Wednesday, May 25, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

US Wants Closer Relations with Armenia, Ambassador Says

by Contributor
March 4, 2014
in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories
4
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

US Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern

BY HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Now, more than ever, the United States wants further expansion of ties with Armenia, says United States Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern. In an exclusive interview with Armenpress News Agency, the Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Armenia John Heffern introduced his viewpoints on the two countries’ bilateral ties, current changes in Armenia’s business environment, the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and the frozen process of the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

HASMIK HARUTYUNYAN: Mr. Ambassador, it’s been over two years you are in Armenia, what is your impression?

AMB. JOHN HEFFERN: These have been a wonderful two years and it has been a great experience for me and my wife. My wife is now back in the States, as there are some medical issues with our grandson, but we’ve really enjoyed our two years in Armenia, we have had a very valuable and fulfilling time here. What we like about it is it’s a country, of course, with many challenges, regional and domestic challenges, that makes it interesting. There are also many opportunities, wonderful people, talented people, who are doing their best to make this country as successful as possible. And I want to be a part of that. The Embassy is doing its best to be a part of that, to work, to promote the good things about Armenia and where we see some shortcomings, challenges, we try to be helpful to promote corrections. So that balance of challenges and opportunities plus wonderful people make it great to us.

HH: As an ordinary citizen, what are the issues that you have come across here and what are the things that you would like to see addressed?

AJH: Well, I think that I have left my private life back in Washington and I am not sure I have much private life here. And I try not to speak as a private citizen, but only a representative of the U.S. Government. On the political side, of course, there are human rights issues, there are issues with corruption and transparency. We just recently issued a human rights report on these questions. So I hope that the Armenian people, civil society, the press, and government authorities and political parties will read that report and will see where they can do better.

But where there are problems, in addition to being frank in our assessment publicly, we also try to be supportive on the independence of the judiciary, election reforms, transparency, and anti-corruption. We are trying to find partners here and work with partners here to encourage and promote improvement in those areas. So again we try to balance our criticism, frankly it is a criticism, with support and encouragement. I think our biggest success in the last two and half years has been in deepening and improving our bilateral economic, trade, and investment relationship. And Armenia has improved the business climate. There is still work to do in those areas, certainly, but Armenia has improved its business climate to encourage more western investment.

I have seen many new investments in the area of information technology, computers, telecommunications, and I am confident they will continue. In tourism, in hotels; a couple of new U.S. hotels have opened up recently in Yerevan and outside of Yerevan. And very importantly, we were able to announce last month the signing of a very important energy deal, the hydro deal, between Contour Global Company and the Republic of Armenia on the Vorotan Hydro Plant. A very important U.S. investment, the biggest, if I am not wrong.

HH: You mentioned economic cooperation, and I would like you just to elaborate more on this, as well as on U.S.-Armenian relations in general.

AJH: As we of course see, diplomatic relations are quite robust, I think, in terms of high level dialogue and visits. Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton visited Armenia twice: the first time you had a US Secretary of State here in 18 years. And after meeting Foreign Minister Nalbandian, Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to come here sometime, too. And we hope to get him here sometime in this year. But the substance of the relationship is more important than the visits and meetings. We had a very productive bilateral economic meeting in Washington late last year with those in November. And in December we had a very productive high level defense consultation. Our defense department sent high level officials here to be with your Minister of Defense and Deputy Minister of Defense on a bilateral defense consultation. Our goal is deepening cooperation in economic spheres and also in the security field. We have a strong security relationship, NATO has a strong security relationship, with Armenia, that is important to us and I hope to Armenia as well. And we want to continue the dialogue around different questions.

A lot of people ask me what our reaction is to the present announcement that Armenia intends to join the Customs Union. Washington has been very clear that now, more than ever, the United States wants to improve its relationship with Armenia and be a better partner. The President and Government of Armenia are very clear that they want to continue their relationship with the European Union, the USA, and the Eastern Partners.

HH: Is the forthcoming visit of the Secretary of State John Kerry regional? Could you please provide some details?

AJH: I do not have any details on the visit. Mr. Kerry is very much interested in the region; he is promoting the improvement of relations between Armenia and Turkey. The visit will be regional.

HH: Mr. Ambassador, you have already touched on the issue, but I wanted to highlight the speech by Secretary of State John Kerry at the US Senate, where he mentioned that Armenian-Turkish reconciliation is one of the issues that are on the agenda of US foreign policy. Now, what expectations could we have when Turkey is speaking about keeping relations frozen and introducing preconditions?

AJH: The former Secretary of State Clinton played quite an important role in the protocol negotiations and it was a very courageous decision by the presidents of Armenia and Turkey to agree to the signing of the protocols. And we continue to push Turkey to implement the protocols without preconditions and we respect the fact that Armenia continues to keep the protocols on the table and has not withdrawn from them. That’s very important, that Armenia has maintained its patience, even though it has been four years now, to try to make this a success. I will make one last point on that. One thing I have learned about Secretary Kerry is that he is not satisfied with the status-quo. He does not believe that any conflict is too complicated to be solved. He has achieved progress in many conflicts. And that’s why he has personally taken the lead in the two most intractable issues in our foreign policy: Iran’s nuclear issue and the Palestinian peace process. On all the issues in the region – the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Armenian-Turkish relations, any regional issues and challenges – Secretary Kerry is pushing us to push the parties, that’s you – Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan – to work for improvements and compromise.

