ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA
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PRESS RELEASE
September 24, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Email: elizabeth@anca.org

MENENDEZ HAMMERS TURKEY’S "HISTORICAL COMMISSION" PROPOSAL

— Senators Menendez and Kerry Grill Ambassador Designate to Ankara
during Confirmation Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC – New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez pressed U.S.
Ambassador to Turkey nominee James Jeffrey to explain the
Administration’s apparent renewed backing for Turkey’s widely
discredited push for a "historical commission" on the Armenian
Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA). The move comes despite the State Department’s pledge, made
during the nomination process for U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie
Yovanovitch, to oppose efforts that would open to debate the fact
that Ottoman Turkey used mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and
forced deportations to destroy over one and half million Armenians.

"We want to share our special thanks with Senator Menendez for,
once again, shining a powerful international spotlight on the
Administration’s policy of complicity in Turkey’s denial of the
Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
"We are especially for his incisive line of questioning regarding
the State Department’s flawed and inconsistent position on Turkey’s
self-serving proposal for a historical commission. A clear
illustration of the bankruptcy of the Administration’s policy on
the Armenian Genocide was the nominee’s convoluted response to the
simple question, posed by Senator Menendez: ‘If Turkey would be
willing to recognize the Armenian Genocide, would the United States
be willing to do so?’"

Ambassador-Designate Jeffrey’s confirmation hearing, held earlier
today, was chaired by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), who, in his
opening remarks, cited his decades long support for Congressional
reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide. Following Amb. Jeffrey’s
testimony, Sen. Kerry led the questioning on the Armenian Genocide,
asking if the nominee could "assure the Committee that the
Administration is not supporting – financially, rhetorically, or
otherwise – an effort to convene a commission to settle an
historical debate [on the Armenian Genocide] – that in effect is
not a debate."

Jeffrey responded, "Mr. Chairman, as you have indicated, the
Administration recognizes and mourns, and is very, very, very
concerned about the historical facts, which include, as you said,
the mass killing and the forced exile of up to 1.5 million
Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire. We support, as
President Bush made clear in his recent statement on March 24th,
the open effort on both sides to get to the bottom of the
historical facts and to move forward as part of a reconciliation
process both to establish closer and eventually full relations and
to work out these dark chapters in the past."

Sen. Kerry followed up, asking if Jeffrey is, in effect saying that
"we are supportive of the historical commission itself and its
goal? Or are we supportive of simply maintaining the historical
records?"

Jeffrey responded: "We are supportive of anything the two sides
mutually agree on, Sir. And as part of any process, there should
be a full and open review of the events of that time."

Jeffrey’s response sparked a series of probing questions from
Senator Menendez, who opened his remarks by expressing his "dismay"
at Jeffrey’s answers, arguing, "that puts us before where we were
when we had the Ambassador designee to Armenia [Marie Yovanovitch]
being interviewed." Senator Menendez then quoted extensively from a
July, 2008, letter from Asst. Secretary of Legislative Affairs
Matthew Reynolds, issued to clarify various responses that U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch had given during her
confirmation hearing. The letter explained that, a proposed effort
to bring Turkish and Armenian archivists to the U.S. is not a means
to "open a debate on whether the Ottomans committed these
horrendous acts; it is to help preserve the documentation that
supports the truth of those events." The letter went on to note
that "the Administration recognizes that the mass killings, ethnic
cleansing, and forced deportations of over one and a half million
Armenians were conducted by the Ottoman Empire. We indeed hold
Ottoman officials responsible for those crimes."

Sen. Menendez, concerned that Jeffrey had veered away from
Administration policy articulated in the Reynolds letter, asked
"The historical facts, as I see it, have now been admitted to by
the State Department and clearly stated as such." And I don’t get
the sense that’s what you’re telling us, so that puts a
complication in this process. Maybe you can help us out."

Jeffrey was again evasive, responding that, "what assistant Sec.
Reynolds wrote is U.S. government policy and we stand by it. What
I was trying to convey was that it is also important for Turks and
Armenians to move forward on a joint effort to work on these issues
to come to some kind of, to the extent they can, common view of the
historical past."

Menendez shot back, asking "Why would we support an initiative that
ultimately doubts whether those are the historical facts? If the
Turks seek to do it, that’s one thing. But why would we be
supportive of an effort that ultimately undermines the very
position that the State Department has?"

