Azerbaijani MP Discusses Armenia's Aggressive Policy with Albanian Officials (Trend News-Azerbaijan)

Secretary Clinton Remains Upbeat on Armenia-Turkey Talks (by Emil Sanamyan, Armenian Reporter)

Talking Talks?: Armenia, Azerbaijan in Fresh Summit on Karabakh (by Aris Ghazinyan, Armenia Now)

The Economy is Cyclical; The Armenian Cause is Not (by Pattyl Aposhian-Kasparian, Asbarez)

Nagorno-Karabakh: War, Peace, Or BATNA? (by Vartan Oskanian, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)

Texas Baptist Team Discovers Ongoing Needs in Armenia (by Crystal Donahue, Baptist Standard-Dallas)

Ruling Party Sweeps Victory in Flawed Yerevan Election (Asbarez)

Demonstrators Remind Obama of Broken Promises to Recognize Genocide (by Lara Garibian, Asbarez)

Elections or Balance of Power: What Will Change in Armenia’s Political Arena After May 31 (by Aris Ghazinyan, Armenia Now)

Think Tank Faults Turkish Approach on Armenia Ties (by Ayla Jean Yackley, Reuters)

Turkey - Armenia Relations Workshop (by Nasuhi Gungor, Turkish Press)

Top Congressional Leader Xavier Becerra Briefs Community on Key Issues (Asbarez)

AI Report: International Watchdog on Armenia’s Human Rights Record in 2008 (by Suren Musayelyan, Armenia Now)

In Lebanon’s Patchwork, a Focus on Armenians’ Political Might (by Robert F. Worth, New York Times)

Turkey, Armenia, and the Azerbaijan Delay (by David L. Phillips, Boston Globe)

US Envoy to Armenia Defends Administration’s Cuts in Aid (by Allen Yekikan, Asbarez)

Sarkisian Hopeful that Turkey ‘May Yet Mend Ties With Armenia (Asbarez)

Armenia: Yerevan Buying Russian Arms at CSTO Discount (Eurasianet)

At Turkish Border, Armenians are Wary of a Thaw (by Clifford J. Levy, New York Times)

Russia, Armenia Seal Deal on $500 Million Loan (Asbarez)

Armenian Recession Continues to Deepen; GDP Dropped 9.7 Percent (Asbarez)

Ohio Elections Spat Involves Turkish History (by Stephen Majors, Associated Press)

Iran Begins Gas Export to Armenia: NIGEC Managing Director (Tehran Times)

Turkey Seeks to Ease Azeri Worries on Armenia Ties (Reuters)

Azerbaijani Official: Minsk Group Favors Armenia In Karabakh Dispute (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)

IMF Predicts Sharp Economic Contraction For Armenia (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)

U.S.-Armenia Joint Economic Task Force meets in Yerevan (Public Radio of Armenia)

Ethanol in Armenia (by Kendrick Wentzel and Areg Gharabegian, Ethanol Producer Magazine) 

Obama's Armenia Aid Request: Less than Congress, More than Bush (Emil Sanamyan, Armenian Reporter) 

Washington Hosts Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan (by Emil Sanamyan, Armenian Reporter)

Armenia Says NATO Support for Azerbaijan Prompted Pullout (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)

EU Pledges Aid to Former Soviet States (by Dan Bilefsky, New York Times)

Energy Security Fears Over Armenia-Turkey Talks (by Adrian Blomfield, Telegraph)

Armenia Pulls Out of NATO War Games in Georgia (by Hasmik Mkrtchyan, Reuters)

Obama Administration Interested in Expanding Cooperation with Armenia (Public Radio of Armenia)

Turkey Weighs Ending Economic Embargo on Armenia (by Dorian Jones, Voice of America)

Armenia: Obama Escapes Blame for Omission (by Gayane Abrahamyan, Eurasianet)

Ambushed: Attack on Journalist Raises Concerns Over Safety of Profession in Armenia (by Armine Grigoryan, ArmeniaNow)

US, Armenia Extend Anti-WMD Cooperation Deal (Global Security Newswire)

Stakes High in Armenia-Turkey Talks (by Judy Dempsey, New York Times)

