Soviet Armenia

Senate - May 09, 1991

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I rise today to express my outrage at what is happening to the Armenian people in the Soviet Union. In the last week, Soviet Interior Ministry troops have attacked and occupied several villages in Soviet Armenia near the Azerbaijani border. At the same time, Soviet and Azerbaijani units have surrounded the predominantly Armenian district in Azerbaijan. Reports indicate that nearly 50 people have died and many others have been wounded as a result of these actions.

I fear that what we are witnessing is similar to what happened in the Baltics earlier this year. Soviet officials claim that the troops are attempting to disarm illegal Armenian military units and stop ehtnic violence from escalating. But there are strong indications that the Soviet Government is using military coercion to pressure the Armenian people because the Armenian Republic has refused—for legitimate reasons—to take part in negotiations on a new union treaty. If this is true, Mr. President, it is totally unacceptable and must be stopped immediately.

I call on President Gorbachev to withdraw Soviet troops from the Armenian villages and cease these attempts to intimidate the people of Armenia. I also urge him to devote his personal attention to ending the virtual civil war that has been waged over the last three years between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to ensuring that the rights of the Armenians in Azerbaijan are protected.

Given the severe economic problems facing the Soviet Union, it is senseless for the Soviets to be expending so much energy and resources on squashing independence movements in the republics. Rather, the Soviet leadership should be focusing on finding real solutions to these economic problems. The continued oppression of the Armenians and peoples of other republics only signals to the rest of the world that perestroika is an illusion—not a reality.

In addition, it is extraordinarily difficult to consider providing any form of economic assistance if it will not be used to improve the lives of the Soviet people or further the process of economic liberalization and democratic reform. However, one is torn between the desire to see reform in the Soviet Union and the specter of greater economic hardship for its citizens and instability overall. Therefore, it is important to ensure that if such assistance is to be given, there will be strong conditions attached. One of those conditions should be that the Soviet Government cease its use of military and political coercion against the people of Armenia and the other republics that have pushed for some form of independence.

Mr. President, let me conclude by making a plea to my colleagues and the people of this country not to forget the Soviet Armenians and the problems they face. They are still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by the 1989 earthquake, which in conjunction with the influx of 300,000 refugees fleeing the oppression in Azerbaijan, left nearly half a million people homeless and destroyed or damaged 50 percent of the Republic's schools. Moreover, they have confronted chronic shortages of food, gasoline, and electricity, resulting in large part from a rail blockade imposed by Azerbaijan. Throughout these struggles, the Armenian people have shown the courage to endure. We must not abandon them now, particularly when their current plight carries with it the memories of Armenian genocide.