HEARINGS ON ARMENIA HELD AT U. S. HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
DeFacto Agency
June 19 2008
Armenia
On June 18 House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman
(D-CA) led a two hour hearing that included over a dozen members of
Congress questioning Assistant Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S. policy
of complicity in Armenian Genocide denial, Turkey’s blockade, and
Azerbaijan’s escalating threats of war, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
"We want to thank Chairman Berman for this excellent opportunity for
members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to exercise oversight over a
deeply flawed set of U.S. policies toward Armenia and Armenian American
issues – most notably the Administration’s policy of complicity in
Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, its lack of any meaningful
steps to lift Turkey’s blockade of Armenia, and its effective silence
in the face of escalating threats of war by an increasingly well
armed Azerbaijan against the people of Nagorno-Karabagh."
Berman opened the hearing stating, "I’d like to start with one of
the most puzzling and problematic matters: the Turkish blockade of
Armenia, in place since 1993. It’s a punishing policy that holds the
Armenian economy back and enormously increases the cost of much of
Armenia’s trade with other nations." He continued noting that "It’s
baffling why Ankara would want to pursue this land blockade, which
also harms the economy of eastern Turkey, and is therefore clearly
contrary to its own interests."
The Chairman’s statement and questions were followed by powerful
remarks and in-depth inquiries by Armenian Genocide Resolution lead
author Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) as well as Committee
members Brad Sherman (D-CA), Diane Watson (D-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA),
and Jim Costa (D-CA), among others.