The section 907 in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani military conflict: needs and possibilities of realization

ABSTRACT

The article serves as an example of the viewpoint of those Armenian circles who (after several decennaries) still believe in the USA authorities as in the one that will play a key role in stopping the conflict. The article is published as a subsidiary material for a further broader discussion.

This article examines the possibility of renewing the Section 907 which has been repealed annually since 2002. Analyzing the historical context of the adoption of the Section, its provisions, as well as the points of the presidential waiver of it, the author provides reasons that, according to his opinion, allow the full renewal of the 1992’s resolution.

The author assumes that the provision of evidences of the repeated violations by Azerbaijan of all points of the waiver of this resolution may change the strategy of the USA authorities. At the end of the article, there are recommendations given to the Armenian lobbying structures in terms of influencing the American society, which will eventually lead to the resume of the Section 907 by the US political leadership; the author considers the Section as one of the most effective measures to resolve the conflict.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Статья служит примером точки зрения тех армянских кругов, которые (спустя несколько десятилетий) все еще верят во власти США как в субъекта, который сыграет ключевую роль в остановке конфликта. Статья публикуется как вспомогательный материал для дальнейшего более широкого обсуждения.

В данной статье рассматривается возможность возобновления действия Поправки 907, которая ежегодно отменяется с 2002 года. Анализируя исторический контекст принятия Поправки, его положения, а также пункты, позволяющие президенту приоставновить ее, автор приводит доводы, позволяющие, по его мнению, полностью возобновить действие Поправки 1992 года.

Автор полагает, что предоставление свидетельств неоднократных нарушений Азербайджаном всех пунктов приостановки данной резолюции может изменить стратегию властей США. В конце статьи даны рекомендации армянским лоббистским структурам в контексте влияния на американское общество, что в конечном итоге приведет к возобновлению Поправки 907 политическим руководством США; Поправку автор рассматривает как одно из действенных мероприятий по решению конфликта.

Keywords: Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, USA, lobby, Section 907, resolution, terrorism, UAV.

Ключевые слова: Армения, Арцах, Азербайджан, Турция, США, лобби, Поправка 907, резолюция, терроризм, беспилотник.

On December 25, 1991, George H. W. Bush, in his Christmas speech to the American people, announced the end of the era of confrontation with the communist bloc. The President noted the neutralization of the nuclear threat, the liberation of the countries of Eastern Europe, the victory of democracy and freedom. The United States recognized the independence of Armenia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan and established diplomatic relations with them. The independence of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan was also recognized, but diplomatic relations, according to the president, should have been established after the US confidence in the desire of these countries for democratic principles and responsible security policies [1].

In August 1992, the US Congress passed the "Freedom Support Act", which provided assistance to Russia and other independent states of the post-Soviet space in creating a free economy and a democratic political system. Thanks to the efforts of the Armenian lobbying structures of the United States, Section 907 was added to the text of the Act. According to the Amendment, Azerbaijan could not get any assistance until the President determines and reports to Congress that the Government of Azerbaijan is taking concrete steps to end all types of blockades and other types of aggression (offensive) against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh [2].

Section 907 has become a major stumbling block in US-Azerbaijani relations. Despite minor changes, it was fully operating for 10 years. In 1996, Texas Democrat Charlie Wilson sought an exception for an amendment that allowed humanitarian aid to be provided to Azerbaijan. In 1998, the exceptions included programs to support disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons. Senator Sam Brownback's attempts to repeal Section 907 in the framework of the "Silk Road Strategy 1997" for two years met with resistance from Armenian lobbyists, as a result of which in 1999 the resolution proposed by the senator was removed from the agenda of the Congress.

After the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, the situation around Section 907 changed dramatically. Azerbaijan has announced its accession to the UN anti-terrorism measures and has started cooperation with the Sanctions Committee on Afghanistan. In October of the same year, Senator Brownback again proposed changes for the Amendment, which would give the US president the full right to waive all restrictions on American aid to Azerbaijan. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky introduced a revised version of Brownback's wording in the Senate. The wording adopted by the Senate allowed the US President to repeal Section 907 and provide US assistance to Azerbaijan if:

1. it is necessary to support United States efforts to counter international terrorism; or
2. it is necessary to support the operational readiness of United States Armed Forces or coalition partners to counter international terrorism; or
3. it is important to Azerbaijan's border security; and
4. it will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive purposes against Armenia. [3].

It should be noted that in this wording, in contrast to the text of Section 907, the name “Nagorno-Karabakh” was absent. Since 2002, the President of the United States, in his annual letter to Congress – the unchanged text of the wording approved by the Senate – repealed Section 907.

In accordance with Paragraph 2 of the above-mentioned document, programs were implemented to train and retrain specialists from the armed forces of the coalition against terrorism. In particular, Lieutenant Colonel Murad Mirzayev studied at the unit of the English Language Center of the Military Language Training Institute in Lackland, San Antonio (Texas). Lieutenant Colonel Vugar Yusufov was trained at the Arizona State Military Intelligence Center [4]. According to Azerbaijani sources, Mirzayev was killed on April 3, 2016, Yusufov - on April 2, 2016, both-near Talysh (during the April war). Both facts indicate that back in 2016, the Azerbaijani side violated Paragraphs 2 and 4 of the above-mentioned document of the US Congress.