Hopes Dashed as Obama Avoids Calling Mass Killings of Armenians 'Genocide' (by Rebecca Spence, Jewish Daily Forward)

Turkey Objects to Obama's Message on Armenian Massacres (by Hande Culpan, Agence France-Presse)

Skirting Thorniest Issues, Turkey and Armenia Move to Ease Tensions (by Sabrina Tavernise and Sebnem Arsu, New York Times)

Armenia and Turkey: Lobby Groups Opposing Confirmation of Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia and Caucasus (by Joshua Kucera, Eurasia Insight)

Turkey is Missing Yet Another Opportunity With Armenia (by Vartan Oskanian, Beirut Daily Star)

US Ambassador to Armenia Visited USAID - Supported Projects in Charentsavan (Public Radio of Armenia)

Armenia to Receive $400 Million Loan to Build Railway to Iran (RIA Novosti) 

Iran, Armenia Sign Memo on Power Plant Construction (Islamic Republic News Agency)

Iran Offers Armenia Energy Line of Credit (United Press International)

Hastert Contracted to Lobby for Turkey (by Kevin Bogardus, The Hill)

In Five Years, Armenia, Iran to be Connected by Rail (by Tatul Hakopyan, Armenian Reporter)

Turkey, Armenia are Likely to Ease Conflict (by Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times)

What Role Can the US Play in the Normalization of Armenian-Turkish Relations (by Karine Ter-Sahakyan, PanArmenian)

Advocating Aid: Armenian Caucus Urges State Department Support (by Arpi Hartyunyan, ArmeniaNow)

Pro-Armenian Lawmaker Says US Congress Will Not Recognize Bill (by Hurriyet Daily News)

US Jews May be Ready to Step Into Armenian Genocide Debate (by Herb Keinon and Haviv Rettig Gur, Jerusalem Post)

 

Armenia is a small, landlocked country in the Caucasus region, where Eastern Europe meets Western Asia. A former Soviet Socialist Republic, Armenia has developed extensive relations with both Europe and the U.S. since the end of the Cold War.

 

Throughout its long history, Armenia has been ruled by various foreign powers, including Arabs, Mongols and Persians. The Ottoman Turkish period is primarily noted for the Armenian Genocide. During the WWI period, at the end of the Ottoman Empire, at least hundreds of thousands and perhaps up to 1.5 million Armenians died when they were exiled by the Turks. Some were killed, while others died of starvation or disease. The historical event is the subject of a fierce debate, with the Turkish government vehemently denying that genocide took place, while Armenians in Europe and the U.S. press for official recognition of the massacre as the first genocide of the 20th century.

 

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid, and benefits from extensive relations with the U.S. and Western Europe, as well as a traditional alliance with Russia. Surrounded by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russian and Iran, Armenia sits at a powerful axis between East and West and plays an increasingly strategic role in regional politics. The U.S. has a vested interest in protecting oil pipelines in surrounding areas and cultivating a strong security partnership. Armenia is also close enough to Afghanistan and Iraq to provide the U.S. military with operational support–which it has done since the invasions in 2001 and 2003. An ongoing dispute and armed conflict over the Nagarno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan has led to a freeze between the two countries, and Turkey closed its borders and cut off economic relations with Armenia in response. However, in light of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Georgia, both Turkey and Armenia are considering a warmer relationship.

 

Lay of the Land:

Armenia is a landlocked country in the Southern Caucasus region of Southwest Asia (Eurasia), between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is bordered by Turkey in the west, Georgia in the north, Azerbaijan-proper in the east, and Iran in the south, and also shares a southern border with the Azerbaijan-Naxcivan (Nagarno Karabakh) enclave, a disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

Slightly smaller in size than Maryland, Armenia has a mountainous terrain, with hot summers and cold winters. It is the second-most densely populated of the former Soviet Republics, and its population of about 3 million enjoys a median life expectancy of about 72 years and 94.4% literacy (99.7 % male, 99.2% female).

 

Population: 3.0 million

 

Religions: Armenian Christian 90%, Catholic 4%, other (Yezidi, Armenian Evangelical, Molokan, Baptists Mormon, Jewish, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'i) 5%.