Jeffrey responded in generalities, noting "In conflicts such as
this, Senator, we believe, and we apply this across the board in
the many conflicts that I have been involved in, we have an
obligation to the historical record and to our citizens to have our
own views, but it is also important to encourage the various sides
on a dispute, be it this one, be it others, to try to come to some
sort of joint understanding of the past and a joint way forward for
the future."

Menendez then went back to Sen. Kerry’s original question once
again. "Would you then, as Ambassador, be someone who would
advocate rhetorically, financially or otherwise, that the
commission should be constituted and move forward?" Jeffrey
responded: "The effort that can be taken for people to review
openly the facts of that period would be supported by me."

Sen. Menendez would later return to Amb. Jeffrey for a second round
of questioning, expressing frustration that the lack of "straight
answers" from Ambassadors precludes Senators from making "straight
judgments" on key foreign policy issues. He then asked Amb.
Jeffrey, simply, if "If Turkey would be willing to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, would the United States be willing to do so?"
Jeffrey initially replied that he "can’t commit the Administration
to any future action," but upon further questioning stated, that
while Turkish recognition would be important, "there would be other
factors that would have to be weighed, such as our general approach
to other conflicts in the region and taking positions. The
relationship between Turkey and Armenia is a major factor in the
policies we take, the words we use. But there are other factors as
well, sir."

Menendez ended his questioning on the Administration’s Armenian
Genocide policy by asking whether Jeffrey would follow in the
footsteps of Undersecretary Edelman and Assistant Secretary of
State Dan Fried, who, according to multiple press accounts, last
October, traveled to Turkey to "express regret" at House Foreign
Affairs Committee passage of Armenian Genocide legislation.
"Senator," said Jeffrey, "I never have and I never will express
regret. This is an independent and equal organ of the U.S.
government and it deserves the respect of everyone, everywhere in
the world."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman and Vice-Presidential
nominee Joe Biden and other Committee members are set to submit
additional questions to Ambassadorial nominee, who may be confirmed
as early as Friday of this week.

Extended excerpts from the Menendez-Jeffrey question and answer
session follow.

#####

Excerpts of the Menendez-Jeffrey Question and Answer Session
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
September 24, 2008

Sen. Menendez: When you say ‘we support whatever the commission
does to get to the bottom of the historical facts’ well, that’s not
what the Administration has said to us. The Administration in its
letter, unless we are not to believe letters sent to this Committee
now, states ‘our goal is not to open a debate on whether the
Ottomans committed these horrendous acts; it is to help preserve
the documentation that supports the truth of those events.’ And
that letter by Asst. Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mr. Reynolds,
further went on to state that ‘the Administration recognizes that
the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations of
over one and a half million Armenians were conducted by the Ottoman
Empire. We indeed hold Ottoman officials responsible for those
crimes.’ What I heard you respond to the question is quite
different. So do you want to clear it up or are you sticking to
your story that we support whatever it is to get to the bottom of
the facts. The historical facts, as I see it, have now been
admitted to by the State Department and clearly stated as such.
And I don’t get the sense that’s what you’re telling us, so that
puts a complication in this process. Maybe you can help us out."

Amb. Jeffrey: Certainly what Assistant Sec. Reynolds wrote is U.S.
government policy and we stand by it. What I was trying to
communicate was that it is also important for Turks and Armenians
to move forward on a joint effort to work on these issues to come
to some kind of, to the extent they can, common view of the
historical past.

Sen. Menendez: If in fact we already have come to the conclusion
that the historical facts, as outlined by Mr. Reynolds on behalf of
the State Department in July of this year, are that ‘we indeed hold
Ottoman officials responsible for those crimes,’ why would we
support an initiative that ultimately doubts whether those are the
historical facts? If the Turks seek to do it, that’s one thing. But
why would we be supportive of an effort that ultimately undermines
the very position that the State Department has?

Amb. Jeffrey: In conflicts such as this, Senator, we believe that
as a general rule, and we apply this across the board in the many
conflicts that I have been involved in, we have an obligation to
our own citizens and the historical record to have our own views,
but it is also important to encourage the various sides on a
dispute, be it this one, be it others, to try come to some sort of
joint understanding of the past and a joint way forward for the
future.

Sen. Menendez: Would you then, as Ambassador, be someone who would
advocate rhetorically, financially or otherwise, that the
commission should be constituted and move forward?

Amb. Jeffrey: The effort that can be taken for people to review
openly the facts of that period would be supported by me.

