Journal of Turkish Weekly
Aug 22 2005
Iran Makes Aid to Armenia
Kemal DURANCAN (JTW)
ANKARA – Iran Islamic Republic makes grants to two Christian
countries of the region, Armenia and Georgia. Armenia has occupied
almost 20 percent of Azerbaijan for more than a decade. Iran has a
strong Azerbaijani minority. It is argued that almost 40 percent of
Iranian population is Azerbaijani. Dr. Yesim Sahiner says `Iranian
foreign policy is not Islamic or Islamist, but pragmatist. I can see
no difference between Shah’s Caucasian policy and Islamic Republic’s
Caucasian policies.’ `If Iran’s foreign policy is Islamic, it should
support Muslim Azerbaijan instead of Christian Armenia. Iran grants
half million dollars as the US does. What is the difference between
Iran and the US in Caucasus’ Sahiner added.
Sahiner argued that Armenia is an aggressive state and has attacked
its neighbors. `Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani
territories. It has irredentist aims on Georgian territories. Yerevan
further does not recognise Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s national
borders. Many Armenian terrorists who killed more than 40 Turkish
diplomats during the 1970s and 1980s are free in Armenia. Armenia
even makes aid to the terrorists. The European Union many other
international organizations publicly declared that Armenia was an
occupier in Karabakh and in many Azerbaijani towns. However the
United States can make economic aid to such an occupier country, and
now the Iran Islamic Republic grants a lot of sources. No one can
defend itself by using ideological words here’.
IRAN GRANTS TO 10 STATES
Iranian Cabinet on Sunday approved payment of a 10-million-dollar
grant to seven states upon a proposal of the foreign ministry.
According to Public Relations Department of Ministry of Economy and
Finance, the grant will be provided from development credit fund.
Based on the cabinet’s approval, Iran will grant 2.5 million dollars
to Tajikistan, 2 million dollars to Iraq, 1.5 million dollars to
Niger, 1.5 million dollars to Guinea, 1.5 million dollars to Mali,
0.5 million dollars to Armenia and 0.5 million dollars to Georgia.
Iran has very good relations with Armenia. Many projects on oil, gas,
transportation and electricity are agreed between Tehran and Yerevan
while Tehran-Baku relations are not as good as that. Turkey has
developed close relations with Georgia and Azerbaijan and urged
Armenia to withdraw from occupied territories and join the Caucasian
integration attempts. Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan will finish the
Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan Pipeline Project in 2004 and three states
will establish a more integrated transportation system in the region.
Turkish officials say Ankara wish to see Armenia and Iran in regional
integration projects. There is another gas pipeline between Turkey
and Iran and Turkey buys almost 1 billion dollars Iranian gas every
year.