Armenia this week
Envoys: U.S., Armenia to in charge partnership
In separate interviews published this Monday Ambassadors of Armenia and the United States reviewed progress in bilateral relations and outlined areas of future cooperation. While upbeat about trends in the ongoing partnership, they also identified key challenges and expectations.
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans stressed that the U.S.-Armenia partnership encompassed cooperation in “many different ways,” but the ongoing war against terrorism demands a particular focus on security issues. Over the past two years, Armenia has sent its soldiers to serve in the U.S.-led peacekeeping and stabilization operations in Kosovo and Iraq. Visiting Iraq last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick met and personally thanked Armenian personnel for their service.
Asked about Armenia’s problematic history of elections, Evans noted that the U.S. and Armenia are working to make sure that the next set of national elections scheduled for 2007 and 2008 are conducted “above reproach.” Evans added that while Armenia’s incumbent government and the United States share a “growing degree of trust and mutual support,” the U.S. had no favorites in domestic politics and would work with anyone who is elected freely and fairly.
Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Tatoul Markarian observed that the two countries “enjoy excellent relations” and that both sides are working to enhance them further. Markarian pointed to the upcoming visits of Parliament Speaker Artur Baghdasarian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian and Defense Minister Serge Sargsian, to the U.S. later this year, as a continuation of the bilateral “strategic dialogue.” Markarian also noted that the U.S. is one of the top five trading partners for Armenia (along with Russia, Israel, Belgium and Germany).
Markarian also urged the United States to publicly affirm its record on the Armenian Genocide, adding its voice to those of leading European countries that have publicly called on Turkey to face its past and improve its relations with Armenia. Markarian also discussed the recent U.S.-led efforts to address the status of Kosovo and expressed his conviction that any solution to the Karabakh conflict must be based on Karabakh Armenians’ right of self-determination.
Study looks at potential benefits of Armenian-Turkish border opening
Opening of the Armenian-Turkish border would be mutually beneficial, but its impact on Armenia’s economy would be more modest than past estimates suggested, according to a study published this month. Turkey imposed a total blockade against Armenia in 1993, in order to further undermine an economy then reeling from a devastating earthquake and Soviet collapse. Despite intermittent Armenian-Turkish talks on the issue, and repeated U.S. and European calls on Turkey to open the border, Turkey has conditioned any change in policy to the end of the international campaign condemning the Armenian Genocide and unilateral Armenian compromises in Karabakh talks.
Researchers at the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC) confirmed past estimates that should the border open, Armenia would benefit from the likely reduction of transportation costs and open the possibility for Armenian exports to Turkey. Eastern regions of Turkey, which are estimated to be five times poorer than the national average and twice as poor as Armenia, are also set to benefit.
According to AEPLAC’s econometric model, the border opening would contribute an additional 2.7 percent to Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 17.7 percent to its exports over five years. A World Bank report prepared five years ago suggested a doubling of Armenia’s exports and a 30 percent increase of the GDP. According to official statistics, between 1999 and 2004 Armenia’s GDP had doubled and exports had grown more than three-fold, with the border closed.
The AEPLAC study also anticipated an increase in imports from Turkey and a resulting negative impact on some of Armenia’s manufacturers, but expected a net gain of up to 5,000 jobs over five years.
Speaking last month at the National Press Club in Washington, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stressed that while the border opening would be mutually beneficial, Armenia is “not desperate” and it would be erroneous to expect it to compromise on core Armenian concerns such as the Karabakh conflict and Genocide affirmation, just to have the border opened.
The Armenian Assembly of America
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