Interview with congressional candidate David Krikorian

In congressional run, David Krikorian is banking on the people
Says he’s “underwhelmed” with Armenian-American support so far
by Emil Sanamyan
Published: Tuesday September 15, 2009

David Krikorian holding the video record of Sibel Edmonds' deposition. The Armenian Reporter photo

WASHINGTON - David Krikorian, who ran a strong third-party/independent campaign in Ohio's 2nd congressional district in 2008, is now seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2010 elections. Building on about 60,000 votes he received in 2008, Mr. Krikorian would need to more than double that support base to win in 2010.

Mr. Krikorian is also involved in a legal battle with the incumbent Republican representative Jean Schmidt. Ms. Schmidt filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission, claiming that Mr. Krikorian knowingly made false statements when he said during the 2008 campaign that Ms. Schmidt took money from the Turkish government. Ms. Schmidt opposes the Armenian-American agenda and has received strong support from Turkish-American groups. After its initial hearing on September 3, the Elections Commission is set to resume proceedings on October 1.

Mr. Krikorian spoke with our Washington Editor Emil Sanamyan by phone on August 27 about the complaint and the campaign.

The Genocide complaint

Armenian Reporter: From the political perspective, what is the purpose of Rep. Schmidt's complaint against you? It almost seems counterintuitive that an incumbent would do something that brings all this added attention to her challenger.

David Krikorian: I think she vastly underestimated me and if she had to do this all over again, she never would have done it.

And you have to remember who is really pulling the strings. Do you think Jean Schmidt just thought of this one day? Or do you think it was the Turkish lobby that came to her and said, Hey, let's do this!?

When you look at the pattern of what [attorney] Bruce Fein, the Turkish Coalition, and Turkish American Legal Defense Fund are doing across the country [launching legal challenges intended to undermine Armenian Genocide affirmation], it fits that pattern.

To think that [Rep. Schmidt] hatched this plan by herself in my opinion is not accurate. She is just not the brightest bulb on the tree.

And the Turks of course could care less about [Rep. Schmidt]; they are thinking about furthering their agenda in the United States and she is a willing tool for them to use.

AR: And the objective of these legal challenges, you believe, is to intimidate those engaged in the discussion of the Armenian Genocide on the political level?

DK: Of course, as I am sure you are well aware. Everyone used to say, Oh, the Armenian Genocide, it's not a big issue today, it happened so many years ago. . . .

But if you watched the [former FBI Turkish-language translator] Sibel Edmonds' deposition, you could see how far the Turkish lobby was willing to go to prevent a simple resolution concerning what happened under Ottoman rule so long ago.

If it was not directly related to my ancestry, I would probably just think of it as silly. It makes absolutely no sense, this Turkish government opposition. Every time [the resolution is discussed] it gets more and more attention. It is self-defeating and the Turkish government needs to move on.

Turkey may fear demands for reparations, but I have to also say that they should be made to pay for what they did and they should not be allowed to get away with interfering in congressional deliberations, buying off or blackmailing members of Congress.

AR: On the substance of the complaint, what do you expect the commission to do?

DK: My own personal feeling is that none of [the five complaints] against me will be upheld, for a variety of different reasons, including the fact that it is my First Amendment right to say whatever the heck I want to.

What, I can't call [the funds Rep. Schmidt received from Turkish interests], some $29,500, "blood money"? Of course it is "blood money"!

You have got a representative who is taking money from a foreign lobby. Schmidt said in her deposition that she had no idea why she was the largest recipient of money from the Turkish lobby. Just think how stupid that sounds.

She claims she doesn't know if she ever received gifts from the Turkish government and never took a position on the Armenian Genocide resolution. When asked, she couldn't even define what is genocide.

At the end of the day, what the commission needs to determine is if I willfully made false statements. And I strongly feel that I did no such thing. I strongly believe that the Turkish government is behind those contributions and it is my right to feel that way and it is my right to say so.

