Armenia–United States relations

United States – Armenia relations relations

Armenia
United States

Country comparison
 Armenia  United States of America
Flag
Coat of Arms
Anthem Mer Hayrenik Star-Spangled Banner
Capital city Yerevan Washington, D.C.
Largest city Yerevan – 1,121,900 (1,230,000 Metro) New York City – 8,491,079 (20,092,883 Metro)
Established Sept 21, 1991 July 4, 1776
Government Unitary parliamentary republic Federal presidential constitutional republic
First leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan George Washington
Current leader Armen Sarkissian (President)
Nikol Pashinyan (Prime Minister)		 Donald Trump (President)
Mike Pence (Vice President)
Main language Armenian English
Main religions 99% Christian, 1% Yazidism 47% Protestantism
21% Roman Catholicism
23% Non-Religious
9% Other
Ethnic groups 97.9% Armenians, 1.3% Yazidis, 0.5% Russians, 0.3% Others 72.4% White American
12.6% African American
4.8% Asian American
0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native
0.2% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
6.2% Other
2.9% two or more races[1]
Current Constitution July 5, 1995 June 21, 1788
Area 29,743 km2 (11,484 sq mi) 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi)
Population 2,951,745 324,894,500
Population density 108.4/km2 (280.7/sq mi) 34.2/km2 (13.2/sq mi)
GDP (nominal) $10.106 billion $17.528 trillion
GDP (nominal) per capita $3,032 $54,980
GDP (PPP) $17.941 billion $17.528 trillion
GDP (PPP) per capita $5,384 $54,980
Time zones 1 6
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian in the Washington, D.C. in June 2018

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 brought an end to the Cold War and created the opportunity for bilateral relations with the New Independent States (NIS) as they began a political and economic transformation. The United States recognized the independence of Armenia on December 25, 1991, and opened an embassy in the capital city of Armenia, Yerevan in February 1992.

The United States has made a concerted effort to help Armenia and other NIS during their difficult transition from authoritarianism and a command economy to democracy and open markets. The cornerstone of this continuing partnership has been the Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets (FREEDOM) Support Act, enacted in October 1992. Under this and other programs, the United States to date has provided nearly $2 billion in humanitarian and technical assistance for Armenia.

On March 27, 2006, Armenia signed a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States; the agreement entered into force on September 29, 2006. Provided the Armenian Government makes progress on mutually agreed-upon policy performance criteria (corruption, ruling justly, and investing in people), the agreement will provide $235 million to Armenia over five years to reduce rural poverty through the improvement of rural roads and irrigation networks. In 2012 or 2013, the United States and Armenia are planning to hold their first-ever joint military drills, during which Armenian soldiers will be trained for their current multi-national peacekeeping operations.[2]

According to the 2016 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 42% of Armenians approve of U.S. leadership, with 31% disapproving and 27% uncertain.[3]

United States-Armenia economic relations
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Washington in 1918

In 1992, Armenia signed three agreements with the United States affecting trade between the two countries. The agreements were ratified by the Armenian parliament in September 1995 and entered into force in the beginning of 1996. They include an "Agreement on Trade Relations", an "Investment Incentive Agreement", and a treaty on the "Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment" (generally referred to as the Bilateral Investment Treaty, or BIT). Armenia does not have a bilateral taxation treaty with the United State. The 1994 Law on Foreign Investment governs all direct investments in Armenia, including those from the United States.

Approximately 70 American-owned firms currently do business in Armenia, including Dell, Microsoft, and IBM. Recent major American 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.

U.S. government-funded agencies involved in Armenian economic institutions
Embassy of Armenia in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. continues to work closely with international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to help Armenia in its transition to a free-market economy. Armenia has embarked upon an ambitious reform program, which has resulted in a double-digit GDP growth for the last 6 years. U.S. economic assistance programs, primarily under the administration of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have three objectives: to promote sustainable private sector economic growth, to strengthen non-executive governmental systems and civil society to build a more robust democracy, and to ensure a smooth transition towards primary healthcare and the rationalization of social support systems of the government. Other agencies, including the Departments of State, Agriculture, Treasury, Defense, Commerce, Energy, Justice, and the Peace Corps sponsor various assistance projects. The United States-Armenia Task Force, established in 2000, is a bilateral commission that meets every 6 months to review the progress and objectives of U.S. assistance to Armenia. The last meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in October 2007.

