s are also trafficked to neighboring countries for sexual
exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Argentina failed to show evidence
of increasing efforts to combat trafficking particularly in the key
area of prosecutions; government efforts to improve interagency
anti-trafficking coordination did not achieve significant progress
in moving cases against traffickers through the judicial system; the
government made progress in other areas, by submitting
anti-trafficking legislation to Congress in August 2005 and
sensitizing provincial and municipal government officials to the
trafficking problem

Illicit drugs:
used as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe; some
money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area;
domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers is increasing

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Armenia

Introduction Armenia

Background:
Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt
Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over
the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires
including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. During
World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey
instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh
practices that resulted in an estimated 1 million Armenian deaths.
The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in
1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918, but was
conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain
preoccupied by the long conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over
Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to
Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan
began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after
both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not
only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan
proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their
inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution.
Turkey imposed an economic blockade on Armenia and closed the common
border because of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and
surro