US SENATOR SECURES DELAY IN CONFIRMATION OF AMBASSADOR
Hurriye
June 27, 2008
Turkey
Senator Barbara Boxer secured a one-month delay in the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee’s consideration of the confirmation of
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia nominee Marie Yovanovitch. The extension is
in response to the State Department’s delay in providing timely written
responses to the eight sets of written questions submitted to her by
members of the panel, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Communications Director Elizabeth S. Chouldjian told PanARMENIAN.Net,
an Armenian news service.
Yovanovitch, a Foreign Service officer for 22 years and the current
ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, has come under intense questioning since
last week at her confirmation hearing over the U.S. policy not to
label the 1915 incidents in Turkey as "genocide".
She told the Committee that even though the Armenians’ suffering was
"one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century," referring to it
as "genocide" was "a policy decision" and she would not comment on
whether she believed a so-called genocide had occurred.
"Senator Boxer not only provided Senators with the opportunity
they would otherwise have been denied to meaningfully review the
nominee’s responses, but also, very significantly, ensured that
all American’s citizens – including Armenian Americans and those
who share our commitment to ending the cycle of ‘genocide’ – have a
chance to study her answers and take part in the civic discourse over
a diplomatic posting that has been the center of national attention
since the Administration’s firing of Ambassador John Evans over his
truthful remarks on the ‘Armenian Genocide’," said ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian.
Armenia, with the backing of the Diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. The
Armenian Diaspora has lately increased its organized activities
throughout the world for the acknowledgment of their unfounded
allegations in regard to the incidents of 1915 as "genocide" by
national and local parliaments.
Turkey rejects the claims, saying that 300,000 Armenians along with
at least as many Turks died in civil strife that emerged when the
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
Turkey also says parliaments and other political institutions are not
the appropriate bodies to debate and pass judgment on disputed periods
of history. Past events and controversial periods of history should
be left to historians for their dispassionate study and evaluation.
Efforts by Turkey to carry out a deeper investigation have yet to have
a positive outcome. In 2005, Turkey officially proposed to the Armenian
government the establishment of a joint historical commission composed
of historians and other experts from both sides to study together
the events of 1915 and to open the archives of Turkey and Armenia,
as well as the archives of all relevant third-party countries and
share their findings publicly. Unfortunately, Armenia has not yet
responded positively to this initiative and Turkey’s proposal remains
on the table.
As of close of business the day before the Committee was set to vote on
the nomination, the nominee had yet to respond to all Senate inquiries,
with several responses only being provided hours before the scheduled
vote. The Senate Committee vote will likely be held following the
July 4th Congressional recess, the news service reported
Democratic Senator Robert Menendez questioned Yovanovitch in
prosecutorial style during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee about the 1915 incidents. It remains uncertain whether the
Senate will block the confirmation of Yovanovitch to a post that has
remained unfilled for two years.
In August, the White House withdrew its nomination of career diplomat
Richard Hoagland after Menendez held up his confirmation through a
Senate procedure.
Hoagland’s predecessor, John Evans, reportedly had his tour of duty in
Armenia cut short by the administration because, in a social setting,
he referred to the incidents as "genocide".