ANCA vs. Obama; Hillary to Serge; Gordon cleared; Turkish-Azeri lobby; Putin & Erdogan

This was first published in May 23, 2009 Armenian Reporter

Washington Briefing
by Emil Sanamyan

ANCA charges Obama with “grave offense” to Armenian Americans

In a strongly worded communication, the Armenian National Committee of America's chair Ken Hachikian urged President Barack Obama to "revise the course your Administration has chosen on issues of special concern to Armenia Americans."

The May 18 letter by the largest Armenian-American advocacy organization identified President Obama's recent foreign-aid request but especially the failure to uphold his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide as "a grave offense to Armenian Americans and a disservice to all Americans."

While continuing the Bush administration's policy of deference to Turkey and avoiding the term genocide when discussing the Ottoman-Armenian experience, President Obama and his officials have sought to emphasize the importance of Armenia-Turkey talks.

Sources familiar with discussions prior to the president's April 24 statement told the Armenian Reporter that a senior administration official had argued that the statement should forego the term genocide in order not to hinder an anticipated breakthrough between Armenia and Turkey. According to the Turkish press, the United States was also behind securing the April 22 Armenian-Turkish statement announcing progress in talks.

But the ANCA argued, "ongoing dialogue between Armenia and Turkey should have no bearing on [President Obama's] willingness to speak the truth about the Armenian Genocide; our stand against all instances of genocide should be unconditional."

[ANCA endorsed Mr. Obama's presidential bid in early 2008 and actively campaigned for his candidacy throughout the primary and general election.]

U.S. reassures Armenia on Turkey talks

A letter from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent to Armenian President Serge Sargsian last week reiterated U.S. support for Armenia-Turkey talks.

The letter came just as Turkish leaders again ruled out normalization of relations unless Armenia makes concessions on the Karabakh issue, and an aide to Azerbaijan's president alleged that there was no progress on that issue because the United States and other mediators had a "Christian bias" in favor of Armenia.

The United States has supported Armenia's efforts to normalize relations with Turkey quickly and without preconditions, but the administration has identified no concrete timeframe and is seeking to achieve "parallel" progress in Karabakh talks.

Asked about the letter's intent, a State Department spokesperson told the Armenian Reporter that the letter was private and he could not comment on it.

The Armenian president's office said on May 15 that the letter also dealt with bilateral relations, including U.S. aid to Armenia channeled through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, whose board is chaired by Mrs. Clinton, and stressed the importance of free and fair conduct of the May 31 elections for Yerevan city council.

State Department’s new Eurasia manager confirmed

Philip Gordon, the Obama administration's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, was confirmed by the Senate on May 14, the Foreign Policy magazine blog The Cable reported the following morning.

According to earlier reports, Mr. Gordon's nomination was held up for over a month by Sen. John Ensign (R.-Nev.) because of Mr. Gordon's opposition to U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.

According to an anonymous source cited by Greek News on May 13, Mr. Ensign decided to drop his hold, first introduced in early April, after Armenia announced it had agreed to a normalization process with Turkey in a joint April 22 statement.

Meanwhile, in response to an inquiry from Sen. Robert Menendez (D.-N.J.) as part of the confirmation process, Mr. Gordon's previous employer the Brookings Institution reported receiving more than $710,000 in funding from Turkish corporate entities since 2006. Most of the money went toward Brookings' Turkey program, run by former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris.

In responses to Mr. Menendez's written questions, also published by Greek News, Mr. Gordon studiously avoided the term genocide, while "mourning" the deaths of 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians, recalled his support for Turkey "to come to terms with its history" and improve relations with Armenia, "if Armenia shows a real commitment to a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

Mr. Gordon's responses indicated no change to U.S. policy of restricted engagement with authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh and continued U.S. humanitarian aid to its residents.

Turkey, Azerbaijan boosters hold Washington events

Hardly a week goes by in the U.S. capital without a public event intended to extol the importance of Turkey to the world. Less frequently, but also on regular basis, the Azerbaijani government's mercenaries gather to discuss ways to ingratiate that eccentric regime to the Washington establishment.

On May 14 Rep. Robert Wexler (D.-Fla.), chair of the House Europe Subcommittee and co-chair of the congressional Turkey caucus, held what has become a biannual hearing on Turkey. This time the hearing was titled, "The United States and Turkey: A Model Partnership."

The hearing brought together Ian Lesser of the U.S. German Marshall Fund, David Phillips of the Atlantic Council of the United States, and Stephen Flanagan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who testified to the partnership's virtues.

Also on May 14, an event, "Azerbaijan and the West: Strategic Partnership at Eurasia's Crossroads," included Glen Howard and Vlad Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, a local think tank; Brenda Shaffer of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy; and Dan Fata, until recently a deputy assistant secretary of defense dealing with the Caucasus and now vice president at Cohen Group, a lobby shop run by former defense secretary Bill Cohen.

Putin meets Erdogan, indicates no change in Russia’s Karabakh policy

Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a joint press conference in Sochi, Russia, May 16, 2009.

Meeting with visiting Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian premier Vladimir Putin appeared disinclined to lean on either Armenia or Azerbaijan to attempt any kind of settlement of the Karabakh standoff. Mr. Erdogan apparently had promised to raise the issue with Mr. Putin after visiting Azerbaijan last week.

Talking to the media following their May 16 meeting in the resort town of Sochi, Mr. Putin reiterated the Russian policy language that it was up to the parties to find an agreement.

"As to the difficult problems that we inherited from the past, which includes the Karabakh problem, a compromise must be found by the conflicting parties themselves," Mr. Putin said, when asked about the issue by a Turkish journalist. "All other states that are helping achieve that compromise can only serve as mediators and guarantors of implementation of agreements [that might be] achieved."

