A Country Searches for Balance between Moscow and Washington
By Uwe Klussmann
Armenia stands out from its Caucasus neighbors because of its close ties with protector Russia. But the United States is also working to establish a beachhead in the small but strategically located country.
Visitors to Yerevan -- the capital city of the smallest republic in the Caucasus, snuggled between Europe and Asia -- inevitably find themselves wondering whether they have landed in the right country. Young Russian women control passports at the airport alongside Armenians. The country's second-largest city, Gyumri, also seems like a garrison town from the neighboring country. Indeed, the 5,000 soldiers on the Russian base provide livelihoods to local craftsmen, bakers, taxi drivers and innkeepers.
Even the village of Lusarat is under foreign protection. Russian soldiers patrol in front of the barbed wire that separates Armenia from Turkey. The settlement lies by the foot of the eternally snow-capped Mount Ararat, Armenia's national symbol. The locals like to call the mountain -- which became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and has stood on Turkish territory since 1923 -- the "Biblical Mountain." It's a name that was also made popular by a Russian -- the poet Alexander Pushkin.
Yes, it's true, relations with Russia are good, confirms Armenian President Robert Kocharian, speaking softly. He is sitting in the presidential palace in the capital with an oil painting of a bleak steppe landscape behind him -- and he immediately addresses the issue that has made Armenia unique in the Caucasus. The country's neighbors -- be it rebellious Georgia or oil-rich Azerbaijan -- have strained relationships with Moscow: Georgia is pushing to become a NATO member, and Azerbaijan's political stance is unclear.
Kocharian says his country will "not join" the Western military alliance, arguing that Armenia would not stand to gain greater security from the move. Instead, it would "spoil our relations with Russia and Iran." Armenia's military pact with Russia is a response to the country's "national security needs," Kocharian adds.
Moscow has recently been listening very carefully to what the government in Yerevan has to say about the issue. True, Russian President Vladimir Putin also praises his country's relations with Armenia as "splendid." But he knows that, in the struggle for spheres of influence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, the United States is building another front line in Armenia -- thereby putting pressure on Russia. Washington is wooing members of the political opposition and dispatching economic and military aid to the oldest Christian country in the world, which finds itself wedged between mostly Muslim neighbors.
Ambitious Plans
The large US embassy building on the edge of Yerevan hints at Washington's ambitious plans for the country. Led by retired navy officer and embassy Chargé d'Affaires Anthony Godfrey and renowned experts on Russia, some 800 US government employees are working here to boost Armenian support for Western predominance.
The United States has transferred $1.5 billion to the impoverished Caucasian nation since its independence in 1991.
An agreement reached in March 2006 between Washington and Yerevan promises Armenia, which lacks raw materials, an additional $235 million during the next five years. The overseas aid will provide money to fund everything from the expansion of rural water pipelines and preventive medical checkups for women at risk for breast cancer to tax investigator training.
One Western European military official believes the US strategists are progressing "on tip-toes." One day the Pentagon sends three dozen instructors to Yerevan to train military officers; another day, it invites 45 Armenian officers to the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the German state of Bavaria, along with the deputy defense minister.
Still, the United States faces a lengthy tug of war with Moscow. The Russians also have some aces up their sleeve: They sell the Armenia military technology at prices charged to Russia's own military and 90 percent of Armenian officers are trained in Russia.
Moreover, the Russians provide almost all of the natural gas consumed in the country, and the pipelines belong to Gazprom, the industry giant controlled by the Kremlin. Another Russian energy giant, United Energy Systems (UES), is the operator of Armenia's only nuclear power plant, as well as most power plants and the country's power grid. Additionally, Moscow's foreign trade bank controls Armenia's state-owned savings banks.
But having control over the Armenian economy by no means ensures a country can win its people's hearts. When Russia raised the price of natural gas from $54 to $110 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2006, resentment spread immediately. Even pro-Moscow politicians complained that the Russians do not invest in most of the businesses they have purchased.
Members of the pro-Western political opposition such as Artur Bagdassarian, the former parliamentary chairman, and Raffi Hovanissian, the former foreign minister, are trying to fan the flames of anti-Moscow sentiment. "We want to be friends of Russia, but not vassals," Bagdassarian emphasizes.
