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)

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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
]