The talks focused on the expansion of Russian natural-gas exports to Turkey and plans to build four nuclear reactors in Turkey with Russia's participation.

According to RIA Novosti, this was the eighth meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan since December 2004, with these frequent contacts reflecting an expanding bilateral relationship. The 2008 bilateral trade turnover surpassed $33 billion, with Russia replacing Germany as Turkey's largest trade partner. Turkey is in turn Russia's fifth-largest trade partner.

On top of energy, economic relations include more than $20 billion in contracts won by Turkish construction companies in Russia over the last decade and growing Russian arms sales to Turkey.

Briefly: ANCA, ArmenPac and Turks on U.S. election favorites; HRW report; Sibel Edmonds and Eldar Kouliev spying allegations

This was originally published in February 2, 2008 Armenian Reporter.

by Emil Sanamyan

Armenian groups endorse rival Democratic candidates
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) this week endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the Democratic primaries. In a January 30 statement, ANCA chair Ken Hachikian said that “based on his strong record in office, his bold statements as a candidate, and our judgment as to the policies he will pursue as President, we believe that, among a strong field of Democratic candidates, Senator Obama will best reflect the views and values of Armenian American voters.”

A day earlier, ARMENPAC, a political action committee, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.). “Out of all the candidates for President, it is my belief that Hillary Clinton will be the strongest advocate not only for the recognition of the genocide, but for all Armenian issues,” said ARMENPAC Co-Chair Annie Totah.

Senators Obama and Clinton are the main candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination; former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) withdrew this week.

Turks discuss U.S. presidential candidates
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Sen. Barack Obama as a political amateur after the candidate for Democratic presidential nomination issued a statement in support of the Armenian-American agenda on January 19.

Mr. Erdogan counseled the U.S. senator to “outgrow his amateur period of his political career” and take note that Turkey was a much larger country than Armenia, local media quoted the Turkish leader as saying on January 22.

There was no immediate Turkish government reaction to a similar statement on Armenian issues made by Sen. Hillary Clinton on January 24, but speaking at a Washington think tank this week former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris said both statements could start a Democratic presidency off “on a sour note” in terms of relations with Turkey.

Writing about the statements in the Turkish Daily News on January 26, its Washington correspondent Umit Enginsoy said that they reflected a close race between the two senators and their effort to court voters. He noted that neither President Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush upheld their pledges to affirm the Armenian Genocide after they were elected.

“Analysts say that although Clinton and probably Obama may also change their positions if elected president, their present statements favoring the Armenian cause are pretty strong,” he said.

The English-language Turkish newspaper wrote on January 17, “Turkish diplomats and other high level officials generally favor Senator Clinton over Senator Obama,” recalling that the Clinton presidency marked “arguably the highest point in U.S.-Turkish relations over the past four decades” and that they anticipated “no surprises” from Sen. Clinton.

“They tend to view Sen. Obama as an unpredictable and inexperienced politician on foreign policy, surrounded by some advisers hostile to Turkey,” the paper suggested and went on to add that since he “comes from a minority” Sen. Obama “may attempt to transform U.S. foreign policy in ways that may hurt Turkey, if he is elected president.”

While Turkish officials report no specific qualms about Republican presidential candidates, and would particularly welcome Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) as president, “many Turkish officials have reservations over a Republican victory in the face of the party’s hard-line policies in the Middle East.”

Watchdog: West puts other interests before democracy abroad
U.S., European, and other democracies are letting authoritarian states violate human rights while using pseudo-elections as a smokescreen to earn international legitimacy, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual World Report released on January 31.

“It’s now too easy for autocrats to get away with mounting a sham democracy,” HRW executive director Ken Roth said in a statement. “It seems Washington and European governments will accept even the most dubious election so long as the ‘victor’ is a strategic or commercial ally,” he said. The report argued further that human rights abuses as part of the U.S.-led “war on terror” have also undermined international standards.

In its review of Armenia, HRW acknowledged the improved conduct of elections in May 2007, but cited incidents of ill-treatment in police custody and harassment of political opposition supporters. It also claimed that media freedom was limited.

HRW also criticized European leaders for their reluctance to accept Turkey into the European Union (EU). As a result, the report argued, the EU “lost leverage itself and diminished the clout of those in Turkey who have cited the prospect of EU membership as a reason for reform.”

Sibel Edmonds case featured in British newspaper
The former translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) added new details to her allegations of wrongdoing in U.S. government that may have damaged national security.

In feature articles on January 6 and 27, the Sunday Times (London) published the charges of Sibel Edmonds (covered by the Armenian Reporter last year and previously) that Turkish and other foreign governments successfully co-opted senior members of the U.S. government.

In particular, Ms. Edmonds, 37, alleged that in 2001 a senior State Department official exposed a covert Central Intelligence Agency counter-proliferation operation to the Turkish government, which in turn shared the information with other foreign governments seeking nuclear weapons.

The charges were previously heard in a closed session of the U.S. Congress, but the Justice Department has since barred Mrs. Edmonds from testifying, citing national security concerns.

The Times was able to confirm that the FBI in fact looked into the case in 2002, but no formal charges were apparently filed.

The State Department official told the newspaper last week that “It is impossible to find a strong enough way to deny these allegations which are both false and malicious.” See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3257725.ece


Russian intelligence officer was Azerbaijan’s UN envoy?
Eldar Kouliev, Azerbaijan’s ambassador at the United Nations from 1994 to 2001 was “a deep-cover [Russian] intelligence officer,” a former Russian spy, Col. Sergei Tretyakov, who defected to the U.S. in 2000, claims in a recently published book.

