[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 126 (Friday, September 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   FAREWELL TRIBUTE TO ROUBEN SHUGARIAN, OUT-GOING AMBASSADOR OF THE 
                          REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I spoke about the 8th 
anniversary of the Independence of the Armenian Republic, which is 
celebrated by the citizens of Armenia and by people of Armenian descent 
here in the United States on September 21. But one individual who has 
played a significant role in solidifying the bonds between the United 
States and Armenia during these early years of Armenian independence is 
the current ambassador, Rouben Shugarian. Mr. Shugarian has represented 
Armenia in Washington since March 1, 1993, and in a few weeks 
Ambassador Shugarian will be leaving Washington to take another post in 
the foreign ministry in Yerevan, Armenia's capital. Still only in his 
late 30s, Ambassador Shugarian obviously has a great future ahead of 
him in service to the Armenian Republic.
  During his very distinguished tenure here, Ambassador Shugarian has 
done a great deal to help raise the profile of Armenia in the Capitol 
of the free world. For his efforts, he has earned the respect of 
Members of Congress, the administration, and his colleagues from many 
other nations in the Washington diplomatic corps. He has also earned 
the gratitude of the Armenian-American community for helping to advance 
Armenia's cause, while making the embassy an important focal point for 
Armenian Americans.
  When Ambassador Shugarian arrived in Washington, Armenia did not 
really have an embassy per se, making do with cramped office space. But 
during his tenure, the Armenian mission in Washington moved to a 
beautiful facility in the embassy row area near Massachusetts Avenue. 
The physical presence of the embassy and its central location serves to 
symbolize Armenia's arrival as one of the emerging nations of the post-
Cold War world.
  Yesterday, Wednesday, September 23, The Washington Post had an 
article on Ambassador Shugarian entitled ``A Reflection on Washington's 
Ways.'' The article says, ``The image of a nation that is coming back 
home,'' was the way the ambassador described to The Washington Post how 
he has sought to represent his country abroad. Again quoting from the 
article, it says, ``In a speech at a farewell reception at the Armenian 
embassy last Friday, Shugarian joked that in the first 2 years he and 
his staff learned what not to do in Washington, and in the next 5 years 
they learned about what to do.''
  Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that Washington is considered the most 
prestigious and high-profile post for international diplomats. 
Ambassador Shugarian's appointment to this prestigious post at such a 
young age demonstrates the high regard he was held in by the leaders of 
the newly independent Armenian Republic. Indeed, his relative youth in 
some ways symbolized the energy and optimism of the newly born country 
that he represented. His success here shows how well deserved that 
reputation was.
  Since becoming an independent country, Armenia has signed a wide 
range of agreements with the United States on trade and investment, on 
science and technology, on humanitarian issues, and the establishment 
of a Peace Corps program in Armenia. Ambassador Shugarian has played an 
important role in much of this progress, and his leadership will be 
sorely missed.
  As The Washington Post article notes, Ambassador Shugarian recently 
had an opportunity to interact with his Turkish counterpart, Ambassador 
Baki Ilkin in the aftermath of last month's devastating earthquake in 
Turkey. Since Armenia came through a devastating earthquake in 1988, it 
has some experience with this type of natural disaster. Armenia offered 
to help its neighbor, despite their strained relations. Although the 
initial delivery of aid was rejected at the insistence of certain 
extreme nationalists in Turkey, eventually Armenian relief supplies did 
arrive in the stricken earthquake area.
  A further hopeful sign was seen here last week when Turkish 
Ambassador Ilkin made an appearance at Ambassador Shugarian's farewell 
party. And that really was the first time in the annals of Washington 
diplomacy that the ambassadors of the two countries had met together 
formally.
  Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Shugarian is in the process of completing a 
book on his recollections of his service in Washington, entitled On the 
Overgrown Path. And as he leaves Washington to return to Armenia, I 
want to wish Ambassador Shugarian, his wife Lilit Karapetian, and their 
two sons all the best. I hope we will have the opportunities to receive 
them as visitors in the country they called home for more than 6 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record the article I referred to above.

             [From the Washington Post, September 22, 1999]

        Diplomatic Dispatches--A Reflection on Washington's Ways

                           (By Nora Boustany)

       Seven years after arriving as Armenia's first ambassador to 
     Washington, Rouben Robert Shugarian is moving on to greener 
     pastures at the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan. The former 
     university professor, specialized in American and English 
     literature and philosophy, said that despite the maddening 
     tempo of diplomatic life here, every day has been a 
     revelation and a discovery.
       ``There is never a second chance to make a first 
     impression,'' Shugarian noted stoically about his stiff 
     learning curve in Washington. He is completing a book on some 
     of his recollections here titled ``On the Overgrown Path,'' 
     which looks at his homeland's independence since it broke 
     away from the Soviet Union eight years ago tomorrow. It 
     offers a conceptual look at U.S.-Armenian relations, touching 
     on stereotypes and real perceptions of Armenia here and 
     focusing on how best to represent Armenia abroad in its new 
     incarnation.
       ``The image of a nation that is coming back home,'' was the 
     way he described it. He said Armenia is a country that has 
     suffered from extensive man-made and natural disasters, that 
     is now trying to build its future differently. In a speech at 
     a farewell reception at the Armenian embassy last Friday, 
     Shugarian joked that in the first two years, he and his staff 
     learned what not to do in Washington and the next five years 
     they learned about what to do.
       ``This is a tough city. Any sign of exhausted creativity or 
     ineffectiveness is not easily pardoned. This is an open 
     society. Old career diplomacy tricks and buttoned up social 
     graces don't get the job done,'' he said in an interview 
     yesterday. ``This is a country where you have to be engaged 
     in a sincere dialogue to reach your objectives.'' A country 
     that had no diplomatic representation, Armenia now has 15 
     students at Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy who 
     Shugarian hopes will benefit from his impressions. The book 
     will not be a memoir as such because he will not be able to 
     share some secrets until some time has elapsed. His most 
     exhilarating moments in Washington came in 1993 when he 
     celebrated Armenia's second anniversary of independence at 
     Meridian International House.
       ``We did not have an embassy at the time. One felt the 
     country becoming a reality, however, and that we were really 
     going back home,'' he reminisced.
       He said his first extended exposure to Turkey's ambassador, 
     Baki Ilkin, was in the aftermath of the devastating 
     earthquake Aug. 17 that killed more than 15,000 people. 
     Armenia arranged to send a plane with seismologists, doctors, 
     generators, blankets and medicine to the stricken areas. ``We 
     went through a terrible earthquake 11 years ago in which 
     25,000 people were killed. It was a purely moral step, not a 
     political one and we do not expect anything in return. We 
     went through something like that and we know what it is 
     like,'' the ambassador said.
       Although Turkey and Armenia do not have embassies in one 
     another's capitals, Ilkin made a 20-minute appearance at 
     Shugarian's farewell reception, a first in the annals of 
     Washington diplomacy. ``This is such a wonderful country 
     where there is so much to see, to learn and to understand,'' 
     Shugarian said in summing up his time here. ``The most 
     striking thing about life here is the freedom that exists, 
     the freedom that gives you an opportunity.''

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