HOUSE AND SENATE AGREE ON FY10 $41 MILLION FOR ARMENIA,
$8 MILLION FOR KARABAGH, PARITY IN FOREIGN MILITARY FINANCING -- Pallone Outreach to Colleagues and White House Played Vital Role in Restored Assistance and Military Aid Parity     WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. House and Senate agreed upon a far-reaching Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) spending measure that includes a $41 economic aid package for Armenia, $8 million for "programs and activities" in Nagorno Karabagh, and parity in Foreign Military Financing for Armenia and Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). These figures were determined by a conference committee, comprised of House and Senate appropriators tasked with reconciling the two versions of the FY10 foreign aid bill. The House measure, overseen by the State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY), included a $48 million allocation for Armenia, $10 for Nagorno Karabagh, and across-the-board parity in military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Senate version, presided over by the State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT), set aside just $30 million for Armenia, the figure proposed in President Obama's budget, and did not include any figures for either aid to Nagorno Karabagh or military aid to Yerevan and Baku. The President's low aid request for Armenia - which represented a dramatic 39% cut from the previous year, stood in stark contrast to his campaign pledge to maintain aid levels and to foster the growth and development of Armenia. Congress also rolled back President Obama's request to reverse the long-established policy of maintaining military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of Foreign Military Financing. No figures were included in the Conference Report regarding International Military Education and Training. "We want to thank all our friends, among them Chairwoman Lowey, Frank Pallone, Adam Schiff, Mark Kirk, Steve Rothman, Jesse Jackson, Steve Israel, and Frank Lobiondo, for restoring $11 million of the $18 million reduction in aid to Armenia proposed by the Obama-Biden Administration, and also for setting, for the first time, unrestricted aid to Nagorno Karabagh at $8 million," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "While we remain troubled by the overall decrease in support for Armenia, which is now down to nearly half of what was appropriated just three years ago, we are pleased that military parity in Foreign Military Financing to Armenia and Azerbaijan has been maintained, and that the Committee's traditional description of aid to Nagorno Karabagh as 'humanitarian' has been removed, reflecting a growing appreciation among legislators of the need to implement development programs with these funds."
Read more. . .
 LEVERAGING TURKEY-ARMENIA PROTOCOLS, ERDOGAN PRESSES ADVANTAGE DURING DC VISIT Escalates Genocide Denial, Pushes Preconditions, Reinforces Pressure on Nagorno Karabagh WASHINGTON, DC - Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, having secured at least temporarily, the silence of yet another Administration on the Armenian Genocide, has used his U.S. visit to further press Turkey's advantage - dramatically escalating his genocide denial rhetoric, reinforcing Turkey's "Protocols" preconditions for lifting its blockade of Armenia, and attempting to use Ankara's new found leverage in the Nagorno Karabagh peace process to deliver a pro-Azerbaijani settlement of this conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). "Today, more than seven months into the silence of yet another U.S. Administration on the Armenian Genocide, it's painfully clear that Erdogan has not, as President Obama had hoped, moved toward a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts - but rather sprinted in exactly the opposite direction, dramatically ramping up his denial rhetoric and pressing more aggressively against U.S. recognition of this crime," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "As we've said from day one, for Erdogan and his government, the Protocols are not about peace. They represent simply another tactic by Turkey to extend U.S. complicity in Turkey's denials from one April 24th to the next," added Hamparian. In addition to escalating his Armenian Genocide denial demands, Erdogan also made clear that his government would not respect either of the two U.S. priorities for Turkey-Armenia normalization: no preconditions and a reasonable timeframe. He continued to press for both the two Turkish preconditions hardwired into the Protocols, namely a historical "commission" and the confirmation of borders, as well as a third unwritten precondition that the Nagorno Karabagh issue be settled to Azerbaijan's satisfaction. At the same time, he firmly established that Turkey does not feel any obligation to move forward in a timely manner. Read more. . .
SENATORS BOXER, LIEBERMAN; REP. SANCHEZ ADD NEW SUPPORT TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION    WASHINGTON, DC - Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) became, this week, the most recent additions to the growing bipartisan group of legislators supporting the Armenian Genocide Resolution (S.Res.316 and H.Res.252), reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The new support for this human rights legislation comes in the wake of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Washington, DC, last week, during which he repeatedly denied the Armenian Genocide. Responding to a question from journalist Charlie Rose, during an hour-long televised PBS interview on December 8th, Erdogan stated, "I can say very clearly that we do not accept genocide. This is completely a lie. I invite people to prove it. Something like this is really not possible, and there is no truth to it." "We want to thank Senators Boxer and Lieberman and Representative Sanchez for, once again standing up for principle, and against Turkey's denials," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "We look forward, in the weeks ahead, to working with these friends and our many others in both houses of Congress, to see this genocide-prevention legislation adopted at the very first opportunity." Read more. . .
FORMER DIPLOMAT REVEALS SECRET STATE DEPT. ATTACKS ON 1980s ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTIONS  WASHINGTON, DC - A retired Foreign Service officer, U.S. Ambassador Arma Jane Karaer, has revealed a series of shocking revelations about the State Department's behind-the-scenes efforts on behalf of Turkey during the 1980s to kill Congressional initiatives commemorating the Armenian Genocide, according to now public documents circulated today by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The revelations are part of an oral history interview with Karaer, a foreign service officer who served, among other postings during her long diplomatic career, as a commercial officer in Ankara and as the State Department's senior Turkish Desk Officer. Excerpts from her lengthy interview concerning Armenian issues, including Armenian Genocide legislation before the U.S. Congress, are provided below. "We're circulating Ambassador Karaer's interview - a truly stunning example of undisguised cynicism in the face of genocide and denial - as a public service," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "As painful as her callous remarks are to read, they do - in their candor - provide powerful insights into the depths to which U.S. officials have sunk in enforcing Turkey's genocide denial dictates. Sadly, it would seem, the pervasive attitude of expediency over morality characterized by her words remains, even today, much more the rule rather than the exception among the senior ranks of our nation's Foreign Service."
Read more. . . |
No comments:
Post a Comment