UNITED STATES ADOPTS CAUTIOUS STANCE ON ARMENIA’S DEMOCRATIZATION

6/22/05
By Emil Danielyan, a Yerevan-based journalist and political analyst.

The United States has stepped up efforts to promote democratization in former Soviet states in recent years. Accordingly, opposition leaders in Armenia are hopeful of receiving Washington’s support for a renewed push to force President Robert Kocharian’s administration from power in Yerevan. But US officials seem anxious to squelch such expectations, insisting that they harbor no regime-change ambitions for Armenia.

During a visit to Georgia in mid May, US President George W. Bush offered effusive praise for the Rose Revolution led by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Some politicians and pundits in neighboring Armenia interpreted Bush’s statements as a thinly veiled call for democratically oriented regime change throughout the Caucasus. [...].

Members of the Bush administration now adamantly deny they want political turnover in Yerevan. "We are not in the revolution business," a senior Bush administration official said in an interview. [...] statements made by President Bush should not be interpreted as a call for street protests, or other anti-government action that undermines stability in the region. [...] United States supports only the use of "legal means" in any effort to bring about political change.
[...]
According to Cory Welt, a Caucasus and Central Asia analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, such statements can be taken at face value. "From all indications that I have seen, Armenia is definitely not a target [for the Bush administration]," he said. "They tolerate the current regime in Yerevan."
[...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.