U.S. – Armenian Relations: Current Realities and Vision for Future

Address by Ambassador Arman Kirakossian at the University of Connecticut

September 23, 2004

 

President Austin,

Dear guests,

 

I would like to thank the University of Connecticut for hosting me in their beautiful campus and for the opportunity to address the ceremony inaugurating the Norian Endowment Fund Program in Armenian Studies.

 

I am delighted that the University of Connecticut and the Yerevan State University are collaborating in academic fields, and I am particularly happy that it will lead to the development of an Armenian Studies program at the University of Connecticut. You will have to excuse my bias here, because my specialty and profession before I joined the Foreign Ministry of Armenia had been Armenian Studies. Nevertheless, I know that the collaboration between the University’s School of Social Work and its counterpart in Yerevan State University has been active for 15 years, and I commend Dr. Nancy Humphreys for that. I am sure that the new program and the partnership project between the two universities will be of great value to their students, faculty, and researchers.

 

Today is September 23, which is a special day for the Republic of Armenia. On that day, in 1991, Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union was proclaimed, following a referendum two days earlier, on September 21. Consequently, we celebrate our Independence Day on September 21, when the people of Armenia overwhelmingly voted for independence and democracy. That was only 13 years ago; it seems almost an eternity.

 

Sometimes, it is easily forgotten that only 16 years ago, there were two superpowers prepared to annihilate each other with nuclear weapons; that the demands in Armenia, Georgia, and the Baltic States to achieve independence from the Soviet Union were met with obstruction and brute force from the Soviet authorities and patronizing smiles abroad; that democracy and market economy were only dreams, not a matter of sound policy in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. We have come a long way since that, and we have much ground to cover yet.

 

Armenia’s modern reawakening began in 1960’s, and by 1988 it bubbled to the surface in the form of national revival, environmental movement, demands for self-government in Nagorno-Karabakh, and eventually, the drive for independence. It is in this context that the current phase of U.S.-Armenian relations began. But our nations were not strangers to each other. U.S. involvement in Armenia began in late nineteenth century, when American missionaries, public figures, and philanthropists formed relief societies to assist the victims of the Armenian massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman government in 1894-1896. Later, the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire was nearly exterminated by the Young Turk Government in the Genocide, and once again, the American people came to assistance of the Genocide survivors and the refugees, mounting Near East Relief Society – one of the largest private relief efforts ever implemented in the United States.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians fleeing from massacres and the Genocide in the Ottoman Empire found refuge in this country in twentieth century. The Armenian Americans have become loyal citizens of this country, fighting to defend its freedom and contributing to its economic, political, and cultural development. As Armenia’s national revival began in 1988, many in U.S. government began to realize that the drive for independence was for real, and was symptomatic of the troubles facing the Soviet Union. Then, a terrible earthquake struck Armenia in December 1988, and the United States government provided much-needed relief and assistance to the victims of the earthquake. The commitment of the American people and their Government to Armenia continued after the independence had been established as well. Let me assure you that the people of Armenia recall with gratitude the invaluable assistance rendered during the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and since regaining independence in 1991. It has made a huge difference, and contributed greatly to the stability of the larger region surrounding Armenia.

 

Armenia ’s relations with the United States are excellent. They are based on shared values and principles, like freedom, democracy, advancement of human rights, and free enterprise. Underlying the strength of the bilateral relations are the human links between our countries, such as the existence of the Armenian-American community that bridges our countries. Since Armenia’s independence, we have had two presidents, and the United States, three. We have had very good relations with former President George Bush, former President Bill Clinton, and the current President, George W. Bush, and their administrations. Armenia has very good partners in the United States Congress as well; the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues numbers 140 Congressmen, by the last count. In the successive administrations and sessions of Congress, we have found good friends and partners in helping to strengthen Armenia’s independence, providing guidance and assistance in implement complex democratic and economic reforms to unlock the creative and enterprising spirit of the people of Armenia. We are extremely proud of this partnership, and realize the responsibility it places on us.

 

Now, the strong relations between our countries are not just virtual: every day, there is a myriad contacts between the two governments on political, economic, commercial, military and other issues. The most visible of these interactions are what we call the political dialog on the level of Presidents, Foreign Ministers, State Department and Foreign Ministry officials, and, last, but not the least, the Embassies in both capitals. Armenian President Robert Kocharian visited and met with former President Clinton and President George W. Bush; Armenia’s Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian, last visited in June, meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell and the National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and other government officials. I as the Ambassador and the Embassy staff work with State Department and other U.S. government officials on daily basis, and my counterpart in Yerevan, currently Ambassador John Evans, and his staff likewise meet and discuss with Armenian government officials. The political dialog provides the primary channels for discussing both bilateral and regional issues between the two governments.

