ANCA shares reservations regarding Bryza nomination with Senate Panel
http://www.armradio....rt=pol&id=17917
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today shared with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee a 7-page review of potential conflict of interest and policy-related reservations regarding President Obama's nomination of Matthew Bryza to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In letters sent to each of the panel's 19 members, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian explained that the Armenian American community's concerns on the Bryza nomination into "two general categories, the first pertaining to potential conflicts of interest, and the second to shortcomings in his execution of our nation's foreign policy priorities."
"There is," explained Hachikian, "credible cause, in our view, for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to look into how the professional activities of Mr. Bryza's wife, scholar Zeyno Baran, may have created potential conflict of interest issues with the conduct of his official duties." He noted that, "As is a matter of public record, Ms. Baran has professionally engaged in advocacy regarding the same U.S. policies and practices that Mr. Bryza has had an official role in formulating and implementing. Her employer, the Hudson Institute, again as a matter of public knowledge, receives funding from foreign and corporate interests, including energy firms, that are financially affected by the conduct of the very U.S. diplomacy that Mr. Bryza has overseen, and would certainly play a central role in coordinating if approved as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan."
In addition to addressing potential conflict of interest issues, the ANCA review covers Bryza's diplomatic activity in the following areas:
- Failure to Meaningfully Respond to Azerbaijan's Videotaped Destruction of a 1,300 Year-Old Armenian Cemetery
- Failure to Fully Implement U.S. Congressional Appropriations for Nagorno Karabakh
- Failure to Seriously Confront Drumbeat of War in Georgia and Azerbaijan
- False Claim that Armenia Excluded Nagorno Karabagh from the Peace Process
- False Prioritization of Self-Determination Over Territorial Integrity
- False Accusation that Armenia "Occupies" Azerbaijani Territory
- Prohibition on U.S. Communications with Nagorno Karabagh's Government
- Pressure on Armenia to Make Unilateral Concessions on Nagorno Karabakh
- Pressure on Armenia to Accept Turkey-Armenia Roadmap
- Firing of Ambassador John Evans
Hachikian closed his correspondence by underscoring that, "in light of the vital role that will be played by the next U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, particularly in terms of a Nagorno Karabagh resolution, we strongly believe that the concerns we have raised regarding potential conflicts of interest, and, equally, the full range of policy issues addressed in our reference materials, deserve the close attention of your office, the full Foreign Relations Committee, and the entire U.S. Senate."
The anti-Armenian Bryza
Started by
Aratta-Kingdom
, Jul 13 2010 08:59 AM
15 replies to this topic
#2
tiktok
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Posted 13 July 2010 - 04:50 PM
Anyone who request a concession on Artsakh is either a sadic idiot or a brain dead moron. Everyone with some intelligence know that if Artsakh is attached to Azerbaijan in any way possible, it means the destruction of a nation and it's assimilation.
#3
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 13 July 2010 - 06:49 PM
Anyone who request a concession on Artsakh is either a sadic idiot or a brain dead moron. Everyone with some intelligence know that if Artsakh is attached to Azerbaijan in any way possible, it means the destruction of a nation and it's assimilation.
What do you mean "Artsakh is attached to Azerbaijan in any way possible"?
#4
Zartonk
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Posted 13 July 2010 - 10:13 PM
What do you mean "Artsakh is attached to Azerbaijan in any way possible"?
I think tiktok means geographically surrounded.
#5
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Posted 20 July 2010 - 08:42 PM
Will Senate Call Bryza to Task for Running Woman Down?
AsbarezOnline
http://asbarez.com/8...ing-woman-down/
On Thursday, Matthew Bryza will face a Senate panel to begin the confirmation process for his nomination as US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Will senators question Bryza for his role in a 1997 car accident, which left a woman in a coma? Or, will Bryza avoid responsibility?
The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other press sources at the time reported that on August 18, 1997, Bryza hit a woman, who was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries. The US response to this incident was to recall Bryza back to the States and express “regret” for the victim.
James Rubin, the official spokesman for the State Department at the time said that the decision to recall Bryza from Moscow was made in connection with the fact that the diplomat “is no longer able to work efficiently in Moscow because of this incident.”
At the time of the incident, none other than Richard Hoagland, a press spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow at the time had this to say about Bryza: “I also want to say something about Matt Bryza who comes across in the press reports about this incident as all but a monster. Matt was one of the brightest, most polite, most promising young diplomats at the American Embassy in Moscow. While we have to have compassion for the woman who was injured in this accident, I think it’s important we have compassion for Matt, too, who has suffered the double trauma of having been involved in a traffic accident and of having had his diplomatic career in Moscow abruptly yanked out from under him.”
Hoagland was President George W. Bush’s nominee for the US ambassadorial post in Armenia. His nomination was blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, due to Hoagland’s continued insistence to deny the Armenian Genocide. Bush subsequently pulled Hoagland’s nomination.
Bryza was then appointed to be the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group and developed close ties with Azeri elite in Baku. News of a high-ranking Azeri minister allegedly paying for Bryza’s wedding to Turkish scholar Zeyno Baran was reported by the Azeri press, after which the editor and reporter of the newspaper were jailed and attacked.
The US Senate should be vigilant about these incidents and when considering Bryza’s nomination should objectively weigh whether he is the right person to represent US interests in Azerbaijan.
#6
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 20 July 2010 - 08:44 PM
http://www.panorama....nca-nomination/
Senate to consider Bryza candidacy as US Ambassador to Azerbaijan July 22
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on Thursday, July 22nd for President Obama's nominee, Matthew Bryza, to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Note that today, July 20th, the Committee will discuss Francis Ricciardone candidacy as the next U.S. Ambassador to Ankara.
Earlier ANCA shared with 19 members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee a 7-page review of potential conflict of interest and policy-related reservations regarding President Obama's nomination of Matthew Bryza to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
#7
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 20 July 2010 - 08:46 PM
http://www.panorama..../anca-bryza/?sw
ANCA shares reservations regarding Bryza nomination with US Senate Panel
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today shared with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee a 7-page review of potential conflict of interest and policy-related reservations regarding President Obama's nomination of Matthew Bryza to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan. In letters sent to each of the panel's 19 members, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian explained that the Armenian American community's concerns on the Bryza nomination fall into "two general categories, the first pertaining to potential conflicts of interest, and the second to shortcomings in his execution of our nation's foreign policy priorities."
"There is," explained Hachikian, "credible cause, in our view, for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to look into how the professional activities of Mr. Bryza's wife, scholar Zeyno Baran, may have created potential conflict of interest issues with the conduct of his official duties."
In addition to addressing potential conflict of interest issues, the ANCA review covers Bryza's diplomatic activity in the following areas: failure to meaningfully respond to Azerbaijan's videotaped destruction of a 1,300 year-old Armenian cemetery, false claim that Armenia excluded Nagorno-Karabakh from the peace process, false accusation that Armenia "occupies" Azerbaijani territory, pressure on Armenia to make unilateral concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh, firing of the US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans.
Note that. The Senate still has to approve the Bryza as the US Ambassador to Azerbaiajan after Barack Obama proposed his candidacy.
#8
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Posted 22 July 2010 - 06:52 PM
ANCA Statement
WASHINGTON—Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian made the following comments after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing with US Ambassador Azerbaijan designate Matthew Bryza.
“Matt Bryza’s testimony unfortunately raised more questions than it answered, underscoring our longstanding concern that he is not the right person to represent the United States in Azerbaijan.”
“Today’s hearing shed long overdue sunshine on a number of serious shortcomings in Mr. Bryza’s diplomatic activities, starting with his consistent failure to challenge Azerbaijan’s belligerence, the dramatic under-spending of Congressional allocations for Nagorno-Karabakh, and including, of course, his unwillingness to forcefully confront Baku’s video-taped destruction of the Djulfa Armenian cemetery. In terms of addressing conflict of interest issues, his responses also fell short. His announcement that his wife, who professionally advocates on Caspian energy policy and works at the Hudson Institute, whose supporters include Azerbaijani, Turkish, and energy corporate interests, has now pledged to steer clear of State Department policymakers dealing with Azerbaijan is too little, too late, coming, as it does, ten years into his service in a series of senior and sensitive posts dealing directly with Baku and the Caspian energy industry.
“We want to share our special appreciation with Senators Boxer and Menendez for their continued leadership in ensuring that the Senate approves a diplomat to Baku who can most effectively advance US interests and American values in the Caucasus region, and offer thanks to Chairwoman Shaheen for raising relevant concerns regarding a possible conflict of interest.”
For a complete review of the ANCA’s concerns regarding the Bryza nomination, visit: http://www.anca.org/...aNomination.pdf
To watch the complete hearing visit: http://foreign.senat...26-5f5c40434a3b
WASHINGTON—Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian made the following comments after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing with US Ambassador Azerbaijan designate Matthew Bryza.
“Matt Bryza’s testimony unfortunately raised more questions than it answered, underscoring our longstanding concern that he is not the right person to represent the United States in Azerbaijan.”
“Today’s hearing shed long overdue sunshine on a number of serious shortcomings in Mr. Bryza’s diplomatic activities, starting with his consistent failure to challenge Azerbaijan’s belligerence, the dramatic under-spending of Congressional allocations for Nagorno-Karabakh, and including, of course, his unwillingness to forcefully confront Baku’s video-taped destruction of the Djulfa Armenian cemetery. In terms of addressing conflict of interest issues, his responses also fell short. His announcement that his wife, who professionally advocates on Caspian energy policy and works at the Hudson Institute, whose supporters include Azerbaijani, Turkish, and energy corporate interests, has now pledged to steer clear of State Department policymakers dealing with Azerbaijan is too little, too late, coming, as it does, ten years into his service in a series of senior and sensitive posts dealing directly with Baku and the Caspian energy industry.
“We want to share our special appreciation with Senators Boxer and Menendez for their continued leadership in ensuring that the Senate approves a diplomat to Baku who can most effectively advance US interests and American values in the Caucasus region, and offer thanks to Chairwoman Shaheen for raising relevant concerns regarding a possible conflict of interest.”
For a complete review of the ANCA’s concerns regarding the Bryza nomination, visit: http://www.anca.org/...aNomination.pdf
To watch the complete hearing visit: http://foreign.senat...26-5f5c40434a3b
#9
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Posted 22 July 2010 - 07:01 PM
To Bryza or Not to Bryza, That Is the Question
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/61578
The pending return of Washington’s Bush-era Caucasus man, Matthew Bryza, has touched off so much buzz in the region that one might as well turn his last name into a verb.
Following the 2008 Georgian-Russian war, critics both inside and outside the Caucasus charged that Tbilisi, emboldened by an easy bonhomie with the White House Caucasus envoy, ended up challenging Moscow. Now, Armenia is concerned that Baku may be "Bryza'd" as well.
With his appointment as US ambassador to Azerbaijan up for a vote in the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee on July 22, Azerbaijan and Armenia have headed to Capitol Hill to lobby for and against, respectively, Bryza’s Caucasus homecoming.
The Armenians worry that Bryza, who co-chaired the US-France-Russia mediatory group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, puts territorial integrity above a nation’s right to self-determination; two conflicting directions that shape the Karabakh peace talks.
Describing Bryza as biased against Armenia and overly positive about Baku, an influential Armenian Diaspora group in the US called for a careful review of the diplomat's credentials. Armenian lobby groups, in particulary, believe that the man got a little too chummy with Turkish and Azerbaijani officials while pushing for US-backed energy projects in the region. For this camp, the fact that Bryza’s wife is an ethnic Turk also does not help matters.
The Azerbaijanis, who spent a resentful and lonely year without a proper US ambassador, like Bryza for all the same reasons. The US Azeri Network called for Azerbaijanis living in the US to counter Armenian pressure and request their senators to support Bryza’s nomination.
But, given that Bryza enjoys across-the-aisle support in Washington, the chances are slim that the Armenians will manage to keep Bryza away from the Caucasus.
So, take his wrap, fellas, find him an empty lap, fellas . . .
#10
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Posted 23 July 2010 - 11:25 AM
Obama Pick For U.S. Ambassador To Azerbaijan On The Defensive At Senate Hearing
http://www.rferl.org...ng/2107402.html
By Richard SolashThe pick of U.S. President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan quickly found himself on the defensive as he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on July 22.
Matthew Bryza was one of the most visible U.S. officials in the Caucasus region during the administration of former President George W. Bush, serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. He was also the U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group, which seeks to broker a settlement to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke off from Azerbaijani rule(Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan were both part of soviet union. Karabakh declared independence before azerbaijan...) after a war in the 1990s and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.
Announced in late May, Bryza's nomination to fill the vacant post of U.S. ambassador to Baku provoked an angry response from Armenian diaspora groups and a number of Armenian officials, who accuse Bryza of bias in the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute.
Bryza told the Senate committee that criticism comes with his job description.
"Being criticized or being thought of as being closer to one side or the other is part of the game, and I have to just remain always objective and deliver the tough messages when necessary," he said.
Looking For Explanations
But a number of senators on the committee questioned Bryza's willingness to deliver those tough messages, especially when directed at Azerbaijan.
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (Democrat-California) and Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) pressed the nominee on why he waited three months to condemn the desecration of ancient Armenian gravesites in the town of Julfa in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan(can't speel the word Naxichevan right?...)
Videos that emerged in late 2005, allegedly showing(allegedly showing?...ITS A PROVEN FACT! I wonder who the autor of this article is...) Azeri troops attacking the UNESCO-protected gravestones, elicited condemnation from the European Parliament and other bodies before Bryza, at the time overseeing the region as deputy assistant secretary of state, issued a public denunciation.
He said caution on his part led to the delay.
"[The] reason why I didn't more vigorously respond on the day when I learned of it, and in the immediate days thereafter, was because, again, reports were just coming in, the video footage is very foggy, it's grainy, it's difficult to see what happened," Bryza said. "So in a spirit of professionalism and fairness, it was important to gather information. I asked our embassy to investigate what had happened, and as that information came in and it became clear to me what had happened, then, absolutely, I publicly issued that condemnation."
Failure to "meaningfully respond" to the destruction of Julfa's cemetery was among the concerns issued in a statement by the Armenian National Committee Of America, one of the most influential Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States, ahead of Bryza's hearing.
Other allegations from the Armenian group against Bryza included "failure to fully implement U.S. congressional appropriations for Nagorno-Karabakh," "false prioritization of territorial integrity over self-determination" for the disputed territory, and playing a role in the dismissal of former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans. There have been allegations that Evans was fired for his use of the term "Armenian genocide" to describe the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by Turkish forces.
Before the Senate committee, Bryza was asked to respond to each of these accusations.
He confirmed that only $2 million of the $8 million appropriated by the U.S. Congress last year for assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh had been spent. When asked for a reason by Senator Boxer, Bryza said his staff had assured him that humanitarian funds were being spent "in as efficient a way as possible." He consented to the request of Boxer to provide a "detailed accounting" of all U.S. assistance to the area before his confirmation moves forward. (poor clueless bastard...he blames everyone for everything...)
Menendez expressed concern at comments made by Bryza to the BBC in October 2008, in which, according to the senator, Bryza said "Armenia must agree that Nagorno-Karabakh is legally part of Azerbaijan." Such statements, said Menendez, had indicated to some that Bryza prioritizes the concept of territorial integrity over that of self-determination. Both principles are accorded equal weight in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process.(Karabakh was never part of azerbaijan. They bolt were part of sovit union).
Bryza said his statement had been incorrectly translated from Russian, and pledged to respect the concept of self-determination for Nagorno-Karabakh's residents if he is confirmed as ambassador to Baku. (he is the only person from the Minsk group who constantly claimed that his statements had been incorrectly translated...)
"My philosophy when it came to Nagorno-Karabakh was 'I'm not worth my weight in anything if I am not taking the hits publicly and trying to push the leaders out of their comfort zone and trying to encourage them to take the political risks required for a settlement,'" Bryza added. "To do that, it required me to say things that made one side or the other side a bit uncomfortable, in my estimation." ( WOW...who gave bryza a right to impose his will on others...? )
Bryza was responsible for the Caucasus as deputy assistant secretary of state when former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was fired from his post, but insisted he had played "absolutely no role" in the dismissal, "as hard as it is to believe."
Bryza also pledged to not let his personal life affect his work. His wife, Zeyno Baran, is of Turkish origin, which some Armenian critics say leads to an anti-Armenian bias.
Baran, who was present at the hearing, has also been cited as a source of potential conflict of interest for Bryza in terms of energy politics. She works for the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think-tank which receives funding from ExxonMobile and other energy companies. (plus from the republic to tukrey and azerbaijan...---I wonder why the autor of the article faild to mention this?)
Azerbaijan is a key "southern corridor" country for planned increases in gas shipment from the Caspian region to Europe.
While on the defensive for most of the hearing, Bryza did enjoy the support of Senator Dick Lugar (Republican-Indiana), who called for his prompt confirmation as ambassador.
"In my experience, Matt has skillfully advanced United States interests by taking a balanced approach to our relationships in this complex region, and he has not hesitated to point out the shortcomings of regional leaders in the areas of democratic development, human rights, and press freedom," said the senator.
The U.S. Azeris Network, a lobbying organization for the Azeri interests in the United States, also commended the nomination of Bryza.
In a statement, the group said that after a nearly year-long vacancy of the post of U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, "There is now an expectation to see the relations between the two nations to expand and regain positive momentum."
Ambassadors must be confirmed by the full U.S. Senate. The vast majority of presidential nominations are approved.
http://www.rferl.org...ng/2107402.html
By Richard SolashThe pick of U.S. President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan quickly found himself on the defensive as he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on July 22.
Matthew Bryza was one of the most visible U.S. officials in the Caucasus region during the administration of former President George W. Bush, serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. He was also the U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group, which seeks to broker a settlement to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke off from Azerbaijani rule(Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan were both part of soviet union. Karabakh declared independence before azerbaijan...) after a war in the 1990s and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.
