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By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
 The State Department has acted negligently and possibly in contempt of Congress by withholding assistance that it had expressly allocated to Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) during the past 12 years.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) revealed last week that the State Department only spent about half of the amount allocated by Congress to Artsakh. From 1998 to 2010, Congress appropriated to Artsakh $61 million, not including an additional amount estimated at $10 million, allocated during 2000-2002. U.S. government documents obtained by ANCA reveal that the State Dept. spent only $36 million on humanitarian aid to Artsakh in those dozen years.
Successive Democratic and Republican administrations have attempted to block congressional efforts to provide aid to Artsakh, in order to appease Azerbaijan. Failing to prevent approval of such allocations, the State Dept. devised a clever ploy to obstruct the will of Congress — it spent only a portion of the funds intended for Artsakh. Azerbaijan had been insisting that any U.S. assistance to Artsakh be channeled through Baku. Despite objections from the administration and Azerbaijan, Congress has continued to allocate aid to Artsakh, and made it less restrictive; its 2010 allocation of $8 million is earmarked for “programs and activities in Nagorno Karabagh,” not exclusively for humanitarian projects.
Throughout these dozen years, neither Armenia nor Artsakh, and apparently no one from the Armenian American community has complained to Congress about the State Dept.’s refusal to spend fully the allocated funds. Amazingly, after this shortfall was revealed by ANCA, a senior Artsakh official downplayed the failure to deliver the allocated aid. According to Radio Free Europe, Vahram Atanesian, Chairman of the Artsakh parliament’s foreign relations committee, excused the withholding of the aid by attributing it to Artsakh’s robust economic growth!
While Armenians remained surprisingly quiet, Congress, starting in 2001, repeatedly urged the administration “to release, without further delay, the remainder of the $20 million in humanitarian assistance initially provided in the fiscal year 1998 Act.” Furthermore, the House of Representatives asked the Secretary of State to report back the amount of assistance provided by the United States to Artsakh within 15 days of the enactment of the aid bill. In 2004 and 2005, the Senate demanded that USAID present its plans for the disbursement of the allocated funds within 60 days after the enactment of the aid bill. Unfortunately, the Obama administration bears the lion’s share of the blame. During its first two years in office, it has held back $12 million or one-third of the funds not spent on Artsakh since 1998.
Sen. Barbara Boxer had the opportunity to pursue this issue with Matthew Bryza, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, during his confirmation hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee on July 22. She wanted to know why only $4 million was spent out of the $16 million allocated for Artsakh in the past two years. In response to Bryza’s evasive answer, Sen. Boxer asked him to provide in writing “a detailed accounting on the disbursement of all U.S. assistance to Nagorno Karabagh for the past five years.” She pointedly inquired: “Why weren’t the full amounts allocated by Congress for Nagorno Karabagh in 2009 and 2010 spent?” Bryza, once again, did not provide an adequate response to the Senator’s questions.
Consequently, Sen. Boxer asked the Foreign Relations Committee to postpone voting on Bryza’s confirmation, until the Senate returns from recess around mid-September. This would hopefully give Bryza the opportunity to prepare an honest accounting of why the aid from Washington did not fully reach Artsakh. The delay in his confirmation would also allow the Senate to check more thoroughly the issues raised regarding his background.
Clearly, Bryza and his predecessors at the State Department had resorted to various tricks to frustrate the intent of Congress. They attempted to appease Azerbaijan by limiting and delaying the aid desperately needed in Artsakh.
Armenian-Americans should now ask Congress to investigate the State Department’s failure to comply with the legislature’s mandate, by under-spending $35 million of the allocation to Artsakh, during the past 12 years.
Should the investigation uncover misconduct by State Dept. officials, Armenian-Americans should then ask Congress to make a one-time allocation of $35 million to Artsakh, in compensation for the amount the U.S. government failed to spend, as required by law.
The uproar caused by such a congressional investigation would hopefully make State Dept. officials more cautious in the future when handling the disbursement of funds intended for Artsakh!
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Tag: asala
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Congress Should Investigate State Dept. For Holding Back Aid to Artsakh
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Matthew Bryza Named New US Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Matthew Bryza, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, delivers a briefing on the “Situation in Georgia and Implications for the Caucuses” in August, 2008. After much speculation, the US State Department is confirming Bryza’s appointment as ambassador to Azerbaijan. (Photo courtesy: US Department of State.)