 

Now, since most of those present among the audience this afternoon come from the academic world, my previous paragraph or two should have sparked your curiosity, and I foresee an inquiry, ‘what is it that you discuss?’ In an effort to satisfy your curiosity to the fullest and thus, diminish the number of questions after my lecture, I will present to you Armenia’s foreign policy and the context in which it has developed and is being conducted.

 

As I said, the dissolution of the Soviet Union created a principally new situation in our region, the South Caucasus. The interests of many powers often diverge openly, and Armenia’s position in this context is to find benefits in smoothing over the disagreements between the powers rather than in playing them off against one another, and to stake its long-term political dividends on pursuit of cooperative relations with all willing neighbors and all economic, political, or military organizations with interests in our region. Given Armenia’s size, relative proximity to troubled regions of the world, and the geopolitical context I have described above, this approach to our foreign policy really has no alternative. Thus, we pursue a complementary foreign policy.

 

One of the primary challenges of complementary foreign policy is maintaining good policy with our neighbors and regional powers. Armenia is a member of Commonwealth of Independent States which provides an important forum for discussing economic and political issues with former Soviet states, a legacy of 70 years of shared experience and existence within borders of one state. Armenia is also a member of Collective Security Treaty Organization, together with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, which provides for military-political cooperation with those states.

 

The Armenian-Russian cooperation and strategic partnership reflect not only the traditional friendship between our peoples, but also our interest in strengthening regional security. New forms of cooperation that are outlined in the context of the increasing cooperation between Russia and the United States can serve as an effective instrument to counteract the threats to our regional security and a good addition to the already existing structures.

 

Armenia has defense cooperation with Russia, including a Russian military presence. This cooperation is based on shared interests of both countries, and is fully consistent with geopolitical and humanitarian standards of the Caucasus. The prevailing security environment in the absence of any other viable alternatives strongly suggests such cooperation. At the same time, Armenia cooperates with NATO through its Partnership for Peace program, and in 2003 Armenia hosted a NATO PfP military exercise for the first time, and we will probably host another one in 2006.

 

An important component of Armenian-Russian relations is economy and commerce. Armenia’s Diaspora in Russia is almost 2 million strong; it is the largest community of Armenians outside of Armenia. The Russian-Armenians are also most active in economic and cultural life of their homeland, making Russia one of the leading investors and trade partners of Armenia.

 

One long-term goal of Armenia’s foreign policy is European integration. The Embassy frequently gets calls from confused social studies teachers and students in this country, asking which continent Armenia belongs to. Although Armenia’s geography places it at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia, and Near East, culturally we Armenians belong to Europe, and it is only natural that the Republic of Armenia aspires to join the common European community of nations. Europe is entering a new period in its evolution, with unprecedented institutional changes taking place. It is important to proceed so that new divisions are not introduced in the new Europe, and it is important to protect the rights of peoples, nations and individuals.

 

We consider the OSCE the preeminent Euro-Atlantic institution, with unique characteristics of inclusiveness, its multi-dimensional range of concerns and its flexibility for cooperative action. Since January 2001, Armenia has joined the Council of Europe, and we have made a number of commitments before our new partners in regards to Armenia’s legislation and democratic practices. The face of Europe has changed dramatically, and universal values of democracy, human rights and liberties, respect for national freedom – values we Armenians aspire towards – have become the building blocs of new Europe.

 

Returning to our region, Armenia and its neighbor Georgia share a border and history, as two native Caucasus people with millennia-long tradition of statehood, national identity, and struggle for national liberation. Georgia is an important neighbor of Armenia, all the more so because Armenia’s primary transit route and outlet to sea lies through the Georgian territory. Armenia enjoys friendly and firm relations with Georgia, enforced by the presence of a large Armenian community in Georgia. The amicable Georgian-Armenian relations will be one of the pillars of the emerging South Caucasus security framework. Stability and security of Georgia is in the best interests of Armenia, and in this context, the recent change of leadership in Georgia reinvigorated Armenian-Georgian relations, and was warmly welcomed by the Armenian Government. We understand that the new Georgian Government has inherited a challenging legacy, but we have already felt positive dynamics as far as their efforts to restore stability, consolidate the state mechanisms, and streamline the transit of trade through Georgia is concerned, because that is also in our interests, as a neighboring country.