HH: Next year is the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and the US is unique in the sense that every year on the day of remembrance on April 24, a statement is made by the US president and we appreciate it very much. But those countries who do not recognize and condemn the Genocide, are they not leaving a crime unpunished and, thus, encouraged?

AJH: The president’s statement is quite important and I am glad you recognize and appreciate it. Since his presidency, in his statements, President Obama has never denied any of the facts. 1.5 million Armenians massacred and that was one the most terrible tragedies of the 20th century. So we recognize the facts and we acknowledge the condemnation of the facts. The precise words and the policy decision the president will make next year, I cannot predict them, as the statement’s content is decided in Washington.

HH: Recently the LA city council recognized the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Do you see this as important? Will this eventually have an impact on the US decision as a country to recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic?

AJH: We have a federal system of governance and city councils and states make proclamations and pass resolutions on different issues. And the federal government is not involved in those resolutions or proclamations. There is also a separation of powers between the courts and Congress and the executive branches. And we try to maintain that separation as a part of our Constitution. So, sometimes it is complicated to assess who is doing what in our complicated system. I am focused on the executive branch, which does what the president and the secretary of state tell me to do. But I want to deal a little bit with the substance of your question. In the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations we want and are deeply committed to peaceful resolution. As one of the three Minsk Group co-chairs, we have been pushing for 18 years for a peace resolution. And the outline of the deal is pretty clearly laid out in public documents, which the Minsk Group co-chairs have agreed to. Because the two countries should come to a compromise and define a peaceful resolution. The status-quo is not acceptable by anybody. And when you look at it more broadly, the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will actually improve Armenia’s regional position. So I will repeat that the Ambassador James Warlick is our lead person on this, pushing very hard, pushing Armenia and Azerbaijan very hard. And again I hope that the Armenian people will understand the reason he is doing that and the reason the co-chairs are doing that to find a peaceful resolution getting everybody involved.

HH: Mr. Ambassador, you mentioned several times about a peaceful resolution and peaceful negotiations. Living in Armenia and getting acquainted with the situation more closely, can we consider it a peaceful situation when the ceasefire regime is constantly being violated and it’s only one side that violates the ceasefire regime and casualties are recorded on the border? Is it right to speak about peaceful resolutions and peaceful negotiations in this situation?

AJH: That’s exactly why “status quo” is unacceptable and exactly why we are pushing so hard for all parties to be creative and to find a peaceful resolution to this problem once and for all. And the co-chairs’ statements at the presidential level have been very clear condemning all violations, military rhetoric, and destabilizing arms purchases, all of which we think make it more difficult to find that peaceful resolution we are all trying to find.

HH: Mr. Ambassador, it seems to me you have partially answered my next question. Before and after the meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Paris, the Azerbaijani President again made bellicose statements and spoke about his desire to conquer Karabakh. Isn’t this today’s major problem and isn’t this standpoint of the neighboring country what undermines the peaceful negotiations?

AJH: As you know, President Sarkisian and President Aliyev met in Vienna in November and both Presidents reported publicly and privately that the atmosphere in that meeting was better than it has been for a long time. And so we are trying to build on that slight improvement in atmosphere for future meetings of foreign ministers and the presidents with the co-chairs and without the co-chairs. You are sure right that violations and military rhetoric do make prospects for a resolution more difficult, absolutely. That’s why the co-chairs have been so clear in their statements publicly and privately that it’s time to move beyond that kind of rhetoric, beyond those violations, to find the solution that everybody can accept for the benefit of all.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Russia Adds Upgraded Warplanes to Armenian Base

Comments 4

  1. Keyser Soze says:
    8 years ago

    A lot of lip service on the “G”. America needs to recognize Artsagh. That would help in closer “NATO” ties.

    Reply
  2. GeorgeMardig says:
    8 years ago

    Armenia and Armenians need more than B Sht.

    Reply
  3. Avetis says:
    8 years ago

    Sounds more like a threat.

    I have something to say to the most honorable president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin: Please Mr. President, please come to Armenia and make sure to bring your troops with you (with or without insignias) and help us put an end our misery.

    Reply
  4. Sos says:
    8 years ago

    Thank you US ambassy, thank you USA and NATO.
    Please help us get rid of Serjik regime and Russian dictaturship

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

After Working Visit to Artsakh, ANCA Expands Calls to Zero-Out Military Aid to Azerbaijan, Increase U.S. Aid to Artsakh

After Working Visit to Artsakh, ANCA Expands Calls to Zero-Out Military Aid to Azerbaijan, Increase U.S. Aid to Artsakh

11 mins ago
Friends of ANCA-WR Gather in Support of Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis Ahead of Primary Elections

Friends of ANCA-WR Gather in Support of Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis Ahead of Primary Elections

46 mins ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • May 25, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to