YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenia’s participation in the Millennium Challenge Account was a new stage in development of the U.S.-Armenian relations. The U.S. is confident in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
The U.S. is providing financial assistance and developing cooperation with Armenia. Nevertheless, in his annual speech in 2006 U.S. President George W. Bush again failed to properly acknowledge the events of 1915 by avoiding the word «genocide.» U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary John Evans answered some questions of PanARMENIAN.Net regarding these matters.
– Armenia is the second largest recipient of humanitarian aid from the United States after Israel. What is planned for 2006 considering the parliamentary elections in 2007 and 2008?
– Armenia is one of the largest recipients of U.S. assistance on a per capita basis. Since 1992, the United States has provided more than 1.6 billion dollars of assistance to Armenia in support of the country’s transition to democracy. Through this assistance, the United States government is cooperating with Armenia in pursuit of three major goals: strengthening democratic institutions, providing for a more stable and secure South Caucasus, and building the economies of all three countries of the region.
In addition to our on-going programs, the United States has developed a program of assistance worth approximately seven million dollars to help Armenia in holding free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008. This comprehensive package of election-related assistance will provide support for the development of the national voter registry and the conduct of voter education campaigns.
It will also include assistance for the development of voter education materials, training for various sectors of society including representatives of the judicial system and political party representatives, and exchange visits for media outlets. We believe it is vitally important for Armenia’s future that the upcoming elections be free, fair and transparent, and be perceived as such not only by the international community, but most importantly by the Armenian people themselves.
In addition, on March 27 the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a $235 million Compact with Armenia. This assistance program will focus on rural road rehabilitation and improved irrigation, and will directly impact approximately 75% of the rural population, increasing their annual income by an estimated $36 million in 2010 and over $113 million in 2015. In order to remain eligible for this funding, Armenia must continue to demonstrate a commitment to ruling justly, investing in people, and encouraging economic freedom.
– How is economic cooperation between Armenia and the United States developing?
– U.S.-Armenian economic cooperation is continuing to develop in the right direction. In addition to the U.S. assistance programs outlined above, more than seventy American firms are currently doing business in Armenia, several of which have made sizeable investments. In addition, a number of Armenian products have found markets in America. As this cooperation continues to develop, we hope to establish additional, stronger economic links between the United States and Armenia.
– Your country is a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Is it possible to expect something new in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict this year?
– In March of this year, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Ambassador Steven Mann addressed this issue when he said, “[The] United States believes that the way peace is best served is by taking that first step towards an agreement in 2006. I don’t believe we can solve the entire Nagorno-Karabakh issue in 2006. I think realistically the process of the Karabakh settlement is going to be something that takes place over many years. But I think this is our year, and these are the months, to take that first important step. And I am absolutely convinced that in the months ahead the two sides have the chance to greatly lower the dangers of a new war.”
– In 2005 at a meeting with Armenian-American Diaspora, you said that the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire were “genocide.” Do you still hold this point of view?
– I would refer you to President Bush’s April 24 statement, in which he noted, “Today, we remember one of the horrible tragedies of the 20th century – the mass killings and forced exile of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
This was a tragedy for all humanity and one that we and the world must never forget. We mourn this terrible chapter of history and recognize that it remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for all those who believe in freedom, tolerance, and the dignity and value of every human life. It is a credit to the human spirit and generations of Armenians who live in Armenia, America, and around the globe that they have overcome this suffering and proudly preserved their centuries-old culture, traditions, and religion.”
I would also point you to remarks made by Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who said in March of this year, “The U.S. position on events of 1915 has not changed. We believe that a productive dialogue is the best way to establish a shared understanding of history that honors the victims of these horrific events, murders on a mass scale, killings without justification, deportations. Over 1.5 million people lost their lives, innocent victims.
But we want to foster reconciliation and peace based on an understanding of history, not a denial of it. We believe that the tragedy of 1915, the killings, is of enormous human significance and its historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of politics, but introspection among civic leaders and scholars. This process has begun in Turkey where it needs to take place.”
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