 

Another neighbor of Armenia, and a regional power, is Iran, which has its own potential, which the Caucasus countries cannot objectively discount. Iran has its interests in our region and has pursued them in a responsible way, with utmost respect for internal affairs of each country. Armenia shares a common border with Iran, and has good economic and commercial links with that country. During the difficult years of early independence, Iran helped Armenia by providing a reliable link to the outside world. There exists a significant Armenian community in Iran, highly urbanized, enjoying religious freedoms and represented in Iranian parliament, forming an important basis of historical relations between our countries.

 

Let’s turn to another important neighbor we have in the region, the Republic of Turkey. Armenia’s renewal of independence was an opportunity to begin a new era in relations with Turkey, but Turkey’s attitude towards the newly independent Armenia was anything but friendly. Despite Armenian Government’s visionary position, Turkey refused to established diplomatic relations with Armenia, closed the borders with Armenia and maintains an economic blockade of Armenia. While both Armenia and Turkey are members of the OSCE, Turkey has continuously used its diplomatic arsenal to undermine Armenia’s position vis-à-vis Azerbaijan. Here’s a paradox: Iran, which is an Islamic state, has pursued rational and equal relations with Muslim Azerbaijan and Christian Armenia. On the other hand, Turkey, a self-styled secular republic, has consistently preferred the ethnic, national, and religious affinity with Azerbaijan to shadow the universal principles of friendly and open relations with neighboring states.

 

Of course, the Genocide is a difficult issue that affects the development of a bilateral relationship between Armenia and Turkey, which will be a major factor securing stability and regional cooperation in the Caucasus. Since 2002, Armenia’s Foreign Minister met with his Turkish counterparts on several occasion. He will meet Turkish Foreign Minister Abdulah Gul again, in New York, next week. Armenia is ready to continue interstate dialogue with the Republic of Turkey and establish diplomatic relations.

 

The international recognition of the Armenian Genocide remains on agenda of the Armenian diplomacy. We are convinced that a greater acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by the community of nations, including the United States, will serve the purpose of preventing future genocides, and will ultimately promote the understanding of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey proper. Historic justice, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence are not ephemeral concepts but essential parameters in the rapprochement between the Armenian and Turkish peoples.

 

One aspect that influences Armenian-Turkish relations, just as much as it does our relations with Azerbaijan, another neighbor, is the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. If I were to give a historical background, it would take me an hour or two, because the historical roots of this conflict over Armenian-populated region go back to legacy of Tsarist, and then Stalinist policy of divide and conquer, which set Azeris against the Armenians by forcibly incorporating Nagorno Karabakh within Soviet Azerbaijan in 1923. It flared up in 1988, and Soviet government of Azerbaijan carefully exploited Moscow’s displeasure over Armenian policy of securing independence from the Soviet Union to make gains in Nagorno Karabakh and suppress their desire for self-determination. After the Soviet Union fell, the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were able to establish a de-facto independent republic, leading to hostilities that ended with a cease-fire in May 1994.

 

The unresolved nature of this conflict continues to affect the regional stability in the Caucasus. The last major breakthrough in resolution of this conflict came, of all places, in Key West, FL, when President Heydar Aliev came very close to an agreement guaranteeing peace. Since then, he reneged on his word, devoted himself to making his son Ilham succeed him, and died in office. His son is the President now, and he already held three meetings with Armenian President Kocharian to try to resolve the issue.

 

We are concerned now that the irresponsible statements by the Azerbaijani politicians, the hard-line nationalist rhetoric from Baku have had the effect of igniting war hysteria and contribute to the idea of inevitability of the resumption of hostilities in this conflict. This is a development condemned both in Armenia and by the international mediators. The ceasefire regime in zone of conflict is based on the goodwill of all parties, and the war propaganda in Azerbaijan will undermine the confidence in its ability to abide by the ceasefire regime. So, we hope that Azerbaijan will realize that the resumption of hostilities will not be of benefit to any party to the conflict.

 

Despite everything, Armenia remains committed to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. We hope to be able to move forward with a comprehensive peace plan, bringing a permanent peace to the people of Artsakh and securing the stability of the region.

 

The conflict resolution is achieved through the mediation of OSCE, in a format called the Minsk Group. The United States is a co-chair of that group, and so is Russia and France. Thus, the three co-chairs facilitate negotiations between parties to the conflict. Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution is one of the biggest issues in bilateral relations between Armenia and the United States.