 

Ethnic Groups: Armenian 97.9%, Yezidi (Kurd) 1.3%, Russian 0.5%, other 0.3%.

 

Languages: Armenian 92.1%, North Azerbaijani 3.4%, Northern Kurdish 2.3%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4%, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic 0.1%, Lomavren.

Populated since prehistoric times and a suggested Biblical site, Armenia is the product of millennia of geopolitical, social and cultural transformations and migrations. With origins in the Euphrates Valley, at its high point, the territory of Armenia once spanned the Caucacus regions from the Caspian to the Mediterranean. In its early history, Armenia was conquered by the Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Persians, Byzantines and Mongols.

 

Armenia is known for being the first state to officially adopt Christianity, sometime in the early 4th century.

 

After a native monarchic rule, the Ottoman Turks took over the territory in 1375, which was in constant dispute between the Turks and the Persians throughout the Middle Ages.

 

The Russian Empire incorporated Eastern Armenia in the early 19th century, but the country remained under Ottoman rule, under which Armenian Christians had become an increasingly persecuted minority. Between 1894 and 1896, an estimated 80,000 (out of 300,000) Armenian Christians were massacred.

 

Between 1915 and 1917, at least hundreds of thousands of Armenians perished when the Ottoman Turks deported them–they were either killed, or died of starvation or disease. The subject is a topic of hot debate among historians, and between the Turkish government, which maintains that the deaths in questions were part of casualties on both sides of a civil war, and Armenians, who have long campaigned for international recognition of the events as genocide. While Turkish estimates are as low as 300,000, most estimates place the number of dead Armenians between 600,000 and 1.5 million.

 

After two years of independence following WWI, Russia took over Armenia and it became the smallest of the USSR Republics.

 

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Armenia became engaged in an armed territorial dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan over the Karabakh region. After a Soviet-brokered ceasefire in 1994–and an apparent victory for Karabakh Armenians, who gained control of the disputed territory as well as part of Azerbaijan proper—borders between the two countries remain closed and a complete resolution has yet to be reached.

 

 

 

Armenian Mirror-Spectator (Weekly, in English)

Since the end of the Cold War, relations between the U.S. and Armenia have been friendly. The U.S. recognized Armenia as an autonomous state in 1991, and established diplomatic relations the following year with the opening of its Yerevan embassy. The U.S. played a pivotal role in the country’s reconstruction and transition to a free-market economy, giving nearly $2 billion in humanitarian and technical assistance under the FREEDOM Support Act since 1992.

 

Since establishing diplomatic relations, the two countries have operated under three major trade and economic agreements: Agreements of Trade Relations, Investment and Protection of Investment. Negotiations are currently pending for a bilateral tax trade agreement.

 

Since 1998, the U.S. and Azerbaijan have held a bilateral security dialogue, placed under new pressures by President Bush’s Global War on Terror. After September 11, 2001, the U.S. waived the Freedom Support Act clause restricting military assistance for Armenia and Azerbaijan, allowing for new security and military “cooperation” with both countries.

 

When the U.S. launched its military operations in Afghanistan, Armenia provided airspace, refueling, landing and other support for U.S. aircraft.

 

US-ArmeniaRelations: The Challenges of Cooperation (by Annie Jafalian, Caucaz.com)

 

 

Situated between Iran, Turkey and Russia, Armenia and its regional relations are of increasing strategic importance to the U.S. government.

 

Armenia has provided support for the U.S. in its military operations in nearby Afghanistan and Iraq, and remains an important security point in regard to neighboring Iran, whose regional influence the U.S. would like to limit. (While keeping up relations with Washington, Armenia has strengthened some ties with Iran in the last few years, specifically with regard to energy. In 2004 Armenia began building an oil pipeline that would connect the two countries).

 

A balanced alliance with the Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia serves U.S. economic and security interests in the region. The U.S. has been a co-mediator in OSCE efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and maintains close economic relations with Armenia, although in 2005, U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan was more than triple the amount to Armenia.

