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YEREVAN SHOULD BE MORE FORCEFUL WITH CLINTON
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
asbarez
Friday, June 1st, 2012
Nalbandian and Clinton during a recent photo-op
In assessing Armenia's foreign policy accomplishment of last year,
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalabandian in January lauded Armenia's
relations with the US as being the best in the 20-year history of the
newly independent republic. His conclusion was based on the number
of phone calls and meetings the Sarkisian administration had with
high-ranking US officials, including a meeting with Obama and the
2010 visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
However, the outcome of those high-level discussions does not reflect
the posturing of either official Yerevan or the Obama Administration
vis-a-vis U.S.-Armenia relations. The Sarkisian Administration has not
forcefully engaged in all matters Armenian and has missed significant
opportunities to push back on US policy.
We have written ad nauseam about President Obama's and Secretary
Clinton's broken promises regarding the Armenian Genocide and what
the Armenian-American community has had to contend with during the
Administration. That said, when Secretary Clinton opted to downgrade-or
downplay-the Armenian Genocide by calling it a matter of historical
debate, didn't Nalbandian have a responsibility to call her out? The
international recognition of the Genocide is part of Armenia's
Constitution, which he is sworn to uphold.
The most recent breach of fundamental diplomacy by the State Department
was the categorization of Nagorno-Karabakh as a region controlled
by "ethnic Armenian separatists" in Azerbaijan in its annual human
rights report. This element is key to the peace process as the OSCE
Minsk Group, of which the US is a co-chair, is tasked to determine
the final status of Karabakh. The State Department classification
runs counter to the letter and spirit of the ongoing peace talks,
because it signals that the US has already made up its mind, rendering
the talks futile, at best.
Nalbandian was in Chicago to attend the NATO Summit, which was
boycotted by Sarkisian due to the language adopted by the gathering
regarding the issue of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within
the context of the Karabakh peace process. That would have been an
appropriate forum for Nalbandian to vociferously demand from the
international community-especially the US-to not toy with Armenia's
national security interests and object to random announcements that
could have dire repercussions on the final Karabakh peace plan.
The Obama Administration's financing of the AzerSpace satellite deal
with Baku, and green-lighting a sale of advanced helicopter-based
sensing equipment to Azerbaijan only provides Armenia's adversaries
in Baku with more ammunition to advance its military rhetoric and
stockpile more hardware that could potentially be used against Armenia.
Once again, Nalbandian and the Sarkisian administration did not
protest, or if they did, they did not publicize their opposition
to this notion of a love affair with the US and the current
administration.
Here in the US, the Turkish and Azeri diplomatic corps has been
intricately engaged in driving US policy in favor of their denialist
agenda and advancing the unacceptable gag-rule they have successfully
enforced on the US. Armenia's inaction and absence, especially during
the Genocide resolution processes and efforts to downplay the Sumgait,
Kirovabad, Baku and Shahumian pogroms of Armenians, was inexcusable.
If Nalbandian and Sarkisian have chosen to distance themselves from
these realities, then they must not also interfere with the efforts
of the Armenian-American community that is working hard to advance
the national aspirations of all Armenians.
Recently, during a meeting in Yerevan, Nalbandian thanked Sen. Dick
Durbin of Illinois for supporting Armenian Genocide recognition
efforts, despite the fact that he has, in recent years, refused to
support the Armenian Genocide Resolution or to call for the recognition
of this crime by the Obama Administration.
These missteps by the Sarkisian Administration, especially Nalbandian,
are costing Armenia and Armenians significantly. When Clinton arrives
in Armenia to praise the "unprecedented friendship" the two countries
enjoy, while advancing an agenda that is fraught with concessions
for Armenia, the Sarkisian administration should forcefully push back
to preserve Armenia's national security interests and its dignity in
the international community.
A phone call or a photo op is neither a sign nor a substitute for a
strong friendship!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
asbarez
Friday, June 1st, 2012
Nalbandian and Clinton during a recent photo-op
In assessing Armenia's foreign policy accomplishment of last year,
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalabandian in January lauded Armenia's
relations with the US as being the best in the 20-year history of the
newly independent republic. His conclusion was based on the number
of phone calls and meetings the Sarkisian administration had with
high-ranking US officials, including a meeting with Obama and the
2010 visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
However, the outcome of those high-level discussions does not reflect
the posturing of either official Yerevan or the Obama Administration
vis-a-vis U.S.-Armenia relations. The Sarkisian Administration has not
forcefully engaged in all matters Armenian and has missed significant
opportunities to push back on US policy.
We have written ad nauseam about President Obama's and Secretary
Clinton's broken promises regarding the Armenian Genocide and what
the Armenian-American community has had to contend with during the
Administration. That said, when Secretary Clinton opted to downgrade-or
downplay-the Armenian Genocide by calling it a matter of historical
debate, didn't Nalbandian have a responsibility to call her out? The
international recognition of the Genocide is part of Armenia's
Constitution, which he is sworn to uphold.
The most recent breach of fundamental diplomacy by the State Department
was the categorization of Nagorno-Karabakh as a region controlled
by "ethnic Armenian separatists" in Azerbaijan in its annual human
rights report. This element is key to the peace process as the OSCE
Minsk Group, of which the US is a co-chair, is tasked to determine
the final status of Karabakh. The State Department classification
runs counter to the letter and spirit of the ongoing peace talks,
because it signals that the US has already made up its mind, rendering
the talks futile, at best.
Nalbandian was in Chicago to attend the NATO Summit, which was
boycotted by Sarkisian due to the language adopted by the gathering
regarding the issue of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within
the context of the Karabakh peace process. That would have been an
appropriate forum for Nalbandian to vociferously demand from the
international community-especially the US-to not toy with Armenia's
national security interests and object to random announcements that
could have dire repercussions on the final Karabakh peace plan.
The Obama Administration's financing of the AzerSpace satellite deal
with Baku, and green-lighting a sale of advanced helicopter-based
sensing equipment to Azerbaijan only provides Armenia's adversaries
in Baku with more ammunition to advance its military rhetoric and
stockpile more hardware that could potentially be used against Armenia.
Once again, Nalbandian and the Sarkisian administration did not
protest, or if they did, they did not publicize their opposition
to this notion of a love affair with the US and the current
administration.
Here in the US, the Turkish and Azeri diplomatic corps has been
intricately engaged in driving US policy in favor of their denialist
agenda and advancing the unacceptable gag-rule they have successfully
enforced on the US. Armenia's inaction and absence, especially during
the Genocide resolution processes and efforts to downplay the Sumgait,
Kirovabad, Baku and Shahumian pogroms of Armenians, was inexcusable.
If Nalbandian and Sarkisian have chosen to distance themselves from
these realities, then they must not also interfere with the efforts
of the Armenian-American community that is working hard to advance
the national aspirations of all Armenians.
Recently, during a meeting in Yerevan, Nalbandian thanked Sen. Dick
Durbin of Illinois for supporting Armenian Genocide recognition
efforts, despite the fact that he has, in recent years, refused to
support the Armenian Genocide Resolution or to call for the recognition
of this crime by the Obama Administration.
These missteps by the Sarkisian Administration, especially Nalbandian,
are costing Armenia and Armenians significantly. When Clinton arrives
in Armenia to praise the "unprecedented friendship" the two countries
enjoy, while advancing an agenda that is fraught with concessions
for Armenia, the Sarkisian administration should forcefully push back
to preserve Armenia's national security interests and its dignity in
the international community.
A phone call or a photo op is neither a sign nor a substitute for a
strong friendship!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress