ANCA CONFRONTS BRYZA BIAS ON NAGORNO KARABAKH
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A ug 20, 2009
WASHINGTON-Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Ken
Hachikian today sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
outlining the concerns of the Armenian American community regarding
the recent biased remarks by Matt Bryza, the U.S. Co-Chair to the
OSCE Minsk Group charged with helping to negotiate a settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
The four-page letter, dated August 20, 2009, addressed, in detail,
recent unfair, inaccurate, and counter-productive statements by Bryza,
and, more broadly, expressed the view that his actions reflect the
failings of an Administration that, having already broken a series of
pledges to Armenian Americans, is now in the process of effectively
handing over decision-making on U.S. policy on Armenian issues to
the Turkish government: In the letter, Hachikian stressed: "Today,
seven months after the start of the Obama-Biden Administration,
we are seriously concerned that this Administration has abdicated
its responsibilities by effectively outsourcing our nation’s foreign
policy with respect to Armenian issues to the Republic of Turkey, as
every single policy dealing with Armenia has been made along the lines
that Turkey has dictated, rather than along the sound principles of
morality and democracy that you, President Obama and Vice President
Biden unambiguously articulated during your presidential campaigns
last year."
The complete text of the letter is provided below.
Dear Secretary Clinton,
I am writing on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) to voice the Armenian American community’s grave concerns
regarding recent unfair, inaccurate, and counter-productive statements
by the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minks Group, Matthew Bryza, regarding
the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Mr. Bryza’s recent actions as a part of the Obama-Biden Administration,
as well as his past conduct during his time as Deputy Assistant
Secretary, as U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, as a senior
National Security Council staff member, and as an Eurasian energy
advisor for the Department, reflect a pattern of consistent, material,
and transparent bias against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. His behavior
in the months since President Obama’s inauguration are especially
troubling because they stand in such dramatic contrast to the public
commitments that the President, Vice President, and that you made to
the American electorate during the 2008 Presidential campaign.
As you may know, the ANCA has consistently registered public concerns
regarding Mr. Bryza’s biased diplomacy on Armenia-related matters,
including his pro-Azerbaijani bias in the Nagorno Karabakh peace
process and his longstanding role as a promoter of U.S. complicity in
Turkey’s denials of the Armenian Genocide. Our community’s attention
was again drawn to his representation of our government’s policies
following a speech he delivered, on August 7, 2009, in Tsakhkadzor,
Armenia, as well as by news reports that he is being considered as a
candidate to serve as our next Ambassador to Azerbaijan. In his remarks
in Tsakhkadzor, Mr. Bryza, once again, made a number of statements
that directly contradict the President’s pledge to work toward a
"lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America’s founding
commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination."
Most notably, Mr. Bryza has argued that the fatally flawed Madrid
principles are a balanced set of concessions, when, at their heart,
they represent nothing more than a major, irreversible, up-front
concession of fundamental security on the part of the Armenian side
with only a vague promise that some undefined process, involving
undetermined actors, will take place regarding Nagorno Karabakh’s
status, according to his own words, "at some point" in the future. The
President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has made it painfully clear
that he will not even honor this weakly worded and effectively
meaningless expectation. President Aliyev has chosen to reserve his
public comments for threats of renewed aggression and assurances that,
even if Armenia were to surrender territories, "it may take a year,
maybe 10 years, maybe 100 years, or it will never be possible" to
reach the point where Azerbaijan would consent to a mere "discussion"
of Nagorno Karabakh’s status.
This "compromise" is not a fair deal, but rather a one-sided surrender
of Nagorno Karabakh’s rights, status, and security, in large measure,
engineered by Mr. Bryza. This settlement, which would cement Armenia
into profound strategic and military disadvantages and ensure continued
regional instability, is, at present, being imposed upon the Armenian
people through the full force and leverage of the U.S. government.
In his remarks, Mr. Bryza compounded his biased defense of these
flawed principles by falsely claiming that the Azerbaijani side
has made a "concession" by agreeing to merely discuss the matter of
Nagorno Karabakh’s self-determination. The fact is that Azerbaijan
has neither the moral right nor the practical ability to grant
either freedom or independence to Nagorno Karabakh. He also, during
the question and answer period, assigned to the people of Nagorno
Karabakh a second-tier right to self-determination, one that requires
the assent of Azerbaijan, as opposed to the right to independence
enjoyed today by the people of Kosovo and recognized officially by
the U.S. government despite the objections of Serbia.
Also of profound concern in Mr. Bryza’s comments at Tsakhkadzor was
his false assertion that Nagorno Karabakh’s exclusion from the OSCE
Minsk Group peace process was driven by Armenia’s request to the
others parties to the negotiations. This is simply not the case.
In addition to the concerns I have outlined regarding Mr. Bryza’s
recent comments, we remain seriously troubled that he has continued
to stand in the way of broad-based dialogue between the governments
and peoples of the U.S. and Nagorno Karabakh. In his capacity as
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, instead of promoting open communication,
he has enforced a set of outdated and counter-productiverestrictions
that block the hope for greater mutual understanding. He has, as well,
even as recently as the current foreign aid cycle, failed to facilitate
desperately needed U.S. development assistance programs in Nagorno
Karabakh. Finally, he has undermined his own credibility by making
the patently false claim that neither he nor his State Department
colleagues have applied pressure to Armenia regarding the settlement
of Nagorno Karabakh.
The concerns I have raised regarding the one-sided Nagorno
Karabakh diplomacy that Mr. Bryza has conducted on behalf of the
U.S. government reflect our community’s broader disappointment
regarding the Obama-Biden Administration’s failure to honor its many
pledges on Armenian issues. Foremost among these, of course, is the
President’s broken promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Rather
than upholding this crystal clear covenant, the Administration has,
instead, aggressively attacked the spirit and letter of this commitment
by promoting Turkey’s artificial "roadmap" and pressuring Armenia to
accept a "historical commission" that, in yet another transparent
attempt by Ankara to perpetuate its campaign of genocide denial,
calls into question the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. The
Administration has, in addition, sharply cut economic and other aid
to Armenia, despite the President’s pledge to maintain assistance
levels. This pattern of behavior represents a breach of faith with
Armenian Americans, fundamentally damages our government’s friendship
with Armenia, and effectively eliminates our country’s ability to
act as an honest broker in the region.
Today, seven months after the start of the Obama-Biden Administration,
we are seriously concerned that this Administration has abdicated
its responsibilities by effectively outsourcing our nation’s foreign
policy with respect to Armenian issues to the Republic of Turkey, as
every single policy dealing with Armenia has been made along the lines
that Turkey has dictated, rather than along the sound principles of
morality and democracy that you, President Obama and Vice President
Biden unambiguously articulated during your presidential campaigns
last year.
Thank you for your consideration of our views. We respectfully request
an immediate personal meeting between you and the Armenian American
community’s civic, religious, and charitable leaders so that we can
address these matters in greater detail.
Sincerely, Kenneth V. Hachikian Chairman