National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

The Armenian Reporter | October 4, 2008
National
Washington briefing
as a text sent to the ANCA on February
1. Both communications
acknowledged the Armenian community’s
contributions to America
and Armenia’s cooperation
with the United States, but did
not promise any positive changes
in U.S. policy on matters of significance
to Armenian-Americans,
such as the Armenian Genocide
issue.
Levan
Gachechiladze
with Zeyno
Baran of Hudson
Institute. Photo:
Armenian
Reporter.
by Emil Sanamyan and
Lusine Sarkisyan
U.S. Ambassador-
Designate to Turkey
clarifies position on
Genocide
U.S. ambassadors to Ottoman Turkey
Henry Morgenthau (1913–16)
and Abram Elkus (1916–17) and
other contemporary U.S. diplomats
described in their communications
“an attempt to exterminate the Armenian
population,” ambassadordesignate
to Turkey James Jeffrey
noted in a written response
to questions for the record from
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chair and vice-presidential candidate
Sen. Joe Biden (D.-Del.)
The exchange, released by the
Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) on September 26,
was part of the Senate committee’s
consideration of Mr. Jeffrey’s candidacy
to be the next U.S. ambassador
to Turkey and a congressional
effort to correct the Bush administration
language on the Armenian
Genocide.
Mr. Jeffrey promised that if
confirmed he would continue to
encourage “Turkey to come to
terms with the dark spots in its
history and establishing an honest
dialogue within Turkey on these
events,” as well as support normalization
of relations between Turkey
and Armenia.
Meanwhile, Senator John Mc-
Cain of Arizona, the Republican
presidential candidate, released
a statement to Armenian-Americans
on September 29. The statement
was substantially the same
Says scope of
program shrunk
because of dram
appreciation
by Emil Sanamyan
Ambassador Nabi Sensoy of Turkey,
who attended an Independence Day
reception at the Armenian Embassy
in Washington. Photo: Embassy of
Turkey.
Senior U.S., Russian,
and Turkish officials
mark Armenia’s
independence
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce
David Bohigian, the U.S.
State Department’s coordinator
for Eurasian energy, Ambassador
Steven Mann, newly appointed
Russian ambassador to the United
States Sergei Kislyak, and, significantly,
Ambassador Nabi Sensoy
of Turkey were among more
than 100 guests at a reception on
September 30 at the Armenian
Embassy in Washington to mark
Armenia’s independence.
According to present and former
Armenian Embassy staff, this was
the first time since the Armenian
Embassy in the United States was
established that a Turkish Ambassador
attended one of its formal
functions. Ambassador Sensoy’s
unprecedented gesture comes
weeks after the first-ever visit to
Armenia by a Turkish president.
(One source told the Reporter
that in 1999 Turkish Ambassador
Baki Ilkin together with Azerbaijani
Ambassador Hafiz Pashayev
visited the Armenian Embassy to
pay an informal farewell to outgoing
Ambassador Ruben Shugarian.
But neither Turkish nor Azerbaijani
diplomats have attended Independence
Day or Armed Forces
Day receptions regularly held by
the Embassy.)
WASHINGTON – In public remarks
at the headquarters of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC) on October 1, Alex Russin,
the corporation’s resident country
director for Armenia, outlined the
program’s goals, while sharing his
concerns about Armenia’s continued
eligibility under the good-governance
criteria.
Mr. Russin said that only about
$20 million has been spent in nearly
two years since the $235 million,
five-year program was launched.
Another $4.7 million request for
funds is now pending.
The work so far has included
the completion of one canal system,
the repair of 24 kilometers
of mountainous rural roads just
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian of
Armenia will visit Washington October
9–14.
Coming up: Armenian
prime minister plans
U.S. visit
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian
will visit Washington between
October 9 and 14, U.S. and
Armenian officials familiar with
the visit’s planning told the Armenian
Reporter. Mr. Sarkisian,
for whom this will be the first
visit in his capacity as prime minister,
will meet U.S. officials and
participate in the annual meetings
of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund on
October 11–13.
Georgian opposition
leaders flock to the
United States
Levan Gachechiladze, the main
opposition candidate in the Georgian
presidential election in January
2008, this week became the
latest Georgian pro-Western opposition
leader to visit the United
States.
Speaking at the Hudson Institute,
a conservative think tank,
on September 30 about the recent
developments in his country,
south of Gyumri, and the training
of about 15,000 farmers, with a total
of 60,000 farmers to be trained.