Ambassador Kouliev (Guliyev) was a veteran Soviet and then Russian diplomat, before joining the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry as ambassador to the UN. He is currently an executive director for a Russian-Azerbaijani community organization in Moscow.

In a comment to Azerbaijani media, Mr. Kouliev called the allegation a “stupidity,” but neither he nor a spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denied it outright.

The former ambassador called Mr. Tretyakov a “traitor who destroyed hundreds of people.” According to a book review in the Washington Post on January 27, Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia’s Master Spy in America after the End of the Cold War , written by Pete Early, was commissioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Alexa Millinger contributed to this week’s column.

Briefly: Bush & Gül tout “strategic partnership,” Kosovo promises independence and Azeris install 2nd tallest flag

This was originally published in January 12, 2008 Armenian Reporter.

by Emil Sanamyan

Bush and Gül tout “strategic partnership”
President George W. Bush described Turkey as “great strategic partner” with which the United States shares a “common enemy” – the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK – during a brief joint appearance with Turkish President Abdullah Gül at the White House Rose Garden on January 8.

According to Turkish media, meeting with Mr. Bush and senior administration officials, Mr. Gül secured pledges of continued U.S. intelligence support for Turkey’s operations against rebel Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, heralding a “new era” in U.S.-Turkish ties.

Mr. Gul then travelled to New York for a January 9 dinner meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, whom he urged to launch a new initiative that would help lift international sanctions against Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

Mr. Gül also met with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former U.S. ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, two key foreign policy advisors in the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.).

While in New York, Mr. Gül was also due to meet with leaders of Jewish American organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), as well as Turkish groups, including Meskhetian Turks who have received asylum in the U.S. following their expulsion from Central Asia.

Throughout the visit, Mr. Gül spoke only with Turkish journalists at his hotel. There were no opportunities for media questions during a lecture he gave at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, moderated by its president Lee Hamilton, and a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York was reportedly off the record.

At the Wilson Center, Mr. Gül spoke of Turkey’s achievements and importance in arious matters. While he did not address any Armenian issues directly, he did broadly refer to unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia that needed to be addressed through regional cooperation.” He listed oil and gas pipelines, as well as the ongoing construction of the Akhalkalaki-Kars Armenia rail bypass as examples of such cooperation.

Kosovo promises to declare independence next month
Hashim Thaci, the newly elected prime minister of United Nations-controlled Kosovo, promised to formally declare independence from Serbia next month, news agencies reported on January 9.

The ethnic Albanian province has been out of Serbia’s control since its 1999 occupation by U.S.-led NATO forces which accused the former Serbian government of ethnic cleansing.

“I assure you that within a few weeks we will declare independence,” Mr. Thaci said. “Kosovo’s independence is a done deal. We just need to declare it.”

United States and some European countries support Kosovo’s independence, which Serbia opposes. But they have reportedly urged Kosovars to postpone its formal declaration as part of their bargaining with Russia, which promised to block any formal recognition by the UN or transfer of its mandate to the European Union.

EU officials have said that under a new, transition arrangement Kosovo would not have total independence” but be under EU supervision, while NATO forces would continue a peacekeeping mission.

Reports coming up…
Over the next week, the New York-based Human Rights Watch and Washington-based Freedom House are due to release their annual reports on the global state of human rights in 2007.

The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal are also due to release their annual Index of Economic Freedom. The last two reports count toward eligibility for U.S. Millennium Challenge Assistance.

In Other News: Azerbaijan plans to install world’s tallest flag
But North Korea may already have a taller flagpole

WASHINGTON – The Azerbaijani government hired U.S. Trident Support Corp. to build the world’s tallest flag to be visible through much of the capital Baku, the official Azertag news agency reported on December 30. The “national project,” as it has been called, is due to be completed by May 2008.

President Ilham Aliyev and Defense Minister Safar Abiyev formally launched the construction at the newly established National Flag square in Bayilovo. According to the news agency report, the flagpole rising 150 meters (493 ft) and weighing 220 metric tons will support a 35-by-70 meter (115 x 230 ft) blue-red-and-green Azerbaijani flag that will weigh 350 kilograms.

Mr. Aliyev said that this “huge” and “very heavy” flag was meant to symbolize Azerbaijan’s independence and freedom. The Azerbaijani president said that he decreed
the flag’s construction also to mark the fact that “our great leader [official speak for his father and predecessor Heydar Aliyev]… was first to raise the Azerbaijani flag in November 1990 in Nakhichevan.”

To be able to hoist the flag, Azerbaijan imported a special crane with a lift capability of 600 tons and operational at 188-meter heights. No cost estimates were reported.

According to Trident Support, the San Diego, Calif. company built the current record-holders for the tallest free-standing flagpoles: the 127 meter-tall flagpole in Amman
and 131 meter-tall flagpole in Aqaba, both in Jordan, but also visible from nearby Israel. But, according to CNN, it is North Korea that boasts the highest flagpole in the world, rising to 160 meters (525 feet) near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) with South Korea.

But North Korea’s flag weighs 20 percent less than Azerbaijan’s. f —E.S.

Briefly: Congress approves military aid to Turkey, GUAM reps visit U.S., Western embassies in Baku threatened, Georgia to sell its railroad

This was originally published in November 3, 2007 Armenian Reporter.

From Washington, in brief
by Emil Sanamyan


Members of Congress speak of Genocide affirmation;
Committee approves military aid to Turkey

Reps. Frank Pallone (D.-N.J.) and Joe Knollenberg (R.-Mich.), co-chairs of the 155-member Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, confirmed on October 29 their determination to bring the House resolution affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide to a vote before the end of 2008. Last week, the resolution’s co-sponsors decided to ask the Speaker not to bring it up this month because of the erosion of support for the resolution as a result of strong opposition from the Bush Administration.

