Future of region depends on end to blockade of Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The last decade and a half of U.S. foreign aid policy to Armenia has been widely seen as a reflection of the strategic importance of Armenia to both overall U.S. foreign policy and to the U.S. Congress," Richard Giragosian, expert of the Armenian International Police Research Group - AIPRG, Washington DC, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "Although a major factor in the high level of U.S. aid to Armenia (in per capita terms) stems from the work of the politically active and sophisticated Armenian-American community, or so-called "Armenian lobby," there is also an inherent recognition that Armenia holds a position of strategic importance within the post-September framework of international security," said he.



"But in the past few years, the course of U.S.-Armenian relations has been subject to a reassessment, within a broader context of a shift in the nature of U.S. foreign aid and in terms of changes to the bilateral relationship between the United Sates and the Republic of Armenia. A key question in this regard is the so-called "Section 907" provision governing U.S. aid to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.



The presidential waiver of Section 907 may be renewed annually, and sixty days after the exercise of the waiver, the President must report to Congress on the nature of aid to be provided to Azerbaijan, the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the effects of U.S. aid on that balance, the status of Karabakh peace talks, and the effects of U.S. aid on those talks. President Bush has exercised that waiver ever year since, most recently in February 2006.



Thus, the effectiveness of Section 907 has clearly been diminished by Azerbaijan's failure to lift its blockade of Armenia, by it militant rhetoric and threats of military action to retake Karabakh and wage war on Armenia. It is time for a new effort, by both the United States and the European Union, to recognize the fact that the continued Azerbaijani (and Turkish) blockade of Armenia is a threat to regional stability and an obstacle to regional development. And although the Millennium Challenge Account is a good program, there needs to be new pressure on both Azerbaijan and Turkey to accept that the future of the region depends on an end to the blockade of Armenia, the last remaining "iron curtain" in Europe," said Giragosian.