“Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act of 1992 generally prohibits assistance, other than specified support for nonproliferation and disarmament, to the government of Azerbaijan. Subsequent legislation has exempted other types of aid, such as democracy and humanitarian assistance.” (Wikepedia)
I do not know if waiving section 907 entailed assisting Azerbaijan militarily or if so, it would make a difference in the military readiness of Azerbaijan, given that in plain view Azerbaijan has for long being armed by Russia, Turkey, Israel. While we should pursue implementing section 907 and more to assure the safety and security of Armenia, we should not makei it a yardstick to measure the U.S. Government’s relations with Armenia.
In spite of the fact that section 907 waiver remains in place, I am very appreciative of Samantha Power’s visit to Armenia and for the press conference she had there and the willingness she expressed on behalf of the United States Government to render humanitarian aid to Armenia.
The United States Government has also extended humanitarian aid to Armenia when the newly established Republic of Armenia was in desperate need for humanitarian aid.
I have attached the press conference Samantha Power held in Yerevan on September 25, 2023.
I also posted my translation of Garo Armenia’s take on the humanitarian aid the United States rendered to Armenia in 1919 when the fledgeling newly established republic confronted famine, including the First Republic’s last prime minister Simon Vratsian’s appreciation of the U.S. humanitarian aid, his commendation and charge to the nation.
SAMANTHA POWER’S CONFERENCE IN YEREVAN ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2023
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REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC STATUS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1919 and THE U.S. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
Prime Minister Hovhannes Kachaznouni and the U.S. Food Administration Director and later President Herbert Hoover
The Republic Of Armenia was confronted with a widespread famine during the beginning of 1919. The government’s efforts to secure aid from outside had not resulted in any appreciative quantity of help. The Caucasus was under the occupation of the British forces. It was natural that the government of the Republic of Armenia would have expected that the British would be the first to extend help to ameliorate the dire conditions. The British response was rather passive and largely inadequate. The meager assistance the British provided from their reserves was not enough to make a dent in the prevailing condition.
It was under such circumstances that the government decided to immediately dispatch a delegation to the United States of America headed by the Prime Minister Kachaznouni. But for a long time the British occupying forces hindered the departure of the Armenian delegation. After a long delay, on April 16, the delegation received permission from the British forces to depart. Accompanying the Prime Minister were the Minister of Finance Ardashes Enfeyadjian, economist Haroutiun Pilarian and military officer Souren Melikian.
I quote Simon Vratsian’s testimony
“The government’s delegation, the appeals by the government and the support of the Diaspora eventually were heard and aid was quickly dispatched. This time around it was the United States of America, the director of the U.S. Food Administration, Hoover, the one who salvaged Europe after the war, who became the real savior of the people of Armenia. Whatever happens, however we regard America’s role in the Armenian Question, we do not forget nor should we forget the U.S. humanitarian assistance to Armenia and the provisions they provided.
The first American boat arrived to Batumi on March 21 carrying 125,000 sacks of flour. A week later another shipment of 600,000 sacks of flour arrived. To transport the provision, the American government requested from the Armenian Government 579 train wagons and 14 locomotives at a time when all that the Armenian Government had was 16 locomotives and 520 train wagons. The intervention of the American and the British governments was needed. For four days human traffic over the Armenian rail lines was halted and all facilities were appropriated for the transpiration of the flour only.
With the arrival of the American flour, the famine slowly started receding. The country started to embark on its normal course. The people and the government started to devote themselves towards reconstruction and structuring of the governance.” (Republic of Armenia, 2ndedition, Lebanon).
This episode of the American humanitarian assistance reveals the precarious state of land locked Armenia. By the current standards of accepted norms for international relations, preventing a government’s delegation seeking humanitarian assistance would be incomprehensible, especially when the delegation’s mission has to do with an ongoing dire humanitarian crisis. Of course the indifference of the British occupying forces towards the prevailing famine in Armenia is totally unacceptable. It is up to the present day historians to shed light on the prevailing real underlying issues.
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