ANCA urges parity in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called on key Congressional foreign aid appropriators to maintain current levels of U.S. assistance to Armenia, expand the Nagorno Karabakh humanitarian and developmental aid package, and keep in place the agreement to ensure parity in U.S. military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan.



The ANCA's roll-out of the Armenian American community's foreign aid priorities comes in the wake of the Administration's recent release of its fiscal year (FY) 2008 proposed budget request. The President's request would reduce U.S. assistance to Armenia from $75 million to $35 million, breaks military assistance parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and makes no specific mention of U.S. assistance levels for Nagorno Karabakh. In February 13th letters to each of the members of the House and Senate State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee members, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian highlighted Armenia's growing relationship with the United States: "We are, of course, very proud that Armenia has been a good friend to America, providing strong and consistent support to the global war on terror, taking part in the NATO Partnership for Peace, and contributing forces to Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as for peacekeeping operations in Kosovo."



The ANCA argued for maintaining U.S. economic assistance to Armenia at least at the current level of $75 million, noting that "in great measure as a result of reforms supported by U.S. economic development programs, Armenia's economy has grown by more than 10% in each of the past six years, more than doubling the size of Armenia's Gross National Product. Sadly, however, the people of Armenia are still faced with the devastating impact of Turkey and Azerbaijan's illegal dual blockades - estimated by the World Bank as costing Armenia at least $720 million on an annual basis." In urging a shift in U.S. aid to Nagorno Karabakh from humanitarian to developmental programs, Hamparian stressed that this expansion "would reflect our success in leveraging local efforts to dramatically reduce Nagorno Karabakh's once-daunting humanitarian challenges. The time has come to support Nagorno Karabakh's young democracy and its efforts to expand its free market economy by funding programs aimed at supporting democratic governance, encouraging sustainable economic development, and creating conditions conducive to greater stability and lasting peace in this strategically important region." Citing the agreement struck between the Congress and the Administration in 2001 to maintain U.S. military aid parity to Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hamparian argued that any retreat from this principle would "destabilize the region and embolden the Azerbaijani leadership to act on their threats to impose a military solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." He added that, "more broadly, the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process, while at the same time undermining the role of the U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." Finally, Hamparian urged support for a $200,000 allocation for the California-Armenia Trade Office, dedicated to strengthening American company trade with Armenia and surrounding countries. He noted that, "this modest commitment of resources will expand U.S. access to foreign markets and trade and help keep these countries economically viable and independent. California, which boasts the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, almost 1,000,000 strong, is the natural partner here in the United States to serve as the foundation for this important relationship."