In a letter to fellow members of Congress, the co-chairs noted that “although the events of the resolution took place more than ninety years ago, denial of its historical fact remains. And until this denial is removed, we must stand up to injustice and refuse to allow another country to impede our efforts to speak out against inhumanity.”

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on October 24, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.) said that the committee’s approval of the resolution on October 10, strongly opposed by the administration, was “a human rights vote and recognition of a violation of human rights.” In response, Secretary Rice said that she “recognize[s] that it was a difficult vote for some who supported the administration’s position,” but that the administration would continue to oppose passage.

A day earlier, on October 23, the committee approved a transfer of decommissioned U.S. military ships worth nearly half a billion dollars to Turkey, Reuters reported same day. The legislators denied that the bill – drafted by committee chair Tom Lantos (D.-Calif.), who supported the Armenian Genocide resolution – was intended to placate Turkey.

Committee member Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.), who led the fight for the Genocide resolution’s passage in the committee, wondered how the vessels would help in Turkey’s fight against Kurdish rebels, which Ankara identifies as a top priority. “In dealing with the defense concerns on its Iraqi and Iranian border, where will Turkey deploy these naval vessels? The last time oceangoing ships were seen in Eastern Anatolia, it was Noah’s Ark,” Rep. Sherman was quoted as saying.

More talks held on Turkish-Kurdish conflict The U.S. military began providing “actionable intelligence” to help Turkish forces attack Kurdish rebel positions, BBC News and others reported this week.

While the Turkish military continued operations in the country’s southeast region and just across the border with Iraq, a major invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan appeared less likely, as Turkish media reported that no action would be taken before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush on November 5.

In a recent speech, Mr. Erdogan said that future U.S. steps on the Kurdish issue “will determine the nature of our relationship.” About 50 Turkish soldiers were killed and eight captured in clashes over the past month, and the Turkish public has pressured the government to retaliate. But Iraqi Kurdish leaders said they would fight a Turkish invasion, and U.S. and regional governments cautioned against it.

Secretary of State Rice, who was in Turkey on November 2, again promised a joint struggle against the forces of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). While Turkish leaders demanded immediate U.S. action against the PKK, Ms. Rice cautioned that the struggle against the PKK “is going to take persistence, it is going to take commitment. This is a very difficult problem.”

The Jamestown Foundation reported on October 31 that amid fears of intercommunal violence between Turks and Kurds, the liberal Democratic Society Party (DTP) represented in the Turkish parliament called for giving Kurdish-populated regions more autonomy as a way to end the conflict. Following that statement, DTP leaders were charged with “supporting a terrorist organization.”

U.S. interest in GUAM said to be reviving

Officials from Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova (GUAM) visited the U.S. earlier this week to discuss efforts to strengthen the grouping first established in 1997 on Azerbaijan’s initiative.

While GUAM is often perceived as an anti-Russia initiative in the former Soviet space, members’ interests have since diverged, with Azerbaijan and Russia enjoying warmer relations, just as Georgia appeared near an open confrontation with Moscow.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at a workshop on October 31, Tofig Musayev of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry recalled that the four countries were brought together by shared concerns over “aggressive separatism” and conflicts “accompanied by . . . genocide.”

GUAM members have tried to jointly lobby larger international organizations, including the United Nations, to adopt a more favorable attitude to the states’ interests. But the U.S. and the European Union have avoided taking a uniform approach to conflicts affecting GUAM states.

A former U.S. State Department official, Steven Pifer, said at CSIS that the U.S.’s interest in GUAM reached a low point five years ago, but has since revived, with former
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage playing a key role. (Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Mr. Armitage was on the board of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying group.)

Amb. Thomas Adams, the State Department’s assistance coordinator for Europe and Eurasia, also recalled Mr. Armitage’s desire to make GUAM a successful organization and welcomed the organization’s focus on specific projects, funded in part by the United States.

While in Washington this week, the officials from GUAM countries met Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried and gave a briefing on Capitol Hill organized by the offices of the Azerbaijani Caucus co-chairs, Reps. Solomon Ortiz (D.-Tex.) and Bill Shuster (R.-Pa.).

In addition to Rep. Shuster, the briefing was attended by the Turkish Caucus co-chair Ed Whitfield (R.-Ky.); two Armenian Caucus members, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D.-Ohio) and Joe Wilson (R.-S.C.); and former House Speaker Bob Livingston – currently the main congressional lobbyist for the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments.

Western embassies reportedly threatened in Baku

The U.S. and British embassies in Azerbaijan limited their operations earlier this week after the Azerbaijani government claimed there was a “credible threat” that Islamic “radicals” planned to attack Western interests in Baku, the State Department’s spokesperson Sean McCormack confirmed on October 29.

According to official claims carried by Azerbaijani media, the “plotters” included about a dozen army officers who espouse radical Islamic beliefs. One suspect was killed and several dozen were detained. The crackdown reportedly included the police shaving and burning the beards of pious-looking individuals in rural areas.

As of November 2, police were still looking for more plotters, including an officer who is said to have left his unit weeks ago with a weapons cache. While mutinies in the Azerbaijani armed forces have occurred in the past, this is the first reported case of religiously motivated insubordination.

Meanwhile, on October 30, in what Human Rights Watch described as an “unrelenting crackdown on media,” dissident Azerbaijani editor Eynulla Fatullayev was sentenced to an additional eight and a half years in prison.

