[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 2 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S518-S520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SPEECH BY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, recently, I read in the news of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union, a speech by Ambassador Harry
Gilmore, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.
Because it has insights into the problems faced in Armenia, I am
asking to insert it into the Congressional Record at the end of these
brief remarks.
The United States must exert every effort to see that Armenia and her
neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan, can live together in peace.
This is in the best interests of Armenia and is in the best interests
of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
But there are emotional barriers to achieving this.
While those emotional barriers remain, the people of Armenia
struggle.
This speech was given in Los Angeles, on June 14, 1994, to guests
attending a fundraising banquet for the American University of Armenia,
which I have had the privilege of visiting in Armenia.
The speech follows:
Harry Gilmore--United States Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia
Distinguished friends and guests of the American University
of Armenia, I bring you a story tonight of darkness and
light. The darkness you know. Armenia is going through
perhaps the most difficult period it has endured since the
end of first Republic of Armenia in 1920. The people of
Armenia have been living without heat and light, beset by war
and economic hardship. But in the middle of the darkness
there are some islands of light--and one of those is the
American University of Armenia.
Tonight I want to tell you some of my experiences as the
first Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of
Armenia. I want to tell you something about what the United
States Government is doing in Armenia. And I want to tell you
why I believe in the future of Armenia.
Our Embassy in Yerevan, the first foreign Embassy in
Armenia, opened in February 1992, in the Hrazdan Hotel. Now
we are in the building that once was home of the Young
Communist League. We have about fifteen Americans working in
our Embassy from the Department of State, USAID, USIA, and
the Peace Corps, and about sixty Armenian employees. Plus
there are 25 Peace Corps Volunteers in Armenia, with more to
come in July.
As you may know, in August 1992 I was first nominated to be
Ambassador by President Bush. After the 1992 elections,
President Clinton re-nominated me. I was finally confirmed by
the Senate in May 1993. I arrived in Yerevan with my wife
Carol that same month, one year ago.
I found our diplomats in Yerevan were living, much like the
residents of Yerevan, frequently without electricity, heat,
or water. There was, and often still is, only about one or
two hours of electricity each day. During the first winter,
our diplomats often wrote their cables by the light of butane
lanterns. One diplomat found that his laptop computer
wouldn't start unless he heated it up first on top of his
wood stove.
Now we are fortunate to have generators and kerosene
heaters in our homes and at the Embassy. Most Armenians are
not so lucky. Nuclear physicists are working by candlelight.
A factory that used to produce microprocessors is making
kerosene stoves. One daily newspaper, The Voice of Armenia is
being printed on ice-cream wrapping paper. The winter before
I arrived, the temperature inside school classrooms was often
below freezing. Some classes consisted of little more than
jumping up and down to stay warm.
I decided from the beginning that our Embassy should have
three goals: first, to help Armenia survive, emphasizing
humanitarian assistance; second, to try to help Armenia
achieve peace, and an end to its economic isolation; and
third, to help Armenia build a democratic government and new
free market economy that will allow Armenians to control
their own destiny, and guarantee their own future.
helping armenia survive: humanitarian assistance
Our first job has been to help provide humanitarian aid, so
Armenia can survive the economic crises caused by the
collapse of the Soviet Union and the war. The Armenian-
American community, the Armenian Church and other private
donor organizations have been extremely active in these
efforts. Soon after the Embassy opened, the U.S. Agency for
International Development located its regional office for the
Caucasus in Yerevan, and our government got involved in a
major way.
Much of our time has been taken up by the logistics of
getting wheat and fuel moving to Armenia. I now know more
about the Georgian railway system than I ever wanted to know.
When U.S. government wheat was stranded in Batumi, in
Georgia, because there was no electricity to run the Georgian
railways, we chartered diesel locomotives, and provided fuel
for them. When there was a shortage of wheat in Armenia,
because the trains in Georgia weren't running, we obtained
money to buy kerosene and diesel fuel to trade to the
Armenian farmers for wheat.
[[Page S519]] An airlift of planes chartered by the United
States government has brought in medicine, flour, and other
necessities of life, purchased by the government or donated
by private organizations in the U.S. Thanks largely to the
lobbying efforts of the Armenian-American community, a winter
airlift brought in over eighty thousand kerosene heaters, and
trains of tank cars brought thousands of tons of kerosene to
Armenia, so schools and homes of the elderly, one-parent
families, and other people sitting at home in the cold could
have heat.
The winter of 1992-93 all the schools closed in Armenia. It
was too cold to study. This winter was different. In February
I visited a working class school in the Charbakh district
outside Yerevan. You could see through a crack in the wall
caused by the 1988 earthquake. The temperature in the
hallways was freezing, and the students and teachers wore
winter coats, hats, scarves and mittens inside but because of
the heaters and kerosene we and a French organization named
Forum had furnished, classes were going on, and students were
learning. With great pride, they sang Armenian songs and
recited Armenian poetry for me. So I can tell you first hand
that our help is getting there, and is getting to the people
who need it most.
