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08/01/2006
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1. Sen. Biden Delays Senate Foreign Relations Committee Vote On Hoagland
Nomination
2. Aram I Says Israel Must Stop Massacre of Lebanese People
3. Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Discuss Peace Process in Paris
1. Sen. Biden Delays Senate Foreign Relations Committee Vote On Hoagland
Nomination
WASHINGTON–Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the Ranking Democrat on the Foreign
Relations Committee, was joined today by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in
forcing a
month-long delay in the Committee’s vote on the controversial nomination of
Richard Hoagland to replace the current US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
The controversy within the Foreign Relations Committee over the Hoagland
nomination began with Senator Biden’s June 23rd letter asking Secretary of
State Rice Condoleezza Rice to respond to a series of questions, including
specific inquiries about reports that the current Ambassador had been recalled
due to his having "accurately described the Armenian Genocide as genocide."
The
debate over the merits of the nomination heated up during the June 28
confirmation hearing due to the nominee’s evasive and unresponsive answers to
straightforward questions posed by panel members about US policy on the
Armenian Genocide. Following the hearing, Ambassador-designate Hoagland, in a
sharp departure from established Administration practice, responded to a
written Senate inquiry by questioning the genocidal intent of the perpetrators
of the Armenian Genocide, a denial tactic frequently used by the Turkish
government.
As a result of the intervention of Senators Biden and Kerry,
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s nomination will not be considered by the
Committee until the Committee’s next business meeting in September.
"The ANCA welcomes the leadership of Senators Biden and Kerry in ensuring
that
the Foreign Relations Committee has the time to more carefully consider the
implications–for both our foreign policy and our values as a nation–of
confirming a US Ambassador to Armenia who is on record denying the Armenian
Genocide," said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. "We appreciate, as well, the
principled efforts of Senators Allen, Boxer, Chafee, Coleman, Dodd, Feingold,
Kennedy, Reed, Sarbanes, and others to seek an honest explanation of the
firing
of Ambassador Evans, to explore the role of the Turkish government in his
recall, and to insist that the Administration clearly articulate its stand on
the recognition of the Armenian Genocide."
The panel’s decision comes in the wake of a nationwide campaign by the
ANCA–in Washington, DC and in grassroots communities across the country–to
demand answers concerning the recall of Amb. Evans and to educate Senators
about the adverse impact of sending an envoy to Armenia that has called into
question the genocidal character of Ottoman Turkey’s systematic destruction of
its Armenian population. The ANCA has mobilized thousands of activists to
share
their views with their Senators and Representatives about the need for an
honest explanation of Ambassador Evans’ recall and, more broadly, the exact
outlines of the State Department’s policy on the Armenian Genocide.
As early as this February, Members of Congress, at the urging of the ANCA,
began pressing the State Department for a full, open, and official explanation
of the firing of the current US Ambassador to Armenia, over his truthful
comment last year on the Armenian Genocide. Despite a series of Congressional
letters and questions posed during Congressional testimony by Secretary of
State Rice and other senior officials, the Administration failed to provide a
meaningful explanation of its decision to recall Ambassador Evans.
In the shadow of this controversy, Ambassador-designate Hoagland came before
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 28 for a confirmation hearing,
alongside the President’s nominees to represent the US in Ireland and
Switzerland. During this hearing, Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Norm
Coleman
(R-MN) pressed Ambassador-designate Hoagland for answers about US policy on
the
Armenian Genocide. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) expressed serious reservations
concerning the circumstances of the nomination and the Administration’s policy
on the Armenian Genocide.
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s responses during the hearing, and later to
written questions submitted by panel members, were largely evasive,
characterized by repeated–often strained–efforts to avoid using the term
genocide, even while refusing to acknowledge that he had been instructed
not to
use this term. The following day, on June 29, the panel, and then the full
Senate, voted to confirm nominees for the ambassadors to Ireland and
Switzerland, but chose to not take any action on Hoagland’s nomination.
In the days that followed his confirmation hearing, Ambassador-designate
Hoagland responded to several dozen written questions concerning US policy on
the Armenian Genocide, the recall of Ambassador Evans, and the instructions he
had received regarding how to address this matter if confirmed by the Senate.
Among his written responses to a series of questions posed by Senator Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), was a deeply troubling, morally objectionable and historically
inaccurate indication that the Armenian Genocide did not meet the US
definition
of genocide because of the absence of a "specific intent" on the part of the
perpetrator. This denial of the Armenian Genocide–which went far beyond the
bounds of the Administration’s traditional policy–prompted the ANCA to
announce its formal opposition to Richard Hoagland’s nomination on July 18.
Soon after, the ANCA determined that, according to Department of Justice
records, the State Department had misled the US Senate about its
communications
with the Turkish government concerning the February 2005 public affirmation of
the Armenian Genocide by Ambassador Evans. In a letter, dated June 28th,
written on behalf of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Biden, the
State Department denied that the Turkish government had even approached the
Administration on this issue. However, official Foreign Agent Registration Act
filings by the Turkish government’s registered foreign agent, the Livingston
Group, document that, in the days following Ambassador Evans’ February 19,
2005
remarks, one of Turkey’s agents communicated on at least four different
occasions with State Department officials concerning the envoy’s statement and
his subsequent retraction.