May 21, 2010 – 9:15am, by Shahin Abbasov
EurasiaNetThe White House has appointed US diplomat Matthew Bryza, a former American co-chair for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution talks, as its new ambassador to Azerbaijan, EurasiaNet.org has learned.
A diplomat from the US embassy in Baku who asked not to be named stated that an official announcement will be published on the White House’s website on May 21.
The Azerbaijani government issued its official consent to the appointment on May 20, the source said.Bryza, whose appointment to Baku has long been the source of considerable speculation, has a near-22-year-long diplomatic career that put him at the center of two of the South Caucasus’ most strategic issues: resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the introduction of non-Russia-related oil and gas pipelines from Baku to the Black Sea.
As deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs from 2005 to 2009, Bryza coordinated US energy policy in the Black and Caspian Sea regions, and represented the US on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group talks on a resolution of Azerbaijan’s 22-year conflict with Armenia over the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh.
Under US President Bill Clinton, he served as a deputy advisor on Caspian Sea energy diplomacy and worked on US government efforts to develop a network of oil and gas pipelines in the region.
Bryza’s appointment must be confirmed by the US Senate, where he is likely to face questioning about his actions leading up to the 2008 Georgia-Russia War, a conflict that some critics charge was prompted by a Georgian misunderstanding of American readiness to intervene.
The Azerbaijani government has not yet issued an official comment on Bryza’s appointment. Bryza’s name was submitted to the Azerbaijani government a few weeks ago, the US embassy source said.
The absence of a US ambassador to Baku – the post has been vacant for almost a year — has been cited previously as a source of irritation for some Azerbaijani officials, who allegedly saw it as a slight of President Ilham Aliyev’s government amidst American promotion of a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. With Bryza’s appointment, Washington is sending a “positive signal” that it is ready to smooth over relations with Azerbaijan, Elkhan Shahingolu, director of the Baku-based Atlas think-tank, believes.
Brzya, whose 2007 wedding to Turkish-born foreign policy analyst Zeyno Baran, was attended by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and several other Azerbaijani officials, is seen as a known entity for President Ilham Aliyev’s government.
“They were in touch with him for a long time, they know his character and see him as a good specialist on the region,” commented Shahingolu. “So why not to be happy?”
Editor’s note:Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society Institute-Azerbaijan.
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Roadmap to Nowhere or New Delay Tactic: Genocide Recognition in 2015?
Faced with deadlock in ratifying the Armenia-Turkey Protocols, the major powers are desperately looking for a face-saving way out of the current dilemma. France, Russia and the United States have invested far too much time and effort to walk away from the negotiated and signed, but not ratified, “deal of the century.”
At the time of writing this column, the President of Armenia and the Prime Minister of Turkey had been summoned to Washington by Pres. Obama for a last ditch effort to rescue the Protocols or at a minimum create an illusion of progress in the reconciliation process. The slightest gesture or even the promise of an improvement in Armenia-Turkey relations or the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict would give Pres. Obama the required fig leaf to cover up his broken promise on the Armenian Genocide.
It will soon be clear if White House pressure on Armenia and Turkey would result in any positive movement, such as limited opening of the Armenia-Turkey border, before ratifying the Protocols. Azerbaijan’s President was deliberately left out of the Washington Summit in order to prevent him from undermining U.S. mediating efforts. In the event of Turkish recalcitrance, Armenia’s President would have no choice but to withdraw his country’s signature from the Protocols, blaming Turkey for putting preconditions and demanding that Artsakh be handed to Azerbaijan.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, Thomas de Waal, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, issued a “Policy Brief” on April 9, just before the start of the Washington Summit. The report, “Armenia and Turkey: Bridging the Gap,” suggests five “goodwill gestures” that Turkey needs to make in order to keep reconciliation with Armenia alive.
— An opening of the Armenia-Turkey border for noncommercial travelers;
— A limited opening of a zone next to the Armenia-Turkey border that contains the medieval Armenian city of Ani, now just inside Turkish territory. This would allow Armenian tourists to visit the ancient site.
— A Turkish initiative to fully open and digitize the Ottoman archives containing the official Ottoman records of the events of 1915 to 1921.
— A Turkish government initiative to invite diaspora Armenians to visit the ancient Armenian heritage sites of Anatolia.
— The opening of a Turkish Airlines route between Istanbul and Yerevan.