 

The U.S. would also like to see warmer relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan’s ally, Turkey. Russia’s recent war in Georgia has recently given the two countries reason to make diplomatic progress. Western-backed pipelines shipping from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean in Turkey currently bypass Armenia and go through Georgia, making Armenia an attractive alternative in the event of continued instability.

385,488 people identified themselves as Armenian in the 2000 U.S. census. Armenians have a long history in America, beginning with “Martin the Armenian,” a farmer who arrived before the Pilgrims. Immigration was limited until the turn of the twentieth century, when the nationalist Turks massacred hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1894-1895. 64,000 Armenians emigrated between 1890 and 1914. The Turkish government’s genocide of a million more Armenians during World War I pushed another 30,771 Armenians to America from 1920-1924, when the Johnson-Reed Immigration effectively halted Armenian immigration by reducing the annual quota to 150. The most significant wave has been since World War II, as hundreds of thousands of Armenians have fled Islamic fundamentalist and Arab/Turkish nationalist movements in nations surrounding it. The majority of Armenians live in California, and have formed a strong, integrated community in Los Angeles. Massachusetts, New York, and Michigan are also home to sizable Armenian populations.

 

3,668 Armenians visited the U.S. in 2006. The number of tourists has remained close to 3,500 in recent years.

 

45,535 Americans visited Armenia in 2006. Tourism has grown consistently since 2002, when only 25,026 Americans went to Armenia.

 

Until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Armenian economy was largely industry-based (chemicals, machinery, textiles, etc.), agriculture accounted for small percentages of net material product and employment, and the country was highly dependent on imports.

 

Since the introduction of economic reform, foreign aid and investment, a large portion of which comes from the U.S. (although Greece is currently the biggest foreign direct investor), the construction sector in Armenia has grown significantly. Government plans, foreign investment and remittances from the Diaspora contribute to the growth of this industry.  

 

Currently, approximately 70 U.S.-owned companies do business in Armenia, including tech giants Dell, Microsoft and IBM. According to the U.S. Department of State, recent major U.S. investment projects include: the Hotel Armenia/Marriott; the Hotel Ani Plaza; Tufenkian Holdings (carpet and furnishing production, hotels, and construction); several subsidiaries of U.S.-based information technology firms, including Viasphere Technopark, an IT incubator; Synopsys; a Greek-owned Coca-Cola bottling plant; jewelry and textile production facilities; several copper and molybdenum mining companies; and the Hovnanian International Construction Company.

Doing Business in Armenia: A Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies (U.S. Commercial Service) (PDF)

 

Armenia’s main trade partners in the period January – November 2006 were the

Russian Federation (13.2% of total trade turnover), Germany (9.5%), Belgium (7.5%),

Israel (6.4%), the Ukraine (6.1%) and the USA (5.4%). (

 

In 2007, themain US exports to Armenia were pharmaceuticals, new and used passenger cars, jewelry and non-monetary gold, laboratory instruments, corn and meat/poultry. Trade in these commodities has generally increased between 2003 and 2007, while other goods, in particular food oils and “finished metal shapes,” have decreased significantly.

 

In 2007, total Armenian exports to the U.S. were around $32.8 million, with jewelry the highest single value ($13.3 million). Steelmaking materials were around $3 million, and alcoholic beverages were around $120,000, a steady increase from 2003. Cotton apparel, household goods and textiles were significantly down from 2003.

 

Per capita, Armenia is one of the world’s biggest aid recipients. In 2006 and 2007, respectively, the U.S. government gave Armenia $74.4 and $63.8 million in assistance. From 1992 through 2006, U.S. aid to the country totaledmore than $1.7 billion.

Armenia: Security Assistance (the U.S. sold $487,268 of defense articles and services to Armenia in 2007)

 

 

In 2007, the $63.8 million aid budget from the U.S. allotted the most funds to Civil Society ($11.0 million), Health ($9.6 million), Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform ($6.3 million), Combating WMD ($4.7 million), and Private Sector Competitiveness ($4.6 million). The 2008 budget estimate retained similar levels of funding at $62.4 million, with a similar distribution between the various programs. The 2009 budget request will reduce aid to $27.9 million. The 2009 budget will distribute the most aid to Stabilization Operations and Security Sector Reform ($4.0 million), Health ($3.5 million), Civil Society ($3.0 million), and Social Services and Protection for Especially Vulnerable People ($2.7 million).