Hovanissian, a former Armenian exile and US citizen who has returned to his home country, is pushing for a "rediscovery of sovereignty." Despite cautious support from Washington, though, both politicians' parties achieved only 13 percent of the votes in May's parliamentary election.
But that could also be a result of the fact that the presidential office has begun exercising close control over the television and radio channels. Excessive amounts of government propaganda have been broadcast ever since. Still, the friends of the West in Yerevan face a dilemma: Any gesture of rapprochement towards NATO could also come across as an attempt to curry favor with Armenia's archenemy Turkey. The genocide perpetrated against the Armenians in 1915 by Turkey ensures that relations with Ankara remain venomous to this day. Turkey still keeps its borders to its eastern neighbor closed, partly due to the conflict surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The mountainous region is officially part of Azerbaijan. But after a war of secession during the early 1990s, the Armenians created the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh -- an area shaped by ethnic cleansing, where a Kalashnikov rifle is in greater demand than the Internet. The Azerbaijanis were driven out of Karabakh, and the Armenians out of Azerbaijan.
Russian Protection
Given the tensions they share with their neighbors, Armenians are happy to accept their limited sovereignty in return for protection both from vengeful Azerbaijanis and the unpopular Turks. The border troops of the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), guard strategic positions.
For signs of Armenia's deep ties to Moscow one need look no further than Yerevan's Republic Square, where souvenir peddlers sell Armenian and Russian flags as a two-pack bargain. Across the street, in a government building that dates back to the Stalinist era, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan promises that a "victory of pro-Western forces" is "out of the question" during the presidential elections to be held at the beginning of next year.
Kocharian's term in office will soon end, but if he has his way Prime Minister Sargsyan -- the former defense minister who has the Kremlin's backing -- will become his successor. Nevertheless, Moscow's emissaries tirelessly issue warnings about "geopolitical rival" Washington when they visit Yerevan -- as if the Russians don't quite trust the Armenians, who Putin describes as "brothers."
Sargsyan says his country is "connected to Russia by a thousand threads," trying repeatedly to reassure Armenia's protector. But he sometimes strikes a different tune when talking to people from Western Europe. Then, the politician, who knows the West well, describes himself as "pro-Armenian" and says he is in favor of opening his country up more to Europe.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,501146,00.html
By Uwe Klussmann
Armenia stands out from its Caucasus neighbors because of its close ties with protector Russia. But the United States is also working to establish a beachhead in the small but strategically located country.
Visitors to Yerevan -- the capital city of the smallest republic in the Caucasus, snuggled between Europe and Asia -- inevitably find themselves wondering whether they have landed in the right country. Young Russian women control passports at the airport alongside Armenians. The country's second-largest city, Gyumri, also seems like a garrison town from the neighboring country. Indeed, the 5,000 soldiers on the Russian base provide livelihoods to local craftsmen, bakers, taxi drivers and innkeepers.
Even the village of Lusarat is under foreign protection. Russian soldiers patrol in front of the barbed wire that separates Armenia from Turkey. The settlement lies by the foot of the eternally snow-capped Mount Ararat, Armenia's national symbol. The locals like to call the mountain -- which became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and has stood on Turkish territory since 1923 -- the "Biblical Mountain." It's a name that was also made popular by a Russian -- the poet Alexander Pushkin.
Yes, it's true, relations with Russia are good, confirms Armenian President Robert Kocharian, speaking softly. He is sitting in the presidential palace in the capital with an oil painting of a bleak steppe landscape behind him -- and he immediately addresses the issue that has made Armenia unique in the Caucasus. The country's neighbors -- be it rebellious Georgia or oil-rich Azerbaijan -- have strained relationships with Moscow: Georgia is pushing to become a NATO member, and Azerbaijan's political stance is unclear.
Kocharian says his country will "not join" the Western military alliance, arguing that Armenia would not stand to gain greater security from the move. Instead, it would "spoil our relations with Russia and Iran." Armenia's military pact with Russia is a response to the country's "national security needs," Kocharian adds.
Moscow has recently been listening very carefully to what the government in Yerevan has to say about the issue. True, Russian President Vladimir Putin also praises his country's relations with Armenia as "splendid." But he knows that, in the struggle for spheres of influence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, the United States is building another front line in Armenia -- thereby putting pressure on Russia. Washington is wooing members of the political opposition and dispatching economic and military aid to the oldest Christian country in the world, which finds itself wedged between mostly Muslim neighbors.
