U.S. SENATE TO ELECT NEW AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA IN LATE JULY
ARKA
July 2
The U.S. Senate plans to bring the candidacy of U.S. Ambassadorial
nominee to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch to a vote in late July, said
U.S. Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington.
He said the reason why the voting was delayed was Yovanovothch’s
refusal to properly characterize Ottoman Turkey’s systematic
destruction of its Armenian population as genocide.
The White House put forward the candidacy of former U.S. Ambassador
to Kyrgyzstan Marie Yovanovitch in late March.
During last week’s hearings, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
touched upon the nomination of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia and
the Armenian Genocide issue.
U.S. Deputy Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor David
J. Kramer said the U.S. Senate intends to approve the candidacy of
the new U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia soon.
John Evans, former US Ambassador to Armenia completed his diplomatic
mission ahead of schedule, in September 2006. The reason for his
early resignation was his repeated statements on the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide.
The voting of the U.S. Congress on approval of Richard Hoagland’s
candidacy was suspended thanks to the joint efforts of the Armenian
lobby and Senator Robert Menendez.
The reason is that he refrained from recognizing the Armenian genocide
in the Ottoman Turkey. Sen. Menendez fended once again on January 10,
2007, the approval of President Bush-nominated Richard Hoagland as
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.