Announced in late May, Bryza's nomination to fill the vacant post of U.S. ambassador to Baku provoked an angry response from Armenian diaspora groups and a number of Armenian officials, who accuse Bryza of bias in the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute.
Bryza told the Senate committee that criticism comes with his job description.
"Being criticized or being thought of as being closer to one side or the other is part of the game, and I have to just remain always objective and deliver the tough messages when necessary," he said.
Looking For Explanations
But a number of senators on the committee questioned Bryza's willingness to deliver those tough messages, especially when directed at Azerbaijan.
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (Democrat-California) and Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) pressed the nominee on why he waited three months to condemn the desecration of ancient Armenian gravesites in the town of Julfa in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan(can't speel the word Naxichevan right?...)
Videos that emerged in late 2005, allegedly showing(allegedly showing?...ITS A PROVEN FACT! I wonder who the autor of this article is...) Azeri troops attacking the UNESCO-protected gravestones, elicited condemnation from the European Parliament and other bodies before Bryza, at the time overseeing the region as deputy assistant secretary of state, issued a public denunciation.
He said caution on his part led to the delay.
"[The] reason why I didn't more vigorously respond on the day when I learned of it, and in the immediate days thereafter, was because, again, reports were just coming in, the video footage is very foggy, it's grainy, it's difficult to see what happened," Bryza said. "So in a spirit of professionalism and fairness, it was important to gather information. I asked our embassy to investigate what had happened, and as that information came in and it became clear to me what had happened, then, absolutely, I publicly issued that condemnation."
Failure to "meaningfully respond" to the destruction of Julfa's cemetery was among the concerns issued in a statement by the Armenian National Committee Of America, one of the most influential Armenian diaspora organizations in the United States, ahead of Bryza's hearing.
Other allegations from the Armenian group against Bryza included "failure to fully implement U.S. congressional appropriations for Nagorno-Karabakh," "false prioritization of territorial integrity over self-determination" for the disputed territory, and playing a role in the dismissal of former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans. There have been allegations that Evans was fired for his use of the term "Armenian genocide" to describe the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by Turkish forces.
Before the Senate committee, Bryza was asked to respond to each of these accusations.
He confirmed that only $2 million of the $8 million appropriated by the U.S. Congress last year for assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh had been spent. When asked for a reason by Senator Boxer, Bryza said his staff had assured him that humanitarian funds were being spent "in as efficient a way as possible." He consented to the request of Boxer to provide a "detailed accounting" of all U.S. assistance to the area before his confirmation moves forward. (poor clueless bastard...he blames everyone for everything...)
Menendez expressed concern at comments made by Bryza to the BBC in October 2008, in which, according to the senator, Bryza said "Armenia must agree that Nagorno-Karabakh is legally part of Azerbaijan." Such statements, said Menendez, had indicated to some that Bryza prioritizes the concept of territorial integrity over that of self-determination. Both principles are accorded equal weight in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process.(Karabakh was never part of azerbaijan. They bolt were part of sovit union).
Bryza said his statement had been incorrectly translated from Russian, and pledged to respect the concept of self-determination for Nagorno-Karabakh's residents if he is confirmed as ambassador to Baku. (he is the only person from the Minsk group who constantly claimed that his statements had been incorrectly translated...)
"My philosophy when it came to Nagorno-Karabakh was 'I'm not worth my weight in anything if I am not taking the hits publicly and trying to push the leaders out of their comfort zone and trying to encourage them to take the political risks required for a settlement,'" Bryza added. "To do that, it required me to say things that made one side or the other side a bit uncomfortable, in my estimation." ( WOW...who gave bryza a right to impose his will on others...? )
Bryza was responsible for the Caucasus as deputy assistant secretary of state when former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was fired from his post, but insisted he had played "absolutely no role" in the dismissal, "as hard as it is to believe."
Bryza also pledged to not let his personal life affect his work. His wife, Zeyno Baran, is of Turkish origin, which some Armenian critics say leads to an anti-Armenian bias.
Baran, who was present at the hearing, has also been cited as a source of potential conflict of interest for Bryza in terms of energy politics. She works for the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think-tank which receives funding from ExxonMobile and other energy companies. (plus from the republic to tukrey and azerbaijan...---I wonder why the autor of the article faild to mention this?)
Azerbaijan is a key "southern corridor" country for planned increases in gas shipment from the Caspian region to Europe.
While on the defensive for most of the hearing, Bryza did enjoy the support of Senator Dick Lugar (Republican-Indiana), who called for his prompt confirmation as ambassador.
"In my experience, Matt has skillfully advanced United States interests by taking a balanced approach to our relationships in this complex region, and he has not hesitated to point out the shortcomings of regional leaders in the areas of democratic development, human rights, and press freedom," said the senator.
The U.S. Azeris Network, a lobbying organization for the Azeri interests in the United States, also commended the nomination of Bryza.
In a statement, the group said that after a nearly year-long vacancy of the post of U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, "There is now an expectation to see the relations between the two nations to expand and regain positive momentum."
Ambassadors must be confirmed by the full U.S. Senate. The vast majority of presidential nominations are approved.
#11
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 23 July 2010 - 11:30 AM
ANCA Chairman addresses letter to US Senate
http://www.panorama....3/eremenihaber/
The Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Ken Hachikian shared with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee a review of policy-related reservations regarding President Obama's nomination of Matthew Bryza to serve as US Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ermeni haber said.
Note that the Senate should approve the Ambassador-designate candidacy so that he can assume the position.
In particular, in his latter Hachikian drew attention to “how the professional activities of Mr. Bryza's wife, scholar Zeyno Baran, a Hudson Institute employee, may have created potential conflict of interest issues with the conduct of his official duties. Her employer receives funding from foreign and corporate interests, including energy firms, that are financially affected by the conduct of the very U.S. diplomacy that Mr. Bryza has overseen, and would certainly play a central role in coordinating if approved as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan." Besides, Bryza-Baran wedding was held in Istanbul, was financed by Azeri businessmen, etc.
The Union of Azerbaijanis of the US spread a message to hail Matthew Bryza’s appointment as the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
#12
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Posted 23 July 2010 - 11:32 AM
Senators Shaheen, Boxer, Menendez raise key policy issues during Bryza’s confirmation hearing
http://www.armradio....rt=pol&id=17978
Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) raised key policy issues during Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing of Ambassador-Designate Matthew Bryza, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).
The hearing also coincided with the International Court of Justice ruling regarding the validity of Kosovo's independence. During the hearing, most if not all of the concerns raised in the Assembly's May 27th letter to Committee Members were raised. Presiding over the hearing, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) began her round of questions by asking nominee Bryza to respond to her constituents' concerns, including accusations regarding his close ties to senior Azerbaijani officials. Bryza indicated that he maintains professional relationships with not only Azeri officials, but also with those in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Bryza also assured the Committee that his wedding was not funded by outside sources. Senator Shaheen then raised concerns regarding freedom of the press in Azerbaijan and the case of the two jailed bloggers. Bryza indicated that if confirmed, civil liberties, especially media freedom, would be a top priority.
Bryza stated that "there is no military solution" to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and reaffirmed U.S. policy in support of the three equal pillars of the Helsinki Final Act: non-use of force or the threat of force, the principle of territorial integrity, and equal rights and self determination of peoples.
In addition, Senator Boxer raised concerns about the slow pace of U.S. funding to Nagorno Karabakh and requested a full detailed report thereof.
"We applaud Senator Boxer for seeking to ensure that the next Ambassador to Azerbaijan forcefully condemn Azerbaijan's military aggression against the people of Nagorno Karabakh," stated Daron Hovannesian, Assembly summer intern from California who was present at the hearing.
Senator Menendez asked nominee Bryza if he had played any role in the firing of former Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, of which Bryza indicated that he played "absolutely no role." Menendez also raised concerns about Azerbaijan's desecration of an ancient Armenian cemetery in Julfa. Bryza reiterated the points he made in response to Senator Boxer in that he immediately contacted the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and also publicly condemned the act. However, Menendez pressed Bryza on why it took three months to issue a statement, and asked Bryza to provide all public statements made for the record.
Menendez also took on Azerbaijan's continued threats of war and actual provocation in June and pointed out that this is contrary to seeking peace and reconciliation. In responding to Senator Menendez' questions in this regard, Bryza indicated that he "couldn't agree more."
Senator Menendez also asked the nominee to clarify his comments with respect to the principles of self-determination and territorial integrity. Bryza again emphasized that all 3 principles of the Helsinki Final Act are given equal weight and that the U.S. seeks to facilitate a mutually negotiated settlement among the parties to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on these principles. Bryza also indicated, in response to Senator Menendez' questions, that any final solution must involve the people of Nagorno Karabakh. In fact, Bryza specifically stated that: "it's impossible to reach a mutually agreed settlement that includes the views of the people who are the subject of the settlement, the residents of Nagorno Karabakh, if their views are not taken into account."