Earlier this year, Mr. Fatullayev was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for an article he wrote questioning the nationalist government narrative of the war in Karabakh. (See this page in the May 26 Armenian Reporter .) New charges stemmed from Mr. Fatullayev’s article about the potential impact of a U.S.-Iranian confrontation on Azerbaijan.

In comments reported by kavkaz.memo.ru, the imprisoned editor described the Azerbaijani court system as “worse than in Nazi Germany,” but also “thanked” the government for not murdering him outright. The March 2005 murder of Fatullayev’s colleague Elmar Huseynov remains unresolved.

Georgian railroad up for sale

The Georgian government has put the national railroad up for sale, after a long-term management deal with an anonymous offshore investment company fell through, www.civil.ge reported. The rail line is a key part of the transit infrastructure for goods transported to and from Armenia.

According to an ad in the October 28 Economist, the Georgian Economics Ministry is inviting investment proposals by January 25, 2008, for a general tender, but “reserves the right to withdraw from the purchasing procedures at any time; or suspend or change procedure, or exclude any interested party from the purchasing procedure.”

In the same issue, Georgia also invited bids for the construction of the highway between Tbilisi and Armenian-populated Javakheti, to be funded through a U.S. grant. A deal with offshore firm Parkfield Investment to manage the Georgian railway for 99 years, agreed in August (see this page in the August 25 Armenian Reporter ), has been reportedly annulled, with officials offering no explanation for the cancellation.

Georgian media speculated that businesspeople linked to Russian interests may have been behind the August deal. It also came shortly after Azerbaijan transferred the first tranche of a $220 million low-interest loan to Georgia to build a railroad to Turkey bypassing Armenia.

Nareg Seferian contributed to this week’s column.

House committee passes Genocide resolution

First published in the October 13, 2007 Armenian Reporter
by Emil Sanamyan

Congressional leaders overcome unprecedented opposition


House vote pending
WASHINGTON – The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted 27 to 21 on October 10 to send the Armenian Genocide resolution to the House floor and recommend passage. In an interview with PBS the next day, committee chair Rep. Tom Lantos (D.-Calif.) called the vote “a significant step in restoring the moral authority of U.S. foreign policy.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.), a longtime supporter, again pledged to bring the resolution to a vote following the committee vote. “I don’t have a date in mind, but it will [come to a vote] before the end of this session,” Ms. Pelosi said in a briefing on October 11.

The session is scheduled to end in late November. The vote came amid unprecedented lobbying against the resolution by President George W. Bush, his secretaries of state and defense, and senior U.S. military commanders, who citied Turkey’s importance for U.S. military operations in Iraq.

As in the past, Turkey’s leaders hinted that they would retaliate against U.S. interests if the measure passes the House and unless U.S. helps Turkish interests in Iraq. The president’s open involvement in opposing the resolution and Congressional leaders’ determination to pass it brought the decades-long grassroots struggle for reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide an unprecedented level of worldwide attention.

The cause
For decades, the Armenian-American community and its allies have worked to educate their elected representatives on the facts and the legacy of the Genocide and urge the U.S. government to unambiguously condemn this crime against humanity.

Most recently in 2000 and 2005 congressional resolutions passed in committees only to be blocked before reaching a vote in the House. In both cases, the U.S. administration (under Presidents Clinton and Bush) acceded to Turkish pressure and urged then-Speaker Dennis Hastert to suppress the measure.

Last year, the Bush administration went as far as to sack its ambassador to Armenia for using the term genocide. In Turkey, references to the Genocide cost Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink his life, in an assassination plot linked to Turkish security officials.

Although House Resolution 106 was first introduced just days after Mr. Dink’s assassination, its consideration was delayed repeatedly, with opponents arguing that it would cause a nationalist backlash during elections in Turkey, where the public is already heavily anti-American and nationalist.

But as the Turkish electoral season wrapped up and Congress returned into session, the congressional leadership began to deliver on its pledge to bring the resolution, which was by then backed by more than a half House members, to a vote.

The debate
In the days since the committee on October 2 scheduled the vote, the president himself, the secretaries of state and defense and their deputies, in addition to Turkish leaders and a slew of hired lobbyists, called committee members to underline Turkey’s warnings.

In a statement made on the South Lawn of the White House hours before the Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, President Bush told reporters that “this resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings [of Armenians]. Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror.” He urged a no vote on the resolution.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were on hand to play up Turkey’s importance to the U.S. war effort and argue that congressional recognition of the genocide would put U.S. soldiers at risk. “This is not to ignore what was a really terrible situation. And we recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern and their disdain for what happened many years ago,” said Ms. Rice.

“But the passage of this resolution at this time would indeed be very problematic for everything that we are trying to do in the Middle East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with our efforts,” she continued.

In a congressional briefing the next day, Ms. Pelosi was asked, “Why do it now?” The Speaker of the House said, “I have been in Congress for 20 years and for 20 years people have been saying the same thing that Turkey’s strategic location [makes it a bad time for the resolution]. We are reiterating Americans’ acknowledgement of the Genocide. . . . As long as there’s genocide, there’s need to speak against it.”

The vote
Mr. Lantos, the committee chair, is the only Holocaust survivor in Congress. He began the October 10 meeting outlining arguments for and against the measure. “We are not considering whether the Armenian people were persecuted and died in huge numbers at the hands of Ottoman troops in the early 20th century,” he said.

“There is unanimity in the Congress and across the country that these atrocities took place. If the resolution before us stated that fact alone, it would pass unanimously.”

“The controversy lies in whether to make it United States policy at this moment in history to apply a single word – genocide – to encompass this enormous blot on human history,” Mr. Lantos stated. After outlining the administration’s arguments against the resolution, he added, “This is a vote of conscience, and the committee will work its will.”