Ambitious Plans
The large US embassy building on the edge of Yerevan hints at Washington's ambitious plans for the country. Led by retired navy officer and embassy Chargé d'Affaires Anthony Godfrey and renowned experts on Russia, some 800 US government employees are working here to boost Armenian support for Western predominance.
The United States has transferred $1.5 billion to the impoverished Caucasian nation since its independence in 1991.
An agreement reached in March 2006 between Washington and Yerevan promises Armenia, which lacks raw materials, an additional $235 million during the next five years. The overseas aid will provide money to fund everything from the expansion of rural water pipelines and preventive medical checkups for women at risk for breast cancer to tax investigator training.
One Western European military official believes the US strategists are progressing "on tip-toes." One day the Pentagon sends three dozen instructors to Yerevan to train military officers; another day, it invites 45 Armenian officers to the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the German state of Bavaria, along with the deputy defense minister.
Still, the United States faces a lengthy tug of war with Moscow. The Russians also have some aces up their sleeve: They sell the Armenia military technology at prices charged to Russia's own military and 90 percent of Armenian officers are trained in Russia.
Moreover, the Russians provide almost all of the natural gas consumed in the country, and the pipelines belong to Gazprom, the industry giant controlled by the Kremlin. Another Russian energy giant, United Energy Systems (UES), is the operator of Armenia's only nuclear power plant, as well as most power plants and the country's power grid. Additionally, Moscow's foreign trade bank controls Armenia's state-owned savings banks.
But having control over the Armenian economy by no means ensures a country can win its people's hearts. When Russia raised the price of natural gas from $54 to $110 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2006, resentment spread immediately. Even pro-Moscow politicians complained that the Russians do not invest in most of the businesses they have purchased.
Members of the pro-Western political opposition such as Artur Bagdassarian, the former parliamentary chairman, and Raffi Hovanissian, the former foreign minister, are trying to fan the flames of anti-Moscow sentiment. "We want to be friends of Russia, but not vassals," Bagdassarian emphasizes.
Hovanissian, a former Armenian exile and US citizen who has returned to his home country, is pushing for a "rediscovery of sovereignty." Despite cautious support from Washington, though, both politicians' parties achieved only 13 percent of the votes in May's parliamentary election.
But that could also be a result of the fact that the presidential office has begun exercising close control over the television and radio channels. Excessive amounts of government propaganda have been broadcast ever since. Still, the friends of the West in Yerevan face a dilemma: Any gesture of rapprochement towards NATO could also come across as an attempt to curry favor with Armenia's archenemy Turkey. The genocide perpetrated against the Armenians in 1915 by Turkey ensures that relations with Ankara remain venomous to this day. Turkey still keeps its borders to its eastern neighbor closed, partly due to the conflict surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The mountainous region is officially part of Azerbaijan. But after a war of secession during the early 1990s, the Armenians created the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh -- an area shaped by ethnic cleansing, where a Kalashnikov rifle is in greater demand than the Internet. The Azerbaijanis were driven out of Karabakh, and the Armenians out of Azerbaijan.
Russian Protection
Given the tensions they share with their neighbors, Armenians are happy to accept their limited sovereignty in return for protection both from vengeful Azerbaijanis and the unpopular Turks. The border troops of the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), guard strategic positions.
For signs of Armenia's deep ties to Moscow one need look no further than Yerevan's Republic Square, where souvenir peddlers sell Armenian and Russian flags as a two-pack bargain. Across the street, in a government building that dates back to the Stalinist era, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan promises that a "victory of pro-Western forces" is "out of the question" during the presidential elections to be held at the beginning of next year.
Kocharian's term in office will soon end, but if he has his way Prime Minister Sargsyan -- the former defense minister who has the Kremlin's backing -- will become his successor. Nevertheless, Moscow's emissaries tirelessly issue warnings about "geopolitical rival" Washington when they visit Yerevan -- as if the Russians don't quite trust the Armenians, who Putin describes as "brothers."
Sargsyan says his country is "connected to Russia by a thousand threads," trying repeatedly to reassure Armenia's protector. But he sometimes strikes a different tune when talking to people from Western Europe. Then, the politician, who knows the West well, describes himself as "pro-Armenian" and says he is in favor of opening his country up more to Europe.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,501146,00.html