In Bryza's prepared statement, he indicated:
I also look forward, if confirmed, to helping advance a peaceful Nagorno Karabakh settlement. There can be no military solution to this long-standing conflict; rather, negotiation and dialogue hold the key to resolving this issue and bringing peace and stability to the Caucasus region. I am proud of the vibrant partnership my Russian and French counterparts and I developed as Co-Chairs of the OSCE's Minsk Group and the work we did together to try and bring Azerbaijan and Armenia closer to a negotiated solution based on the principles contained in the Helsinki Final Act, specifically those related to refraining from the threat or use of force, the territorial integrity of States, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
"The opportunity to attend today's hearing will be one that I remember for years to come. The questions raised with respect to nominee Bryza were on point. I only wish that the Senators had more time to ask questions, including what if any role British Petroleum has played in enabling the rapid build up of Azerbaijan's military," stated Assembly summer intern Adrian Stepanian.
In concluding the hearing, Senator Shaheen indicated that she looked forward to a "speedy confirmation" and having the Committee work with each of the nominees in their future posts.
#13
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 04 October 2010 - 12:31 AM
Obama’s Nominee for Azerbaijan Ambassadorship Misleads Congress on the Issues of Conflict of Interest & Questionable Ties
http://www.boilingfr...ve-to-perjurer/
In response to questions at the hearing that he was too close to Azerbaijani Government officials with highly questionable ties, Matt Bryza remained evasive and provided half-answer responses while denying any special ties or conflicts of interest due to his controversial and scandalous Neocon wife, Zeyno Baran. After the hearing Bryza submitted even more evasive and incomplete answers to a series of questions submitted separately by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Particularly on one significant issue related to his questionable ties and conflict of interest related to his wife’s intimate relationship and position, Bryza may have actually perjured himself.
During his confirmation hearings Bryza tried very hard to assure Congress that there were no reasons whatsoever to worry about conflict of interest(s) based on his marriage to Zeyno Baran, and that she had given up all positions and involvements related to Azerbaijan. At the hearing, he said that his marriage would present no conflict of interest, and that a thorough State Department vetting of his finances found nothing untoward. He said Baran would not influence his positions as ambassador, and that any common positions they held were the result of kindred spirits.
In all this, Bryza conveniently forgot to report or even mention his wife’s official position as a member of the editorial board of an Azerbaijani government institution, the journal Azerbaijan Focus: Journal of International Affairs. And guess what, according to its website, Azerbaijan Focus “is a publication of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
Now, how could Bryza forget this mammoth conflict of interest, and do so despite being put under the direct spotlight with even more direct questions on this specific topic regarding his controversial bride?! Guess who happen to be Zeyno Baran’s colleagues at this position?
But wait, there is more! In addition to serving on a board of an Azerbaijani government institution, there is this not so insignificant question on funding of Mrs. Bryza’s employer, the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute. Mr. Bryza has stated, many times, on the record, that his bride has been on leave without pay from the Hudson Institute since June 1, 2009. However, there are numerous instances where Ms.Baran has been listed as an active employee of the Hudson Institute since that date, including as recently as August 2010.
As for funding of Mrs. Bryza’s employer? Well, no one seems to know, and those who really want to know have been blocked from finding out. The infamous Hudson Institute is pretty well-known for its tight-lipped policies on the sources of its funding. To this date, despite inquiries, they have not responded to questions regarding funding from Azerbaijani businesses or foundations or corporations with an interest in Azerbaijan. However we know this much:-In 2007, the Hudson Institution’s Center for Eurasian Policy, hosted a conference, titled “The Azerbaijan- Turkey- US Relationship and its Importance for Eurasia.”
http://www.boilingfr...ve-to-perjurer/
In response to questions at the hearing that he was too close to Azerbaijani Government officials with highly questionable ties, Matt Bryza remained evasive and provided half-answer responses while denying any special ties or conflicts of interest due to his controversial and scandalous Neocon wife, Zeyno Baran. After the hearing Bryza submitted even more evasive and incomplete answers to a series of questions submitted separately by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Particularly on one significant issue related to his questionable ties and conflict of interest related to his wife’s intimate relationship and position, Bryza may have actually perjured himself.
During his confirmation hearings Bryza tried very hard to assure Congress that there were no reasons whatsoever to worry about conflict of interest(s) based on his marriage to Zeyno Baran, and that she had given up all positions and involvements related to Azerbaijan. At the hearing, he said that his marriage would present no conflict of interest, and that a thorough State Department vetting of his finances found nothing untoward. He said Baran would not influence his positions as ambassador, and that any common positions they held were the result of kindred spirits.
In all this, Bryza conveniently forgot to report or even mention his wife’s official position as a member of the editorial board of an Azerbaijani government institution, the journal Azerbaijan Focus: Journal of International Affairs. And guess what, according to its website, Azerbaijan Focus “is a publication of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
Now, how could Bryza forget this mammoth conflict of interest, and do so despite being put under the direct spotlight with even more direct questions on this specific topic regarding his controversial bride?! Guess who happen to be Zeyno Baran’s colleagues at this position?
Ms. Baran serves on the editorial board along with several Azerbaijani government officials including Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Chairman of the Editorial Board Ramiz Mehdiyev, Head of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Hafiz *****yev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
But wait, there is more! In addition to serving on a board of an Azerbaijani government institution, there is this not so insignificant question on funding of Mrs. Bryza’s employer, the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute. Mr. Bryza has stated, many times, on the record, that his bride has been on leave without pay from the Hudson Institute since June 1, 2009. However, there are numerous instances where Ms.Baran has been listed as an active employee of the Hudson Institute since that date, including as recently as August 2010.
As for funding of Mrs. Bryza’s employer? Well, no one seems to know, and those who really want to know have been blocked from finding out. The infamous Hudson Institute is pretty well-known for its tight-lipped policies on the sources of its funding. To this date, despite inquiries, they have not responded to questions regarding funding from Azerbaijani businesses or foundations or corporations with an interest in Azerbaijan. However we know this much:-In 2007, the Hudson Institution’s Center for Eurasian Policy, hosted a conference, titled “The Azerbaijan- Turkey- US Relationship and its Importance for Eurasia.” -According to their own published “Event Summary and Conclusions,” this event was financed by a foreign entity, the “Azerbaijan-Turkey Business Association,” with direct financial interests in Turkey and Azerbaijan.
-The majority of speakers at this conference, held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, were officials from the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments.
#14
Aratta-Kingdom
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Posted 04 October 2010 - 12:35 AM
http://www.boilingfr...d-neocon-larva/
Matthew Bryza: Azerbaijan Ambassadorship & a Tangled Web of Conflicts
President Obama appears to have run out of Non-Neocon candidates to appoint for crucial positions. After one year with no ambassador to fill the position in Azerbaijan, the President reached out to and appointed a young neocon with a tangled web of conflicts. I am talking about a neocon and his wife, a duo who for the last decade and a half have been attached to figures such as Michael Rubin, Barry Rubin, Daniel Pipes, Richard Perle, Robert Novak…We have here a fairly young to-be-ambassador neocon, whose lavish wedding in Turkey could not have been possible without the generosity of those involved in the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline projects, and corrupt figureheads in Azerbaijan politics…This is about a shady neocon figure with a shadier role in the almost-forgotten Georgia-Russia incident a couple of years ago…We are talking about neocon Matt Bryza and his more-of-a-neocon think-tank damsel Zeyno Baran; President Obama’s choice for the ambassadorship in Azerbaijan.
Last Thursday Mr. Bryza was on the defensive when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. While the general MSM coverage placed its main focus on Bryza’s questionable actions, actually lack of actions, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts and incidents involving the desecration of ancient Armenian gravesites in the town of Julfa in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan, very little coverage was given to his even greater baggage and background. Here is one of those cursory coverages I’m talking about:
So who is this quietly conceived hatched Neocon Larva, Matt Bryza?
As before I am going to start with the common pedigree chosen by our shallow MSM journalist friends and the like; the type that doesn’t raise many (if any) flags, at first glance:
Matthew J. Bryza is a diplomat who became Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in June 2005. Two months ago President Obama appointed him as the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Here is a canned description of his job as a ‘diplomat’:
Let’s start with the key person leading to Bryza’s acceptance and entry as a larva into the nest of the major neocon players, and his speedy ascent thereafter:
Richard Morningstar & His Closeted Neocon Status
From Morningstar’s commonly cited pedigree sheet we know that he and Bryza collected degrees from Stanford University, which later led to their mentor-protégé relationship. In 1997 Bryza became special advisor to Ambassador Richard Morningstar, coordinating U.S. Government assistance programs on economic reform in the Caucasus and Central Asia during 1997-1998. Digging a little bit more:
In 1998 Bryza was Morningstar’s chief lieutenant in managing U.S. Caspian Sea energy interests as Deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, where he remained until March of 2001, and he worked on developing what are now U.S. and Western plans to circumvent Russia and Iran and achieve dominance over the delivery of energy supplies to Europe.