A two-hour debate ensued. Nineteen members spoke in favor of passage, and 16 against. The remaining members of the 50-person committee, including Mr. Lantos, did not say how they intended to vote, leaving the outcome too close to call.

Committee members Reps. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.), Gary Ackerman (D.-N.Y.) and Ed Royce (R.- Calif.) led the arguments in favor. While many of the members who spoke in favor of passage called Turkey a good, loyal, or essential ally of the United States, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Calif.), Albio Sires (D.-N.J.), and Joe Crowley (D.-N.Y.) harshly criticized Turkey for its tactics.

The administration’s lobbying succeeded in having two members, Reps. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) and Ruben Hinojosa (D.-Tex.) and Delegate Luis Fortuno (R.-Puerto Rico) defect to the opposition; another past supporter Rep. Joe Wilson (R.-S.C.) did not show up for the vote.

In the end 27 members, including Rep. Lantos, voted in favor, assuring the resolution’s passage. While there are 27 Democrats and 23 Republicans on the committee, the vote crossed party lines. Of the 27 members voting in favor, 19 were Democrats and 8 Republicans. Of the 21 voting against, 8 were democrats and 13 Republicans. Two Republicans were absent.

The Jewish Telegraph Agency noted that seven of eight Jewish members of the committee voted in favor of the resolution, in spite of the heavy lobbying by Turkish leaders for the Jewish-American organizations to oppose passage.

The reaction
The vote was welcomed by President Robert Kocharian and parliamentary leaders in Armenia, and criticized by their counterparts in Turkey. The Bush Administration expressed “regret” and a State Department spokesperson promised to continue to fight the resolution’s adoption.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which in recent years has led community advocacy on the issue, said “the vote represents a meaningful step toward reclaiming our right – as Americans – to speak openly and honestly about the first genocide of the 20th century, free from the gag rule that Turkey has, for far too long, sought to impose on nation’s elected officials.”

The U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC) called the vote “a powerful statement of truth to power.” The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) welcomed the decision as “a historic day and a critically important step forward.”

All organizations thanked Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Lantos, the resolution’s original co-sponsors Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-Calif.), George Radanovich (R.-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D.-N.J.) and Joe Knollenberg (R.-Mich.) and other members of Congress for their leadership, and said they looked forward to the prompt passage of the resolution by the House of Representatives.

The impact
Even before consideration by the full House of Representatives, and in large part owing to President Bush’s efforts to oppose it, the Armenian Genocide has received an unprecedented level of worldwide media attention. The story headlined reporting by virtually all major television channels and featured in every major newspaper around the world.

While the coverage focused on the threats of Turkish retaliation, for many in the world it provided a first-ever opportunity to learn about the Armenian Genocide and its continued relevance today. At the same time the administration’s lobbying has had an impact on some of the 226 co-sponsors of the resolution, making eventual passage more difficult.

Some members of the Turkish parliament have also threatened to retaliate against Armenia by banning Armenian civilian flights over Turkey’s territory and restricting Armenian citizens’ entry into the country – something Turkish governments have done in the past. That has not stopped the Armenian government from speaking in favor of passage.

Opponents of the resolution have also argued that U.S. defense companies may suffer, as Turkey is increasingly turning to alternative sources of weapons and technology. They also suggest that Turkey may undermine U.S. military’s logistical lines that run through Turkey.

But U.S. military officials told the New York Times on October 12 that any impact on U.S. military would be of a short-term nature and contingency plans have already been put in place to resupply U.S. forces in Iraq through Jordan and Kuwait.

In his PBS interview, Mr. Lantos said that he “has much higher regard for the intelligence of our Turkish friends and for their sense of responsibility. I don’t think they will [retaliate]. I think it is demeaning to the Turks [to think] that they will take such an irresponsible action.”

And Turkish officials appear ready to bargain. On a visit to Washington, Egemen Bagis, a senior ruling party member of the Turkish parliament, suggested that Ankara may not retaliate against U.S. after all if Washington helps neutralize anti-Turkey Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, Eurasianet.org reported on October 11.

Briefly: U.S. observers on Karabakh’s elections, U.S. report factually flawed, U.S.' relations with Turkey and France

First published in the September 22, 2007 Armenian Reporter

From Washington, in brief
by Emil Sanamyan

American election observers urge support for Karabakh’s democracy

In a briefing for Congress this week, members of the independent U.S. monitoring delegation praised the conduct of the recent presidential elections in Nagorno-Karabakh. The monitors urged support for continued democratization there through recognition of progress made and U.S. democracy-promotion programs that would help strengthen civil society and upgrade election infrastructure.

Currently, U.S. assistance to Karabakh is limited to humanitarian programs. Most of the American monitors are affiliated with the Public International Law & Policy Group (www.pilpg.org), a nonprofit that has monitored elections and provided advice to governments from the Balkans to Iraq to Sri Lanka. This was the fourth vote the group has monitored in Karabakh since 2002.

Speaking at the September 19 briefing, delegation head Amb. Vladimir Matic described Karabakh’s electoral conduct as one of the “best examples” of democratic practices that he and his colleagues have ever observed, having monitored elections in a dozen other conflict-affected parts of the world.

He also noted progress in the July 19 vote compared to earlier votes. Amb. Matic added that this progress has remained “largely unrecognized or even acknowledged” by the international community, including the United States and Europe.

A delegation member and former State Department lawyer Paul Williams added that while Karabakh’s democratization may be ignored publicly, in order not to antagonize
Azerbaijan while internationally mediated talks on status are ongoing, “behind the scenes it is strongly welcomed and encouraged.” Mr. Williams noted that “Karabakh has made much more progress in terms of its constitutional development” than Kosovo, whereas Kosovo was much further along in winning international recognition in spite of objections from Serbia. He urged Karabakh to take advantage of the Kosovo process and “grab the precedent” while it is on the world agenda.

The briefing was organized by the co-chairs of the Armenian congressional caucus and moderated by Nagorno-Karabakh’s Representative to the U.S., Vardan Barseghian.

State Department issues another flawed report

Yet another congressionally mandated report issued by the State Department contains flawed claims and figures apparently taking Azerbaijani allegations regarding Nagorno-Karabakh at face value. The department’s Human Rights Report issued last March contained similar passages and resulted in the department’s admission of “fallibility” and corrective letters to Congress (see this page in the June 2 Armenian Reporter ).

The International Religious Freedom Report 2007 released on September 14 calls Nagorno-Karabakh an “occupied region,” infers that certain Azerbaijani religious monuments may have been destroyed in Karabakh, and refers to the “estimated 10,000 to 30,000 ethnic Armenians,” which Azerbaijani officials frequently claim still live in Azerbaijan and present as “evidence” of its tolerance.

While Azerbaijan’s own census contradicts that last claim, there have also been no credible reports of the destruction of any monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh; on the contrary, one of the two mosques in Shushi is being currently restored.

At the same time, the report fully ignores the video and photographic evidence of the destruction of the medieval Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan and anti-Armenian vandalism elsewhere in Azerbaijan.

Senior U.S. official: relations with Turkey need to be “restored”

Ahead of his trip to Turkey this week, Undersecretary of State Nick Burns spoke on the state of the bilateral relationship on September 13, expressing hope for a “revival” in relations that would “restore” U.S.–Turkish ties after “particularly difficult” years in relations since 2002.

Mr. Burns spoke at the AtlanticCouncil of the United States, a Washington think tank, at a lectured sponsored by Raytheon, one of the largest U.S. weapons companies with interests in Turkey, and attended by a number of former U.S. officials who have since been working on behalf of Turkey.

The State Department number three official argued that “Turkey’s importance to the United States is even more pronounced at a time when the Middle East in the 21st century has replaced Europe in the 20th century as the most critical region for America’s core national security interests.”

As part of the effort to rebuild relations, Mr. Burns promised to create “mechanisms” to clamp down on anti-Turkey Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. At the same time, he acknowledged “tactical differences” between U.S. and Turkey on Iran’s nuclear program, describing the recent Turkish-Iranian agreement on energy cooperation as “troubling.”

Mr. Burns also said that “the U.S. and Turkey face a serious challenge with regard to Armenia.” He noted that while the Bush Administration has repeatedly acknowledged and condemned the “mass killings and forced deportations” in Ottoman Turkey, it still claims that “the passage of the U.S. House of Representative’s Resolution 106, which would make a political determination that the tragedy of 1915 constituted genocide, would undercut voices emerging in Turkey for dialogue and reconciliations concerning these horrific events.”

Once again, the senior U.S. official reiterated America’s call for “Turkey to normalize its relations and reopen its border with Armenia.” This call was echoed by the event’s moderator, Mr. Burns’ predecessor as undersecretary of state and former Ambassador to Turkey Marc Grossman, who said that the border opening “without preconditions” would reflect Turkey’s “self-confidence.”

In a September 15 analysis of the speech, the Yerevan-based Media max news agency noted that such U.S. calls have gone unheeded since 1999, and that one gets “the impression that the Turkish side formed a strong immunity towards such kind of urges, and it just does not notice them.” It also described U.S. position on the Armenian Genocide an example of “political hypocrisy,” which “makes all the urges of the USA to Turkey meaningless.”

France draws nearer U.S. position on Iran

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on September 16 said on French national TV and radio that while the international community should continue to negotiate with Iran “to the end” on its nuclear program, it should also “prepare for the worst,” international news agencies reported.

Although Mr. Kouchner described a potential military conflict in Iran as “catastrophic,” he reiterated the President Nicolas Sarkozy’s earlier comments that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is “unacceptable” and appeared not to rule out a military attack on Iran.

RFE/RL cited a French security expert, Olivier Roy, as arguing that remarks reflected a change in French policy on Iran, which now “believe[s] that the threat of military action and economic pressure could put enough pressure on Iran” to suspend its nuclear program.

The comments caused consternation in Tehran, as well as Moscow, which Mr. Kouchner visited earlier in the week. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by Reuters as saying on September 18 that “we are worried by reports that there is serious consideration being given to military action in Iran,” which he argued “is a threat to a region where there are already grave problems in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Mr. Kouchner also suggested tougher European Union sanctions on Iran that would go beyond those currently imposed by the United Nations, unless Iran suspends uranium enrichment, which Iranian leaders argue they are entitled to under existing agreements, claiming Iran’s program is peaceful.

During his visit to Washington on September 20 and 21, Mr. Kouchner reportedly urged U.S. official not to impose further unilateral sanctions on Iran, particularly on French companies doing business in Iran, and act in concert with Europe.

Mr. Sarkozy, elected president last May, has been seen as a proponent of closer ties between U.S. and France that had long been cool under his predecessor Jacques Chirac.

Senior Turkish diplomat in Washington, Kurdistan stand-off

This was originally published in August 11, 2007 Armenian Reporter.

From Washington, in brief
by Emil Sanamyan

Senior Turkish diplomat to visit Washington as Kurdistan stand-off drags on

Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan will visit the U.S. capital during the week of August 20, the Turkish Daily News reported on August 8. Mr. Apakan is the second most senior official in the ministry after Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Mr. Gul himself visited Washington last February to lobby against the congressional resolutions affirming the Armenian Genocide. The Congress will still be in recess, Mr. Apakan may be unable to meet senior lawmakers, the newspaper suggests.