It is also my right to say that Turkey is responsible for U.S. troops' deaths in Iraq, considering Turkey's opposition to the northern front against Saddam Hussein [and Turkey's subsequent interference in Iraq.]

But what this complaint has exposed is that Schmidt is bought and paid for by the Turkish lobby and people don't like it when their representatives sell out like that.

My goal at the end of this is to make elected officials think twice before taking [Turkish lobby] money. And winning both the case and the election is the best way to do this.

Primary fight

AR: How is the complaint affecting your position vis-à-vis the local Democratic Party? Obviously, winning the primary and the nomination is your most immediate challenge.

DK: I will have a primary challenger [term-limited Ohio State Representative Todd Book] who is a [Democratic] Party insider. I am of course a [Democratic] Party outsider. There are some benefits that he has as a result, and some benefits that I have.

What is to be kept in mind is that ours is a conservative district and a Democrat hasn't won here since 1980. And I don't believe that my primary opponent has any chance whatsoever to win in the general election, and a lot of people feel that way. I have been told that [this election] is just a name-recognition exercise for him and he just wants to run for another office later.

Frankly, some of the Democratic leaders here don't like it that the Armenian Genocide has been made an issue. They don't think it's important. Well, if their grandparents were survivors, you damn well bet they would think it's important.

I am banking on the people, not the party. And for someone to go out and get 18 percent of the vote [in 2008] without any party backing, that is remarkable and the best result for any such candidate in the United States [in 2008 elections]. That means I have the rapport with the people.

Having said that, we do have some support from among Democratic Party insiders.

But at the end of the day, we need to start electing leaders in this country, not just party-trained politicians. As far as I am concerned, my opponent, having been a member of Ohio legislature leadership, shares responsibility for our state's economic problems. How does that qualify him for a promotion?

I am a business owner and entrepreneur and I know how to solve problems. And I will not simply do what the party tells me to do, I will not be anybody's lapdog, and this guy is basically a poodle.

I am coming across as a fighter and I am not going to take any shit from anyone. And I think people in my district want to see someone who is smart and tough that will put their interests ahead of the party's.

In 2008, 55 percent of this district voted against Jean Schmidt, and that means that our district does not want her. She just has to meet the right challenger.

Where is the Armenian support?

AR: Have you received substantial support from Armenian-Americans?

DK: One of the things that decides who wins is how much money you raise. And one of the things that Schmidt has done by getting me involved in this complaint is taking a tremendous amount of my time and focus away from fundraising.

It also caused me to spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend myself in the Armenian Genocide case. And frankly speaking, the Armenian-American community is my best asset and they can't be shy about donating to my campaign.

And frankly, they need to start to donate to my campaign, because I have been very underwhelmed with the support that I have received from Armenians around the country. It has been rather ridiculous, with all this money pouring in from the Turks, and Armenians not doing a damn thing.

Where is the support? Where are the checks? It is really disappointing for someone who comes from the community, who is involved in this fight with national and international repercussions, yet every day I go to my mailbox and there are no checks, no online contributions from Armenians.

Frankly, if we lose, the Armenian-American community is partially to blame. What is it going to take these guys to write checks? I have been to the Armenian Assembly of America function - lot of people with a lot of money. Where are they? You can go down the list of top ten people in the Assembly - they haven't given me a thin red dime.

And that needs to be written about.

I know that people are asked for support for a variety of important things. But we keep fighting the same stupid congressional battles, year after year, on aid to Armenia, on ambassadorial appointments, on the Armenian Genocide.

But you know what? We'll continue to fight those battles until we get some of our own Armenian-Americans into the U.S. Congress.

Briefly: Krikorian run in Ohio; Negroponte in Baku and Azeris in DC; Turkey vs. Kurdistan; Russia vs. Georgia

First published in Oct. 11 2008 Armenian Reporter

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan and Lusine Sarkisyan

David Krikorian in tight race for Ohio congressional seat


Cincinnati-area businessperson David Krikorian is making the strongest nonparty bid for the House of Representatives this year nationwide, according to RealClearPolitics.com on October 9. Mr. Krikorian has been an activist for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) in Ohio.

