Armenia’s sixth ambassador to the U.S. John Evans started his first
press conference with greeting everyone present in Armenian, letting
everyone know that even though he has studied some Armenian in
Washington, he still can not continue the conference in Armenian.
“I had heard about Armenia from my grandmother, when I was a little
boy,” said John Evans as he started to introduce himself. “But I really
got connected with Armenia when I was working in the secretarial office
in Washington during the 1988 earthquake. We showed humanitarian aid to
the people that had suffered from the earthquake. I am more than happy
to be working in Armenia again. We have three major goals for the
Southern Caucasus: first, we want to establish peace, security and
stability in the region and secondly, we want to see Armenia’s economy
develop. We are going to help develop democratic institutions. I think
that these three projects must be carried out at the same time due to
the fact that they are connected with one another.”
After introducing the journalists with the many staff representatives,
Mr. Evans informed everyone present that he has prepared a very
important announcement for the press conference. On October 4, the
Armenian-American intergovernmental convention’s 9th session will take
place in Washington where the economic relations between the two
countries will be discussed. The main topics for the session will be
the aid in economic growth, the improvement of business, America’s aid
in helping Armenians observe their options carefully, as well as
collaboration in a series of fields, especially agriculture and
security.
“Armenia’s suggestions will be discussed within the framework of the
thousand year battle program. The Minister of Finances of the RA Vartan
Khachaturyan will be chairman”, said the ambassador.
Since Mr. Evans had a meeting with Mr. Khachaturyan, he briefly
answered some of the journalists’ questions. Mr. Evans said the
following in regard to the opening of the border of Turkey:
“We are working towards that. We think that the border between Turkey
and Armenia should be opened because it will be of some aid to the
eastern provinces of both Armenia and Turkey. I want to assure you that
this issue is always being discussed with our Turkish colleagues.”
The visa issue remains unsolved
In response to the “168 hours” weekly’s question as to whether the
embassy will make changes for obtaining visas or will it still keep
turning down Armenians for inexplicable reasons and clarifications, Mr.
Evans recommended that we go and discuss that with the consul Mary
Stickles. Mr. Evans also added that the visa issue is settled according
to U.S. laws constituted by Congress.
“As a result of the tragic events which took place in the U.S. over
three years ago, we have made some changes. We want open immigration
but secure borders. We accept all students, visitors who come to our
country, but at the same time we wish to defend our people.”
“The thing is that many Armenians simply want to go to America to live
there. The most important criterion is that the applicant must have a
family and a job in Armenia. In other words, we need to rest assured
that the applicant will return to Armenia,” added Mrs. Stickles.
As for the amount paid for getting a U.S. visa, which costs $100
dollars, Mrs. Stickles did not hide the fact that that price may go up.