In return, de Waal suggests that Armenia pledge “to end the isolation of Nakhichevan once the Turkish-Armenian border opens.”
After offering the aforementioned simplistic ideas, de Waal turns to the Armenian Genocide recognition issue and tries to come up with a long-term solution to the perennial Armenian-American lobbying efforts which “hobble” the United States. He calls the confrontation in Congress on this issue between Armenians and Turks, “grubby political bargaining.”
According to de Waal, Pres. Obama’s broken promise on the Armenian Genocide and his use of “Meds Yeghern” (Great Calamity) as a substitute for Genocide is “a dignified formula.”
Here is what de Waal suggests:
“In order to move away from this annual agony, it makes sense to reframe the Armenian-Turkish issue within a longer perspective. The coming centenary of the Armenian holocaust in five years’ time in 2015 and the growing debate within Turkey on the ‘Armenian question’ gives impetus to this approach. In 2015 — whether the Turks like it or not — the world will mark the anniversary of the Armenian tragedy. The president could deliver a message on April 24, 2010, in which he notes that the centenary commemorations are now five years away and pledges that, if still in office, he will join in those events (perhaps even in Yerevan), but in which he also promises the Turks a little peace until then by affirming his faith in the internal debate in Turkey. Obama could say, ‘We hope to mark this tragic date with our Turkish friends, and not without them,’ and aspire to be a catalyst for Armenian–Turkish reconciliation.”
What de Waal is suggesting is simply a ploy to bury the Armenian Genocide issue for another 5 years, while creating a breathing space for the ratification of the defunct Protocols.
Before Pres. Obama could be trusted to keep any new promises, he needs to uphold the ones that he has already made and broken. Besides, what guarantees do we have that the President will be re-elected for a second term, and even if he is, that he will keep his pledge!
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Denialist Erdogan in the White House:
An Unworthy Guest!
Turkish Prime Minister Receb Erdogan made insulting statements on the Armenian Genocide during his visit to Washington on December 6-8. Rather than hosting him in the White House, Pres. Obama should have declared him “persona non grata” — an undesirable person!
Would Pres. Obama have welcomed Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the White House and sang his praises, given his revisionist views on the Holocaust? Inviting Erdogan to the U.S. is even more offensive, akin to receiving a German leader who denies the Holocaust!
Erdogan made a series of outrageous remarks and denialist statements during five public appearances in Washington: At PBS, the Willard Hotel, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced and International Studies, SETA-DC Turkish think tank, and the German Marshall Fund.
During his December 8, hour-long PBS TV interview by Charlie Rose, Erdogan brought up the Armenian issue by claiming that his government had recently restored “an Armenian Church” in Van, without disclosing that the Holy Cross Church on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van was reopened not as a house of worship, but as a cultural site to attract tourists! Indeed, the Turkish authorities refused to allow a cross to be placed on the Church’s dome!
Erdogan’s boastful comments led Charlie Rose to raise the Armenian Genocide issue in a passive manner by asking: “What is necessary in order to — what more evidence does history need with respect to the genocide?”
The question threw Erdogan into a rage, making him spew hateful statements about the Armenian Genocide: “I can say very clearly that we do not accept genocide. This is completely a lie. I invite people to prove it…. Something like this is really not possible, and there is no truth to it.” These are the shameful words of the same man who claimed there was no genocide in Darfur, since he saw no trace of such a crime during his visit to Sudan!
When asked by Charlie Rose if Pres. Obama had brought up the Armenian Genocide issue during the White House meeting, Erdogan said yes, adding that it was in the context of normalizing relations with Armenia: “It was Turkey that initiated the normalization process. It was Turkey that took upon itself the risk. We believe in ourselves. What we would like to see is for this normalization process to go forward. And in that it’s important that we go into that and the Karabagh issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia be resolved. There is an occupation. We have to solve that problem. …And if the positive developments that we would like to see do not come about, then I do not believe that our parliament will have a positive result as a result of its deliberations.”
During his appearance at the Johns Hopkins University, Erdogan proudly claimed that his “ancestors have never committed genocide.” The real issue is not whether his grandparents participated in the Armenian Genocide, since there was no shortage of Turks who did. What’s more important is that the Prime Minster has chosen to become an accomplice to these heinous crimes by participating in their cover up!
