U.S. USES ARMENIAN DIASPORA IN ITS INTERESTS?
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 16, 2011 – 18:26 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – WikiLeaks whistle blowing website publised the
cables of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Maria Yovanovitch, where
she mentions a possibility to use Armenian Diaspora organisations,
especially the Armenian-American community, in the interests of U.S.
Yovanovitch noted the “well-organized” and “well-financed” state of
the community, in her Nov. 17, 2009, cable titled “Experience Engaging
Diaspora Communities-Armenia.” She remarked that the community had
shifted gears from preserving their identities into investing in
the development of Armenia, offering humanitarian, development,
and technical assistance, and “advocating for an independent media.”
Yovanovitch discussed the various Armenian-American organizations,
including the Armenian Apostolic Church (the Prelacy and the Diocese),
the Armenian Catholic Community, the Armenian Protestant Community,
the ARF/Dashnak Community, the Armenian General Benevolent Union
Community, the Hnchag Community, and others. She noted that although
the Embassy could do outreach work through these organizations,
many of them had their own political agendas, “expressed or not,”
and connections with political parties or authorities that could
clash with U.S. interests in Armenia.
According to the Ambassador, the Armenian-American Diaspora tended
to be “nationalistic in nature,” and that “[they] are quick to
mobilize their supporters against the GOAM [government of Armenia]
if the Diaspora groups believe the GOAM is not acting in Armenia’s
best interests.”
Many of these organizations are opposed to reconciliation efforts,
she said, because they do not include a resolution to the Karabakh
conflict or recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “Other groups though,
such as AAA [Armenian Assembly of America] and AGBU, have publicly
supported the GOAM’s policies of regional cooperation and an end to
Armenia’s isolation in the Caucasus,” she added.
The Ambassador also observed that “The Diaspora Community has shown
limited interest in the promotion of democracy, electoral reform,
and civil society development in Armenia,” and noted that Diaspora
organizations did not fund any “non-partisan” non-governmental
organizations in Armenia.
The Armenian American community’s “most important distinguishing
characteristic,” according to Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affair’s
Diaspora Relations office, is its “deep organizational structure,”
wrote U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan John Ordway in a June 1, 2004, cable
titled “Deciphering the Armenian-American Diaspora,” recently leaked
by WikiLeaks.
The comparison was made with sister communities around the globe. An
estimated 1.5 million Armenians live in the U.S., out of the 8-10
million scattered around the world, second only to the Armenian
population living in Russia or other CIS countries.
“The GOAM distinguishes the Armenian-American community from the other
Diaspora populations as the most wealthy (both overall and per capita
income) and the most diverse in terms of emigration patterns,” wrote
Ordway. “GOAM assistance figures and information from local banking
sources confirm that the majority of Armenia’s public and private
assistance funding (including private money transfers to families or
friends) comes to Armenia from the U.S.”
From: Baghdasarian