Mr. Russin said that the tempo of
the program will ramp up in the
next three years.
Significantly, because of the
decline in value of the U.S. dollar,
coupled with Armenia’s strong economic
growth, which has strengthened
Armenia’s currency, the MCA-
Armenia has been forced to scale
back the scope of work, with 350 kilometers
of roads now planned for
renovation instead of the original
goal of 900 kilometers.
Mr. Russin has also expressed
concern that the political situation
in Armenia hangs like a “cloud”
over the program. When asked
what steps from the government
he is anticipating that would keep
Armenia eligible for MCC aid, Mr.
Russin generally pointed to the
Mr. Gachechiladze argued that it
has become “impossible” to unite
around the current Georgian leader
Mikheil Saakashvili since he
makes “wrong decisions” and there
are serious questions about his
leadership since Georgia’s brief but
militarily disastrous war with Russia
last month.
Mr. Gachechiladze warned that
unless Mr. Saakashvili promptly
restores democratic freedoms and
shares power with the opposition,
“destabilization” will follow.
Georgia’s former acting president
and parliament speaker until
earlier this year Nino Burjanadze,
David Usupashvili of the Republican
Party, and David Gamkrelidze
of the New Rights Party have all
visited the United States since the
August war.
In a September 8 commentary,
the Washington Post’s Jackson
Diehl revealed that “American
officials are still seething at Saakashvili
[over] his impulsive and
militarily foolhardy attack on
South Ossetia,” provoking the
Russian counter-attack and thus
causing an “embarrassment” to
the West.
“The truth is that it would be
considerably easier for the United
States to defend Georgia and its
democracy if it did not have to defend
– and depend on – Saakashvili
himself,” Mr. Diehl argued.
Although both President George
W. Bush and Mr. Saakashvili were
at the United Nations General Assembly
last week, no meeting between
the two has been reported.
Russia touts selfdetermination
in “miniempires”
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
of Russia, who was in New York
last week for the United Nations
General Assembly, offered Russia’s
views on relations with the United
States and international developments
in light of the war in Georgia
in an extensive presentation to the
MCC Armenia rep.: $20 million disbursed in two years
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of
Russia advocated self-determination.
Photo: Wikimedia.
Council on Foreign Relations on
September 24.
Mr. Lavrov spoke at length on
nations’ right to self-determination,
which the Russian minister
recalled has long been the “mantra”
of U.S. foreign policy and was
described as “one of the noblest
ideas in our world” by Vice President
Dick Cheney during his visit
to Italy on September 6.
Mr. Lavrov argued that in addition
to major empires, “there exist
mini-empires and the same attitude
ought to apply to them. If we are to
be guided by principle rather than
bias and political conjecture, the
size should not make difference.”
He went on: “The relevant issues
are those of oppression, of threat
of genocide, of central authorities’
inability or unwillingness to bring
the minority into the fold peacefully
by way of persuasion, creating
a climate of confidence and trust,
providing a decent and caring government
for all citizens.”
Speaking of his country’s actions
in support of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, Mr. Lavrov suggested
that “Russia is now an advocate of
such principles of America as live
and let live, give and take, helping
the underdog!” Minister Lavrov’s
remarks in full can be found at
http://www.cfr.org.
f
need for reforms that would satisfy
local civil-society groups as well as
an effective fight against corruption
pledged by the government.
Previously, during a visit with
the Armenian community in Detroit
on August 5, MCC Chief Executive
Officer Ambassador John
Danilovich told the Armenian Reporter
that the Armenia program
was “moving ahead in all respects.”
He also sounded optimistic about
the Armenian government’s ability
to implement needed democratic
reforms.
In his September 3 speech to
the Armenian diplomatic corps,
President Serge Sargsian underscored
MCC’s importance for Armenia,
while also noting “certain
foot-dragging with regard to the
program’s” implementation. Mr.
Sargsian expressed hope that the
“efforts of the Armenian authorities
so far will be understood correctly,
and the opportunity will be
given to continue the project jointly
agreed to.”
The MCC Board of Directors held
its quarterly meeting on September
17. No new decisions on Armenia
were announced. The meeting
focused on provision of a possible
$100 million in additional aid to
Georgia.
On September 29, the MCC welcomed
legislation that would make
it possible to extend compact implementation
from five to up to
ten years and would also authorize
conclusion of concurrent and additional
compacts. MCC also praised
efforts of members of the House of
Representatives to keep the corporation’s
total funding at about $1.54
billion in Fiscal Year 2009. f
connect: www.mcc.gov