U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 - Armenia

With substantial U.S. assistance, Armenia continues to strengthen its capacity to counter the country's few perceived terrorist threats. While no known terrorist groups operate domestically, Armenia's geographic location, porous borders, and loose visa regime present growing opportunities for traffickers of illicit materials, persons, and finances.

The government's deepening political and economic ties with neighboring Iran have, however, limited Armenian criticism of Iranian extremism and heralded closer diplomatic relations between the two countries. Armenia also has normal diplomatic and economic relations with Syria. Both Iran and Syria have large ethnic Armenian populations.

In February, the government established the Financial Monitoring Center (FMC), a U.S.-supported financial intelligence unit within the Central Bank that is designed to consolidate reporting requirements for large or otherwise suspicious money transfers. The FMC, established by legislation passed in late 2004, complements new laws that impose financial reporting requirements designed to reduce money laundering and limit terrorist access to financing. There were no reported incidents involving the transfer of funds in support of terrorism in Armenia, but the heavy flow of remittances suggests that this would be difficult to detect. The FMC, still in its infancy, is not yet an effective investigatory agency. It spent most of the year testing reporting requirements, developing forms and instructions, and training bank regulators, examiners, and financial analysts.

Armenia continued efforts to increase the security of its vital documents such as birth certificates, introduced additional security features into the production of passports, and began installing passport readers at border posts. The National Security Service and police continued to share information with the U.S. Embassy when they discovered fraudulent U.S. visas or other documents.

On August 17, the government passed legislation establishing the National Control List, a schedule of controlled commodities that either cannot be exported or that require an export license because of the potential for misuse. The Armenian National Control List is adapted from the European Union's dual-use list. It complements legislation the government adopted in late 2004 that required licensing exports and imports of radioactive sources.

Armenia supported U.S. efforts in Iraq with troops on the ground and provided overflight authorization in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.