Various surveys have shown Mr. Krikorian polling between 10 and 20 percent in the state’s 2nd congressional district, putting him within reach of his opponents, incumbent Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt and her Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin, who are believed to be tied at 35 to 40 percent.

The three came together on October 6 for a debate that focused on the economy and the recent bailout of major financial companies. Ms. Schmidt is a member of the congressional Turkey Caucus and opposes Armenian Genocide affirmation.

In the previous election cycle, she narrowly defeated Ms. Wulsin. The ANCA, which in 2006 endorsed Ms. Wulsin, is strongly backing Mr. Krikorian in this election.
connect: http://www.krikorianforcongress.com

U.S., Azerbaijan calibrating ties after Georgia war

Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, the State Department’s second most senior official, went to Azerbaijan on October 2 in an apparent effort to safeguard plans for Caspian natural gas to flow to Europe via Georgia and Turkey.

Following the Russian military success in Georgia, Azerbaijani officials have hinted they might agree to a Russian proposal to buy all of Azerbaijan’s natural gas at market prices. In response, U.S. official have sought to recommit Baku to westward projects by playing up U.S. support for Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity,” or in other words its claims on Armenian Karabakh.

The U.S. government has made breaking Russia’s near-monopoly on natural gas exports to Europe one of its regional priorities. But since the United States is also opposed
to energy cooperation with Iran, which has the world’s second largest natural gas resources after Russia, it is counting on supplies of natural gas from Turkmenistan through a pipeline network that would skirt both Russia and Iran.

Mr. Negroponte hinted that the United States might give the upcoming reelection of President Ilham Aliyev its seal of approval even though all major opposition figures are boycotting it.

The U.S. official was noncommittal when questioned repeatedly whether the United States would provide military help to Azerbaijan if it were attacked by Russia, but promised that “the United States will continue our security cooperation and assist the reform of Azerbaijan’s defense establishment,” according to a State Department
transcript of his remarks.

Azerbaijani government seeks “diaspora” presence in Washington

Azerbaijani officials, Azerbaijanis resident in the United States, and others met on October 1–2 in Washington to discuss ways to establish a more effective “diaspora” presence in Washington that could counter the influence of the Armenian community.

For more than a decade, Azerbaijan has mainly relied on paid lobbyists to advance its agenda in the United States. In addition, several years ago Azerbaijan also established a State Committee for Work with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad (SCWALA) to supplement its lobbying via support for ethnic Azerbaijani individuals and entities.

In the United States over the past year, recent Azerbaijani immigrants created the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) that apparently seeks to replace the Azerbaijani Society of America, established by World War II–era émigrés in the 1950s as the main vehicle for Azerbaijani community lobbying.

Apparently wary of unwanted guests, SCWALA and USAN co-organized last week’s conference, titled “Diaspora and Energy Security in the Development of the U.S. Azerbaijan Strategic Allied Relations,” at an initially undisclosed location
in Washington.

According to a pre-conference announcement at www.usazeris.org, only pre-approved guests who could confirm their identity were to be permitted to attend.

Turkey stung by Kurdish rebel attacks


Kurdish rebel forces typically referred to as PKK launched another deadly attack on the Turkish army on October 3. As Istanbul-based Gareth Jenkins reported for the Jamestown Foundation citing Turkish media, as many as 350 Kurdish forces were involved in an attack near the border with Iraq; it lasted nearly 10 hours and left 17 Turkish soldiers dead and 23 wounded.

Turkey retaliated by sending its aircraft to bomb areas of Iraqi Kurdistan; it claims to have killed dozens of Kurds. On October 5 hundreds of thousands across Turkey turned out for soldiers’ funerals.

Since last year, the Turkish army has stepped up anti-PKK operations inside Iraq, but the organization’s attacks on the Turkish military both near the border with Iraq and in Turkey’s interior have continued.

On October 8 a smaller Kurdish force ambushed a bus carrying Turkish police inside the city of Diyarbakir, leaving the bus driver and five police officers dead and 16 others, including bystanders, wounded.

