Tweet
ANCA CALLED ON U. S. CONGRESS TO EXPAND NAGORNO-KARABAGH HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENTAL AID PACKAGE
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 14 2007
February 13, 2007 the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) called on key Congressional foreign aid appropriators to
maintain current levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia, expand the
Nagorno-Karabagh humanitarian and developmental aid package and keep
in place the agreement to ensure parity in U.S. military assistance
to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The ANCA's roll-out of the Armenian American community's foreign aid
priorities comes in the wake of the Administration's recent release
of its fiscal year (FY) 2008 proposed budget request. The President's
request would reduce U.S. assistance to Armenia from $75 million to
$35 million, breaks military assistance parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan and makes no specific mention of U.S. assistance levels
for Nagorno-Karabagh.
According to the information DE FACTO got at the ANCA, in February 13th
letters to each of the members of the House and Senate State-Foreign
Operations Subcommittee members, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian
highlighted Armenia's growing relationship with the United States:
"We are, of course, very proud that Armenia has been a good friend
to America, providing strong and consistent support to the global
war on terror, taking part in the NATO Partnership for Peace,
and contributing forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for
peacekeeping operations in Kosovo."
The ANCA argued for maintaining U.S. economic assistance to Armenia
at least at the current level of $75 million, noting that "in great
measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic development
programs, Armenia's economy has grown by more than 10% in each of
the past six years, more than doubling the size of Armenia's Gross
National Product. Sadly, however, the people of Armenia are still
faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and Azerbaijan's illegal
dual blockades - estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia at
least $720 million on an annual basis."
In urging a shift in U.S. aid to Nagorno-Karabagh from humanitarian
to developmental programs, Hamparian stressed that this expansion
"would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically
reduce Nagorno-Karabagh's once-daunting humanitarian challenges. The
time has come to support Nagorno-Karabagh's young democracy and its
efforts to expand its free market economy by funding programs aimed
at supporting democratic governance, encouraging sustainable economic
development and creating conditions conducive to greater stability
and lasting peace in this strategically important region."
Citing the agreement struck between the Congress and the
Administration in 2001 to maintain U.S. military aid parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hamparian argued that any retreat from this
principle would "destabilize the region and embolden the Azerbaijani
leadership to act on their threats to impose a military solution
to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict." He added that, "more broadly,
the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process,
while at the same time undermining the role of the U.S. as an impartial
mediator of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict."
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 14 2007
February 13, 2007 the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) called on key Congressional foreign aid appropriators to
maintain current levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia, expand the
Nagorno-Karabagh humanitarian and developmental aid package and keep
in place the agreement to ensure parity in U.S. military assistance
to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The ANCA's roll-out of the Armenian American community's foreign aid
priorities comes in the wake of the Administration's recent release
of its fiscal year (FY) 2008 proposed budget request. The President's
request would reduce U.S. assistance to Armenia from $75 million to
$35 million, breaks military assistance parity between Armenia and
Azerbaijan and makes no specific mention of U.S. assistance levels
for Nagorno-Karabagh.
According to the information DE FACTO got at the ANCA, in February 13th
letters to each of the members of the House and Senate State-Foreign
Operations Subcommittee members, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian
highlighted Armenia's growing relationship with the United States:
"We are, of course, very proud that Armenia has been a good friend
to America, providing strong and consistent support to the global
war on terror, taking part in the NATO Partnership for Peace,
and contributing forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for
peacekeeping operations in Kosovo."
The ANCA argued for maintaining U.S. economic assistance to Armenia
at least at the current level of $75 million, noting that "in great
measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic development
programs, Armenia's economy has grown by more than 10% in each of
the past six years, more than doubling the size of Armenia's Gross
National Product. Sadly, however, the people of Armenia are still
faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and Azerbaijan's illegal
dual blockades - estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia at
least $720 million on an annual basis."
In urging a shift in U.S. aid to Nagorno-Karabagh from humanitarian
to developmental programs, Hamparian stressed that this expansion
"would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically
reduce Nagorno-Karabagh's once-daunting humanitarian challenges. The
time has come to support Nagorno-Karabagh's young democracy and its
efforts to expand its free market economy by funding programs aimed
at supporting democratic governance, encouraging sustainable economic
development and creating conditions conducive to greater stability
and lasting peace in this strategically important region."
Citing the agreement struck between the Congress and the
Administration in 2001 to maintain U.S. military aid parity to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hamparian argued that any retreat from this
principle would "destabilize the region and embolden the Azerbaijani
leadership to act on their threats to impose a military solution
to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict." He added that, "more broadly,
the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would
reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process,
while at the same time undermining the role of the U.S. as an impartial
mediator of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict."