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The Armenian Reporter | May 2, 2009NationalWashington briefingby Emil SanamyanArmenian FM to visitU.S. after “historic step”with TurkeySecretary of State Hillary Clintontelephoned Armenian foreign ministerEdward Nalbandian to welcomethe April 22 statement by theforeign ministries of Armenia andTurkey as a “historic step,” Armenia’sPublic Radio reported on April28. The statement committed Armeniaand Turkey to an “on-goingprocess” with a goal of normalizingbilateral relations.According to informed sources,Mrs. Clinton also extended an invitationfor Mr. Nalbandian to visitWashington early next week, whichthe foreign minister accepted.Meanwhile, the Armenian Assemblyof America reported thaton April 27 its leader Hirair Hovnanianwas telephoned by VicePresident Joe Biden. Accordingto the Assembly, “they exchangedviews on the history and status ofArmenian-American communityefforts to obtain affirmation by theU.S. government of the ArmenianGenocide.”According to U.S. and Armenianreports, last week Mr. Biden calledArmenian President Serge Sargsiantwice, both before and afterthe April 22 statement was madepublic. During the second call, Mr.Sargsian was praised for his “leadership”on the issue.For its part, the Assembly welcomedthe April 22 statement byArmenia and Turkey, while alsoexpressing disappointment aboutPresident Barack Obama’s April24 statement that did not containthe word genocide.State Dept. reportnotes Armenia’s “activeinterest” in aiding theU.S. in AfghanistanAfter Armenian peacekeepers completedtheir mission in Iraq lastOctober, “the Armenian Ministryof Defense has expressed activeinterest in sending a peacekeepingcontingent to Afghanistan in supportof the International SecurityAssistance Force,” according to theState Department’s annual “Countryreports on terrorism 2008,” releasedon April 30.Discussions of such a deploymentwere already reported in October2007, when the then-primeminister Serge Sargsian visitedthe United States.Overall, the report registered aconsiderable decline in terrorismrelatedfatalities from the high ofMinisterNalbandianlast visitedWashingtonin July 2008,here withthen Secretaryof StateCondoleezza Rice.Photo: ArmenianReporter.22,500 deaths in 2007 to under16,000 in 2008. While there was adecline in terrorist activity in Iraq,an increase was registered in Afghanistanand especially Pakistan.The report also noted that “Armenia’scounterterrorism partnershipwith the United States includedgranting blanket over-flightclearance and ad hoc landing rightsto U.S. military aircraft,” as well ascooperation on nonproliferation issues.(Arminfo reported on April 29that the Armenian Defense Ministryasked the National Assembly toratify a prolongation of the July 24,2000, U.S.-Armenia Agreement onCounterproliferation. The agreement,which became the first ina series of U.S.-Armenia securityagreements, was signed during anearlier visit to the U.S. by Mr. Sargsian,who was minister of defenseat the time.)While referring to “measuredprogress in implementing bordersecurity and anti-trafficking measures,”the U.S. report retainedsome of the concerns expressedabout Armenia last year.The concerns included reported“widespread corruption” that hamperedcounterterrorism efforts aswell “interest in strengthening itsties with Iran,” that was said to leadto Armenia’s reluctance “to participatein international efforts thatcriticized or placed pressure on Iran.”Like last year, the report expressedno such concerns with regardto Azerbaijan or Georgia.“Rival” gas pipelinesdiscussed in Sofia,PragueEuropean countries are continuingto discuss ways to safeguard theirgas supplies from interruptions,resulting in part from their overdependenceon supplies from Russiaand the latter’s recurring pricingdisputes with transit countries likeUkraine.A meeting in the Bulgarian capitalof Sofia on April 24–25 broughttogether senior officials from 28countries and, according to localmedia, focused the so-called SouthStream project that would bringRussian natural gas under theBlack Sea to Turkey and then on toEurope, thus avoiding Ukraine.That summit’s main intrigue wasRussian premier Vladimir Putin’sdecision to pull out at the last moment,sending his energy ministerinstead. According to media speculation,Mr. Putin’s decision came afterBulgaria declined to cede its gasdistribution network to Russia’sGazprom as part of South Stream.For their part, Europeans seekto increase the transparency of gaspurchase and transit agreementsmade by Gazprom with CentralAsian gas suppliers.On May 6–7, the European Unionwill hold its summit in the Czechcapital. On the agenda there is EUMembers of Congress mark April 24 with calls for U.S.recognition of Armenian Genocidesupport for the U.S.