Category: 2021

ANC of New Jersey has Three-Decade Record of Supporting State’s Senior Senator

WASHINGTON-–The rise of Senator Robert Menendez to the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee was welcomed Thursday by the Armenian National Committee of America, which has worked closely with him, locally and nationally, since he was first elected to the U.S. Congress nearly thirty years ago.

“The ANCA is proud of our strong, enduring, and principled working relationship with Senator Menendez,” remarked ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “We are confident that as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee he will be a strong supporter for both Armenia and Artsakh.”

“As a resident of New Jersey, I am so proud that Senator Menendez has risen to become the leader of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee,” shared ANCA Board member Ani Tchaghlasian. “For decades, the ANC of New Jersey could count on Congressman and later Senator Menendez to go to bat for our cause. I am confident that the same will be true as he chairs this powerful committee,” added Tchaghlasian.

Senator Menendez – who spearheaded unanimous passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.150, in the U.S. Senate in December of 2019 – has a decades-long legislative track record of leading pro-Armenian initiatives. He is respected across Capitol Hill for relentlessly and effectively championing policy priorities of concern to the ANCA of New Jersey and the Garden State’s vibrant Armenian American community. His Genocide resolution locked in permanent U.S. Senate recognition and remembrance of this crime against humanity, which he then leveraged to ensure that the Library of Congress properly cataloged relevant books in its collection under an Armenian Genocide subject heading.

A strong supporter of Artsakh – known for his vigorous defense of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act – Senator Menendez secured a General Accounting Office assessment of the Trump Administration’s dramatic $120,000,000 increase in U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, and – in the wake of Azerbaijan’s September 27, 2020 attack on Artsakh, introduced two measures, S.Res.754 and S.Res.755, scrutinizing U.S. security assistance to Turkey and Azerbaijan in light of their domestic abuses and acts of regional aggression. He has led bipartisan Senate campaigns to support U.S. aid to Artsakh and ensure continued USAID funding for the HALO Trust’s life-saving de-mining operations.

The ANCA strongly supported the bold leadership of Senator Menendez in his landmark campaigns to block two deeply flawed U.S. ambassadorial nominations – Matt Bryza to serve as U.S. Ambassador in Azerbaijan and Dick Hoagland to act as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. Based on Bryza’s demonstrated anti-Armenian bias and Hoagland’s on-the-record denial of the Armenian Genocide, Senator Menendez led successful Senate opposition to their respective confirmations. He faced relentless attacks for these principled stands – including hostile policy editorials from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

The ANCA was joined in welcoming Senator Menendez’s chairmanship by partner organizations, In Defense of Christians (IDC) and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC).

IDC’s Toufic Baaklini noted that: “Senator Menendez is a strong advocate for ancient Christian communities who are at threat of extinction in the land where Christianity began. We are incredibly grateful for his advocacy for U.S. assistance to the Lebanese people as well as his calls for accountability against Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey for state-sponsored Christian persecution. We are thrilled he will serve as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and extend our warmest congratulations to him.”

Endy Zemenides of HALC commented that: “Senator Menendez’s chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will greatly advance efforts to restore American leadership in this chaotic world. Bob Menendez is as principled, creative, and effective as any figure in American foreign policy.  We very much look forward to working with the new chairman.”

Senator Menendez has consistently received A+ grades from the ANCA.  His outstanding track record of support on key Armenian American community concerns began with his election as mayor of Union City in 1986, continued through his time in the New Jersey state legislature from 1988 to 1992, and flourished on a national scale following his 1992 election to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a member of the House International Relations Committee, then-Congressman Menendez voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2000 and 2005, setting the stage for future House consideration of the measure. During his years in the U.S. House, he is best remembered for his leadership in maintaining Section 907 restrictions on U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan in 1997.

He continued to elevate Armenian American priorities when he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. Whether scrutinizing U.S. ambassadorial nominees to Turkey and Azerbaijan regarding their positions on the Armenian Genocide or mediating a lasting peace for the Republic of Artsakh, Senator Menendez has been a stalwart leader on Armenian American concerns.

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office on Friday, once again, neither denied nor confirmed that Pashinyan will travel to Moscow on Monday for Karabakh talks with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev. Similarly, official Baku has also dodged the issue.

For days some opposition forces and social media outlets have said that Pashinyan will meet with Aliyev in Moscow to finalize the points of the November 9 agreement that ended military operations in Karabakh but saw the surrender of territories in Armenia and Artsakh to Azerbaijan. These reports also warn that Pashinyan may make further concessions to Azerbaijan.

Some social media posts are also claiming that the national security chiefs of Armenia and Azerbaijan have held secret talks and allegedly have finalized the details of an agreement to be signed by Armenia’s leader. Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan denied claims on Friday that he and his office have received the document for further examination.

The unconfirmed claims about the Moscow meeting apparently have concerned President Armen Sarkissian who on Friday reiterated his appeal from November to the authorities to be guided by Armenia’s national interests when negotiating or concluding any agreement with other parties.