Specific USAID programs focus on private sector competitiveness and workforce development in selected industries, including information technology and tourism; development of the financial sector and fiscal authorities to achieve an enabling environment for businesses; and reforms promoting the efficient and safe use of energy and water; democracy and good governance programs, including the promotion of a well-informed and active civil society, support to decentralization of authority, independent justice sector and the parliament to ensure the separation of power; social sector reform, including benefits and public services administration for vulnerable populations; health sector reform, including improvement of primary healthcare (PHC) services with an emphasis on preventive care; strengthening of reproductive, maternal, and child healthcare countrywide to ensure access to quality PHC services in rural areas; public education programs; and training for PHC providers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Caucasus Agricultural Development Initiative provides targeted and sustained technical and marketing assistance to small and medium-sized agribusinesses, farmer-marketing associations, and the Government of Armenia. USDA's goal is to sustain the productivity of the agricultural sector by expanding access to markets and credit, increasing efficiency, and modernizing agriculture systems. USDA's priority assistance areas are farm credit, food safety and animal health, support to the Armenian private sector through the NGO CARD. Also, as a training component of USDA projects in Armenia, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cochran Fellowship Program provides training to Armenian agriculturists in the United States.[4]

U.S. humanitarian assistance
Memorial to the Armenian Genocide in Philadelphia

Before Armenia even became an independent country, the United States was one of the 74 countries that responded by sending aid to the Armenians who had lost their homes and were living in temporary shelters. Through its aid, the U.S. managed to give permanent housing to about 30,000 victims and cleared displaced residents from over 100 buildings.[5]

Over the past 16 years, the U.S. has provided nearly $2 billion in assistance to Armenia, the highest per capita amount in the NIS. humanitarian aid originally accounted for up to 85% of this total, reflecting the economic paralysis caused by closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, destruction in northern Armenia left from the devastating 1988 earthquake and the closure of most of the country's factories.

As conditions in Armenia have improved with the stabilization of the economy and increased energy production—including the restarting of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant near the capital—U.S. assistance programs have progressed from humanitarian priorities to longer-term development goals.

On May 25, 2017, the ANCA issued a statement against Donald Trump's budget, which would cut 69.6% of the aid to Armenia. The ANCA stated, "We are Troubled by Trump's Ill-Advised and Misguided Proposal to Cut Aid to Armenia".[6]

U.S. government-funded agency involvement in Armenian politics and media

Technical assistance and training programs have been provided in municipal administration, intergovernmental relations, public affairs, foreign policy, diplomatic training, rule of law, and development of a constitution. Specific programs are targeted at promoting elections that meet international standards, strengthening political parties, and promoting the establishment of an independent judiciary and independent media. This includes financing for programs that support civil society organizations, local non-governmental organizations (NGO) capacity building, National Assembly professional development, and local and community-level governance.

State Department and USAID educational exchange programs claim to play an important role in supporting democratic and free-market reforms. Assistance in the translation and publication of printed information also has been provided. Exchange programs in the U.S. for Armenian lawyers, judges, political party members, business people, government officials, NGO activists, journalists, and other public figures focus on a range of topics, including the American judicial and political system, privatization, specific business sectors, the media, and civil society. The State Department has funded an ongoing project to provide Internet connectivity to schools at various levels throughout the country; these centers provide both educational and community-building opportunities.

USAID has funded international and domestic groups to monitor national elections. USAID also has funded programs to educate voters and to strengthen the role of an array of civic organizations in the democratic process.

