Congressional Report Reveals State Department Funding For TARC

ASBAREZ ONLINE
10/16/2001

1. Congressional Report Reveals State Department Funding For TARC

WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA and RFE/RL)The State Department's public and private
assurances that it was not involved in the formation or operation of the
Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission were dramatically called into
question this week with the release of a Congressional report documenting that
the "Department provided financial assistance to support the Commission's
activities," reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The existence of this Commission was first revealed this July by the New York
Times, which reported the group had been meeting secretly since the time of
last year's Armenian Genocide Resolution in the US Congress. White House and
State Department officials have repeatedly denied, both in public statements
and during discussion with the ANCA, that the US government had any role in
the
creation or activities of the Commission. The Congressional report on this
matter was prepared, in response to Congressional inquiries, by the
Congressional Research Service (CRS). The CRS is the highly regarded official
research arm of the US legislative branch. The four page report, entitled,
"Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission and US Role," (dated October 2,
2001) noted that the Turkish reaction to the creation of the Commission "has
been overwhelmingly positive," while the Armenian reaction has been "much more
negative than positive."
On the subject of US State Department funding, the CRS reported that: The
Department provided financial assistance to support the Commission's
activities
as it says it does other civil society initiatives or people to people
contacts. The funds were in the form of a grant to the American University for
a conflict resolution program, which is supporting the activities of the
Commission. (Complete copies of this report can be obtained by contacting a
member of Congress and requesting the study by name and date.) The Armenian
members of a controversial group denied any knowledge of possible US
government
funding for their activities, revealed by a US Congressional report publicized
over the weekend. But they did not rule out the possibility that Washington,
which strongly supports the initiative, has contributed financially to the
work
of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC).
In discussions following the creation of the Commission, Administration
officials assured the ANCA that the Administration did not play any role in
the
creation or activities of the Commission. Administration officials did,
however, inform the ANCA that they viewed the purpose of this body as
essentially providing Congress with an excuse not to pass an Armenian Genocide
Resolution and as a Turkish ploy to head off further recognition of the 1915
Armenian genocide by Western nations, while proponents insist that it could
lay
the groundwork for an eventual Turkish recognition of the tragedy.
The other group active on Capitol Hill, the Armenian Assembly of America,
is a
staunch backer of the TARC. Assembly chairman Van Krikorian is one of the four
Armenian members of the ten-member group. He, on Monday, downplayed the
significance of the Congressional report cited by the ANCA, saying: "From the
beginning, the US government said it was supporting us. So I don't think
that's
a surprise."
But he and two other Armenian members of the TARC, former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanian and retired diplomat David Hovannisian, did not
confirm or
deny the reported US assistance to the commission, in separate interviews with
RFE/RL. "I don't have such information," said Arzumanian. "I haven't seen any
interference in our work by a single US government official," said
Hovannisian.

"They (the State Department) are saying it's a private initiative, which it
is, but they are supporting it," Krikorian told RFE/RL by phone from New York.
"Maybe they are giving out some grants. But the Armenian members of the
commission have not received any financial assistance from the State
Department."
In a related development, members of the European Parliament recently cited
the existence of the Commission as their justification for dropping a
long-standing provision calling on Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide
in their annual report on Turkey's progress toward accession into the European
Union. In a sharp reversal for the European Armenians who have worked on this
issue over a period of decades, a key Parliamentary Committee has replaced a
long-standing provision calling upon Turkey to end its denial of the Armenian
Genocide. The panel avoided making any reference to the Genocide, noting
instead that the European Parliament "supports the civil initiative
launched by
a group of former diplomats and academics from Turkey and Armenia, the aim of
which is to arrive at a common understanding of the past." "We are deeply
troubled, first, that our State Department has apparently participated in an
initiative plainly directed at undermining the ability of US citizens to
petition their government of an issue of abiding concern, specifically the
right of Armenian Americans to pursue official recognition of the Armenian
Genocide through the institutions of our democracy," said ANCA Chairman Ken
Hachikian. "We are, at the same time, equally disappointed that our government
has apparently misled our community, both publicly and privately, to hide its
role in this deeply flawed undertaking."
A sample of official US statements denying any government role in the
formation or activities of the Commission is provided below:
* "US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones said in Yerevan today that
the creation of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation commission' was a 'private
initiative.' Jones said this after a meeting with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian in reply to a question from Mediamax as to whether the US
administration had anything to do with the creation of the Armenian-Turkish
'reconciliation commission.'" (Mediamax news service, August 28, 2001)
* "The commission on Tuesday received the indirect support of the United
States. Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones told reporters in Yerevan
that Washington welcomes any initiative aimed at a normalization of ties
between Armenia and Turkey. But she denied any US government involvement in
the
'private' dialogue." (RFE/RL Armenia Report, August 29, 2001)
* "To what extent was the US State Department supporting this [Turkish
Armenian Reconciliation Commission]? Jones denied her department's
participation, saying that, 'this is only an individual initiative.'" (Hayots
Ashkhar, August 29, 2001)
* "The Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation Commission is a private initiative. US
Deputy State Secretary on countries of Europe and Eurasia, Elizabeth Jones,
announced to journalists in Yerevan." (ARKA News Agency, August 29, 2001)
* "During a recent visit to Armenia, US Assistant Secretary of State
Elizabeth
Jones denied any US government involvement in the 'private' dialogue, but
Western media reports have said the State Department actively encouraged the
secret negotiations." (RFE/RL, September 8, 2001) "Sadly this revelation only
compounds the serious credibility issues created by the State Department's
long-standing complicity in Turkey's denials of the Armenian Genocide," added
Hachikian. "The State Department certainly owes the Armenian American
community
a full accounting of its role in this Commission and an explanation about what
appears, by all accounts, to be a clear pattern of misrepresentation aimed at
denying American citizens information to which they are rightfully entitled,
information which they require in order to make informed judgments about
profound issues of public policy - namely our national response to the
crime of
genocide."
For additional information on the Commission, visit:

http://www.asbarez.com/TARC/Tarc.html

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