Armenian National Committee of America
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PRESS RELEASE
February 7, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
WHITE HOUSE SLASHES AID TO ARMENIA;
BREAKS MILITARY PARITY AGREEMENT
— Proposes 59% Reduction in Economic Aid to Armenia
WASHINGTON, DC – President George W. Bush, in his last budget
proposal to Congress, continued his Administration’s track record
of recommending dramatic reductions in U.S. economic aid to Armenia
and seeking to tilt the military aid balance in the region in favor
of Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).
The President’s budget recommends cutting U.S. economic aid to
Armenia from the FY2008 estimated level of $58 million to a
proposed FY2009 level of $24 million – a cut of nearly 60% and $11
million less than his FY2008 request. This dramatic reduction to
Armenia, a nation economically blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijan,
takes place against the backdrop of assistance proposals to other
Independent States of the Former Soviet Union that are either
remaining constant or experiencing increases. According to the
President’s figures, Georgia, for example, would receive $52
million, while Azerbaijan, which is collecting billions in oil
revenues, is set to receive $19.5 million. The President’s budget
proposal does not include any specific assistance figures for
Nagorno Karabagh.
The President’s budget, in yet another clear breach of the White
House’s agreement with Congress in 2001, seeks to tilt the military
aid balance toward Azerbaijan. His proposal includes three times
as much International Military Education and Training aid to
Azerbaijan ($900,000) than Armenia ($300,000). Foreign Military
Financing is kept constant for both countries at $3 million. No
specific dollar amounts are allocated for either Armenia or
Azerbaijan in the President’s request for Nonproliferation,
Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Program (NADR) funds. The
President’s budget estimates that, in actual practice, the U.S.
government spent three times more IMET assistance in Azerbaijan
($952,000) than Armenia ($286,000) during FY2008, despite the fact
that the U.S. House specifically stated that equal amounts of IMET
aid ($500,000) should be given to both nations.
"The President, in his last year in office, has, unfortunately
chosen to leave a legacy of eight straight years of proposing sharp
reductions in Freedom Support Act aid to Armenia. Even worse, he
is, once again, seeking to tip the military aid balance in favor of
Azerbaijan, at a time when leaders in Baku are escalating their
threats to renew their aggression against Armenians," said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "If the President’s figures are
accepted, he will have succeeded, during his time in office, in
presiding over the reduction of U.S. economic assistance to Armenia
>From more than $90 million, when he took office, to less than $25
million."
The State-Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the House and Senate
Appropriation Committees will now review the budget and each draft
their own versions of the FY2009 foreign assistance bill.
The agreement to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia
and Azerbaijan was struck between the White House and Congress in
2001, in the wake of Congressional action granting the President
the authority to waive Section 907 restrictions on aid to
Azerbaijan. The ANCA has vigorously defended this principle,
stressing that a tilt in military spending toward Azerbaijan would
destabilize the region, emboldening the Azerbaijani leadership to
continue their threats to impose a military solution to the Nagorno
Karabagh conflict. More broadly, the ANCA has underscored that
breaching the parity agreement would reward the leadership of
Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process, and undermines the
role of the U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabagh
conflict.
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