U.S. discontent on Armenian arms shipments to Iran

The 2010 diplomatic cable leaks disclosed by WikiLeaks revealed discontent of United States administrations over Armenia's arms shipments to Iran despite urges from the Federal Government of the United States to apply its containment policy to Iran. In late 2008, American diplomats came to the conclusion that the government of Armenia had been supplying Iran with rockets and machine guns in 2003, subsequently used against American troops in Iraq.[7]

But the allegations, by the Bush administration, of arms having been supplied to fighters in Iraq by Iran have never been substantiated.[8][9] U.S. officials even backed down from these claims.[10]

As a result, Deputy Secretary of State at that time John D. Negroponte wrote a letter to the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan in December 2008 expressing "deep concerns about Armenia's transfer of arms to Iran which resulted in the death and injury of U.S. soldiers in Iraq." The cable indicates that "in 2007 some of these weapons were recovered from two Shia militant attacks in which a U.S. soldier was killed and six others were injured in Iraq." One Western diplomat familiar with the incident said the United States had multiple streams of intelligence connecting the Armenian arms shipments to Iran with the deaths of U.S. soldiers in 2007 in Iraq. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confronted President Sargsyan with this intelligence in 2008 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, he denied knowing anything about the matter.[11] In a letter to Sargsyan, Secretary Rice wrote: "Such cooperation with Iran, a known state sponsor of terrorism and supplier of arms to terrorist groups and other non-state actors, is unacceptable," instructing U.S. diplomats to pressure the Government of Armenia to take responsibility for the transfer and threaten it with sanctions.[12] Assistant Secretary Fried, Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryza, and then Ambassador Yovanovitch also raised deep concerns about Armenia's transfer of arms to Iran which resulted in the death and injury of US soldiers in Iraq.[7]

American intelligence revealed and documented almost all of the details concerning the Armenian weapons deal. The finding confirms that the RPG-22 anti-tank rockets were manufactured at the Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi and that the machine guns were manufactured by the Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arsenal. Upon the purchase and subsequent shipment of the weapons to Armenia, they were immediately shipped to Iran. The transaction was made between the partially state-owned company Zao Veber and Abbas Abdi Asjerd, an Iranian arms dealer. It is alleged that the weapons were paid for by the Iranian government, but the money trail was covered by having it go through an Armenian bank.[12]

Expressing the frustration of the United States government, Negroponte wrote to Sargsyan: "Notwithstanding the close relationship between our countries, neither the Administration nor the U.S. Congress can overlook this case... The direct role of high-level Armenian officials and the link of the weapons to an attack on U.S. forces make this case unique and highly troubling. ...By law, the transfer of these weapons requires us to consider whether there is a basis for the imposition of U.S. sanctions. If sanctions are imposed, penalties could include the cutoff of U.S. assistance and certain export restrictions."[11]

The Deputy Secretary noted to Sargsyan that a team will be sent to Armenia to seek written agreement that Armenia will take steps to ensure that it will not become a source of weapons for Iran or other states or groups of concern and that the team would also present additional information that would clarify why the United States is convinced that the transfers happened and make it unreasonable for Sargsyan to continue his denials.[7] According to Der Spiegel, due to the arms transfer to Iran, Sargsyan bore partial responsibility for killing or wounding American soldiers.[12]

At a January 14, 2009 meeting with the then Ambassador of the United States, Mahley with Sargsyan and NSS Chairman Gorik Hakobyan, the Government of Armenia were presented with evidence of weapons purchased by Armenia, shipped to Iran and recovered from Iran-backed Iraqi insurgent groups which fought against United States troops in Iraq. Hakobyan had tried to lay the blame on Bulgaria for diverting the responsibility from Armenia's involvement but Ambassador Mahley presented facts showing the arms transfer and serial numbers of weapons were used to kill an American soldier in an armed attack on United States troops on January 31, 2008. The United States military personnel continued to recover arms from the Sargsyan deal at the hands of Iraqi insurgents. One instance was the recovery of an arms cache in Baghdad on February 15, 2008, which belonged to the Hizballah Brigades, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militant group. Among mostly Iran manufactured weapons in the raid were six Bulgarian RPG-22 anti-tank weapons, production lot and serial numbers of which indicated they were produced by the Bulgarian firm which sold the weapons to Armenia. Similar finds were in mid-March 2008 in Baghdad, when two RPG-22 launch tubes were recovered during the ambush of American troops resulting in injuries of American soldiers. The lot and serial numbers matched and handwritten on both launchers was the Arabic message "Rejoice – Islamic Resistance of Iraq – Hizballah Brigades".[13]

However, in the course of the investigation, Armenian officials accepted the U.S. recommendations regarding border security and unannounced visits by US experts.[14]

Armenian Genocide
See also: United States resolution on Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide was the systematic mass extermination of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks from 1915-1923. The Turkish government has since instituted a century-long campaign of denial, despite there being an overwhelming and abundant international scholarly consensus of the reality of the genocide. The United States had historically been uneasy to anger its NATO ally, Turkey, by recognizing the genocide, as Turkey has diplomatically retaliated against nations such as France, Germany, and Italy after they each formally recognized the genocide in their respective parliaments.

