US SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS NOMINEE TO POST OF US AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

Yerevan, June 29. ArmInfo. On June 28, the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee considered the candidature of Richard Hoagland to the post
of US Ambassador to Armenia.

The US Embassy in Armenia told ArmInfo that during the hearings at the
Committee, R. Hoagland was asked several questions. The nominee will
be asked additional questions later from Senator, afterwards voting
will take place, the source reports. However, the date of the voting
is not known yet. According to the Armenian Assembly of America,
Senate Foreign Relations Committee members GeorgeAllen (R-VA) and
Norm Coleman (R-MN) bombarded U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Designate
Richard Hoagland with questions about official U.S. complicity in
Turkey’s campaign of Genocide denial, questioning him, during his
confirmation hearing, regarding his ability to effectively represent
the United States in Armenia without properly recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. "I am not sure how we can continue to have Ambassadors
to Armenia who can be effective unless they give recognition to the
Genocide." – Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN).

v To recap, the reason of the recall of US Ambassador to Armenia John
Marshall Evans is the latter’s public recognition of Armenian Genocide
in the course of his meeting with the Armenian Diaspora of the USA
last summer. In the meantime, Armenian American activists across the
U.S. continue to call on Senators to demand a full explanation for the
early recall of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans. Later,
the American Foreign Service Association, set to award Amb. Evans with
the Christian A. Herter Award for constructive dissent, rescinded
the decision, according to the Washington Post, following pressure
from State Department officials.

Richard E. Hoagland was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan on
October 16, 2003. Ambassador Hoagland was Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasian
Affairs, Department of State, June 2001-July 2003. He worked with the
Afghan Resistance during the Soviet-Afghan War. He has also served
in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research where
he was the lead analyst for Afghanistan (1989- 1991). After September
11, 2001, he initiated regular U.S.-Russia consultations in response
to the mandate by Presidents Bush and Putin that the two governments
work together to increase their collaboration and transparency in
Central Asia and the Caucasus. In July 2002, this consultative group
became part of the ongoing U.S.-Russia Counterterrorism Working Group.