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Armenia This Week - 10/04/2004

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  • Armenia This Week - 10/04/2004

    ARMENIA THIS WEEK October 4, 2004

    ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DEFENDS IRAQ DEPLOYMENT DECISION
    Senior Armenian officials last week defended the government's plan to send
    Armenian servicemen to Iraq later this year, as political and public
    opposition to the move appeared to be mounting. In a recent message to
    Armenia's President Robert Kocharian, President George W. Bush stressed that
    he was "look[ing] forward to seeing [Armenian] troops on the ground soon."
    Most opponents are concerned that should Armenia join the U.S.-led
    coalition, members of the Armenian Diaspora communities in Iraq and
    elsewhere in the Middle East, numbering hundreds of thousands, might be hit
    by a wave of violence.

    Interviewed on Public Television last week Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
    said that while he shared these concerns, Armenia was obliged to assist the
    U.S.-led effort. Armenia cannot be a beneficiary of stability accorded by
    stronger states, he said, and expect not to contribute even in modest ways.
    Sargsian admitted that some Defense officials were not enthusiastic about
    the mission since the Armenian Army's overarching purpose is defense of the
    country rather than peacekeeping abroad. Both Sargsian and Foreign Minister
    Vartan Oskanian stressed the largely "humanitarian" nature of Armenia's
    50-person task force, made up of military drivers, engineers and medics.
    They are expected to serve under Polish command in South Central Iraq that
    has seen much fighting recently, with at least 13 Polish, eight Ukrainian,
    six Bulgarian and one Salvadoran soldiers dead.

    Leaders of the Iraqi Armenian community, including Bishop Avak Asadurian,
    appealed to the Armenian government to call off the deployment. Some Iraqi
    Armenians report that public attitudes toward them have worsened since
    Armenia's decision was made public. Opposition politicians railed against
    the government, accusing it of disregarding the Armenian community's safety
    and exposing Armenia itself to new threats. Civic groups appealed to
    Parliament not to approve the move. A public opinion poll conducted by the
    opposition-leaning Vox Populi group found that some 60 percent of 664
    Yerevan residents opposed Armenia's involvement, with only 6 percent in
    favor and the rest undecided.

    There are also doubts within the ruling parliamentary majority made up of
    the Republicans (HHK), Country of Law (OYeK) and the Armenian Revolutionary
    Federation (HHD) with, respectively, 40, 20 and 11 out of the 131 total
    seats. Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, who heads the HHK, said that
    sending the troops was in Armenia's interest. But Parliament Vice Speaker
    Vahan Hovannisian (HHD) argued that in addition to concerns over Armenians'
    safety, Armenia could not ignore the views of Armenia's ally Russia, as well
    as those of France and Germany, countries that remain reluctant to support
    the U.S. in Iraq. Chairman of the Parliament's Defense and Security
    Committee Mher Shahgeldian (OYeK), who had earlier backed the move, said
    last week that the mandatory vote on whether or not to send the troops to
    Iraq has not yet been scheduled.

    Armenians and other Christian minorities that number some 800,000 people in
    Iraq have already been targeted by Islamic radicals, and media reports that
    upwards of 50,000 of them have fled the country in recent months. Violent
    attacks have ranged from church bombings to kidnappings to destruction of
    businesses owned by Christians. Armenian officials have said they were ready
    to host Armenians who are forced out of Iraq and several hundred families
    are said to be already in Armenia. Meanwhile, a Lebanese-Armenian, Aram
    Nalbandian, was last week reported to be among dozens of foreign workers
    currently held hostage in Iraq. (Sources: AIM 3-19-03; Armenia This Week
    9-20; The White House 9-21; Arminfo 9-24, 28, 29, 30; RFE/RL Armenia Report
    9-24, 28; Ekho 9-30; RFE/RL 9-30; Azg 10-1; Washington Post 10-1)

    RUSSIAN BORDER CLOSURE IMPACTS ARMENIA
    Russia's efforts to crack down on Chechen rebel groups reportedly supplied
    via Georgia and Azerbaijan are interfering with Armenia's commerce, media
    reports say. Businessman Arsen Ghazarian estimated that as many as 200
    trucks bound from or to Armenia have been stuck at the Lars checkpoint on
    the Russian-Georgian border. Prime Minister Andranik Margarian said that
    Armenia had appealed to Russia over the problem, but to no avail. Russia
    tightened its border controls since the bloody school hostage taking by
    Chechen rebels a month ago.

    Meanwhile, Armenian and Azeri trucks are said to be using Georgia's
    breakaway South Ossetia region to cross into and from Russia, a part of the
    border that is reportedly open. The region has seen a return to calm since
    Georgian forces withdrew in August after two months of fighting. Although
    Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili promises a peaceful solution to his
    country's conflicts, some analysts believe that a new Georgian offensive is
    imminent. (Sources: Armenia This Week 8-30, 9-13; Civil.ge 9-21, 30; Noyan
    Tapan 9-21, 22; RFE/RL 9-23, 10-1; Arminfo 9-29; Reuters 9-29)

    ************************************************** ***************
    A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA 122 C
    Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX (202)
    638-4904
    E-Mail [email protected] WEB http://www.aaainc.org
    ************************************************** ***************

    STATEMENT By H.E. Mr. Vartan Oskanian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
    Republic of Armenia at the 59th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL
    ASSEMBLY New York, September 29, 2004

    Mr. President, [...]
    This year we wish to especially note the critical need to end the tragedy in
    Darfur. Armenians, victims of the 20th century's first genocide, know well
    the long-lasting effects of victimization and homelessness. This is no way
    to begin a new millennium. The benefits of globalization should be utilized
    to defeat this newest global crisis.

    We comprehend all too well that peace and security abroad and at home are
    clearly correlated with social and economic dignity today, or, faith in
    their possibility tomorrow. Neither self-satisfied smugness on the one hand,
    nor self-righteous violence on the other, are solutions to the great
    inequalities around the world, and within each of our countries, even those
    most developed. Terrorism, in all its manifestations, affects security,
    political and economic stability in our neighborhoods and on our planet.
    Terrorism from Madrid to Beslan, in all its manifestations, is inexcusable
    and unacceptable.

    Cognizant that the success of counter-terrorism efforts is conditional on
    collective measures, Armenia has readily joined the global fight against
    international terrorism. This fight must go beyond effective regional and
    international cooperation. It must include the very goals of the Millennium
    Declaration - replacing deprivation, poverty and injustice by a universal
    respect for human rights and democracy, economic development, equality and
    social justice. [...]

    In these short years, we have done away with the false proposition that we
    must choose between East and West, between the old world and the new. We
    have done away with the myth that our neighbors can control the pace of our
    economic growth and shape its direction. Now, we want to do away with the
    dangerous suggestion that yesterday's adversary is an enemy forever.

    Armenia is ready to compromise and collaborate with neighbors who are ready
    to join us in making history, not rewriting it. We want to work with an
    Azerbaijan that understands its place in a rule-based international order,
    not one whose policies, practices and statements threaten the fragile peace
    and stability of our region.

    Azerbaijan was first in introducing ethnic cleansing to the Soviet space,
    first in engaging mercenaries and international terrorists in its own
    defense, first in discarding the rules of engagement in international
    organizations.

    Let me explain. The Armenian presence in this region has been long and
    extensive. Denying or revising this history requires systematic planning,
    energy and resources. Unfortunately, the government of Azerbaijan has not
    spared such resources. Azerbaijan succeeded in eliminating the Armenians of
    Nakhichevan who comprised more than half the population. There are none
    there today. In Baku and Sumgait, and throughout Azerbaijan, there were over
    400,000 Armenians in the Soviet years. There are none there today. The
    Azerbaijani experiment in ethnic cleansing worked.

    A decade ago, Azerbaijan retained the services of some of our region's most
    notorious mercenaries and international terrorists -- the same names which
    you hear again and again - to fight against the Armenian men and women who
    were defending their lands and their lives against aerial bombings and
    proximate shelling. The terrorists lost, Armenians won.

    Finally, Azerbaijan's leadership dismisses the opportunities offered by
    membership in international organizations to build bridges and seek
    solutions. Azerbaijan rejects mediation by those who wish to help halt drug
    trafficking through its territory. Azerbaijan also dismisses efforts by
    Council of Europe and other monitoring groups to come to the region to see
    first hand the destruction of thousands of irreplaceable historic and
    cultural markers. It crows about its desire for NATO membership even as it
    repeatedly prohibits an alliance partner's participation in NATO exercises.
    Worse, Azerbaijan not only does not rebuke, it champions the Azeri military
    officer who decapitated a fellow Armenian officer in a NATO training course
    in Budapest. It maligns the Minsk Group of the OSCE in order to hide its own
    refusal to consider proposals that have grown from the discussions and
    negotiations in which its own leadership has participated. For more than
    half a decade, it has rejected every proposal placed before it from the
    Common State Proposal in 1998 to the Key West document of 2000.

    Mr. President,
    Armenians prevailed in the military confrontation unleashed by Azerbaijan as
    a response to the peaceful demands of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh for
    self-determination. Contrary to the assertion of Azerbaijan's president,
    Armenians have occupied those lands for over 2000 years, and not just in the
    last 10. Today, Nagorno Karabakh has reversed the injustice of the Stalin
    years and is free and democratic, tolerant of minorities. Nagorno Karabakh
    holds regular elections, has state and security structures, complete control
    over its territory, and a growing economy. If in the last century, Armenians
    and Azeris were forcibly linked together, in this next century, where we
    have earned the right to our own destinies, we can determine to live
    together peaceably. If we are serious about becoming full, deserving
    residents of the European neighborhood, where borders don't matter, but
    intentions and tolerance do, we will have to come to terms with our past,
    with our history, with the realities that have gripped our region. Thank
    you.

    [AAA Note: This is an excerpt of the statement. For the complete text visit
    www.armeniaforeignministry.am]
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