Interestingly, last year, one year before Obama appointed Bryza as an Ambassador to Azerbaijan, on April 20, 2009, Morningstar was appointed to the role of supporting U.S. energy goals in the Eurasian region. Morningstar was special advisor to the Clinton administration on Caspian energy; time to reunite the old mentor and his protégé for the next attempt on the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline.
Morningstar’s status as one of the power player neocons has been long closeted.. During the 90s he was working with and serving one of the main agendas of Neocon players such as Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, Frank Gaffney, Paul Wolfowitz …People tend to pay attention only to the top 25 signatories and contributors of Project for the New American Century-PNAC. Yes, that infamous list also includes the Neocons shining star for Central Asia & the Caucasus, Mr. Richard L. Morningstar.
Conn Halinan’s counterpunch article in 2004 aptly highlights an important fact when it comes to the Haliburtons, Perles and Wumsers and their Project for the New American Century (PNAC) as it relates to Central Asia:
Morningstar is also known as one of those who take their allegiances to Israel above anything else. You may remember the questions surrounding Douglas Feith’s and Rahm Emanuel’s Israel citizenship status. I haven’t seen anyone questioning Mr. Morningstar’s status in Israel; at least not on the record, but Morningstar and his family are known as staunch supporters of Israel with close ties over there. Morningstar’s mother’s, the late Jane Morningstar, obituary in the Boston Globe provides only a little initial glimpse; others with far deeper knowledge of Morningstar’s real Israel connections would currently rather whisper…Time may raise the volume on these closeted facts, or may not.
The latest articles regarding Matt Bryza’s connection to the Neocons are limited to his connection through his wife, Zeyno Baran. Either intentional censorship or ignorance glosses over his close neocon ties which started long before his marriage, going back to his early years under his mentor Morningstar, and accelerating steadily, assisting his speedy career ascent. Just check out his event calendar to see how his name pairs up with tneocon brand names when it comes to functions, speeches, think-tank gatherings…
Matt Bryza & His Neocon Damsel
In 2007 Matt Bryza married Zeyno Baran, a Turkish-American neocon who’s been working for the Hudson Institute and before that for the Nixon Center. Here are a few of her titles and areas of expertise highly valued and marketed by her current neocon mentors and bosses such as Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Conrad Black, Abram Shulsky…: Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy, Director of International Security and Energy Programs, Director of the Caucasus Project.
Baran and her colleagues and mentors are closely associated with the Turkish Ultra-Nationalist (Ulusalcis) movement and figures, including the military figures involved in the Ergenekon scandal:
In 2007, after several years of a personal and close work relationship, Matt Bryza and Zeyno Baran were married in Turkey. The ultra lavish wedding and its highly interesting list of 400 plus guests made the front-page of many Turkish newspapers and magazines, but that publicity was nothing compared to the subsequent media coverage, and of course, the cost to two brave Azerbaijani journalists who exposed the ‘real financiers’ of Bryza-Baran’s lavish wedding and it’s true implications. Let’s start with the ‘highly costly’ wedding, the ‘special guests,’ the exposed financiers, and those who tried to expose them. Here is a snapshot of the costly wedding:
The location: In one of the most expensive club houses in Istanbul. To rent the space Bryza-Baran were given a ‘special’ discount by a ‘very special’ Turkish mafia connected friend (the infamous owner of the Galatasaray Soccer Team); Instead of $80K the rent was reduced to around $35K.
Number of Guests: around 450; many power-players from the Caspian energy field, including political figureheads from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Georgia, and of course the USA.
Wedding Security: 250 policemen were hired and put in place for protection; several K-9 police dogs were brought in for search purposes. In addition to all this Bryza-Baran hired 20 additional private bodyguards.
The Groom’s Best Men & Witnesses: One of the three best men and witnesses for Matt Bryza was none other than Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The Designer Gown & Suit: The couple purchased their gown & tuxedo from the famous designer Vakko; the total cost for this is said to be over $10K
The famous quote of the wedding: This couplehood was formed by the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Project- – - Turkish Energy Minister, Hilmi Guler.
This is just a snapshot of the ultra lavish wedding, which nearly 300 state and private security personnel were hired to serve. The estimated cost for Mr. Bryza’s lavish story-book wedding in Turkey ranges from $150,000 to $250,000. Customarily this amount would have been paid by the bride’s parents. However, neither Mrs. Baran-Bryza’s mother, father, or step-father could or would dish out this amount. Of course, a bill in this amount paid by Matt Bryza would have raised way too many eyebrows here in the US. So what happened? Who did finance this wedding extravaganza?
Be careful. Be very careful. Because when two journalists tried to answer these same questions they ended up being attacked, beaten up, stabbed, arrested, tortured…and one of them had to escape the country. That’s right. In Turkey, between Bryza-Baran’s rouge powerful general friends and of even more powerful mafia babas, they made sure no journalist dared venture into these questions. Here in the United States no real bodily force or threat was necessary, since the State Department’s stenographers in the MSM censored the entire episode. However, in Azerbaijan two brave journalists dared, and this is what happened to them:
Don’t wait for any new developments to reach here from Azerbaijan: With one of the journalists sitting in jail, the other one hiding in fear somewhere in France (where Turkish ultra-nationalist operators have quite a reach), and of course, the rest of the journalist community getting the message loud and clear, thus not willing to touch upon the scandal…well, it won’t happen. How about here in the US? Not a single reporter is going to follow up on this massive scandal and it’s far reaching implications. When it comes to State Department operatives: ‘can’t touch this.’
Matt Bryza: Highly Criticized Role in Russia-Georgia Conflict
Let me first provide a little bit of background on Bryza’s role in the region, especially in Georgia and Azerbaijan:
In August 1997 Matthew Bryza caused yet another major scandal for the US government when he hit and seriously injured a pedestrian while driving under highly questionable circumstances:
We all know what close ties Bryza developed with the corrupt ruling elites, including the Aliyev clan! So is there any wonder how those two brave journalists who exposed the ‘real financing’ of Bryza’s wedding ended up beaten up by elite hired guns, and later tortured and jailed? Hmmmm.
I could triple this article’s length to cover the Father & Son Aliyevs, the Kingdom we’ve groomed and planted in Azerbaijan, the nation we’ve helped turn into one of the top 30 corrupt countries in the world, the embezzlement and corruption cases we’ve helped create there… and, I will; it will be another lengthy piece similar to those on Kyrgyzstan’s Bakiyev Clan, Pakistan’s Bhutto-Zardari Duo, and Turkey’s Ciller. Needless to say, the cozy ties between Bryza and corrupt Azeri officials, the ‘contributions’ he’s been receiving from them – including making his lavish wedding dreams come true, his ‘pure luck’ in getting the Azeri journalists…certainly come together nicely, forming a picture that makes complete sense!
………………………………………………………………………………
Bryza testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 22. His grilling, while not comprehensive and tough enough, rattled him enough to come across as unconvincing:
We have another month or so before Bryza appears before the Congress again, and hopefully much more will come to light between now and then. By this I mean mainly the ‘foreign press’;-) But the real issue here is this newly hatched Neocon’s nomination by the current President in the first place. Is President Obama that keen and committed to keeping and or bringing back known neocons? Is it that this President is unable to find any clean non-Neocon candidates for strategically very important positions like this? Is this President (and his advisors) simply too ignorant to disregard tons of alarming, improper, eye-brow raising, embarrassing …background and current facts about the candidate he nominated for this ambassadorship?!
Matthew Bryza: Azerbaijan Ambassadorship & a Tangled Web of Conflicts
President Obama appears to have run out of Non-Neocon candidates to appoint for crucial positions. After one year with no ambassador to fill the position in Azerbaijan, the President reached out to and appointed a young neocon with a tangled web of conflicts. I am talking about a neocon and his wife, a duo who for the last decade and a half have been attached to figures such as Michael Rubin, Barry Rubin, Daniel Pipes, Richard Perle, Robert Novak…We have here a fairly young to-be-ambassador neocon, whose lavish wedding in Turkey could not have been possible without the generosity of those involved in the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline projects, and corrupt figureheads in Azerbaijan politics…This is about a shady neocon figure with a shadier role in the almost-forgotten Georgia-Russia incident a couple of years ago…We are talking about neocon Matt Bryza and his more-of-a-neocon think-tank damsel Zeyno Baran; President Obama’s choice for the ambassadorship in Azerbaijan.
Last Thursday Mr. Bryza was on the defensive when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. While the general MSM coverage placed its main focus on Bryza’s questionable actions, actually lack of actions, on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflicts and incidents involving the desecration of ancient Armenian gravesites in the town of Julfa in the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxcivan, very little coverage was given to his even greater baggage and background. Here is one of those cursory coverages I’m talking about:
Bryza also pledged to not let his personal life affect his work. His wife, Zeyno Baran, is of Turkish origin, which some Armenian critics say leads to an anti-Armenian bias. Baran, who was present at the hearing, has also been cited as a source of potential conflict of interest for Bryza in terms of energy politics. She works for the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think-tank which receives funding from ExxonMobile and other energy companies. Azerbaijan is a key “southern corridor” country for planned increases in gas shipment from the Caspian region to Europe.
