WASHINGTON RECALLED ITS AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA FOR STATEMENTS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Regnum, Russia
March 7 2006

Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the US in Armenia John Evans has been
recalled to Washington. According to “The California Courier”, Evans
already informed about it the Armenian government. The reason of the
recall is statements of the Ambassador regarding the Armenian Genocide
in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. According to the source, US Senate already
approved new Ambassador, current head of American diplomatic mission
in Tajikistan Richard Hoagland.

On February 19, during a meeting with representatives of the Armenian
community in San-Francisco, John Evans told about “importance of the
Armenian Genocide recognition.”

He said that he studied the fact about the Genocide of Armenians, and
that he always wanted to “call things with their real names, but the
official US policy did not change, because Turkey is an important US
partner in military sphere.” He said that “all American officials never
denied this fact, and I think that it is unsuitable for American to
play on words in such case.” Evans stated that “the Armenian Genocide
was the first genocide of 20th Century,” and noted that the world then
was not prepared for suitable reaction, but now the problems will be
seriously discussed. Earlier, American officials never used the tern
“genocide” to the events of early XX century in Armenia.

On February 28, speaking in US Embassy in Armenia, John Evans decided
to give a more precise definition to his speech of February 19. He
said that official US position is still the same, and in his previous
statement he declared only his personal opinion. He expressed regret
that his statement caused misunderstanding.

It should be noted that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
European Affairs Matthew Bryza is currently visiting Yerevan.