On October 29, 2019, the US House of Representative voted 405-11 in favor of recognition, and the Senate followed on December 12, 2019, passing an identical resolution unanimously. These identical resolutions (H.Res. 296 and S.Res. 150) state that it is the policy of the United States to recognize and officially commemorate the Armenian Genocide, to deny association of the US government with denial of the genocide, encourage education and public understanding of the Armenian Genocide and emphasize the humanitarian relief effort led by the United States in the form of the Near East Relief to the victims of genocide.[15][16]

Trade relations

Following Armenia's Independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, the US established diplomatic relations with the country. The US supports Armenia in many of its endeavours such as a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reopen the closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, and promote regional prosperity. The US has many trade agreements with Armenia such as the trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA), and an agreement on trade relations, and a bilateral investment treaty (BAT). The US and Armenia frequently convene over the U.S.-Armenia joint economic task force (USATF) to discuss mutual economic and governmental concerns.

Principal embassy officials of the United States
Embassy of the United States in Yerevan
  • Ambassador of the United States to Armenia – Richard M. Mills, Jr.
  • Chargé d'affaires a.i. Joseph Pennington
  • Political/Economic Chief
  • Assistance Coordinator—
  • Consular Officer
  • Management Officer—Robert Frazier
  • Regional Security Officer—Gordon Goetz
  • USDA Marketing Assistance Project Director—Sean Carmody
  • USAID Director
  • Public Affairs Officer—Thomas Mittnacht

Officials of Armenia

Embassies

The Embassy of the United States is located in Yerevan, Armenia. The Embassy of Armenia is located in Washington, D.C.

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See also

References
  1. "2010 Census Data". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  2. "U.S., Armenia to Hold Joint Military Drills". Asbarez. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
  3. U.S. Global Leadership Project Report – 2016 Gallup
  4. "U.S.-Armenia Relations". www.globalsecurity.org.
  5. "History". www.usaid.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  6. "ANCA: 'We are Troubled by Trump's Ill-Advised and Misguided Proposal to Cut Aid to Armenia'". The Armenian Weekly. May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  7. "US embassy cables: US fury at Armenia over arms transfers to Iran". The Guardian. London. 2010-11-28. WikiLeaks cable: 08STATE134490. Archived from the original on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  8. Zavis, Alexandra; Miller, Greg (January 23, 2007). "Scant evidence found of Iran-Iraq arms link". Los Angeles Times.
  9. "Top General Contradicts Bush's Iran Bombs Claim". March 15, 2006.
  10. Daragahi, Borzou; Gerstenzang, James (February 15, 2007). "No proof of Iran role, officials say". baltimoresun.com.
  11. Eli Lake (2010-11-29). "WikiLeaks: Armenia sent Iran arms used to kill U.S. troops. State expressed 'deep concerns'". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  12. "The US Takes on the Underworld. On the Trail of Weapons Smugglers". Der Spiegel. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  13. Copy of diplomatic cable dated 24 December 2008 (2010-12-06). "US embassy cables: Armenian defence minister rebuked over arms sales to Iran". The Guardian. London. WikiLeaks cable: 09YEREVAN20. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  14. Tisdall, Simon (2010-11-28). "Fear of 'different world' if Iran gets nuclear weapons". The Guardian. London.
  15. "U.S. House recognizes Armenian genocide, backs Turkey sanctions". Reuters. October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  16. Menendez, Robert (2019-12-12). "Text - S.Res.150 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance". www.congress.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-12-14. Retrieved 2020-01-02.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/. (U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets) "Statement by President Donald J. Trump on Armenian Remembrance Day 2017." The White House, The United States Government, www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-donald-j-trump-armenian-remembrance-day-2017/.

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