The Bush administration's proposal for Foreign Military Financing calls for $4.5m in aid for Azerbaijan but only $3.5m in Armenia, the Armenian Assembly of America said in a news release.
Furthermore, the draft budget also proposed $885,000 for Azerbaijan versus $790,000 for Armenia in International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a dispute that flared into bloody fighting in the early 1990s over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of the former but has a majority Armenian population.
According to the release, Assembly Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Barsamian expressed disappointment with the administration's request for asymmetrical military assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia, arguing that the disparity would only serve to undermine stability in the South Caucasus.
Barsamian said that the Assembly, working in conjunction with the Armenian-American community and Members of Congress, would make every attempt to reverse the administration's attempt to provide Baku with an increase of more than $1 million over Yerevan.
In its FY 2005 Budget, the administration proposed boosting Azerbaijan's military financing over Armenia's by $6m.
Following similar complaints last year, the American Congress eventually passed a budget that restored military parity between Yerevan and Baku. In FY 2005, it allocated an equal $5 million foreign military aid to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"Through the combined efforts of the Armenian-American community and the Assembly, Congress ultimately ensured security aid parity by allocating $8.75m in military assistance to both countries in the FY 2005 Omnibus Spending Bill. A similar balance was also maintained in FY 2006," the release said.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issue with offices in New York, Boston, Yerevan, Gyumri (the second largest city in Armenia), and Stepanakert (the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh).