According to Mr. Jenkins, the latest attacks, the deadliest in years, have “severely damaged the prestige of the Turkish military,” which quickly requested additional powers to deal with the insurgency.

“Ever since it resumed its insurgency in June 2004,” he wrote on October 6, “the PKK has essentially been . . . using violence as part of a campaign of psychological and
emotional attrition in the hope of eventually convincing the Turkish authorities that the organization cannot be destroyed by military means and that the only solution is to enter into a political dialogue.”

For now, the Turkish military was forced to demolish the Aktutun outpost attacked on October 3 and four other forward bases as too vulnerable to Kurdish attack. And on October 8, the Turkish parliament also voted overwhelmingly to reauthorize military operations inside Iraqi Kurdistan.

European MPs: Georgia, Russia both guilty in Ossetia war

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on October 2 that called for an “independent international investigation into what happened” in and around South Ossetia last August, “since the facts surrounding the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia are disputed.”

The resolution adopted by the Assembly suggests that both Georgia and Russia had violated international law, Council of Europe principles, and their commitment to settle conflicts by peaceful means.

The resolution says, “The Assembly is concerned about the human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by both sides in the context of the war.

“In particular, the use of indiscriminate force and weapons by both Georgian and Russian troops in civilian areas can be considered war crimes that need to be fully investigated,” the resolution said.

PACE also called on Russia to “withdraw” its recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, considering it a violation of international law and Council of Europe statutory principles.

Speaking during the debate on the resolution, PACE member Armen Rustamyan (ARF) said, according to a summarized translation, “he could not identify the culprit in this conflict” since Armenia has important relations with both countries.

Erol Aslan Cebeci, a Turkish member of parliament from the ruling party, expressed concern over violations of the “territorial integrity of Georgia” and said Russia’s military operation was a “clear violation of international law and extremely disproportionate.”

But he added that the “Georgian administration has been excessively aggressive in its dealing with South Ossetian affairs” and cautioned against “taking steps that could jeopardise the channels of dialogue” with either Georgia or Russia.

Briefly on Schiff delegation in Baku and Yerevan, Georgian election

First published in May 31, 2008 Armenian Reporter.

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

Congressional delegation in Armenia, region

Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-Calif.), Allyson Schwartz (D.-Penn.) and Wayne Gilchrest (R.-Md.) visited Baku on May 24–25 and Yerevan on May 26–27, meeting with Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents and other officials, their offices reported. The trip was the first visit to Armenia by members of Congress since 2005 and was organized through the ad hoc House Democracy Assistance Commission.

Rep. Schiff, who represents the cities of Glendale and Pasadena, with the largest proportion of Armenian-American voters in the United States, told President Serge Sargsian, “We consider Armenia an important partner and ally. Consequently, we wish to as far as possible assist its political and economic progress.”

In an interview with RFE/RL Armenian Service, Rep. Schiff said that he and other members were “concerned with the problems that occurred during the election [in Armenia], the violence that occurred after the election.”

“We are here to try to assess the situation and talk with the Armenian government about how we can help move the government further in the direction of democracy,” Rep. Schiff added.

Rep. Schiff’s delegation also met with aides to Levon Ter-Petrossian, the opposition figure and former president, who focused on the recent election campaign and its outcome.

While in Baku, the members of Congress heard criticisms of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora, with few details reported.

From Armenia the delegation flew on to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Georgian ruling party election sweep welcomed, protested

The National Movement Party led by President Mikheil Saakashvili swept the May 21 parliamentary election winning more than 110 seats in the 150-seat legislature, according to preliminary results made available via the Civil.ge news portal.

The remaining seats were won by the Nine-party Opposition Alliance (about 16 seats) led by David Gamkrelidze, the Christian Democratic Party of former TV anchor Giorgi Targamadze (8 seats), the Labor Party of populist politician Shalva Natelashvili (6 seats), and the opposition Republican Party led by David Berdzenishvili (2 seats).

