in this September ,” the appeal said.
The document says the protest actions presumably outside the embassies
of NATO member countries will be postponed if the issue is resolved
positively. This will show that the national interests are more
important.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reuters
Aug 3 2004
CrisisWatch No.12
International Crisis Group (ICG) – Belgium
Website:
July 2004 saw deteriorations in eight conflict situations worldwide,
according to August’s CrisisWatch bulletin. The 30 July simultaneous
suicide bombings of the U.S. and Israeli embassies and the general
prosecutor’s office in Tashkent aggravated the situation in
Uzbekistan. In Kashmir, violence increased in the run-up to
Indo-Pakistan peace talks, leaving over 200 dead, including numerous
civilians. Sri Lanka’s February 2002 ceasefire grew increasingly
fragile with the 8 July suicide bombing in Colombo, which killed four
police officers. Throughout the month, Thailand saw almost daily
killings of policemen, officials and village administrators in the
south of the country. The situations in Guinea, Madagascar, Moldova
and Peru also deteriorated in July.
On the positive side, four potential conflict situations showed some
improvement last month. After intensive negotiations, months of
stalemate in Côte d’Ivoire ended with a potential breakthrough, as
the opposition agreed to rejoin President Gbagbo’s government
following compromises on both sides. However, considerable scepticism
on implementation of the deal remained. In Nigeria, recent flare-ups
of ethno-religious violence, which had left hundreds dead in previous
months, subsided. Algeria and Bolivia also showed improvement in
July.
For August 2004, CrisisWatch identifies Sri Lanka and Georgia as
Conflict Risk Alerts, or situations at particular risk of further
conflict in the coming month. The only Conflict Resolution
Opportunity identified for August is Nagorno-Karabakh, where reports
of new Armenian flexibility have raised hopes of progress in
negotiations with Azerbaijan.
TRENDS AND WATCHLIST SUMMARY
JULY 2004 TRENDS
Deteriorated Situations
Guinea, Kashmir, Madagascar, Moldova, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
Uzbekistan
Improved Situations
Algeria, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria
Unchanged Situations
Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Basque
region (Spain), Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Chad, Chechnya (Russia),
China (internal), Colombia, Cyprus, DR Congo, Ethiopia/Eritrea, East
Timor, Egypt, Georgia, Haiti, India (non-Kashmir), Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel/Occupied Territories, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo,
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Morocco,
Myanmar/Burma, Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan), Nepal, North Korea,
Northern Ireland (UK), Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia,
Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan Strait,
Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Venezuela, Western Sahara,
Yemen, Zimbabwe
AUGUST 2004 WATCHLIST
Conflict Risk Alert
Georgia, Sri Lanka
Conflict Resolution Opportunity
Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
July 3 2004
Local man wanted in alleged theft ring

Six men accused in jewelry heists that netted $5M. LCF store was one
of their alleged robberies.
By Robert Chacon, News-Press
LA CRESCENTA – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives are looking
for a Glendale business owner they believe is a member of a
jewelry-store theft ring responsible for stealing items worth
millions from businesses across Los Angeles and Orange counties,
including a store in La Cañada Flintridge.
The Sheriff’s Department has a $2-million arrest warrant for Ara
Karapetian, 42, of Glendale. He owns Mirage Clothing and Armenian
Express Inc., a money transfer business in Glendale, Det. Richard
Lutz of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station said. Both businesses
are at 620 S. Glendale Ave.
Detectives have arrested six men in connection with 17 jewelry store
break-ins that took items worth $5 million, Lutz said.
Lutz said the men are members of a Russian-Armenian organized crime
group.
A multi-agency group, including the Los Angeles Police Department and
agencies from Orange County, spent hundreds of hours on surveillance,
and served search warrants on businesses and homes before making the
arrests last month, Lutz said.
“We have effectively stopped a major, major theft ring,” he said.
Detectives from the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station began their
investigation May 12, when they arrested two men who were allegedly
spotted by the owner of a La Cañada Flintridge jewelry store as they
drove away with the store’s safe in the back of a tow truck.
Avo Babayan was driving to his store, at 2147 Foothill Blvd., when he
noticed the tow truck heading in the opposite direction. He turned
his car and chased the truck, and yelled for the help of passing
sheriff’s deputies.
Babayan’s store, Aviani Jewelers, received about $10,000 damage when
the alleged burglars entered his store through the roof and pulled
the safe out the front door with a winch.
“I am very happy, and so should every store owner that was targeted,
that they were caught,” Babayan said. The theft ring targeted
Armenian-owned jewelry stores, and conducted the burglaries by
entering through the roof and pulling safes out the front door, Lutz
said.
Sheriff’s detectives urge anyone in the community with clues to the
whereabouts of Karapetian to call the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s
Station at 248-3464.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SEN. ALLEN CALLS FOR “STRICT PARITY” IN U.S. MILITARY AID TO
ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN DURING CONFIRMATION HEARING FOR U.S.
AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
– Nominee Stresses Ties to Armenia, Willingness to Work with
Armenian Americans
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator George Allen (R-VA), in his capacity as
chairman of the Senate panel holding a confirmation hearing earlier
today for the next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, stressed that in
order “to ensure that the United States remains an honest peace
broker, I believe it is essential that we maintain strict parity
with regard to foreign military financing or FMF funding” to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).
The statement comes in response to President Bush’s Fiscal Year
2005 budget proposal, which would break the agreement to maintain
military aid parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The budget,
released on February 2nd, proposes $2 million in Foreign Military
Financing for Armenia and $8 million for Azerbaijan.
The proposal contradicts the agreement struck in 2001 between the
White House and Congress to maintain parity in U.S. military aid
levels to Armenia and Azerbaijan. This understanding, which was
shared with representatives of the Armenian American community
during a February 21, 2002 meeting with National Security Council
officials, resulted in equal levels of military aid being
appropriated to these two nations in Fiscal Years 2002, 2003, and
2004. This parity contributed meaningfully to stability in the
Caucasus.
Since the release of the President’s budget, the Armenian American
community has participated in ANCA WebFax, letter writing and phone
campaigns, urging the House and Senate Appropriations panels to
ensure continued military aid parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan. In
a recent memo to key Senate and House members, ANCA Government
Affairs Director Abraham Niziblian argued that, “a tilt in military
spending toward Azerbaijan would destabilize the region,
emboldening the new Azerbaijani leadership to continue their
threats to impose a military solution of the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict. More broadly, breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for walking away from the OSCE
Key West peace talks in 2001, the most promising opportunity to
resolve the Nagorno Karabagh conflict in nearly a decade.”
——————————————————————-
Nominee John Marshall Evans Pledges to Work to Strengthen U.S. –
Armenia Bilateral Relations
——————————————————————-
Career Foreign Service Officer John Marshall Evans, in his oral
testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed
his commitment to “working with this and other relevant Committees
of the Congress, with the Armenian people, the Armenian Government,
and with the Armenian American community to further the foreign
policy goals of the United States.” He went on to note the U.S.
commitment to strengthening democracy and economic prosperity in
Armenia. Citing the recent announcement of Armenia’s eligibility
for Millennium Challenge Account funding, Evans noted that the move
“presents a unique opportunity for our two countries to strengthen
our bilateral cooperation while meeting some of today’s most
difficult challenges head on.”
During the question and answer period, Sen. Allen asked Evans to
comment about the effectiveness of U.S. assistance to Armenia.
Evans noted that reports using non-U.S. indicators measuring the
democratic and economic progress of Armenia show that, “we are
making progress and we are trying to quantify it as effectively and
scientifically as we can.”
In response to a question on the debilitating effects of the
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades of Armenia, Evans stated that
“the estimate is that were the border for Turkey to be reopened, it
could make as much as a 50% difference in Armenia’s trade
situation.”
“We want to thank Senator Allen for his forceful defense of
maintaining strict military aid parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Keeping our military assistance packages to these two
nations at equal levels will contribute to regional stability,
restrain the increasingly violent rhetoric of the Azerbaijani
leadership, and ensure that the United States can continue to act
as an impartial mediator in the Nagorno Karabagh peace process,”
said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “We would
also like to express our appreciation to John Evans for his
willingness to follow in the tradition of past ambassadors to
Armenia – Harry Gilmore, Michael Lemmon, and John Ordway – in
working closely with the Armenian American community on the full
range issues on the U.S.-Armenia agenda.”
John Marshall Evans joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1971. He
has held posts in Iran, Czechoslovakia, Russia and with the OSCE
among other positions. He currently serves as Director of the
Office of Russian Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian
Affairs in the State Department, with the rank of Minister-
Counselor.
During the confirmation hearing, other candidates presenting
testimony included Mr. Charles P. Ries, nominated for U.S.
Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic and Mr. Tom Korologos,
nominated for U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
During the hearing, Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) urged both Evans and
Reis to make a special effort to learn Armenian and Greek,
respectively, in an effort to better communicate with their
counterparts in their upcoming posts. Sen. Sarbanes had met
privately with all three candidates prior to the confirmation
hearing.
Full Senate confirmation of all three candidates for
ambassadorships is expected soon.
The complete text of Mr. Evans’ oral testimony, as well as, the
question and answer session dealing with Armenian American concerns
follows. The complete written testimony presented by Evans to the
Senate panel will be available soon.
#####
===================================================================
Selected Statements from the Senate Foreign Relations Confirmation
Hearing for John Marshall Evans, Nominated to Serve as U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia
===================================================================
Sen. George Allen (R-VA) – [during his opening remarks]:
—————————————- ——————————————–
I have long believed that the United States must remain engaged in the
South Caucasus remnants of the former Soviet Union. Ongoing
conflicts and corruption in this part of the world remain a great
concern to both regional and global stability. Particularly, I have
had a long-standing interest in Armenia and the history of the
Armenian people; understanding that the relations, though, between
Armenia and Azerbaijan continues to be tenuous and a very fragile
peace exists. To ensure that the United States remains an honest
peace broker, I believe it is essential that we maintain strict
parity with regard to foreign military financing or FMF funding to
both nations. I also remain concerned that the continuing
blockades of Armenia are obviously troublesome. Our government, in
my view Mr. Ambassador, when you are confirmed, our government
needs to do more to compel Turkey and Azerbaijan to fully end these
blockades and the negative effects these have on the Armenian
economy.