A more significant fact of lifting the suspension of Section 907 was the systematic provision of American financial assistance to Azerbaijan. Below are the statistics of the annual American allocations to Azerbaijan in comparison with similar assistance to Armenia and Artsakh.

Table.

U.S. security assistance to Azerbaijan 2000-2020; U.S. security assistance to Armenia 2000-2020. Security Assistance Monitor [6].

Since 2002, Azerbaijan has received financial assistance from the United States in the amount of $418 million through 18 programs, mainly related to the security sector. In particular, under the program Cooperative Threat Reduction Program Azerbaijan received about 70 million over the course of 18 years. 51 million were received under the program "Foreign military assistance", allowing the purchase of military equipment from the list of "Excess Defense Articles". According to the program "International military education and training'" an allocation of $ 11 million was received.

From the above statistics, it becomes clear that within the framework of these programs, Armenia received 2 times less funding than Azerbaijan. Only the “Foreign Military Assistance” (also $ 51 million) and “International Military Education” ($10 million) programs are comparable.

Another important factor is the sharp increase in total financial subsidies to Azerbaijan, starting from 2018. This fact is explained by the fact that in 2018 Azerbaijan managed to get into the list of countries receiving financial support under Resolution 333. This program was adopted in 2017 and was aimed at building the capacity of foreign military forces to carry out counter-terrorism operations, to fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, etc [7].

It should be noted that the United States also provides annual assistance to Artsakh. Since 1998, Artsakh has received about $45 million from the United States for reconstruction and other activities aimed at promoting the peaceful settlement of the conflict, to meet current humanitarian needs, to provide emergency assistance, etc. In order to show the disproportionality of financial assistance to Artsakh and Azerbaijan, we will bring the following fact: the most significant program in the territory of Artsakh to this day is the activities of the HALO Trust company. Since 2010, the HALO Trust has carried out mine clearance in the territory of Artsakh, receiving about $11 million from the United States in total, which allowed clearing agricultural land from unexploded shells. Mine clearance has reduced the number of civilian casualties by 80 % [8]. The largest amount of the financial grant was allocated in 2017, amounting to $3.5 million. However, in 2019, funding for the program stopped. The reason for the possible reduction in funding, in our opinion, could be the fact that 95% of the territories were cleared of mines.

On July 12-16, 2020, there were clashes between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan (the Tavush clash) directly on the recognized borders of both states. Moreover, during the clashes, the Azerbaijani side shelled the Armenian border towns and settlements of Berd, Chinari, Movses, Aigepar, as a result of which residential buildings and other infrastructure facilities were destroyed. On July 15, 2020, the Armenian Assembly of America stated that Azerbaijan's actions, with the active assistance of Turkey, lead to a further escalation of the situation in the South Caucasus. It was noted that Azerbaijan not only does not respond to the call of the UN Secretary-General to immediately establish a global military truce in connection with the COVID-19 situation, but also does not agree to the use of recording devices at the border [9].

The fact is that such means are an effective mechanism for monitoring the situation on the line of contact. This measure was proposed both by representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group and during meetings for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Vienna and St. Petersburg. As a measure to counteract the aggressive policy of Azerbaijan, the representatives of the AAA stated the need for full-scale application of Section 907, since once again Azerbaijan violated the provisions of not only this resolution, but also the paragraphs of the wording of the US President on its repeal.

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani military units launched a full-scale offensive along the entire length of the Artsakh border. On September 29 and October 1, the Azerbaijani side shelled the territory of the Republic of Armenia – the city of Vardenis and the village of Mets Masrik. On October 20, 2020, the Armenian side shot down another Turkish-made Bayraktar drone, the wreckage of which was found on the territory controlled by the Armenian side. The next day, the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products, which produces aircraft engines for UAVs, announced the termination of deliveries to Turkey of the production of its subsidiary Austrian company Rotax [10]. Prior to this, on October 5, 2020, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced the termination of the supply of Canadian weapons to Turkey.

On the first day of the war, the President of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, stated that F-16 fighters were involved in the fighting on the Azerbaijani side. On October 8, 2020, in an interview with CNN Arabic, President Aliyev himself announced the presence of fighters on the territory of Azerbaijan. Moreover, since the beginning of the hostilities, the Armenian side has stated that the Azerbaijani military formations have members of terrorist organizations.

On the website of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation it was stated the following. “We ... are far from being indifferent to the fact that in the course of hostilities representatives of our friendly Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples are dying.

<...> The current aggravation of the situation causes heightened concern not only by its scale, but also by a fundamentally new influence of external factors. For the first time, Turkey has so openly and unambiguously sided with Azerbaijan. In addition, the flaring up armed confrontation in Karabakh, like a magnet, attracts militants from various international terrorist structures.