Three of the seats in parliament went to ethnic Armenians, as the Armenian Reporter reported last week.

The opposition alliance quickly called for annulment of results, pointing to electoral violations. It also launched several well-attended protest rallies and vowed it would prevent the new parliament from convening.

Western observers suggested that the government’s efforts to meet democratic standards for elections were “uneven and incomplete.”

(The observers gave a more upbeat assessment of the presidential election last January calling it “democratic.” See this page in the January 12, 2008 Armenian Reporter.)

According to the observers there were problems with vote count in 16 percent of precincts inspected – about the same number as in Georgian, as well as Armenian, presidential polls earlier this year.

Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department was “encouraged” by what it thought were “improvements” in election conduct compared to the previous poll.

Georgia has been possibly the most eager ally of the United State in recent years, sending one of the largest military contingents in support of U.S.-led Iraq operations.

Briefly: Congress, PACE to hold Armenia hearings; Rice downbeat, then upbeat on Karabakh

First published in April 19, 2008 Armenian Reporter.

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

Armenian politics discussed in Washington…

Representatives of the U.S. and Armenian governments, as well as the Armenian opposition were to testify in a specially convened congressional hearing on April 17 titled “Armenia after the elections.” (A report from the hearing will appear in the next issue of the Armenian Reporter.)

The Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which includes members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives and is also known as the Helsinki Commission, will hear testimony from Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza, Armenian presidential aide Vigen Sargsian, and College of William & Mary professor and former Armenian Foreign Ministry official Arman Grigorian, testifying on behalf of ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian.

Earlier this year, the commission co-chaired by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D.-Fla.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D.-Md.) held a hearing on Georgia’s elections in a similar format. On March 3, following deadly clashes between police and rioters in Yerevan, both Rep. Hastings and Sen. Cardin issued statements calling for restraint and dialogue as a way out of the crisis.

On April 14, the Washington office of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) held a discussion on Armenia and Georgia. RFE/RL contributor Richard Giragossian argued that “the post-election crisis or confrontation [in Armenia] is by no means over.... The underlying dissent and frustration and dissatisfaction among the Armenian public has little avenue for expression, especially in terms of [media] outlets.”

Georgetown University’s Cory Welt painted a somewhat more upbeat picture of developments in neighboring Georgia, suggesting that if “in November [2007] the question was whether Georgia is sliding towards authoritarianism, now it’s whether it is sliding towards democracy.”

…and in Strasbourg

Discussions of Armenia’s post-election crisis took up much of the April 14 plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) convened in Strasbourg, France.

In his report, British Member of Parliament (and former deputy prime minister) John Prescott, who led the PACE delegation to observe Armenia’s February 19 presidential elections, reiterated its key finding that the poll was “basically in line with Council of Europe standards,” and he sounded critical of the Armenian opposition’s tactics.

The report elicited criticisms from Swedish and Hungarian members, who focused on incidents of fraud during vote counting and post-election violence, respectively. In their turn, members of French and Turkish parliaments, who also served as observers, generally endorsed Mr. Prescott’s conclusions.

The most vociferous criticism of the election came from members of the Azerbaijani delegation, who demanded that the PACE be tougher on Armenia. In a rebuttal, Mr. Prescott dismissed Azerbaijani arguments as “absolute rubbish.”

Members of the Armenian delegation Armen Rustamian (of the coalition-member Armenian
Revolutionary Federation) and Raffi Hovannisian (of the opposition Heritage party) presented their views.

PACE was set to continue its discussion on April 17, when it was also expected to propose a set of recommendations to Armenia with regard to its political situation.

Secretary of State takes upbeat line on Karabakh peace

“I am very much of the view that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is one that could be resolved, and actually, with just a little bit of will, could be resolved relatively quickly,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on April 15, appearing to contradict her own assessment a month ago.

In congressional testimony on March 12, Dr. Rice acknowledged, “in the immediate future I don’t know that Nagorno-Karabakh can get solved.”

