Armenians try to stall appointment of US envoy

The Boston Globe

By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | August 30, 2006

When John Evans, the US ambassador to Armenia, last year described the
deaths and forced exile of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians early in
the last century as genocide, the local Armenian community rejoiced.

The Bush administration has described the events in Ottoman Turkey as
“horrific" and a “tragedy," but not as genocide. Turkey, an
important US ally, strongly objects to that description, calling the
deaths and deportations the outcome of a civil conflict with bloodshed
on both sides.

But even though he retracted the comments, Evans, a 35-year State
Department veteran, was recalled from his post in May, a move many
Armenians contend was punishment for his characterization of Turkey’s
role.

Now, Armenians and their backers in Congress are trying to hold up the
appointment of the man President Bush wants to succeed Evans, Richard
E. Hoagland, who has declined to describe what happened as genocide.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has delayed its consideration
of Hoagland’s appointment because of the controversy. At a June
confirmation hearing, senators grilled Hoagland, who said he wanted to
avoid “getting stuck in the past and vocabulary."

US Representative Edward J. Markey, a Democrat who represents
Watertown, home to a longstanding and vocal Armenian-American
community, said, “I don’t think he should be confirmed until
President Bush publicly states that there was a genocide and allows
his new ambassador to make that same statement."

The committee plans to meet Sept. 7 to decide Hoagland’s
fate. Congressional aides said the vote on whether to recommend that
the full Senate approve the nomination will be close.

If the senators reject Hoagland, Bush could make a recess
appointment. Armenian communities across the country will be watching
closely.

“We would be disappointed if he were appointed without an
acknowledgement of genocide," said Bryan Ardouny, executive director
of the Armenian Assembly of America , a Washington-based citizens
advocacy group.

After Evans was recalled, Markey sent a letter to the administration,
cosigned by 59 other House members, questioning the apparent
dismissal. US Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy,
Massachusetts Democrats, sent a similar letter.

In response, a State Department assistant secretary wrote that “all
US ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President and as advocates
of the President’s policies," and he denied Evans was being removed
under pressure from the Turkish government.

The controversy over Evans and Hoagland is the latest of many battles
that have consumed Armenian communities.

In a lawsuit now pending in US District Court in Boston, a teacher and
a student from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and the Assembly
of Turkish American Associations have demanded that the state
Department of Education include dissenting views in a state curriculum
guide on the topic.

Armenians and their supporters say including those views is like
endorsing the stance of Holocaust deniers.

Harvey Silverglate, a First Amendment lawyer who has argued that
excluding the dissenting views is a violation of the principle of free
speech, said “every American citizen has the right to state his or
her view as to whether or not this was a genocide."

But, he added, “if somebody is officially representing the United
States and the US government has a certain position, it is reasonable
for the administration to insist that the official convey the official
US position."

Yvonne Abraham can be reached at [email protected].