REP. SMITH PRESSES STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ON AZERBAIJANI THREATS TO ATTACK NAGORNO KARABAKH

armradio.am
18.04.2008 10:52

A senior State Department official came under intense questioning
over the Administration’s unwillingness to confront Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev’s escalating threats to launch his nation’s
growing military arsenal against Nagorno Karabakh "at any time,"
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Representative Chris Smith’s questioning took place during a hearing
called by the Congressional Commission for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) to examine the impact of the
recent Armenian elections on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the
overall state of U.S.-Armenia relations. A leading Congressional
voice on foreign policy and an energetic defender of human rights,
the New Jersey legislator pressed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matt Bryza to explain the State Department’s response to threats of
renewed Azerbaijani aggression, which he quoted from at length for the
benefit of his colleagues, the panel of witnesses, and a standing-room
only audience gathered for the hearing. Noting that Azerbaijani "war
drums are beating," he explained that it was only natural for Armenians
to take a defensive position against a potential "sucker punch" from
Azerbaijan. He asked, pointedly, "what clear and totally broadcast in
advance penalty would Azerbaijan suffer if it initiated hostilities?"

Bryza, who devoted the bulk of his testimony to the elections and the
overall state of democracy in Armenia, sidestepped Congressman Smith’s
question, choosing instead to speak in broad terms about U.S. mediation
efforts: "In terms of penalty, I wouldn’t want to speculate on that
because all the various scenarios are so unpredictable. What I can
say is that any resumption of armed hostility in and around Karabakh
would be tragic – tragic for everybody. Absolute disaster. Who the heck
knows what the outcome would be of the fighting, but as I said before,
I think any fighting would lead to the perpetuation of the current
situation." Bryza noted that Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) had on several occasions impressed upon him
the importance of the U.S. forcefully challenging Azerbaijan’s war
rhetoric. Calling portions of the border between Nagorno Karabagh
and Azerbaijan a "Caucasus Hiroshima," he noted that he shared
Representative Smith’s concern regarding regional tension and noted
that both the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents were scheduled to
hold Nagorno Karabagh talks in the near future.

Also testifying alongside Bryza, were Vigen Sargsian, a senior
assistant to the President of Armenia, Serge Sarkissian, and
Arman Grigorian, a spokesman for former Armenian President Levon
Ter Petrossian who teaches at the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia. The hearing was chaired by Congressman Alcee
Hastings (D-FL) and included the participation of the Commission’s
Co-Chairman, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD).

Sargsian welcomed the interest shown by Armenia’s Congressional friends
in the elections and, in his remarks, placed the recent difficulties
in the broader context of the growing U.S.-Armenia relationship and
the steady progress of Armenia’s democratic development. He updated
the Commission on the steps toward reconciliation underway in Armenia
and invited outside assistance for inquiries into the unrest. "At
their heart," he pointed out, "the challenges we are confronted
with today have less to do with the conduct or even the outcome of
the February 19th elections – which, while imperfect, reflected the
will of the Armenian electorate – and more to do with efforts by
an element of the opposition that, having lost at the ballot box,
sought to challenge this outcome through illegal and ultimately
extra-constitutional means."