The diplomat is expected to prepare the agenda for visits by Turkish leaders, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan, expected this fall. Mr. Apakan’s talks are also expected to focus on Turkey’s concerns over Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey has threatened to invade the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan unless U.S. or local forces take action against anti-Turkey Kurdish rebels referred to as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ankara has for the past several months been building up forces along the border with Iraq, just as PKK attacks deep inside Turkey continued. The U.S. has warned against an invasion, and the State Department this week again urged Turkey to address the issue together with Iraqi authorities. Head of the Iraqi Kurdistan administration Massoud Barzani, however, has so far rejected calls to crack down on fellow Kurds.

Meantime, the Washington Times reported on August 4 that the leader of the PKK’s Iranian Kurdish sister organization Rahman Haj-Ahmadi was visiting D.C. to drum up U.S. support against Tehran. Haj- Ahmadi’s group, Kurdistan Free Life Park (PJAK), and the PKK are neighbors in Iraqi Kurdistan – with both organizations’ camps located on the slopes of Mt. Qandil. Over the past year, Turkey and Iran have cooperated to target the two groups militarily.

Congressional human rights commission focuses on Azerbaijan.

The most recent government crackdown on media in Azerbaijan made it a subject of three congressional hearings in the span of three weeks. The congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (known also as the Helsinki Commission) held two of these discussions on July 23 and again on August 2. (See the July 14 Armenian Reporter to read about the first of the three.) In a hearing dedicated to human rights violations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, the Helsinki Commission chair Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) called developments in Azerbaijan “particularly disturbing,” with “journalists in jail and a series of physical attacks and fines on journalists.” Testifying at the August 2 hearing, Paula Schrieferof the Washington-based Freedom House singled out the case of Eynullah Fatullayev, “ceased the publication of Realny Azerbaijan[the newspaper he edited] to secure the release of his kidnapped father.” Mr. Fatullayev was imprisoned on charges of “insulting” Azerbaijani refugees by visiting and writing an article from Karabakh.

In Turkey, Ms. Schriefer noted continued persecutions on “denigrating Turkishness” charges for such offenses “as stating that genocide was committed against Armenians in 1915, discussing the division of Cyprus, or writing critically on the security forces.” Also testifying, Nina Ognianova the Committee to Protect Journalists argued that U.S. “should take a firm stand against the repressive actions” by relevant governments, and that U.S. inaction “sends a dangerous message to the world.”

Interviewed by the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Liberty on August 9, Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried claimed that the oft-repeated charge that the U.S. overlooks human rights violations in Azerbaijan because of its security and energy interests there “just isn’t true.” Mr. Fried said that the U.S. has continued to raise relevant concerns with Azerbaijani officials, calling such violations a “constant drag” on bilateral relations which, all the same, should not “paralyze” cooperation in other areas. He also blamed individual cases, such as the imprisonment of the government’s media critics, on the absence of relevant institutions rather than on the actions of Azerbaijan’s ruling family.

Incident sparks fresh Russian-Georgian tensions.

A missile that landed without exploding near Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia on August 6 has led to renewed recriminations between Tbilisi and Moscow, a condemnation by Washington, and calls for restraint and investigation from European officials.

Georgian authorities claimed that a Russian jet fired the missile after intruding into Georgian airspace from Russia’s North Caucasus, calling it “undisguised aggression and a gross violation of the sovereignty of the country.” Russian officials denied this, however, and called for a thorough investigation of the incident. They further alleged that a Georgian plane may have been involved.

On August 8, the Reuters news agency cited a Georgian source close to the investigation of the incident as claiming that the missile was not fired, but inadvertently dropped as the jet in question came under fire from the ground, www.Civil.ge reported the same day. According to the same source, the missile was not armed by the pilot and therefore did not explode.

Russian-Georgian relations have been volatile for years, escalating markedly last year after Georgia detained several Russian diplomats on charges of espionage, and Russia retaliated by severing all transport links with Georgia and expelling hundreds of its citizens. The move left Armenia without a ground communication link to Russia, as well.

Last March, Georgia claimed that Russian helicopters attacked its forces in Abkhazia, an incident also denied by Russia. A UN investigation of that incident was inconclusive. Since then tensions have eased somewhat, and the Russian and Georgian presidents were expected to meet later this month to try to patch up relations. Georgian media speculated this week that the missile incident was possibly intended to scuttle that anticipated summit.

At the core of the bilateral tensions is Tbilisi’s effort to regain control over its former provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which have been de-facto separate from Georgia since the early 1990s and have relied on Russia for support. Georgia has in turn sought Western support to constrain Russia.

Studies measure happiness and wealth.

A recent Gallup poll of 130 countries found a correlation between wealth and happiness in most of the world, Economist.com reported on July 12. There were a few exceptions. “Mid-income Costa Ricans and Venezuelans are among the happiest on the planet. Georgians and Armenians, although not terribly poor, are among the glummest,” the newspaper writes.

For the latter two, the trend is regional. The Economist notes that “more than half the 20 countries with the lowest level of satisfaction with health are in the ex-Soviet Union or eastern Europe though in statistical terms they seem relatively well off.”

There are also big differences in attitudes of the elite and general public, as determined by Ipsos and Pew Global Research polling. In Russia, for example, 43 percent of the elite are satisfied with their life, versus just 20 percent of the general public.

A recent study by the Asian Development Bank, meanwhile, identified Armenia as one of the few countries where the income gap between rich and poor is narrowing, the BBC reported on August 8. It is unclear whether that is having any impact on how happy Armenians feel.