“The President calls on the relevant authorities to be guided only by national interests, ensure accountability before the public and unwaveringly observe the provisions of the Constitution and laws of Armenia, as well as the norms and principles of international law for implementation of aforementioned agreements [November 9 agreement] and when reaching verbal agreements,” said a statement from Sarkissian’s office.

In a bombshell announcement immediately after the signing of the November 9 agreement, Sarkissian announced that he was not consulted before the agreement was concluded and urged holding national interests above all else when reaching agreements that impact Armenia’s citizens and its national security.

This potential meeting has also raised grave concerns for the National Salvation Movement, a coalition of opposition forces that are demanding Pashinyan’s resignation and proposing a national accord government, headed by their candidate for prime minister, Vazgen Manukyan, that will be responsible for organizing snap parliamentary elections. Manukyan chaired a session of the National Salvation Movement on Friday when the concerns about the rumored Moscow meeting were voiced.

Armenia and Armenians are still reeling from the November 9 agreement, with its succinct and often vague provisions that have pitted lay citizens against Azerbaijani forces who have been deployed to claim territories in both Armenia and Artsakh that were not delineated in the document. Just this week, residents of Syunik’s Shurnukh village were forced to evacuate their homes after being given a terse deadline by Azerbaijanis now on the border with Armenia. The events in Shurnukh were the latest test to Armenia’s sovereignty and jolted its citizens to the core.

There are countless unanswered questions about the November 9 agreement and Pashinyan, who seems to have signed the document unilaterally, has either refused to answer those questions or has not been asked the critical ones. The prime minister, who on several occasions since his election has declared that he would bring any agreement regarding Artsakh or Armenia’s national security to the people has blocked the people from the process. Instead he has invented a narrative whereby he bears the least blame and constantly deflects responsibility from himself onto others.

One of the key questions that no one has asked Pashinyan, nor has he reflected on it, is whether he knew about Ankara’s robust role in the post November 9 processes, including a military pact signed by Russia and Turkey on November 10, which called for the deployment of Turkish troops to Azerbaijan to man a ceasefire monitoring post, which according to Aliyev will be headquartered in Aghdam, one of the territories relinquished to Azerbaijan.

Ahead of the potential meeting on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mehmet Cavusoglu said, “Turkey can finally normalize its relations with Armenia as a result of the [Nov. 9] agreement and that Armenia and the people of Armenia will only benefit from it.” Less than a month ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while attending a “victory” parade in Baku, invoked the memory of Armenian Genocide perpetrators, saying they have “found peace” as a result of Azerbaijan’s brutal attack against Artsakh.

Another thorny issue is the demarcation of borders, which has emerged as an acute security threat to Armenia since the implementation of the November 9 agreement began. Another question that Pashinyan has skirted is whether he knew that there would be concessions of territory in Armenia proper. If so, why weren’t mechanism put in place to mitigate harm to citizen’s property, life and well-being?

The murky border issue presumably falls under the agreement’s ninth point, which calls for the opening of transportation links between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will have free access to Nakhichevan. In his attempts to rationalize the agreement, Pashinyan, on numerous occasions, has raised—and praised—the possibility of having direct transport links with Russia and Iran through Azerbaijan via rail links in Nakhichevan and Baku.

On Thursday, Aliyev, once again, discussed opening a “Nakhichevan corridor” through Armenia, which foreshadows that residents of Meghri might one day wake up to Azerbaijani troops forcing them out of their homes.

“Of course, Armenia is interested in the possibility of transporting Armenian cargo through the territory of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran and vice versa. We are interested in the possibility of the transfer of the Armenian cargo through road and railway transportation to the Russian Federation, whereas to the Islamic Republic of Iran—especially through railway transportation. In this context, Armenia, naturally, is ready to ensure transportation between the eastern part of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,” said Pashinyan’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan on Thursday.

“Once again, I would like to call attention to the fact that the word ‘Meghri’ or the word ‘corridor’ in reference to any territory of the Republic of Armenia is not indicated in the statement of November 9,” Pashinyan said Friday in a Facebook post claiming that his priorities in the implementation of the document are the safe return of captives and hostages, as well as the exchange of remains, as well as the opening of transportation links to Azerbaijan.

Then there is the status of Artsakh, discussion of which all but vanished with the November 9 document. Putin himself said that there would be no discussion of Karabakh’s status, while Aliyev has said that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan.

Thus far Pashinyan’s lack of transparency has been detrimental to Armenia and Armenians. This potential meeting in Moscow is fraught with more dangers and challenges for the future and security of our homeland and our Nation. Pashinyan has the misguided notion that Russia will guarantee Armenia’s security that is why he pledged his complete allegiance to Moscow in his New Year message to the Armenian people.

All indications suggest that there will be a meeting in Moscow on January 11, despite Pashinyan’s efforts to tip-toe around it. Given the damage inflicted on Armenia and Artsakh by the November 9 agreement, should Pashinyan be left up to his own devices to negotiate anything else on behalf of Armenia? Or, will we wake up on January 12 to find more territories in Armenia have been surrendered to Baku.