ANTI-AMERICAN CONFERENCE IN ARMENIA?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
17 May 06

On May 17 a two-day international conference kicked off in Yerevan,
entitled “The Caucasus without Terror. The Dialogue of Civilizations
at the Caucasian Crossroad”. It was organized by Aram Gaspari Sargsyan
and Ara Abrahamyan. Perhaps Ara Abrahamyan played the leading role in
the organizer tandem, who gave the money for the conference, covered
travel, accommodation and food expenses of the participants. Aram
Gaspari Sargsyan is the host, the chair and maybe also the author of
the idea. Certainly, however, after scrutinizing the idea and making it
correspond to his own interests Ara Abrahamyan decided to support the
conference, almost turning a Russian monologue. First, the conference,
which is an outlook for a peaceful development of the South Caucasus,
is entitled “the Caucasus without Terror,” whereas the South Caucasus
can hardly be considered a hotbed of terror. Even if it is so, the
American experts invited from the United States could not be found
among the participants. Only representatives of the Armenian American
organizations participate in the conference, who are mostly Armenian
residents. In the meantime, it is worthwhile to recall that the
United States is the flagship in the war against terrorism, and it is
difficult to argue, at least in a conference. Against this background,
the other forces engaged in the region and pursuing interests in the
South Caucasus – Russia, Iran, Turkey, Europe, NKR – were represented
duly. Even Azerbaijan had been invited, but they refused to come,
fearing a misunderstanding by the Azerbaijani society.

Interestingly the Georgian experts did not turn up either; most
probably on learning who had organized the conference. The only
representative of Georgia was Member of Parliament Van Bayburd,
Armenian by origin. Announcing about the conference several days
ago, Aram Gaspari Sargsyan told the reporter of Lragir.am that the
American experts had not been invited for financial reasons; travel
from America to Armenia is expensive, and the organizers cannot afford
to cover all the expenses. However, it was reported in press that Ara
Abrahamyan is staying at the only presidential room of the Armenia
Marriott Hotel in Yerevan, which costs 1300 dollars a day.

The expectations that the conference would be overtly pro-Russian
were confirmed by the first address to the event. The first speaker
was Russian Member of Parliament Constantine Zatulin. He began with
the words that the presence of Russia in the South Caucasus can be
assessed differently, but it is unarguable that it guarantees peace
and security in the region.

According to Zatulin, the problems of the South Caucasus have always
been settled with outside interference. Consequently, the Russian
member of parliament thinks that Russia has a better understanding
of the reality in the South Caucasus and has a better perception of
the problems in the region than the United States. It should be noted
that only after the lasting speech of Zatulin did Aram G. Sargsyan
decide to interrupt and regulate the duration of speeches. However,
the thematic environment of the conference had been established. It
was not modified by the Iranian, European and Turkish experts who
mainly spoke about historical, or cultural or generally unity and
partnership. And Russian Armenian Andranik Mihranyan, who is also a
member of the Public Chamber, established by Vladimir Putin, took up
and developed Zatulin’s line.

According to him, Russia is presently departing from the South
Caucasus which is, however, a major mistake. Andranik Mihranyan says
the region is increasingly featuring a new global player, the United
States, which has two regional proxies, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The
Russian Armenian political scientist called the Russian diplomacy for
intensifying pressure on the South Caucasian states and asked to keep
in mind that historically they have pursued their interests through
Armenia. Constantine Zatulin’s and Andranik Mihranyan’s speeches
heavily dwelled upon the United States, as well as Georgia, the United
States’ regional ally in the South Caucasus. It is notable that the
Russian political figures did not voice strictures against Azerbaijan,
even though just a few weeks ago Aliev returned from Washington,
having been “declared” a strategic partner of the United States.

Another notable thing about the conference was the participation
of Armenian experts and political figures. The majority are
Russian-speaking and pro-Russian. For instance, Aram Karapetyan seeking
for Russia, Albert Bazeyan – Vagharshak Harutiunyan tandem. Aram
Gaspari Sargsyan, an organizer of the conference, said they had not
invited the political parties, they had invited the experts. For
the political parties, Aram G. Sargsyan said these were chosen on
their preference.