Despite all the diplomatic pleasantries exchanged between Erdogan and Obama, there were indications that the two leaders had a tense meeting. According to media reports confirmed by White House sources, Pres. Obama bluntly told Erdogan that if the Turkish Parliament did not ratify the Armenia-Turkey Protocols in a timely manner, the U.S. Congress could well adopt a resolution on the Armenian Genocide.
The two leaders also clashed over their divergent views on several key issues: Turkey’s unwillingness to send more troops to Afghanistan, refusal to support a recent IAEA resolution to censure Iran’s nuclear program, the signing of a multi-billion dollar energy contract with Iran in defiance of U.S. sanctions, worsening ties with Israel, continued occupation of Northern Cyprus, and manifest disregard of minority rights in Turkey.
In the midst of Erdogan’s crucial visit, Turkey’s Ambassador to Washington Nabi Sensoy tendered his resignation unexpectedly, after an argument with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the logistics of the White House meeting. This scandalous development must have
been highly embarrassing for the Prime Minister!
Upon returning to Turkey, Erdogan faced a major political crisis and bloody clashes in the streets of Kurdish populated cities, triggered by the Constitutional Court’s banning of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). The court expelled two DTP members from Parliament, while 19 others resigned in protest.
It is a shame that Armenia’s leaders, rather than repudiating Erdogan’s offensive statements on the Armenian Genocide, continued to talk about normalizing relations with Turkey! Armenian Americans were equally negligent, failing to express their outrage. Erdogan should have been confronted in Washington with massive protests and demonstrations! Sadly, silence makes genocide denial an acceptable practice!
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ARMENIA’S Edward Nalbandian is weak and…”
ARKADY GHUKASYAN DECLINES INTERVIEW WITH PUBLISHER APPO JABARIAN THREATENS LAWSUIT AGAINST USA ARMENIAN LIFE By Appo Jabarian
USA Armenian Life Magazine
November 25, 2009
On November 14, Appo Jabarian wrote an article in USA Armenian Life
Magazine titled, "Former Pres. of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan Says
Protocols were unprofessional, and contained many mistakes; He also
Says Armenia's Foreign Minister is Weak and Unprepared."
Almost immediately after the dissemination of the article, an
avalanche of reactions came from the media in Armenia and around the
world. Literally, dozens of various media outlets echoed the content
of the article, including ArmeniaDiaspora.com, News.am, Aaravot.am,
7or.am, PanArmenian.net, Lragir.am.
AraManoogian.blogspot.com, ArmAr.am, Nouvelles d'Armenie Magazine (in
French), ArmToday.info (in Russian), and Novoye Vremya (in Russian).
The media in Armenia presented various interpretations of the motives
behind Mr. Ghukasyan's statement that Pres. Serge Sargsyan "must have
acted in the wrong way, but he is a sincere and patriotic person and
shouldered great responsibility," and that Armenia's Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian "is weak and unprepared."
The most notable reactions came in the form of accusations and
disinformation that were hurled against Appo Jabarian by Ghukasyan's
office in Yerevan which issued a denial contradicting his statements
he had made earlier.
Ghukasyan's denial was circulated by certain media outlets and
officials of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan along with the
Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles.
Armenia's Consulate General in Los Angeles has never before responded
to Azeri or Turkish disinformation campaigns in the United States. But
the moment this writer authored an expose of the double-talk by
Former Pres. of Artsakh -- now turned Armenia's Ambassador-at-Large
Arkady Ghukasyan -- Consulate officials resorted to a disinformation
campaign against him.
On November 17, Armenia's Consulate e-mailed a communique carrying
false information against Jabarian. The communique was swiftly
rebutted by the Managing Editor of USA Armenian Life Magazine. An
official statement by the editor, countering the Armenian Consulate's
misleading e-mail was expeditiously sent to various Armenian-American
media outlets. USA Armenian Life's "Notice of Dissemination of a False
and Libelous Statement" informed the Armenian-American editors and
TV/Internet newscasters to "be advised that the information titled
'Republic of Armenia's Ambassador At Large, and the Vice-President of
the Board of Trustees of Armenia Fund Arkady Ghukasyan's assistant E.
Atanessyan's interpretation on USA Armenian Life's news article'
that you have received from the Consulate General of Armenia in
Los Angeles is False and Libelous. Its electronic and/or print
dissemination/broadcast by your news organization may expose your
business entity/entities to legal liabilities."