To date, half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Senators
George Allen (R-VA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Lincoln Chafee
(R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Russell Feingold (D-WI),
John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), have contacted Secretary Rice or
questioned Ambassador Designate Hoagland directly regarding the Armenian
Genocide. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI), along with over
sixty members of the House have also expressed serious concerns to the State
Department on this matter.
For a comprehensive overview of documents regarding the firing of Ambassador
Evans and the Hoagland controversy, please visit anca.org
2. Aram I Says Israel Must Stop Massacre of Lebanese People
ANTELLIAS, LebanonHis Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia
tersely condemned the bombing of a building in the southern Lebanese city of
Qana, calling it a massacre.
"What has happened in Qana, South Lebanon by Israel, is outrageous, inhumane
and against all international laws and conventions," the Catholicos said in a
statement to the international press.
"I simply do not understand how Israel describes as ‘a technical error’ the
shelling with his advanced and sophisticated war machine a building where
children, women, sick and disabled people have taken refuge. All sorts of
justifications or clarifications provided by Israel are unacceptable in the
face of this human tragedy," said Aram I.
Speaking about the continuing attacks, Aram I said: "Was the shelling by
Israel of a UN observer post in South Lebanon, which took the lives of four UN
observers a `technical error’? Was the pounding of civilian cars, ambulances
and trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the refugees ‘a technical error’? Was
the destruction of roads, bridges, electricity supplying centers and
infrastructures it ‘a technical error’? Was the bombing of building housing
hundreds of families ‘a technical error’?"
Aram I emphatically added that "This war must end. It must stop immediately
and without any condition. Innocent people are being killed, families are
being
destroyed; Lebanon is on the brink of collapse and people are still dealing
with diplomacy. One cannot remain indifferent before human slaughter… We
must
protect human life by all means. The UN and the powers of this world must act
firmly on this basis. This is the realistic way of dealing responsibly with
this complex and critical situation. First protection of life and only then
creation of proper conditions for diplomacy and for the settlement of the
conflict. Therefore, I add my voice to the Spiritual Leaders, both Muslem and
Christian, of Lebanon, to appeal to the international community, for an
immediate cease-fire."
3. Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Discuss Peace Process in Paris
BAKU (Armenpress, RFE/RL)–The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will assess the
recent visit by US Co-chairman Matthew Bryza to the region during a two-day
meeting, which was scheduled to begin to day in Paris, reported Armenpress.
Bryza is going to present the results of his regional visit to his French and
Russian counterparts, Trend news agency reported
Meanwhile, President Ilham Aliyev again rejected any resolution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would not put Karabakh under Azeri control
ahead
of talks with a visiting top US negotiator on Tuesday, reported Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty
"Azerbaijan will never–neither today, nor tomorrow and under no
circumstances
— agree to Nagorno-Karabakh’s secession from Azerbaijan," Aliyev told his
cabinet in remarks reported by Azeri newspapers on Tuesday. "The issue of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity can not be a subject of negotiations."
Aliyev and his Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov were meeting later in the
day with Bryza. "I do not have much to tell you at the moment," the Azeri ANS
television quoted Bryza as telling reporters in Baku. "Actually, there is
nothing [new] to speak about."
Aliyev has repeatedly demanded restoration of Azeri control over Karabakh in
recent months amid fading hopes for an Armenian-Azeri agreement which
international mediators hoped will be signed this year. However, a framework
peace accord proposed by a team of American, French and Russian mediators
seems
to allow for the possibility of Karabakh’s independence or reunification with
Armenia. The three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group favor a gradual
resolution
of the dispute that would culminate in a referendum of self-determination in
Karabakh.
Bryza confirmed over the weekend that under the terms of the proposed deal,
the disputed region’s status would be decided by the "people of Karabakh." He
indicated that this includes the region’s former Azeri residents that were
forced to flee their homes during the 1991-94 war.
Bryza spoke with RFE/RL in Yerevan after holding talks with President Robert
Kocharian and before proceeding to Stepanakert where he met with the
leadership
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic president Arkady Ghoukassian told reporters after
the meeting that he briefed Bryza on the Stepanakert government’s position on
the conflict which he said is "somewhat different from the approaches favored
by the co-chairs." "I think Mr. Bryza understands that it is impossible to
settle the conflict without Karabakh’s participation," he said. "Not only he
but all the co-chairs realize that."
However, Bryza made it clear in his RFE/RL interview that it is the
presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan that must have the final say in the peace
process. He
downplayed in that regard the fact that he is apparently the most high-ranking
US government official to ever visit Karabakh.
"There is no statement of any sort that should be read from my visit to
Stepanakert other than that I am going there in my sole capacity as a co-chair
so I can understand better what the situation and what the views are of the
people that are living in Karabakh," Bryza said.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