-backed Nabuccogas pipeline that aims to bringCentral Asian (and potentially Iranian)gas to Europe bypassing Russiavia Turkey. (Turkey has conditionedits support for Nabucco onprogress of its accession talks withthe union, which are hampered byobjections from Cyprus.)The Prague summit will also bringtogether leaders of four former Sovietrepublics, including Armenia,Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine,for the formal launch of the “Easternpartnership” proposed by theEU. Leaders of Belarus and Moldovaare expected to stay out overtheir disputes with EU memberstates.Freedom Housecatalogues worldwidemedia struggles“Journalists faced an increasinglygrim working environment in 2008,”the Freedom House reported in itsThen DefenseSecretaryWilliam Cohen(left) signs a nonproliferationdealwith Armenia’sSerge Sargsian inJuly 2000. DoDphoto.annual report released on May 1.The think tank’s research registeredglobal decline for the seventh yearin a row and, for the first time, adecline in every region of the world.The biggest decline of any regionwas again registered in Eastern Europe/ Former Soviet Union, buteven countries like Israel, Italy, andHong Kong were relegated from“free” to “partly free” status.Country reports were not availableas of press time, but the thinktank was expected to again put Armenia’spress environment in the“not free” category, as in severalpreceding reports.fby Emil SanamyanWASHINGTON – As in yearspast, members of the U.S. Congressmarked April 24, ArmenianGenocide Remembrance Day, withspeeches, statements, and pledgesof support for the congressionalresolution on the Genocide.Among those attending theApril 22 congressional commemorationheld annually on the CapitolHill and hosted by co-chairsof the Armenian Caucus Reps.Frank Pallone (D.-N.J.) andMark Kirk (R.-Ill.) were HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.),House Majority leader StenyHoyer (D.-Md.), Sen. Jack Reed(D.-R.I.) and 20 other members ofCongress. (See the Armenian Reporterfor April 25 for some of thecomments and photos from thecommemoration.)Also this week support for H. Res.252, affirming the U.S. record onthe Armenian Genocide, increasedto 116 House members. Statementsby congressional leaders gave noindication of when the resolutionmight be considered by the HouseForeign Affairs Committee.The CongressionalRecordAdditionally, statements for therecord were made by SenatorsReed and Barbara Boxer (D.-Calif.), Reps. Pallone, MicheleBachmann (R.-Minn.), HowardBerman (D.-Calif.), MichaelCapuano (D.-Mass.), Jim Costa(D.-Calif.), Jerry Costello(D.-Ill.), Scott Garrett (R.-N.J.),Carolyn Maloney (D.-N.Y.), EdMarkey (D.-Mass.), Gary Peters(R.-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D.-Md.), Tim Walz (D.-Minn.), HenryWaxman (D.-Calif.) and FrankWolf (R.-Va.).Last year, Sen. Boxer was theonly member of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee to voteagainst the Bush administration’snominee for ambassador to Armenia;she took exception to theadministration’s policy on theArmenian Genocide issue. In herApril 24 statement, the senatorexpressed support for recent talksbetween Armenia and Turkey, expressinghope that “this processwill lead the Turkish Governmentto finally acknowledge the irrefutabletruth of the Armenian genocideand also to greater peace andprosperity for the people of Armenia.”Referring to President BarackObama’s pre-election statementson the Genocide, Sen. Boxerstressed, “There is no need for furtherstudy or debate because wemust never legitimize the views ofthose who deny the very worst ofcrimes against humanity.”Sen. Reed in his statement underscoredthe need “for our owncountry to recognize the Armeniangenocide.” He concluded the statementin Armenian “Menk panavchenk mornar – We will never forget.”Rep. Pallone expressed hope that“the U.S. Government can stand behindour statements and our promises”on the Armenian Genocide.“If we are going to live up to thestandards we set for ourselves andcontinue to lead the world in affirminghuman rights everywhere,we need to stand up and recognizethe Armenian Genocide,” Rep. Pallonesaid. “To not do so sends amessage that we are complicit inTurkey’s denial.”In a statement on April 22, Rep.Costa – who represents Fresno andSan Joaquin Valley – recalled, “Yearafter year, we have seen the samestandard letter from the WhiteHouse which offers sympathy andapology for the ‘mass killings,’ yetrefused to label these events asgenocide.”Rep. Costa added, “I am hopefulMadam Speaker, we finally escapefrom being under Turkey’s thumbon this issue. It is vital our Nationhas a foreign policy that accuratelyreflects history.”An April 28 statement by Rep.Wolf – a veteran Republican fromnorthern Virginia – recalled thatRaphael Lemkin’s coinage of theword genocide “was driven largelyby what happened to the Armenians.”Rep. Wolf said stressed, “there ispower in speaking the truth, evenabout atrocities that occurrednearly a century ago so that othermen with evil aims might not beempowered by our silence.”In his turn, Rep. Walz – whorepresents southern Minnesota– said he remained “committed tothe public recognition of the factof the Armenian genocide,” notingthat “it is the only way to make surewe are forever vigilant to preventgenocide in the future.”At the April 22 congressionalcommemoration, Rep. Walz was theonly speaker to express his disappointmentwith President Obama’snonuse of the word genocide duringhis recent trip to Turkey.“We hope the day will soon comewhen it is not just the survivorswho honor the dead but also whenthose whose ancestors perpetratedthe horrors acknowledge their terribleresponsibility and commemorateas well the memory of genocide’svictims,” said Rep. Berman inhis statement.Rep. Berman chairs the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, towhich the House Resolution 252 affirmingthe U.S. record on the ArmenianGenocide has been referredsince its introduction. f