…
So who is this quietly conceived hatched Neocon Larva, Matt Bryza?
As before I am going to start with the common pedigree chosen by our shallow MSM journalist friends and the like; the type that doesn’t raise many (if any) flags, at first glance:
Matthew J. Bryza is a diplomat who became Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in June 2005. Two months ago President Obama appointed him as the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Here is a canned description of his job as a ‘diplomat’:
In this capacity, he is responsible for policy oversight and management of U.S. relations with countries in the Caucasus and Southern Europe. He also leads U.S. efforts to advance peaceful settlements of the separatist conflicts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and works with the Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts to advance a settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Additionally, Bryza coordinates U.S. energy policy in the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas. He also works with European countries on issues of tolerance, social integration, and Islam.
In April 2001, Bryza joined the National Security Council as Director for Europe and Eurasia, with responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy on Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Caspian energy.
Bryza served as the deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy from July 1998 to March 2001. In this capacity, Bryza coordinated the U.S. Government’s inter-agency effort to develop a network of oil and gas pipelines in the Caspian region.During 1997-1998, Bryza was special advisor to Ambassador Richard Morningstar, coordinating U.S. Government assistance programs on economic reform in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Bryza served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during 1995-1997, first as special assistant to Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, then as a political officer covering the Russian Duma, the Communist Party, and the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
He worked on European and Russian affairs at the State Department during 1991-1995.Bryza served in Poland in 1989-1991 at the U.S. Consulate in Poznań and the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, where he covered the Solidarity movement, reform of Poland’s security services, and regional politics.
Caucasus, Central Asia, Eurasia, Caspian Sea, Turkey, Russia, Dagestan, Georgia…
Caspian Basin, Caspian Energy, Energy Diplomacy, Islam, Oil & Gas Pipelines…
Let’s start with the key person leading to Bryza’s acceptance and entry as a larva into the nest of the major neocon players, and his speedy ascent thereafter:
Richard Morningstar & His Closeted Neocon Status
From Morningstar’s commonly cited pedigree sheet we know that he and Bryza collected degrees from Stanford University, which later led to their mentor-protégé relationship. In 1997 Bryza became special advisor to Ambassador Richard Morningstar, coordinating U.S. Government assistance programs on economic reform in the Caucasus and Central Asia during 1997-1998. Digging a little bit more:
In 1998 Bryza was Morningstar’s chief lieutenant in managing U.S. Caspian Sea energy interests as Deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, where he remained until March of 2001, and he worked on developing what are now U.S. and Western plans to circumvent Russia and Iran and achieve dominance over the delivery of energy supplies to Europe.
Interestingly, last year, one year before Obama appointed Bryza as an Ambassador to Azerbaijan, on April 20, 2009, Morningstar was appointed to the role of supporting U.S. energy goals in the Eurasian region. Morningstar was special advisor to the Clinton administration on Caspian energy; time to reunite the old mentor and his protégé for the next attempt on the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline.
Morningstar’s status as one of the power player neocons has been long closeted.. During the 90s he was working with and serving one of the main agendas of Neocon players such as Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, Frank Gaffney, Paul Wolfowitz …People tend to pay attention only to the top 25 signatories and contributors of Project for the New American Century-PNAC. Yes, that infamous list also includes the Neocons shining star for Central Asia & the Caucasus, Mr. Richard L. Morningstar.
Conn Halinan’s counterpunch article in 2004 aptly highlights an important fact when it comes to the Haliburtons, Perles and Wumsers and their Project for the New American Century (PNAC) as it relates to Central Asia:
The recent move of oil companies and the U.S. military into Central Asia is a case in point. It was President Bill Clinton, not George W. Bush, who crafted that strategy. It was not the Republicans who brought Halliburton and Cheney into the Caspian region, but Clinton advisor Richard Morningstar, now a John Kerry point man.
Morningstar is also known as one of those who take their allegiances to Israel above anything else. You may remember the questions surrounding Douglas Feith’s and Rahm Emanuel’s Israel citizenship status. I haven’t seen anyone questioning Mr. Morningstar’s status in Israel; at least not on the record, but Morningstar and his family are known as staunch supporters of Israel with close ties over there. Morningstar’s mother’s, the late Jane Morningstar, obituary in the Boston Globe provides only a little initial glimpse; others with far deeper knowledge of Morningstar’s real Israel connections would currently rather whisper…Time may raise the volume on these closeted facts, or may not.
The latest articles regarding Matt Bryza’s connection to the Neocons are limited to his connection through his wife, Zeyno Baran. Either intentional censorship or ignorance glosses over his close neocon ties which started long before his marriage, going back to his early years under his mentor Morningstar, and accelerating steadily, assisting his speedy career ascent. Just check out his event calendar to see how his name pairs up with tneocon brand names when it comes to functions, speeches, think-tank gatherings…
Matt Bryza & His Neocon Damsel
In 2007 Matt Bryza married Zeyno Baran, a Turkish-American neocon who’s been working for the Hudson Institute and before that for the Nixon Center. Here are a few of her titles and areas of expertise highly valued and marketed by her current neocon mentors and bosses such as Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Conrad Black, Abram Shulsky…: Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy, Director of International Security and Energy Programs, Director of the Caucasus Project.
Baran and her colleagues and mentors are closely associated with the Turkish Ultra-Nationalist (Ulusalcis) movement and figures, including the military figures involved in the Ergenekon scandal:
The think tanks actively engaging the Turkish Ulusalcıs are AEI, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Hudson Institute. The institutional relations between the American neo-cons and the Turkish Ulusalcıs are run by the office of Dick Cheney, Richard Perle of AEI and Zeyno Baran of the Hudson Institute on the American side and, on the other side, by Mustafa Süzer, former owner of Kentbank and a close associate of Perle, and İlhan Selçuk, “big brother” of Cumhuriyet. Süzer’s meetings with Dick Cheney were disclosed in the Turkish press and never denied by either side. Selçuk is also reported to have spoken with Cheney’s advisors and established a back-channel with the US vice president’s office through Elçin Poyrazlar, the Washington representative for Cumhuriyet. Writing in the Yeni Şafak daily, Taha Kıvanç claimed that this back-channel had already been established before the American occupation of Iraq and that Selçuk had promised the Americans Turkey’s support in return for American neo-con support for the Turkish Ulusalcıs to come to power in Ankara.
…
It was also claimed that State Department diplomat Matthew Bryza, long-time boyfriend and, more recently, husband of Zeyno Baran, was the person who wrote the declaration read by Fried that gave the Turkish military the “green light” by saying that the Americans were not on any side of the discussion. The extent to which Bryza was influenced by his wife is not known, but the similarities in their rhetoric against the AK Party are striking. Baran, who was already a controversial figure due to her involvement in the infamous Hudson Institute meeting, her article in Newsweek that predicted a military coup in 2007 and her involvement with the colored revolutions in Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Ukraine…
…
In 2007, after several years of a personal and close work relationship, Matt Bryza and Zeyno Baran were married in Turkey. The ultra lavish wedding and its highly interesting list of 400 plus guests made the front-page of many Turkish newspapers and magazines, but that publicity was nothing compared to the subsequent media coverage, and of course, the cost to two brave Azerbaijani journalists who exposed the ‘real financiers’ of Bryza-Baran’s lavish wedding and it’s true implications. Let’s start with the ‘highly costly’ wedding, the ‘special guests,’ the exposed financiers, and those who tried to expose them. Here is a snapshot of the costly wedding:
The location: In one of the most expensive club houses in Istanbul. To rent the space Bryza-Baran were given a ‘special’ discount by a ‘very special’ Turkish mafia connected friend (the infamous owner of the Galatasaray Soccer Team); Instead of $80K the rent was reduced to around $35K.
Number of Guests: around 450; many power-players from the Caspian energy field, including political figureheads from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Georgia, and of course the USA.
Wedding Security: 250 policemen were hired and put in place for protection; several K-9 police dogs were brought in for search purposes. In addition to all this Bryza-Baran hired 20 additional private bodyguards.
The Groom’s Best Men & Witnesses: One of the three best men and witnesses for Matt Bryza was none other than Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The Designer Gown & Suit: The couple purchased their gown & tuxedo from the famous designer Vakko; the total cost for this is said to be over $10K
The famous quote of the wedding: This couplehood was formed by the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Project- – - Turkish Energy Minister, Hilmi Guler.
This is just a snapshot of the ultra lavish wedding, which nearly 300 state and private security personnel were hired to serve. The estimated cost for Mr. Bryza’s lavish story-book wedding in Turkey ranges from $150,000 to $250,000. Customarily this amount would have been paid by the bride’s parents. However, neither Mrs. Baran-Bryza’s mother, father, or step-father could or would dish out this amount. Of course, a bill in this amount paid by Matt Bryza would have raised way too many eyebrows here in the US. So what happened? Who did finance this wedding extravaganza?