According to information available in the SVR [the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation – M. A. Azatyan], mercenaries from international terrorist organizations fighting in the Middle East, in particular, Jabhat al-Nusra* [banned in the Russian Federation – M. A. Azatyan], Firkat Hamza, Sultan Murad, as well as extremist Kurdish groups, are actively drawing into the conflict zone” (С. Е. Нарышкин) [11].

On November 1, 2020, the official YouTube page of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia posted a video of the interrogation of a captured militant from the Syrian battleground, Muhrab Muhammad Al-Shheri, in which he talks about his recruitment, transportation to Azerbaijan and participation in hostilities in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict zone [12].

The above-mentioned facts indicate that the Azerbaijani leadership violates all the points of the US President's wording, which allows for the annual repeal of Section 907. The presence of militants of terrorist organizations in the ranks of the Azerbaijani armed forces indicates that the country not only does not make efforts to fight terrorism in the Middle East, but also opens another hotbed in the South Caucasus. The presence of extremist elements in the Karabakh conflict zone, on the one hand, poses a threat to the Russian Federation, since the risk of transferring terrorists directly to Russian territory increases significantly. On the other hand, the presence of an additional hotbed for the fight against terrorism complicates the task of the countries of the anti-terrorist bloc led by the United States. Moreover, the fact of the shelling of the territories of the Republic of Armenia, recognized, including by the Azerbaijani side, contradicts Paragraph 4 of the wording of the US President, in which, although the name “Nagorno-Karabakh” is absent, but the name “Armenia” is present.

Considering the above, we have developed proposals to the Armenian lobbying structures of the United States, which, in our opinion, are dictated by the current realities. It is necessary to continue to push for the implementation of Section 907, exerting pressure on the Congress, the Senate, and through them-on the office of the US President. In our opinion, the implementation of this Amendment, rather than the introduction of a new one, is the most possible, since there is a precedent for its operation within 10 years. It is also necessary to continue informing the public in all states about the war in Artsakh, about the history of the unrecognized state, emphasizing that the war of such intensity with the use of fifth-generation weapons was caused, among other things, by the repeal of Section 907. In American society, there is feedback between senators and voters, therefore, through grassroots lobbying (an initiative from below), it is possible to convey relevant information to politicians and achieve a solution to the necessary issue. To reach a wider range of people, lobbying structures need to focus on promoting publications, articles and videos on the topic of the military conflict, referring not only to well-known magazines and newspapers, but also to the pages of Armenian state structures and political figures. This will not only allow you to get information from the original source, but will also promote these resources in the English-speaking space. We believe that informing the American public about the Armenian-Azerbaijani war and the renewal of Section 907 will be an important step not only for the security of the Armenian people, but also for the future recognition of the independence of Artsakh.

*(террористическая организация, деятельность которой запрещена в России, прим. ред)

References:

1. END OF THE SOVIET UNION; Text of Bush's Address to Nation on Gorbachev's Resignation: https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/26/world/end-soviet-union-text-bush-s-address-nation-gorbachev-s-resignation.html  
2. Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act, 24 October 1992.
3. 107th Congress Public Law 115: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-107publ115/html/PLAW-107publ115.htm  
4. «АКТ О ПОДДЕРЖКЕ СВОБОДЫ», 907-я РЕЗОЛЮЦИЯ И ЕЕ НАРУШЕНИЕ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНОМ»: http://www.noravank.am/rus/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=15666 [in Russian]  
5. Legislative History of U.S. Assistance to Nagorno Karabakh: https://anca.org/assets/pdf/misc/US_assistance_to_NKR.pdf   
6. Security Assistance Monitor: http://securityassistance.org/  
7. Section 333 Building Partner Capacity: https://securityassistance.org/content/section-333-building-partner-capacity   
8. ԱՄՆ օգնությունը միշտ եղել է Ղարաբաղում իրականացվող HALO-ի ծրագրերի հիմնասյունը, դրա դադարեցումը կստիպի HALO-ին զգալիորեն նվազեցնել աշխատանքները Ղարաբաղում: https://www.aravot.am/2019/08/17/1060904/ [in Armenian]  
9. Կոնգրեսը պետք է անհապաղ դադարեցնի բոլոր ֆինանսավորումներն Ադրբեջանին. Ամերիկայի հայկական համագումար: https://www.aravot.am/2020/07/15/1123618/ [in Armenian] 
10. Bombardier Recreational Products suspends delivery of aircraft engines used on military drones: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/turkey-armenia-azerbaijan-drones-bombardier-1.5775350  
11. О СИТУАЦИИ ВОКРУГ НАГОРНОГО КАРАБАХА: http://svr.gov.ru/smi/2020/10/o-situatsii-vokrug-nagornogo-karabakha.htm [in Russian] 
12. Լեռնային Ղարաբաղում գերեվարված սիրիացի ահաբեկչի հարցաքննությունը: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WXjHO2dzTY [in Armenian]