New US envoy to Armenia may fail to win confirmation
Turkish Daily News; Jul 19, 2006
A controversy over the firing of the U.S. ambassador to Yerevan,
who has classified the Armenian killings of World War I as genocide,
may lead to a blockade of the new envoy’s appointment in the Senate,
analysts said
U.S. President George W. Bush dismissed John Evans as ambassador to
Armenia in May after the latter, in violation of an official American
policy on the Armenian killings, accused Ottoman Turks of conducting
genocide
But since then powerful Armenian American groups have been protesting
against Evans’ firing, urging the Senate to delay the confirmation
of Richard Hoagland, who has been nominated by Bush to replace the
outgoing ambassador
In the latest development, under apparent influence of the Armenian
groups, the Los Angeles Times called on the Senate to block Hoagland’s
confirmation.
"They [members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee] should block
the nomination altogether until the ambassador-to-be dares to utter
the g-word," the newspaper said in an editorial on Sunday. During
his confirmation hearing at the committee, Hoagland declined to use
the word "genocide" despite pressure by pro-Armenian senators.
Hoagland tried to eschew insistent questions over how he would qualify
the Armenian killings during his planned tenure in Yerevan. Recalling
that in his latest April 24 statement Bush referred to the Armenian
killings as "a tragedy
the world must not forget," Hoagland said, "I represent the
president."
"Instead of getting stuck in the past, and vocabulary, I would like
to move forward," he said.
Under the U.S. constitution, all senior U.S. government officials,
including ambassadors, need to be confirmed by the Senate.
But nearly half of the committee’s 18 members back the Armenian
cause against Turkey, and have sent written questions to the State
Department, seeking an official statement on why Evans has been
dismissed.
"Hoagland’s appointment could hang in the balance," said the Los
Angeles Times, and some analysts said he may fail to win the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee’s final approval.
The fact that this is an election year for Congress has been boosting
the influence of ethnic and other lobbies in congressional decisions,
the analysts said. One third of the Senate and the whole of the House
of Representatives will be renewed in the November elections
Presently Bush’s Republican Party is in control of both houses,
but the polls could provide the opposition Democrats with a majority
in at least one of the chambers. So even one single seat carries an
enormous importance for both parties
"The Bush administration should have the courage and explain
forthrightly — not just to Armenian Americans but to all Americans who
believe in calling evil by its proper name — why U.S. policy is being
dictated by Ankara nationalists," the Los Angeles Times editorial said.
Los Angeles is in California, the United States’ largest state and
home to up to one million Armenian Americans
Addressing an Armenian audience in the United States in February
2005, Evans said that the World War I killing of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide. Warned by his superiors at
the State Department, he then issued a "clarification" where he
said his remarks reflected his own views. Still pressed by the State
Department, Evans later issued a further "correction," admitting that
his statement misrepresented the U.S. policy. But Bush fired Evans
in May after the latter continued to deviate from the official U.S.
policy, according to administration sources.
"Ambassadors serve the president and they are obliged to follow his
policy. President Bush’s policy as it regards the mass killings of
Armenians is precise and he mentions it in his annual statement,"
said recently Matt Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state
for European and Eurasian affairs.