Ending US funding to Artsakh now 'sends wrong signal to Aliyev regime' – Elizabeth Chouldjian

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has been receiving troublesome reports about the Trump administration's plan to cut its annual financial assistance to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) twofold in the upcoming two months. For comments on this and other issues, Tert.am has interviewed  Elizabeth Chouldjian,, the ANCA Communications Director.

Ms Chuoldjian, professional opinions suggest that the Administration's move to suspend the financial aid is, in point of fact President Donald Trump's response to the Armenian Goevrnment, particularly Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's decision to send a humanitarian mission to Syria. Does that correspond to reality and if so, can it be considered a response to the Government of Armenia?

If it’s the position of the Trump Administration that stopping a Congressionally-backed US aid program to Artsakh - which is currently funding lifesaving humanitarian de-mining - is somehow justified because Armenia is providing desperately needed medical aid and removing unexploded ordnance threatening some of the last Christian survivors left in Syria, then they should come out and say so.

The Armenian lobbyist organizations in the US are said to be planning to exercise pressure upon the US Congress. What achievements have been recorded so far?

Since 1998, the ANCA has been the lead advocate for US assistance to Artsakh in general, and for Artsakh de-mining, in particular - important life-lines to the people of Artsakh, who continue to be blockaded by Azerbaijan and remain the constant target of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev's cease-fire violations. The HALO Trust's efforts in this regard have saved countless lives in an area where the per-capita mine deaths and injuries are among the highest in the world.

Ending US funding now, when we are so close to a mine-free Artsakh and so many other desperate needs remain, sends the wrong signal to the Aliyev regime, which continues to block common-sense proposals to de-escalate tensions in the region, including the removal of snipers, the placement of additional OSCE monitors, and the deployment of gun-fire locator systems. 

Clearly members of the US House and Senate agree - including more than half a dozen Presidential candidates - with the 22 US Senators and 89 US Representatives defending Artsakh aid in Congressional letters led by Senator Menendez and Representatives Sherman and Cox. This, of course, is in addition to the US.House adopting the Cox Amendment as part of the FY 2020 foreign aid bill this June, appropriating $1.5 million for continued Artsakh demining and rehabilitation services in Artsakh.  The ANCA is working on including similar language on the Senate side.

As part of its 2017 “Building Partner Capacity” program, the Trump administration is planning to allocate $100 million to Azerbaijan and $7 million –to Armenia. In 2018, notably, Azerbaijan received $58.6 million - as opposed to $4.2 million worth financial aid allocated to Armenia. The assistance to Armenia is thus reducing in size annually. What are the contributing causes?

In one word, Azerbaijan.  In many ways like Georgia and Ukraine, it appears that the current leadership of Azerbaijan is seeking international favor and funding through geopolitical orientations that may well deliver short-term rewards - in the form of the Trump Administration providing Iran-facing security aid, photo ops, and all the political theater that such affiliations usual deliver - but that will also very likely result in long-term costs with profound and lasting consequences.

The funds in question, which primarily come from the Pentagon’s “Building Partner Capacity” fund established in 2017, are focused on the stated goals of supporting counterterrorism operations; counter-weapons of mass destruction operations; and maritime and border security operations particularly in the Caspian Sea.

Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act porhibits militlary assistance to Azerbaijan in any form with the exception of cases covered by the scope of the relevant legislation. So how do the Azerbaijani lobbyist groups manage to find loopholes to eventually circumvent the ban?

 The Section 907 waiver authority granted by Congress prohibits the U.S. from aid that undermines or hampers ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or that can be used for offensive purposes against Armenia. The ANCA continues to monitor U.S. actions to ensure that they comply with this law.