But in response to a question from the American Turkish Council (ATC) conference audience this week, Dr. Rice said that the Karabakh peace agreement “is just going to take taking a couple of difficult decisions and getting an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The question came following Dr. Rice’s address at the ATC’s 27th annual conference, held in Washington, in which she touted the importance of U.S.-Turkish relations, compared Kemal Atatürk to Thomas Jefferson, and sought to avoid commenting on the dominant issue of the day in Turkey: the secular-military establishment’s effort to ban the ruling party through a constitutional court ruling.

Dr. Rice promised continued U.S. assistance to Turkey’s fight against Kurdish rebel forces and encouraged the lifting of Turkish penal code provisions that “criminalizes insulting ‘Turkishness.’”

ATC, which is funded primarily by major U.S. weapon systems manufacturers with contracts in Turkey, is a central element of the Turkish lobby in the United States. It is chaired by retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to former President Bush and onetime superior of Condoleezza Rice. Turkish government delegates at the three-day conference included state minister Kursat Tuzmen and defense minister Vecdi Gonul. (For more information, see www.the-atc.org.)

Coming up…

The Armenian International Policy Research Group (AIPRG) will hold its annual conference on May 17–18 at the World Bank in Washington. The conference, supported by the Armenian government and sponsored by the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, and U.S. Agency for International Development, will focus in Armenia’s economic competitiveness in the global market. Connect at http://www.aiprg.net.

—Alexa Millinger contributed to this week’s Briefing.

Briefly abt. ICG on Armenian politics; more ADL fall-out in Mass.; Armenian-American in Ohio Congress run; Turkish and Azeri caucuses; Bush in Russia

First published in April 12, 2008 Armenian Reporter.

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

Think tank calls for international pressure on Armenia

The International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think tank issued a report criticizing as “inadequate” the international reaction to the Armenian government’s handling of the February 19 presidential elections and subsequent opposition protests that resulted in violent riots on March 1.

The report, “Armenia: Picking up the Pieces,” issued on April 8 suggested that unless the United States and European Union “exert pressure, Armenia is unlikely to make progress” on democratic reform and resolution of the Karabakh conflict. The pressure, the report recommended, should take the form of a potential suspension of foreign aid and a hold on closer cooperation.

The arguments in the report, which questions the legitimacy of Serge Sargsian’s presidency and appears to lay the blame for the post-election violence solely with the government, mirror closely the views of former president Levon Ter-Petrossian’s campaign – more than those expressed by international organizations and Western governments.

Incidentally, one of the ex-president’s closest aides involved in this year’s campaign, Levon Zourabian, was since 2004 the ICG analyst for Armenia, and helped develop its November 2004 report titled “Armenia: Internal Instability Ahead.”

Although Mr. Zourabian is still listed in that position on the think tank’s web site, ICG’s Tbilisi-based Caucasus Project Director Magdalena Frichova told the Armenian Reporter that Mr. Zourabian “left [the] Crisis Group back in January and had nothing to do with [the April 8] report.”

Ms. Frichova added that ICG is “acutely conscious of any conflict of interest, and [takes] all precautions against it.”

Mr. Zourabian had not responded to an e-mail query as of press time.

ICG is co-chaired by former senior British and U.S. officials Chris Patten and Thomas Pickering and led by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans. In a report issued on November 14, ICG warned increased risk of war in Karabakh by 2012.

To see the full report connect at http://www.crisisweb.org

Massachusetts Municipal Association pulls sponsorship of Anti-Defamation

League program Citing the Anti-Defamation League’s failure “to clarify and strengthen its earlier statements concerning recognition of the Armenian Genocide” during the league’s national board meeting last November, the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) voted on April 8 to withdraw its sponsorship of the league’s No Place for Hate (NPFH) program.

The action by MMA, which is an association of the state’s cities and towns, comes after 12 Massachusetts communities, starting with Watertown in August of last year, decided to suspend their cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League over its ambiguous position on Armenian Genocide affirmation.

connect: http://www.noplacefordenial.com

Armenian-American running for Ohio congressional seat

David Krikorian, a Cincinnati-area businessperson and state chair for the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), has been qualified to run as an independent candidate this November to represent Ohio’s second congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, his campaign reported.