 

In 2006 Armenia signed a contract with the U.S.’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for $235 million in conditional assistance, meant to target poverty alleviation through investments in infrastructure, roads and irrigation, with the first disbursement handed out in 2006.

 

 

The U.S., a strong Turkish ally and home to a large Armenian Diaspora (and nominally powerful lobby group) doesn’t have to do much to land in the middle of the controversy over the Armenian genocide.

 

In 2005, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was recalled from his post after he described the forced exile and deaths of at least hundreds of thousands of Armenians as genocide. Armenian lobbyists  challenged the Bush Administration when it replaced Evans with an ambassador who upheld the Bush line.

 

Turkey, which hands down jail time for “insulting Turkishness” to citizens who raise the “genocide” question, cut military ties and pulled out of several important economic contracts with France when the French government officially recognized the genocide. When a U.S. Congressional committee proposed to do the same in 2007, Turkey responded with outrage and similar threats. The bill nearly passed with a majority of co-sponsor votes, but was withdrawn under pressure from the Bush administration, which relies on Turkey to transfer 70% of its military air supplies to Iraq.

U.S.-Turkish Relations Strained Over Iraq and Armenian"Genocide" (by Judith Latham, Voice of America)

Turkey condemns US Armeniavote (BBC News)

PBS effort to bridge controversy creates more (by Josh Belzman, MSNBC)

 

The biggest single debate involving the U.S. and Armenia is that of the Genocide. While genocide experts support the Armenians’ claims as irrefutable historical fact, many scholars and historians disagree on whether the WWI-era forced exile massacres Armenians suffered at the hands of Ottoman Turks should be classified as genocide.

 

The crucial factor in determining genocide, the systematic destruction of a group of people, is the presence of premeditation and intention. (See the legal definition from the U.N Convention on Genocide).

 

In Washington, the debate often divides among party lines. When Congress voted to require the president to recognize the genocide, Turkey was outraged, and the Armenian ambassador was recalled after using the word “genocide” to describe the event in question. The formidable Armenian lobby in the U.S. stalled the new Bush appointee, who avoided the designation.

Bitter history of Armenian genocide row (by Chris Morris, BBC News)

 

Issue Brief: Armenian Genocide Affirmation (Armenian Assembly of America)

Turkish Denial of Armenian Genocide(Armeniapedia)

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide – on the Agenda of the U.S. Presidential Campaign (RealArmenia)

 

Revisiting the Armenian Genocide (by Guenther Lexy, Middle East Quarterly)

Armenian Genocide Debate (ArmenianGenocideDebate.com)

 

New York Governor David A. Paterson Issues a Proclamation Acknowledging Armenian Genocide (press release)

Two Sides of the Controversial Genocide Bill Debate (NPR)

Armenian Genocide Debate Creates Partisan Split (by Andrea Seabrook, NPR)

US vies to placate Turkey after Armenia vote (Agence France Presse)

Armenian Furor Over PBS Plan for Debate (by Randal C. Archibold, New York Times)

Mass. Sued for Citing Armenian ‘Genocide’ by Turks (by Anthony Brooks, NPR)

 

 

Born in Kapan, Armenia, in 1964, Tatoul Markarian earned his undergraduate and PhD degrees from the Yerevan University of National Economy, a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

 

Markarian served in Armenia’s legislative and executive branches before joining the Foreign Service. He was Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Armenian Parliament from 1990 to 1991, and Assistant and then Adviser to the Vice President of Armenia from 1991 to 1994. He also served as Acting Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992.

 

Markarian was Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister-Counselor of the Armenian Embassy in Washington from 1994 to 1999. From 1999 to 2000, he was Adviser to the Foreign Minister in Armenia. From 2002 to 2003, he was Special Representative of the President of Armenia for Nagorno Karabakh negotiations, and the Armenian coordinator for the U.S.-Armenia Strategic and NATO-Armenia Political-Military Dialogues. Before his appointment as Ambassador, Markarian was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (since 2000).