But humanitarian aid, though it takes much of our time and
efforts, is only a temporary measure, not a long-term answer.
The real answer lies in finding an end to the conflict in
Artsakh.
ending the war
Helping the parties to find an end to the war is the most
important, and the most difficult, of our objectives. Without
peace--and I mean a just peace--there cannot be any end to
economic isolation, no development, no trade. The war is
taking the resources of Armenia, and the lives of some of its
best young men. I see the new graves in the cemeteries, the
faces in the newspapers, the memorial shrines in the schools.
The war is a very heavy burden for the people of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Some people think that the war could be ended by a few
telephone calls. I wish it were so simple, Hatred and
distrust have built up over the decades, and have often been
used by politicians for their own purposes. It may take a
long time for the hatred to die down, and the people of
Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan will have to live
again as neighbors.
Our job is to encourage and facilitate an end to the
fighting, and then to get the participants to sit down
together, talking instead of shooting. We believe the best
way to do this is through the international efforts of the
so-called ``Minsk Group'' of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, a process which includes all the
countries in the region, except Iran, and which allows the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh to be heard. The Russian
Government is also working to achieve a settlement. We are
trying to encourage the Russians to combine their efforts
with those of the CSCE.
It is difficult and frustrating process. At this point, the
leaders of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh say they want to
talk. But so far the kind of compromise which would end the
fighting and launch a negotiating process has been elusive.
We are trying, step by step, to find common ground and build
trust. It will demand compromise from both sides. The
compromises may be painful. But the only alternative to
compromise is an endless war. I don't believe that anyone in
Armenia wants to see the children of the next generation
fighting the same endless war.
HELPING ARMENIA TOWARD DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Our third objective is to help Armenia build a durable
democracy and a working free market. The government of
President Ter-Petrossian is now one of only two governments
in the former Soviet Union not headed by a former Communist.
Armenia has a multi-party system and an active free press.
Despite great criticism, an independent Armenia is stubbornly
following the course of market reforms and independent
foreign policy. Armenia has the potential to remain a
democratic and truly independent state.
What Armenia needs is the experience of democracy and a
free market, and the training to make it work. This is why
the American University of Armenia is so important.
We know that no single Western form of government or
economic life can simply be copied in Armenia. America and
Armenia have different histories and different traditions.
But many Armenian members of parliament and members of the
government have asked us for help. They want to learn from
our experience, take note of our successes, try to avoid our
mistakes.
peace corps
Today we have 25 Peace Corps Volunteers in Armenia, 16
teaching English in villages and towns, and 9 experienced
small business advisers. They've spent two winters there,
sharing the hardships of the local people. I'm very proud of
these young, and some not so young, men and women, who are
helping share our American know-how in Armenia.
farmers and agriculture
We have brought American farmers and agricultural experts
to Armenia to help establish an extension service, similar to
our own, for the farmers of Armenia. And we have provided new
varieties of wheat seed both to replenish stocks and to
improve yields. One example of what they did: in Soviet
times, combine opertors were given quotas of acres to
harvest, regardless of how much wheat they actually
harvested. Our extension agents shared their experience of
how to use their harvesters to get the maximum amount of
grain, with the least waste.
educational exchanges
We are working to give more Armenian students and
professionals the chance to study in America, so they can
take their new experiences back to Armenia and help rebuild
the country. We have open competitions in Yerevan for
Fulbright scholarships and other exchange programs. Under the
Fulbright program, leading scholars from Yerevan State
University will be teaching and doing research in the United
States, and Armenian scholars are working at the State
University. This year we will send over 100 Armenian
professionals for specialized short courses and workshops in
the U.S.
Today thirty-four high school students from Armenia, chosen
by an open competition from among 1500 applicants, are
studying at high schools all over the United States. Each one
is making Americans aware of the new realities in Armenia.
Each will return with an expanded understanding of the U.S.,
and, I hope, with useful knowledge that can help Armenia.
eco sphere
We are also providing assistance to privatize Armenia's
urban housing stock and to improve a range of Armenia's
energy systems. For example, U.S. legal advisors have helped
draft the first land use code and condominium legislation. We
have initiated successful weatherization/winterization trials
in schools and hospitals and we are providing critical
equipment and technology both to conserve energy in power
plants and industry and to develop new sources of hydro, coal
and oil energy.
In the two years since the Embassy opened, we've learned a
lot. We've learned that some people, and some institutions,
are resistant to change and even find it threatening. The old
menatlity, of waiting for someone at the top to make a
decision, is hard to change. We've learned that it's
sometimes better to start entirely new institutions than to
try to reform old ones, and that it's often best to target
the younger people and professionals, who are the most open
to change, and the most important resource for the future.
Most of USAID assistance targets 23-35 year old
professionals. That is one reason why, on many projects,
we've chosen to work with the American University of Armenia.
the american university of armenia
To me, the American University of Armenia exemplifies what
is best about Armenian education. When you walk in the doors
of the American University, you feel a sense of energy, of
purpose. When you look in the computer lab, and see the
students at work stations, you could be in any American
University. But I think there are very few universities in
the United States where the students work with such
dedication and enthusiasm. There is another difference--when
you talk to the students, you learn they are not there just
for themselves, they are there because they want to make
Armenia a better place to live for future generations.
We are working together with the University on a number of
projects. The U.S. Information Agency opened its library, the
first in the Caucasus, alongside the library of the
University. This library is open to the whole community, not
just AUA students, and serves students and teachers from
Yerevan State University and schools all over Yerevan.
junior achievement
USIA, the Peace Corps and the AUA worked together to launch
the Junior Achievement Program in Armenia. Today high school
students in Yerevan are learning practical business and
economics by running their own small businesses.
cepra
USAID is working with the University and the Ministry of
Economy to establish Armenia's first economic research
center, ``CEPRA'', which represents a watershed in
university-government collaboration in finding answers to the
country's most pressing macroeconomic problems. The
establishment of this innovative government center within the
University is a testament to the flexibility and foresight of
AUA's leadership in applying its intellectual resources to
the current economic situation.
radio station
Students learn more than just theory at AUA. One group of
recent AUA graduates is trying to open the first independent
radio station in Armenia. A second group has started a
newspaper. A third group has started a publishing house, and
translated and published the first market economics textbook
in Armenian for the Junior Achievement Program.
A team organized by the Center for Business Research and
Development at AUA, with support from the Embassy, has
translated into Armenian two books on business management,
and is at work translating a university economics textbook
that will be the standard text for Armenian universities.
While we work closely with AUA, I should emphasize that we
are not ignoring the State University. This year, for the
first time, two Fulbright lecturers will be teaching jointly
[[Page S520]] at the State University and at AUA, in the
areas of American history and law. We are sponsoring a
program with the University of Colorado to help reshape the
economics curriculum at the State University. And several
scholars from the State University will receive Fulbright
fellowships to do research in the United States. In our view,
AUA and the State University are partners, not rivals.
To put it simply, AUA is a model of how the Armenian
Government, the American Government, and the Armenian-
American community are all working together, preparing
Armenia for the future, and looking together for solutions to
Armenia's problems. Some people say that a pessimist is an
optimist who has spent the winter in Armenia. But I have
spent the winter in Armenia, and I remain an optimist. When I
visit the American University, I know that there is hope for
the future. The future of Armenia is the hands and minds of
today's students.
conclusions
In my first year in Armenia, I developed an even deeper
respect for the Armenian people. Against terrible adversity,
against heavy odds they have kept their faith, their
language, their culture and their pride intact. What would
happen if, in America, we had to endure the conditions they
endure; virtually no light, no heat, no gas, no electricity?
The Armenian people have borne this stoically for four
winters.
At the beginning of my remarks, I mentioned the First
Republic of Armenia. You all know how it ended after roughly
two years--divided within, fighting with neighboring
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, beset by hunger and cold,
warring with Turkey, without substantial help from the West,
it was invaded by the Red Army, lost its independence, and
became part of the Soviet Empire.
This new Armenian Republic has now lasted longer than the
first Republic. Today's Armenia is also beset by many
problems; petroleum and transportation embargoes, the same
geographic dilemma, and again conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
What is different now is that Armenia is a member of the
United Nations and the CSCE, a full member in the family of
democratic nations. Today, there are international mechanisms
for helping resolve conflicts, and for helping newborn
countries to get on their feet. Today there is a successful
and vigorous Armenian diaspora especially in the U.S. which
is actively involved in supporting the reborn Armenian
republic. These are now available to the Armenian Republic,
and Armenia is using them.
But in the end, what can guarantee the independence of
Armenia? In the 1930's, the great Armenian poet Charents
wrote an acrostic into one of his poems--the second letter of
each line spelled out, ``Oh Armenian people, your only
salvation is in your united strength.'' For these words
Charents was expelled from the Soviet Writers' Union and died
in prison. But what Charents said then is still true today.
Ultimately, it is the Armenian people themselves, working
together, who can guarantee their independence.
Armenia cannot survive in economic or political isolation.
For Armenia to be a successful member of the community of
nations, it will have to develop all of its resources. It
must and will find ways to end the isolation, to establish
new political and economic links with its neighbors, to
establish connections with the rest of the world. Armenia has
much to offer the world--a unique culture, a rich history,
and above all an abundance of talented people--especially
young people--who want to make a mark on the future. I hope
and believe they will continue to enrich world culture and to
contribute to the welfare of the reborn Armenian
state.
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