————————————————————————————————–
Mr. John Marshall Evans [Oral testimony before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee]:
————————————————————– ————————————
Mr. Chairman, we and the Armenians are no
strangers to each other. Many Americans are, of course, of Armenian
background, and if you read my full statement you will know that I
have learned that there was an Armenian at the Jamestown settlement
as early as 1619.
We have interacted, we and the Armenians, over many years in good
times and bad. Americans sympathize deeply with the plight of
those Armenians who suffered and perished in the declining years of
the Ottoman Empire. Thousands of Armenians have come to our shores
and enriched our country in a myriad of ways. In 1988 when a
terrible earthquake struck Armenia, it was only natural for the
United States to react immediately with rescue teams and
reconstruction assistance. I am very proud to have been heavily
involved in that effort, serving as Deputy Director of the Soviet
desk at the State Department.
Today, the Republic of Armenia and the United States face many
shared challenges. Terrorism and political and economic
instability are our common enemies. The U.S. aims to promote
security, stability, democracy and prosperity in the Caucasus. We
are helping Armenia build a new society based on democratic
principles and the rule of law. Recently Armenia was selected as a
potential recipient of a Millennium Challenge Account grant. I
believe this presents a unique opportunity for our two countries to
strengthen our bilateral cooperation while meeting some of today’s
most difficult challenges head on.
Mr. Chairman, if confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working
with this and other relevant Committees of the Congress, with the
Armenian people, the Armenian Government, and with the Armenian
American community to further the foreign policy goals of the
United States.
Mr. Chairman, as you mentioned earlier, I have served previously in
Tehran, Prague – twice actually in Prague – Moscow, and St.
Petersburg as well as the NATO headquarters in Brussels, and in the
OSCE system. I also spent a semester at the Woodrow Wilson center
reading Ottoman History. So I think, in a sense, I have been
circling around Armenia for some time. If confirmed, I will do my
very best, to learn some of that most difficult, but as I
understand, beautiful language. I am very grateful to Senator
Sarbanes for his moral support in emphasizing the importance of
this and I certainly will report what you said to the State
Department.
Question and Answer Session during the Senate Confirmation Hearing:
——————————————————————————————————
Sen. George Allen (R-VA): I would like to ask you Mr. Evans, the
US has provided assistance to Armenia, been a strong supporter as
have certainly a majority of this Committee – are strong supporters
of assistance to Armenia. Could you assess how this assistance to
Armenia has furthered the interest of the United States?
Mr. John Marshall Evans: It’s important to keep in mind what our
goals are. Our goals in the South Caucasus are to create
conditions of stability, security, growing prosperity, and also
growing democracy. We’ve spent cumulatively about $1.5 billion, I
believe now. There is a very fine report that came out in January
on the current state of our assistance. What it shows is that we
are now trying to graph the effectiveness of our system using
indicators that are independent of the U.S. government. So we use
economic indicators derived from the EBRD on one axis and we use
Freedom House indicators on another axis. And if you look at the
development of Armenia, it’s a bit of a sigmoid curve. There was
constant movement up on the economy. There have been some zig-zags
on democratic development. But the overall movement is in the
right direction and I very much recommend the full report to you
and your staff. We are making progress and we are trying to
quantify it as effectively and scientifically as we can.
Sen. Allen: Would you comment then on the effect of the closed
borders on Armenia. You mentioned that the economy is going in the
right direction, but so far as the closed borders of Turkey and
Azerbaijan [. . .] What is your perspective?
Mr. Evans: A glance at the map makes it very clear that Armenia is
in a very difficult position and must depend on being a
transportation corridor. Armenia sits right in the South Caucasus
between Iran and Turkey and Azerbaijan and Georgia and two of its
four borders are currently closed, as you mentioned, those with
Turkey and Azerbaijan. The estimate is that were the border for
Turkey to be reopened, it could make as much as a 50% difference in
Armenia’s trade situation. . . . No one knows precisely, but that
is a pretty good estimate. It also would have a huge effect on
reducing Armenia’s energy bill, because at the moment, the single
source of natural gas, for example, comes from Russia and a lot of
gasoline is trucked into Armenia, so the energy costs are very
high. We are frequently in conversation with our Turkish
colleagues trying to persuade them that the time is come to open
the border with Armenia, which would also be a very good thing for
the Eastern Provinces of Turkey.
Sen. Allen: Thank you and you will certainly have this Senator’s
support to encourage Turkey to reopen that border without
preconditions.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress