STATE’S FRIED DISCUSSES ARMENIA DEMOCRATIZATION, NAGORNO-KARABAKH
By Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington File, DC
March 30 2006

United States expects upcoming elections to meet international
standards.

Washington – The United States expects Armenia’s parliamentary
and presidential elections in 2007 and 2008 to meet international
standards for free and fair elections, the State Department’s Daniel
Fried said March 27 in a speech that also touched on such regional
issues as the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, energy security and
the war against terrorism.

Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
affairs, said the Bush administration is “taking at face value”
assurances from the Armenian government that the elections will be
free and fair. The elections are “key tests” of whether Armenia is
meeting its commitments under the terms of the Millennium Challenge
Compact it signed March 27, he said.

“We must achieve this goal [elections that meet international
standards] to sustain our relations,” Fried told the Armenian Assembly
of America National Conference in Washington.

Armenia signed a Millennium Challenge Compact — or bilateral aid
agreement – worth $235 million over five years at a ceremony March
27 at the State Department. The money will be targeted at improving
the country’s rural roads and an irrigation-and-drainage project that
will increase water supply to rural areas. (See related article.)

Millennium Challenge money is granted to countries judged to be
encouraging economic freedom, ruling justly and investing in their
people. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian acknowledged in
his remarks at the signing ceremony that “much remains to be done”
to make Armenia’s democratic and economic reforms “comprehensive.”

“We know that corruption must not be tolerated and that law must rule,
that the principles of democracy must be transformed to traditions
of democracy in our country,” Oskanian said.

Fried referred to the compact as “a testament to Armenia’s progress
and its commitment to do more on good governance, economic freedom,
and investment in its people.”

Armenia, he said, “has the potential to be a leader in the region
by showing progress on democratic reforms to keep pace with its
economic expansion.”

AZERBAIJAN

Turning to Nagorno-Karabakh, Fried said finding a solution to
the conflict over the predominantly ethnic Armenian region within
Azerbaijan remains a “key focus” of U.S. foreign policy. He said
the United States was “disappointed” at the lack of progress when
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met at Rambouillet, France,
in February. But on recent meetings with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he believes “there
is a possibility for progress in 2006.” (See related article.)

Fried said the United States does not intend to impose a settlement
on either Armenia or Azerbaijan. “But it is our intention to support
a solution if both governments arrive at it,” he added.

When questioned, Fried declined to reveal details of any possible
settlement under discussion except to say that “the will of the people
of Nagorno-Karabakh has to be respected” and that “there are issues
of territorial integrity.”

A solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, which dates to the last
years of the former Soviet Union, should result in an open border with
Turkey, Fried said. After his visit to Armenia, he went to Turkey,
he said, and pressed the Turkish government to open its border with
Armenia as soon as possible.

Turkey closed its land border with Armenia during the 1990-94 armed
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh to show solidarity with Azerbaijan
and has not reopened it.

Fried also said the United States hopes to see the Caucasus region
integrate economically even before a solution to the dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh. “It’s good not only for Armenia; it would be good
for Turkey and Azerbaijan as well,” he said.

SECURITY CONCERNS

Regarding U.S. security cooperation with Azerbaijan, Fried said U.S.

assistance was meant to help Azerbaijan handle such security threats
as Iran, not to be used against Armenia.

“Our assistance to Azerbaijan does not undermine our support for
Armenian security, and it is not designed and will not be used for
offensive purposes against Armenia,” he said.

Fried expressed concern about increased energy ties to Iran, saying
the United States is looking at ways in which it can support energy
security for all the countries of the south Caucasus.

He concluded by addressing the tragic events of 1915, when more than
1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed while Armenia was still part
of the Ottoman Empire.

“The U.S. position on events of 1915 has not changed,” Fried said.

“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.”

Turkey, Fried said, “will have to go through what many other countries
such as the United States have had to go through in our own history,
which is looking back at the darker spots in our past.”

A transcript of Fried’s speech is available on the State Department
Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
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