======================
Sen. Menendez: If Turkey would be willing to recognize the Armenian
Genocide, would the United States be willing to do so?

Amb. Jeffrey: We would have to see at that time. I can’t commit
the Administration to any future action.

Sen. Menendez: I realize you can’t. But would you, as U.S.
Ambassador to Turkey, say to the next Administration – whoever that
Administration may be – that we should recognize it as well?

Amb. Jeffrey: We constantly review many things in our foreign
policy processes. This one, because of the great interest in the
American public and in Congress, is one that gets reviewed all the
time. That would certainly be a major factor in any review, if the
two sides could come to an agreement on that particular term or
other issues, related to the past, Sir.

Sen. Menendez: Well, if Turkey, on its own, came to the evolution
that in fact it made a decision that ‘yes, a previous – not even
Turkey as we know it today – but the Ottoman Empire did what the
State Department says it has’, that ‘yes, there was a Genocide’
would it not be in the interest of the United States to recognize
what Turkey itself has recognized?

Amb. Jeffrey: It would be, as you said, a very important factor,
but aside from being concerned of committing this or a future
Administration to a specific course of action or predicting it,
there would be other factors that would have to be weighed, such as
our general approach to other conflicts in the region and taking
positions. The relationship between Turkey and Armenia is a major
factor in the policies we take, the words we use. But there are
other factors as well, sir.

Sen. Menendez: When you take your oath, should you be confirmed as
the Ambassador to Turkey, do you know what that oath says?

Amb. Jeffrey: Yes, Sir.

Sen. Menendez: And does that oath speak to an Adminstration or to
the country.

Amb. Jeffrey: It speaks to the country, Senator.

Sen. Menendez: And in that respect, one of the things I look for,
when we have nominees here is that, understanding fully that the
State Department to a large degree and whatever Administration you
work for is going to define your parameters, when I have an
Ambassador here, I want to be able to get straight talk, so that I
know and I can make straight judgments as one member of the U.S.
Senate, and as a member of this committee. And I can’t get that
straight talk if I hear a constant constrainment of what is the
truth or the realities or opinions you may have in a country as it
relates to questions being posed to you as Members of this
committee. So, I hope that we recognize that the oath is to this
country and this [the Senate] is an institution of the country, at
the end of the day. And so, let me ask you this question. There
are a series of media accounts [. . .] that reported that
Undersecretary of State Edelman and Assistant Secretary of State
Dan Fried traveled to Turkey in October of 2007 to "express regret"
over the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution by the U.S.
House Foreign Affairs Committee, one that I sat in at one time. Is
it your view, should you ultimately be approved by the Senate as an
Ambassador, to express regret of what an institution of the U.S.
Congress does?

Amb. Jeffrey: Senator, I never have and I never will express
regret. This is an independent and equal organ of the U.S.
government and it deserves the respect of everyone, everywhere in
the world.

Sen. Menendez: I appreciate that answer.

======================================== ====
Text of July 29th State Department Letter to
Senate Foreign Relations Committee

United States Department of State
Washington DC, 20520

July 29, 2008

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am writing in response to your concerns regarding responses to
questions for the record submitted by you and Senator Menendez
regarding the nomination of Marie Yovanovitch as Ambassador to
Armenia.

Regarding your Question #1, Ms. Yovanovitch mentions an
International Visitors Program under consideration that would bring
archivists from Turkey and Armenia to the United States for
professional training. Our goal is to help archivists protect the
evidence of the past so that future generations will have the
documentation of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians
committed by Ottoman soldiers and other Ottoman officials in 1915.
Our goal is not to open a debate on whether the Ottomans committed
these horrendous acts; it is to help preserve the documentation
that supports the truth of those events.

Regarding Ms. Yovanovitch’s response to Senator Menendez’s Question
#8, the Administration recognizes that the mass killings, ethnic
cleansing, and forced deportations of over one and a half million
Armenians were conducted by the Ottoman Empire. We indeed hold
Ottoman officials responsible for those crimes.

In her testimony, Ms. Yovanovitch tried to convey her deep empathy
with the profound suffering of the Armenian people and in no way
sought to cast any doubt on historical facts.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate
to contact us if we can be of further assistance on this or any
other matter.

Sincerely,

[signed]
Matthew A. Reynolds
Acting Assistant Secretary
Legislative Affairs

The Honorable
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Chairman,
Committee on Foreign Relations,
United States Senate