Mr. Krikorian will be running against incumbent GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt and her Democratic challenger Dr. Victoria Wulsin, who lost to Ms. Schmidt by a narrow margin in 2006. Ms. Schmidt is a member of the Turkish caucus and has opposed Genocide affirmation.

On the other hand, Dr. Wulsin had pledged to support the Armenian-American agenda and was, in the 2006 elections, backed by the ANCA.

In a comment to the Armenian Reporter, ANCA director Aram Hamparian praised Mr. Krikorian’s business and civic skills and said that the ANCA “join[s] with members of the Armenian community from the across the country in supporting him in every way we can.”

connect: http://www.krikorianforcongress.com

Azerbaijan, Turkey building congressional caucuses

Turkish and Azerbaijani lobbyists in Washington have been making steady progress in expanding their congressional influence over the past year. A highlight is the expansion of congressional caucuses dedicated to U.S. relations with the two countries.

Established in 2004, the Azerbaijan caucus has been actively recruiting members over the last year, increasing membership from 14 in April 2007 to 40 as of this week, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson, cited by Day.az on April 7.

According to the website of the Turkish Coalition of America there are currently 77 members in the congressional Turkey caucus, up from 71 reported by the caucus co-chair Rep. Robert Wexler (D.-Fla) at the end of 2006. Incidentally, many of the Turkey caucus members are also members of the Armenian caucus, which currently numbers 155 members.

Speaking on April 3 at the Rumi Forum, a recently established Turkish think tank in Washington, Mr. Wexler said that U.S.-Turkish relations have improved substantially over the past year. “The animosity that affected the relationship because of the Iraq War is no longer present,” he said.

When asked about the Armenian Genocide resolutions in the U.S. Congress, Mr. Wexler skirted the question, stressing the importance of continuing to build “a positive Turkish image in the U.S.”

Last month the Turkish government decided not to renew its contact with the lobby group of former House Speaker Bob Livingston (R.-La.), The Hill newspaper reported on March 31. The Livingston Group, which worked for Turkey for eight years, earned more than $12 million primarily for helping fight Armenian Genocide affirmation.

That task now falls on another big Washington firm, DLA Piper, which first picked up the contract with Turkey in May 2007. The firm is led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R.-Tex.) and former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D.-Mo.)

Bush, Putin meet for final summit

The presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation met for their final summit near the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi on April 5–6 as President Vladimir Putin is set to conclude his term in office next month, news agencies reported. President George Bush also met with Mr. Putin’s successor, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.

The two leaders sought to downplay bilateral differences issuing a “U.S.-Russia Strategic Framework Declaration” and exchanging compliments at a press conference.

While the declaration mentioned that the two countries will “work closely together on all the major global international issues that confront us,” it did not specifically refer among the priorities to either Karabakh or other post-Soviet conflicts, in which both the United States and Russia have played mediating roles.

Two days earlier both presidents attended the NATO summit in Romania, where Mr. Putin described U.S. calls for the alliance’s expansion into Ukraine and Georgia as a “direct threat” to Russia, RFE/RL reported. NATO postponed to December formal discussion of the two countries’ membership. (See this page in the April 5 Armenian Reporter.)

In Sochi, Mr. Putin also reiterated Russian opposition to the U.S. proposal, now backed by NATO, to station new radars and missile interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic. The U.S. administration says it will use them against a potential future missile threat from Iran.

But Russia argues that these installations can have multiple uses, including against its own forces, and would thus alter the strategic balance in Europe. Russia has offered to establish a joint missile-defense system, but the United States has been reluctant to allow Russia any major role in the system.

Since taking office in 2001, Mr. Bush has met Mr. Putin 28 times – more than any other foreign leader with the exception of former British prime minister Tony Blair.

- Alexa Millinger contributed to this week’s Briefing