 

It is by far not the only issue, though. I have already mentioned the strength of our relations in many areas, from political to economic to cultural to military-security issues. The Armenian reaction to the events of September 11 underscored the unique and human nature of U.S.-Armenian relations. Our hearts went to the American people during the tragic days of that fateful September. Armenia has helped and is helping the United States-led campaign against international terrorism in Afghanistan. In the wake of 9/11, the U.S.-Armenian military cooperation programs have become a new component of the Armenian security framework and are fully in compliance with Armenia’s complementary foreign policy. U.S.-Armenian security cooperation involves periodic discussions of joint action in such areas as combating terrorism, securing borders, and non-proliferation. The United States military is providing much-needed assistance to Armenia in training peacekeeping personnel and demining. Armenia’s first platoon of peacekeepers was assigned to Kosovo in March 2004, completed its duty there in September, and was replaced by a second platoon of soldiers. Armenian Armed Forces and the Kansas National Guard have a cooperation program that will further strengthen the ties between our armed forces.

 

As always, economy and commerce are areas that affect the nations the most. In general, Armenia’s economy has posted strong growth rates: nearly 14% in 2003, and 9.6% so far in 2004. Leading Armenian growth industries are construction, jewelry and diamond processing, and manufacturing, as well as export-oriented industries. U.S.-Armenian bilateral trade is displaying strong growth trend. In 2003, Armenian exports to the U.S. grew by 22% over 2002; in January-July 2004, they grew by 61% over the same period in 2003. Leading Armenian exports to the U.S. are software and IT products, jewelry, apparel, and processed food. The trade balance is still in favor of the U.S., but trade, as we all know, benefits both sides. U.S. investment in Armenia is not as large as I want it to be, but that will change too. Recently, an American company, Comsup, acquired a 50% stake in one of Armenia’s largest copper mining consortium. One of the fastest growing sectors of Armenian economy, IT and software manufacturing, is completely dominated by U.S.-based or U.S.-owned companies. One of the outstanding issues in the area of trade is a bill pending in U.S. Congress that will grant Armenia Permanent Normal Trade Relations status, resulting from Armenia’s accession to WTO.

 

To discuss trade and commerce, as well as issues relating to economy and U.S. assistance to Armenia, our governments have established a forum called U.S.-Armenia Economic Task Force, which is an important mechanism of discussing bilateral issues that affect all sectors of the Armenian economy in a positive manner. We hope that the U.S. assistance to Armenia will continue at the same level in the near future. In this regard, we appreciate Armenia’s selection, along with 15 other countries, as potential recipients of Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) funds. The MCA, a foreign aid distribution mechanism introduced by the Bush administration, will fund programs submitted by eligible countries to promote the goals of poverty reduction and economic development. The Armenian government plans to present programs based on the Strategic Poverty Reduction Program it is pursuing, which coincides with the aims of the MCA programs.

As far as trade and commerce are concerned, the Armenian-Americans play an important role as entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers of Armenia-made products. In general, the Armenian American community, as one of the most politically active, influential, and patriotic segment of the Diaspora continues to play an important role in supporting the homeland and advancing the Armenian agenda. The Armenian American political, lobbyist, charity, and cultural organizations and associations, the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, other Armenian religious groups and denominations, business leaders, media, individual benefactors and community members have brought their invaluable support in strengthening U.S.-Armenian relations.

 

Finally, another area the Embassy is actively engaged in, and should be considered an important area of U.S.-Armenian relations as well, is culture. Armenia’s cultural legacy is rich and unique, and we eagerly promote it since, honestly, more people are interested in cultural affairs than in politics. In 2003, Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian’s centennial was celebrated in Armenia, United States, Russia and other parts of the world. The Embassy stages cultural events, exhibitions, and concerts as well. As a diplomat, I readily admit that culture is a great tool in diplomatic arsenal. The Armenian Children’s Center of Fine Arts organized an exhibit of paintings by young Armenian artists, ranging in age from 6 to 16, devoted to the tragic events of 9/11. In remembrance of the third anniversary of 9/11, the Embassy and the Congressional Armenian Caucus hosted that exhibited on the Capitol Hill to great acclaim from visiting members of Congress, staffers, U.S. government officials, and other visitors.

 

In conclusion, let me once again return to my favorite topic of Armenian Studies. I do hope that the partnership between the University of Connecticut and Yerevan State University will result in establishment of a permanent Armenian Studies program here. I applaud the efforts to strengthen the cooperation and collaboration between the scholars in Armenia and the U.S. because I am convinced it will be of great benefit to everyone. As a scholar and as the Armenian Ambassador to the U.S., I am prepared to assist this effort in any way I can.