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06/15/2006
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1) Committee Adopts Amendment to Block US Subsidy for Armenia Railroad Bypass
2) Matthew Bryza Appointed US Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group
3) Luxembourg PM Proposes Freezing EU Talks with Turkey
4) Kocharian to Visit Iran

1) Committee Adopts Amendment to Block US Subsidy for Armenia Railroad Bypass

WASHINGTON, DC–The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomed
Wednesday the vote by a powerful Congressional panel to block US taxpayer
funding for an unnecessary and costly proposed railroad between Turkey and
Georgia that would, if built, circumvent Armenia and, in the process,
undermine
the economic viability of the existing Caucasus railroad route through
Armenia.
With a unanimous voice vote Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee
adopted the amendment offered by panel member Joe Crowley (D-NY). The measure
prohibits the Export-Import Bank from providing any assistance ~Sto develop or
promote any rail connections or railway-related connections that traverse or
connect Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Kars, Turkey, and that
specifically exclude cities in Armenia.~T
Representative Crowley serves as the Chief Deputy Minority Whip. His
amendment to the Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006 was
co-authored
by Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA).
~SWe thank Congressman Crowley, his colleagues Ed Royce and Brad Sherman, and
all the members of the Financial Services Committee for protecting American
taxpayers from subsidizing an ill-advised and over-priced railroad project
that–at the insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan–has been proposed solely to
exclude Armenia,~T said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.
~SWith this amendment, we are sending a message to the governments of Turkey
and Azerbaijan that continually excluding Armenia in regional projects fosters
instability,~T said Congressman Crowley. ~SBypassing Armenia is just another
attempt to further suffocate this republic, which has made great strides in
democratic and economic reforms notwithstanding its neighbors~R hostility. If
the Caucasus region is to move forward, we must ensure that all countries move
forward together at the same time.~T
He added that, ~SThe American taxpayer should not be required to finance a
project that goes against the interests of the US government in the South
Caucasus. I thank my colleagues for recognizing the importance of this
legislation.~T
A proposed new Caucasus rail line–at the urging of Turkey and
Azerbaijan–would circumvent Armenia. Promoters of the project have sought,
even at the planning stages, to secure US financing for this undertaking,
prompting Congressional friends of Armenia to preemptively block such
attempts.
The Crowley Amendment is similar to the South Caucasus Integration and Open
Railroads Act of 2006. This measure was introduced in both the House (HR
3361), by Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), and in the Senate (S 2461) by
Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA). The House version has 85 cosponsors; the Senate
version has been cosponsored by Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Paul Sarbanes
(D-MD). Both measures stress that US policy should oppose the ~SThe exclusion
of Armenia from regional economic and commercial undertakings in the South
Caucasus,~T noting that such actions ~Sundermine the United States policy
goal of
promoting a stable and cooperative environment in the region.~T
Thousands of activists throughout the United States have sent ANCA
WebFaxes to
members of Congress in support of this legislation at
anca.org/action_alerts/actionalerts.php?aaid=93 .
In October of last year, the European Commission voiced official
opposition to
the proposed Caucasus railroad bypass of Armenia. A formal statement by the
Commission~Rs Directorate General for Transport and Energy noted that its
construction was both unnecessary and inefficient in light of the existing
railroad connecting Kars, Gyumri, and Tbilisi.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is the official
export credit agency of the United States. Ex-Im Bank~Rs mission is to assist
in financing the export of US goods and services to international markets.

2) Matthew Bryza Appointed US Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian
Affairs Matthew J. Bryza was appointed the American co-chair of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said.
~SThe US informed us that Mr. Bryza will replace Steven Mann at the post of
co-chair. After confirmation in Vienna he will fully engage into the
process of
the Nagorno Karabagh conflict settlement.~T
Bryza is expected to pay a visit to the region to get familiarized with the
situation and the peace process.
When news of the replacement was first announced Azeri Foreign Affairs
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said that changing the American co-chairman will not
have a negative impact on negotiations.
He said that what is important is that the US remains in the regulation
process. He added that Mann~Rs replacement will be fully involved in the
process
within one or two months.

3) Luxembourg PM Proposes Freezing EU Talks with Turkey

PARIS (Reuters)–The European Union should freeze membership talks with Turkey
if Ankara does not open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus this
year, said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday.
It was the clearest signal so far that some leaders will seek a complete halt
to the negotiations if Turkey does not fulfill its obligation to extend its EU
customs union to all new member states, including Cyprus, which it does not
recognize.
Juncker was asked by the French daily La Croix whether the EU had shown
weakness by agreeing to conclude the first detailed accession negotiations on
science and research this week without a move by Turkey on Cyprus.
"No. European ministers firmly reiterated to the Turks that this condition
should be applied in 2006," he said.
"If Turkey were not to implement this condition this year, my view is that
the
negotiations will have [to] be postponed."
Turkey has said it would open air and sea access to Cypriot planes and ships
if the EU made good on a promise to end the economic isolation of Turkish
Cypriot northern Cyprus. The EU has rejected any linkage between Ankara’s
treaty obligation and its own political pledge, which Nicosia has so far
impeded.
Officially, the EU has not threatened a complete suspension of talks if, as
expected, Turkey does not meet the condition.
Foreign Ministers said this week "Failure to implement its obligations in
full
will affect the overall progress in the negotiations" without specifying how.
The executive European Commission is due to review Turkey’s performance in a
report in late October or early November and Enlargement Commissioner Olli
Rehn
has warned of a potential "train crash."
Juncker, a veteran center-right politician close to Germany’s governing
Christian Democrats, suggested the EU would have to reconsider further
expansion in the light of the defeat of the EU constitution in France and the
Netherlands.
"Anyhow, Croatia aside, I think that it will probably not be possible to
continue the enlargement process without limits and precautions if we do not
manage to restore order to European institutions," he told La Croix.
"A large-scale enlargement does not seem feasible to me on the sole basis of
the current treaties."

4) Kocharian to Visit Iran

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–President Robert Kocharian will travel to Iran next month
for
his first face-to-face talks with the Islamic Republic~Rs President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, his spokesman said on Thursday.
Victor Soghomonian, the presidential press secretary, said that the official
visit is tentatively scheduled to take place ~Sin the middle of this summer.~T
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian was in Tehran late last month and discussed
with senior Iranian officials details of Kocharian~Rs planned trip, suggesting
that it will focus on Iranian-Armenian energy projects. According to the
Iranian Foreign Ministry, Movsisian told his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr
Mottaki, that it could ~Sopen a new chapter~T in the close ties between the two
neighboring states.
Mottaki, for his part, was quoted as praising ~Scommon interests~T shared by
Armenia and Iran and calling for a further deepening of their ~Sprofound
relations.~T The remarks are in line with Ahmadinejad~Rs pledges to continue his
predecessors~R policy on Armenia, which he made following his election as
president a year ago.
Kocharian had already visited Tehran in 2003 to meet with Iran~Rs Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and then President Mohammad Khatami.

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