Be careful. Be very careful. Because when two journalists tried to answer these same questions they ended up being attacked, beaten up, stabbed, arrested, tortured…and one of them had to escape the country. That’s right. In Turkey, between Bryza-Baran’s rouge powerful general friends and of even more powerful mafia babas, they made sure no journalist dared venture into these questions. Here in the United States no real bodily force or threat was necessary, since the State Department’s stenographers in the MSM censored the entire episode. However, in Azerbaijan two brave journalists dared, and this is what happened to them:
Did a high-level Azeri official pay for Matthew Bryza’s 2007 wedding to Turkish author Zayna Baran? A swift crackdown on two journalists who reported at the time that the wedding ceremony for President Obama’s current nominee for the US ambassadorship to Baku was funded by Azerbaijan’s Economic Development minister suggests some misconduct.
In 2007, the editor of opposition newspaper Azatliq, Genimet Zahid and correspondent Adil Khalil were sued over an article entitled “Azerbaijanis Paid for Matthew Bryza’s Wedding.” The article alleges that Azeri Economic Development minister Haydar Babayev paid for a significant portion of Bryza’s wedding, which took place in Istanbul the same year. At the time, Bryza was the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, the body tasked with mediating a peace deal for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
…
During the appellate process, both of which were ruled in favor of the minister, Khalil was severely beaten and stabbed. Reportedly he fled to France. Meanwhile, Zahid was sentenced to four years in jail on a separate charge of “hooliganism.”Zahid’s lawyers last fall appealed to the International Court of Human Rights, arguing that charges against their client was a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of expression. The appeal to the court also charges that the journalists were not granted a fair trial.
The swift action by Minister Babayev signals that the Azadliq article had merit. The editor’s unwillingness to retract, coupled with the swift court rulings and the subsequent attacks on the journalists, suggest that there was more to Bryza’s Istanbul nuptials than a mere wedding ceremony.
…
Don’t wait for any new developments to reach here from Azerbaijan: With one of the journalists sitting in jail, the other one hiding in fear somewhere in France (where Turkish ultra-nationalist operators have quite a reach), and of course, the rest of the journalist community getting the message loud and clear, thus not willing to touch upon the scandal…well, it won’t happen. How about here in the US? Not a single reporter is going to follow up on this massive scandal and it’s far reaching implications. When it comes to State Department operatives: ‘can’t touch this.’
Matt Bryza: Highly Criticized Role in Russia-Georgia Conflict
Let me first provide a little bit of background on Bryza’s role in the region, especially in Georgia and Azerbaijan:
During his four-year stint as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs he has focused on the South Caucasus, and during that period Georgia’s war budget has ballooned from $30 million a year when U.S.-educated Mikheil Saakashvili took power after the nation’s “Rose Revolution” in 2004 to $1 billion last year, a more than thirty fold increase. In the same year, 2008, Azerbaijan’s military spending had grown from $163 million the preceding year to $1,850,000,000, more than a 1000% increase. Much of the money expended for both unprecedented build-ups came from revenues derived from oil sales and transit fees connected with the BTC pipeline Bryza was instrumental in setting up.
…
Regarding neighboring Georgia, a German press report on the second day of last August’s war between that nation and Russia stated that “US Special Forces troops, and later US Marines replacing them, have for the last half decade been systematically training selected Georgian units to NATO standards” and “First-line Georgian soldiers wear NATO uniforms, kevlar helmets and body armour matching US issue, and carry the US-manufactured M-16 automatic rifle….” On the first day of the war the Chairman of the Russia’s State Duma Security Committee, Vladimir Vasilyev, denounced the fact that the Georgian President Saakashvili “undertook consistent steps to increase [Georgia's] military budget from $US 30 million to $US 1 billion – Georgia was preparing for a military action.”
An Armenian news source the same day detailed that “Most of Georgia’s officers were trained in the U.S. or Turkey. The country’s military expenses increased by 30 times during past four years, making up 9-10 per cent of the GDP. The defense budget has reached $1 billion.”U.S. military grants to Georgia total $40.6 million. NATO member states, including Turkey and Bulgaria, supplied Georgia with 175 tanks, 126 armored carriers, 67 artillery pieces, 4 warplanes, 12 helicopters, 8 ships and boats. 100 armored carriers, 14 jets (including 4 Mirazh-2000) fighters, 15 Black Hawk helicopters and 10 various ships are expected to be conveyed soon.”
…
Bryza’s assistance to the Saakashvili government has also extended to backing it in its armed conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which in the second case escalated into all-out war a year ago.
…
When Russian tanks rolled out of South Ossetia and into Georgia proper Monday, triggering fears of a full-scale invasion, a man began furiously shoving U.S. diplomat Matthew J. Bryza around the lobby of the Marriott Tbilisi, the capital’s fanciest hotel. “It’s your fault too,” shouted Georgy Khaindrava, a former Georgian minister for conflict resolution. “If you hadn’t propped up Misha Magariya [Misha the strong], we wouldn’t have tanks here now,” he said, referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
…
The affable Mr. Bryza has developed a reputation as a hard-liner on Russia’s actions towards the former states of the Soviet Union and a staunch defender of both Georgia and the 40-year-old Mr. Saakashvili, with whom he has a close personal relationship.Critics say that has complicated the U.S.-Georgian relationship, possibly diluting State Department warnings to Tbilisi against engaging in a military confrontation with Russia. Some say there were signs for months that Russia was laying a trap for Mr. Saakashvili.
…
So let’s take a look at what Scheuneman was actually doing in that role — which helped earn his firm nearly $900,000 since 2004. Lobbying for a foreign government is a vaguely defined task that involves cultivating contacts, trying to shape perception and influence key decisions. For Georgia, the goal was clear — to get on track for NATO membership and secure western backing against Russian influence and aggression. Schuenemann’s dual role of paid foreign agent (as recently as March) and key adviser to a presidential candidate is unusual, especially since McCain has not indicated that Scheunemann will recuse himself from Georgia issues.
…
As a paid foreign agent, Scheunemann and his lobbying firm, Orion Strategies, filed disclosure reports with the Department of Justice, which offer some insight into the process of exercising influence in Washington. Scheunemann spent a lot of time working the phones, talking to key Bush Administration officials about Georgia’s efforts to join NATO. He often spoke to Ambassador John Tefft who heads the U.S. embassy in Georgia, as well as Dan Fried and Matt Bryza at the State Department…
…
People filed into the Boris Paichadze National Stadium from all over Tbilisi. Unlike the sour grapes that had been standing on Rustavli Avenue for the past month, these people were smiling and light-hearted, at first. One man in his 50s walked by and gave me the wooden eye treatment, stopped, deliberated for a moment, came back and let me have it.“Where are you from?”
“America.”
“Bandits,” he said. “A nation of criminals. Bryza has support of only two percent, two percent of the people. He’s a faggot and a liar. And Saakashvili, the faggot; he’s got to go.”
It was the first time I had heard Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Bryza’s name mentioned on the streets of Tbilisi and had no idea what 2 % the gentleman was talking about.
…
Back in 2005, Shalva said Bryza’s biased reporting on Georgia and support of the Saakashvili administration undermined both the promotion of democracy in the region and ties between the U.S. and Georgia. He called on the US State dept. to sack him. When he failed to get a visa to Great Britian in February this year, he said UK Ambassador Denis Keefe had conspired against him with Saakashvili, and also demanded Keefe’s dismissal.
…
In August 1997 Matthew Bryza caused yet another major scandal for the US government when he hit and seriously injured a pedestrian while driving under highly questionable circumstances:
The U.S. State Department on 20 August announced plans to recall Matthew Bryza, a second secretary of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, who two days earlier had been driving a car that hit and critically injured a Moscow pedestrian. Nesterushkin said the criminal case against Bryza will remain open as police continue investigating the accident. Bryza cannot be prosecuted unless the U.S. lifts his immunity. In February, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze lifted the immunity of a Georgian diplomat who caused a car accident in Washington that killed one woman. That diplomat is currently in pre-trial detention in the U.S.
…
A U.S. diplomat has seriously injured a woman in a car accident in Moscow, the City Law Enforcement Department told Interfax Tuesday. The car, an Isuzu Trooper driven by Second Secretary of the U.S. Embassy Matthew Bryza, 33, hit an unidentified woman near house 13 Ul. Panferova, the Southwestern precinct, at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time Monday, police have reported. The woman, about 30 years old, was taken to hospital with a serious head injury. She is in a coma.
…
On Thursday, Matthew Bryza will face a Senate panel to begin the confirmation process for his nomination as US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Will senators question Bryza for his role in a 1997 car accident, which left a woman in a coma? Or, will Bryza avoid responsibility?
The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other press sources at the time reported that on August 18, 1997, Bryza hit a woman, who was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries. The US response to this incident was to recall Bryza back to the States and express “regret” for the victim. James Rubin, the official spokesman for the State Department at the time said that the decision to recall Bryza from Moscow was made in connection with the fact that the diplomat “is no longer able to work efficiently in Moscow because of this incident.”