On November 18, during Mr. Ghukasyan's stay at the Hilton Hotel in
Glendale, this writer had a telephone conversation with him. In order
to give Amb. Ghukasyan a fair opportunity to present his rebuttal and
views regarding this issue, at the beginning of the conversation, this
writer proposed to have a taped interview either on the telephone or
in person at the hotel. But he declined. And instead he demanded that
this writer disclose the source(s) of comments that were reported in
the article, otherwise, he threatened to take him and USA Armenian
Life to court.
When this blatant threat was hurled at Jabarian, the latter told him
"Mr. Ghukasyan you should remember really well as to whom you have
said the reported comments. I encourage you very much to do so." Then
he immediately backpedaled and started to cajole this commentator by
saying that "we are both patriotic people" and that "we shouldn't
be
talking in the language of lawsuits."
On November 20, USA Armenian Life's managing editor had a face-to-face
meeting with the source of the facts included in the article; and
re-examined their validity, and they all proved as being solidly
accurate.
Below is a partial list of headlines and comments featured by various
media outlets that followed the lead of USA Armenian Life Magazine's
Nov. 14 article:
- Nov. 16, News.am's title: "Nagorno Karabagh Republic's Former Pres.
of Arkady Ghukasyan Has Labeled Armenia's Foreign Minister 'as Weak
and Unprepared.'"
- Nov. 16, 7or.am's title: "Has Nagorno Karabagh Republic's Former
President Become Honest?"
- Nov. 16, News.am title: "Arkady Ghukasyan: Edward Nalbandian 'weak
and unprepared.'"
- Nov. 16, ArmAr.am title: "Arkady Ghukasyan Has Appealed to the
Diaspora to Continue to Be Rightful Demanders [of Justice]."
- Nov. 16, Panarmenian.net title: "Arkady Ghukasyan ascribed comments
he didn't make."
- Nov. 16, Lragir.am carried Appo Jabarian's article in its entirety
with the following title: "Ghukasyan's Sensation in the U.S."
- Nov. 17, Aravot.am title: "Is the Ambassador Disagreeable with
the President?"
- Nov. 18, Lragir.am title: "SIMPLY A BLACKMAIL? or Guys! Money is
needed urgently!" The author, Bagrat Kheroyan, wrote: "The Ex-presiden
of Artsakh, Arkady Ghukasyan, has made a couple of announcements in the
USA, which raise some questions: In case he is 'as honest and patriotic
as Serzh Sargsyan and values Shushi so much, why doesn't he live in
Shushi? Wouldn't Shushi develop fast had Arkady Ghukasyan and others
like him built their palaces and launched their businesses in Shushi?"
Kheroyan further wrote: "I would suggest the Diaspora to organize
fund-raising for changing the Constitution of the Republic of Artsakh
and writing there that the presidents and state officials of the
Republic of Artsakh will simply be considered betrayers in case after
they serve, they live and establish their businesses out of Artsakh,
especially in Armenia."
- On Nov. 19, Lragir.am followed up with a second commentary titled:
"SIMPLY A BLACKMAIL? No. 2; Or It Seems Like a New Stratagem is
Being Formed."
Lragir.am observed: "It seems like the promise of a future job is
the obvious reason that Arkady Ghukasyan has mercilessly criticized
and labeled ignorant ... Republic of Armenia's Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian. It seems like it is not difficult to understand
that the Republic of Armenia's Foreign Ministry post is promised to
Arkady Ghukasyan."
Whatever were his motives, Mr. Ghukasyan should not have backed
out of the remarks he had made earlier, during his appearances in
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Struggle to go on, ASALA rep states
18:18 / 10/20/2009
“We want to warn everyone – from the authorities to the local criminal leaders – that we will not give up our struggle for national dignity,” Alek Yenigomshyan, member of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and of the Miatsum (Unity) initiative, told reporters.
The statement was intended for those putting obstacles to the signature-gathering campaign against the Armenian-Turkish protocols and Madrid Principles.
The Miatsum initiative member Armen Yeghyan said that the incident in the Nor-Nork community of Yerevan clearly demonstrated policemen’s “collaboration” with the local criminal elements.
The film director Tigran Khzmalyan pointed out that Armenia’s special services are obviously persecuting “active citizens,” including students and Karabakh war veterans. In behalf of the Committee in Defense of Political Prisoners and Victims of Political Repressions, Khzmalyan stressed that all those subjected to repressions for pronouncing against the Armenian-Turkish protocols will be declared political prisoners.
News from Armenia – NEWS.am