November 22, 2005

Armenia's Foreign Minister Visits San Francisco
Oskanian Speaks at World Affairs Council, UC Berkeley Reception, meets with ANC

San Francisco, Nov. 22 – During his visit to San Francisco, Vartan Oskanian, Foreign Minister of Armenia spoke at the World Affairs Council, was special guest at a reception hosted by the UC Berkeley Armenian Alumni, and met with the Bay Area Armenian National Committee.

In his World Affairs Council speech about "Statebuilding in the Caucasus," Oskanian discussed Armenia's political and economic development and foreign policy over its 15 years of independence.

"The democratic process in Armenia is irreversible," said Oskanian.  He said the path to a liberal economy and democracy has not been an easy one, the country sometimes taking "one step forward and 2 steps back," but that the country continues to move towards a higher level of democracy.

As Armenia prepares for a referendum on constitutional reforms on Sunday, Oskanian said the new reforms will provide better checks and balances within the government, enhance the power of parliament and role of political parties, will give more independence to the judicial system, would remove obstructions dual citizenship.

Oskanian said that economic reforms have proceeded more smoothly than democratic reforms, pointing out that Armenia was the first among the former Soviet states to move quickly towards privatization.  Combined with Armenia's efficient use of foreign aid and economic contributions from the Diaspora, Armenia achieved double digit growth in each of the last five years.  Still it will take greater efficiency and targeted investment to alleviate Armenia's high poverty and unemployment levels.  Another indication of Armenia being on the right road economically, said Oskanian, is having become eligible for the Millennium Challenge Account provided by the U.S. to nations showing success in economic liberalization and good governance.

Oskanian said that in the early days of independence, Armenia had to decide on its orientation as a state. "The only natural choice, given our political and cultural history, was Europe."  The integration process into the European structures began in 1992, Armenia became a member of the Council of Europe, and it included in European Union's New Neighborhood policy.

Turning to Armenia's security situation, Oskanian said that after the fall of the Soviet Union, "We didn't know if we could sustain ourselves." He said Armenians remembered the experience of brief independence in 1918, when the nation fought wars with Turkey and Russia, losing territories in the east and west.  Oskanian said Armenia's policy of "complementarity," good ties with both Russia and EU and the US has served it well, and that those relationships do not contradict each other.

On the prospects of a peace settlement for Karabagh, Okanian said, "The last meetings between the presidents have been very positive.  The self-determination option is taking hold."  "Time is not working to either sides' advantage," said Oskanian, pointing out that the lack of a settlement harmed the economies of all sides. Although some have suggested that Azerbaijan may be more inclined to choose a military solution as its oil revenues increase, Oskanian said that no matter how much money Azerbaijan receives from oil, it still wouldn't make military action effective. "This conflict has no military solution,"  he said, adding that the operation of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline will deter Azerbaijan from a military option, because the countries who have supported the pipeline will oppose such an option.

Oskanian said the people of Karabagh "naturally opted for independence," after years of being illegally attached to Azerbaijan by Stalin.  He said Armenians never accepted that decision, and at the first opportunity, they declared independence through the laws of secession of the Soviet Union. "The Azeris opted for violent suppression," which led to a war and Armenia's involvement to assist Karabagh.  "The evidence is clear that the only period that Karabagh has ever been part of Azerbaijan was during the Soviet Union."  Indeed, Oskanian said that Azerbaijan's current constitution reflects the country as the successor to the Republic of Azerbaijan of 1918, which did not include Karabagh.

On the problem of corruption in Armenia, Oskanian said, "Of course there is corruption in Armenia, but the scale of the corruption should not be exaggerated," noting that independent indexes have shown Armenia to be less corrupt than its neighbors of the former Soviet Union.  He said salary increases that come from economic development will bring corruption down, and he said he dismissed speculation about President Kocharyan's involvement in corruption.

Regarding Armenian Genocide recognition, Oskanian said there have been successes in various countries and international organizations, but not with the government of Turkey, although he noted that recently there has been a change in Turkish society where more discussion about the issue is taking place.  He said the process of Turkey's accession to the European Union could also help in this regard.

Oskanian said there was also no progress with Turkey on the issue of its closed border with Armenia.  Although the two sides met several times over the past few years, no progress was made. Because Turkey was using these meetings to falsely project an image to the European Union that progress was being made with Armenia, Armenia decided to discontinue the meetings, until such time that positive results could be guaranteed.

On relations with Iran, Oskanian said, "To their credit, Iranians have maintained a very balanced relationship regarding Armenia and Azerbaijan."  He said even though Azeris are Shiite Muslim, as are the Iranians, and there are many Azeris living in Iran, "They put their strategic interests ahead of religious interests.  Turkey didn't do that.  If Iran had adopted a policy like Turkey's,  Armenia would have probably starved to death, cut off from the rest of the world.  So, we appreciate Iran," he said, adding that Armenia's relationship with Iran does not affect its relationship with the U.S.  "Armenia is considerate of both their interests."

In his meeting with the Bay Area Armenian National Committee, Oskanian commended and congratulated the committee on all the work it has been doing, advocating for issues important to the Armenian-American community in the political arena.  Bay Area ANC members briefed the Foreign Minister on their activities - maintaining strong relationships with elected officials, participating in campaigns, educating the community on political initiatives relating to Armenia, establishing The Genocide Education Project to help educate public school students about the Armenian Genocide, etc.  Calling the ANC and other advocacy groups "extremely effective," having "done a great job from the early days," in helping Armenia through its work relating to U.S. foreign assistance to Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, and Armenian Genocide recognition.

Commenting on the concern raised during the meeting about the alarming rates of emigration from Armenia, Oskanian said the most troublesome issue was that many residents, despite having a good enough income to live relatively comfortably, choose to leave the country in hopes of a better future for their children.   

The UC Berkeley reception brought the Foreign Minister together with Prof. Stephan Astourian, Executive Director of the Armenian Studies Program at UCB, the UCB dean of the Division of Letters and Science, the dean of International Area Studies, and contributors to the William Saroyan endowment in Armenian Studies at UCB. All spoke enthusiastically of the effort to reach the endowment goals, which will provide for a full, lasting program of Armenian Studies at a premier U.S. university.