…
At the time of the incident, none other than Richard Hoagland, a press spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow at the time had this to say about Bryza: “I also want to say something about Matt Bryza who comes across in the press reports about this incident as all but a monster. Matt was one of the brightest, most polite, most promising young diplomats at the American Embassy in Moscow. While we have to have compassion for the woman who was injured in this accident, I think it’s important we have compassion for Matt, too, who has suffered the double trauma of having been involved in a traffic accident and of having had his diplomatic career in Moscow abruptly yanked out from under him.”
Hoagland was President George W. Bush’s nominee for the US ambassadorial post in Armenia. His nomination was blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, due to Hoagland’s continued insistence to deny the Armenian Genocide. Bush subsequently pulled Hoagland’s nomination.
Bryza was then appointed to be the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group and developed close ties with Azeri elite in Baku. News of a high-ranking Azeri minister allegedly paying for Bryza’s wedding to Turkish scholar Zeyno Baran was reported by the Azeri press, after which the editor and reporter of the newspaper were jailed and attacked.
…
We all know what close ties Bryza developed with the corrupt ruling elites, including the Aliyev clan! So is there any wonder how those two brave journalists who exposed the ‘real financing’ of Bryza’s wedding ended up beaten up by elite hired guns, and later tortured and jailed? Hmmmm.
I could triple this article’s length to cover the Father & Son Aliyevs, the Kingdom we’ve groomed and planted in Azerbaijan, the nation we’ve helped turn into one of the top 30 corrupt countries in the world, the embezzlement and corruption cases we’ve helped create there… and, I will; it will be another lengthy piece similar to those on Kyrgyzstan’s Bakiyev Clan, Pakistan’s Bhutto-Zardari Duo, and Turkey’s Ciller. Needless to say, the cozy ties between Bryza and corrupt Azeri officials, the ‘contributions’ he’s been receiving from them – including making his lavish wedding dreams come true, his ‘pure luck’ in getting the Azeri journalists…certainly come together nicely, forming a picture that makes complete sense!
………………………………………………………………………………
Bryza testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 22. His grilling, while not comprehensive and tough enough, rattled him enough to come across as unconvincing:
Citing Congressional Research Service (CRS), Sen. Boxer also asked why U.S. aid programs in Karabakh were limited to an average of $2 million a year, even though Congress allocated about $8 million annually.Bryza confirmed lower than allocated spending but did not explain it. Instead he said that he supported disbursal of all allocated funds, noting that they have gone for de-mining, housing, schools and water supply projects. In response to the senator’s request, Bryza promised a detailed report on the aid program.
…
Speaking in references to his comments on territorial integrity, Bryza claimed that he was only following the policy language used by Vice President Richard Cheney in September 2008. (In fact, Bryza first made similar comments in August, shortly after the Georgia war and before Cheney.)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who chaired the hearing, referred to The Washington Times report that cited close ties between Bryza and senior Azerbaijani officials and allegations of potential conflict of interest. She also raised the issue of Azerbaijani regime’s crackdown on its opponents.Bryza responded that his finances have been thoroughly investigated as part of the nomination process and no improprieties were found. He also denied an Azerbaijani media report that claimed that his wedding expenses were covered by Azerbaijani officials. (Azerbaijani journalist who originally made the claim was subsequently violently assaulted and has since fled abroad.)
We have another month or so before Bryza appears before the Congress again, and hopefully much more will come to light between now and then. By this I mean mainly the ‘foreign press’;-) But the real issue here is this newly hatched Neocon’s nomination by the current President in the first place. Is President Obama that keen and committed to keeping and or bringing back known neocons? Is it that this President is unable to find any clean non-Neocon candidates for strategically very important positions like this? Is this President (and his advisors) simply too ignorant to disregard tons of alarming, improper, eye-brow raising, embarrassing …background and current facts about the candidate he nominated for this ambassadorship?!
#15
Aratta-Kingdom
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- Members
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- 3,234 posts
www.ArmaniKingdom.com
Posted 07 October 2010 - 07:21 AM
Obama Can Now Replace Bryza With a New Nominee as Envoy to Baku
AsbarezOnline
by Harout Sassounian
A funny thing happened to Matthew Bryza on the way to Baku! He had rented out his Washington home and packed up his suitcase, after being assured by top White House and State Department officials that he was going to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. He could already smell the oil and gas in the air! In his excitement, Bryza seemed to have forgotten that his irresponsible statements and actions, during his stunt as U.S. negotiator on the Karabagh (Artsakh) conflict, had antagonized some of his Washington colleagues and others in the Caucasus.
More than a year ago, when the U.S. Ambassador’s post in Baku became vacant, Bryza brashly told everyone in Washington that he wanted to be, nay, he was going to be, the next Ambassador to Azerbaijan! He immediately hit a snag, when Pres. Aliyev informed the White House that he was neither pleased with Obama administration’s policies in the Caucasus nor with its self-proclaimed Wunderkind (boy wonder)!
Azerbaijan was unhappy because: 1) the United States and Bryza were pushing Turkey to open its border with Armenia, in the absence of any progress on the Artsakh conflict; 2) Congress had allocated another $10 million to Artsakh, despite strong objections from Baku; and 3) Armenia’s President was, while Pres. Aliyev was not, invited to the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.
Bryza also had opponents within the Obama administration. After months of internal bickering among Washington officials over Bryza’s nomination, Pres. Obama finally submitted his name in May to the Senate as the next envoy to Azerbaijan. Shortly thereafter, Pres. Obama dispatched two high-ranking cabinet officials, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Baku in order to appease Pres. Aliyev and give him the necessary assurances on Bryza.
During Bryza’s Foreign Relations Committee hearing in July, several Senators asked him pointed questions regarding his statements and activities while serving as Artsakh negotiator. They also raised serious concerns about possible conflicts of interest involving his wife and gifts the couple may have received for their wedding from Azeri government officials. Senators Barbara Boxer, Robert Menendez, Russ Feingold, Committee chair John Kerry, and Majority Leader Harry Reid were not satisfied with Bryza’s incomplete and evasive answers, despite repeated follow-up written questions. This did not bode well for his ambassadorial ambitions, as all five Senators are Democrats who would normally back a Democratic President’s nominee.
In early August, frustrated by Bryza’s unresponsiveness, Sen. Boxer asked the Foreign Relations Committee to postpone the vote on his nomination. After a delay of six weeks, when the majority of Committee members voted on Sept. 21 to confirm Bryza, Senators Boxer and Menendez had no choice but to place a “hold,” in order to block the ratification of his nomination by the full Senate. Indicating serious concerns with the qualifications of this controversial nominee, the two Senators resorted to the rare practice of placing a double “hold,” freezing any further Senate consideration on his nomination until next January at the latest, when the new Senate starts its session. Pres. Obama has to decide then whether to resubmit his name or propose a new nominee.
Until January, the President has the unlikely option of making a “recess appointment.” He could appoint Bryza as Ambassador to Azerbaijan without Senate confirmation, while the Senate is in recess. The disadvantages of such a rare move are twofold: 1) Bryza would be handicapped in carrying out his diplomatic duties, as he would not enjoy the confidence of the U.S. Senate; and 2) the President would antagonize the Senators by depriving them of their constitutional mandate of “advise and consent.”
The ideal option for Pres. Obama would be to abandon Bryza’s flawed candidacy and name another less controversial nominee who could be confirmed by the Senate. Such a move would dispatch quickly the next U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, after a 15-month absence. In contrast, re-nominating Bryza in January would delay the posting of such an Ambassador for several more months!
Seeing its Wunderkind in serious trouble, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), bastion of the neo-cons and oil and gas lobbies, published a vicious editorial against Sen. Boxer and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) the day before the Committee vote, attempting to intimidate Bryza’s opponents. After the “hold,” a nastier editorial was published by the Washington Post against Senators Boxer and Menendez, and ANCA.
These vicious attacks had the exact opposite effect — they inadvertently helped promote the political clout of ANCA and the Armenian-American community in Washington!
#16
Aratta-Kingdom
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www.ArmaniKingdom.com
Posted 28 January 2011 - 04:59 AM
Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918 <tel:+12027751918>
Fax. (202) 775-5648 <tel:+12027755648>
Email. anca@anca.org
Internet www.anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2011
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
elizabeth@anca.org
(202) 775-1918 <tel:+12027751918> / (703) 585-8254 <tel:+17035858254> cell
OBAMA RENOMINATES BRYZA FOR FULL TERM AS AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN
-- President Seeks U.S. Senate Approval to Extend "Recess"
Appointment
WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama, in the wake of his
controversial last-minute "recess" appointment of Matt Bryza as
Ambassador to Azerbaijan in the final days of 2010, is now seeking
formal Senate support for extending the term of this contentious
envoy's service in Baku, reported the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA).
The President's recess appointment of Brzya, in the last days of
the 111th Congress, came despite "holds" placed on his confirmation
by Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-
NJ). A "hold" is a Senatorial privilege that effectively blocks
the full Senate from voting upon a presidential nomination. The
President's push to get Bryza to Baku reflects a lack of concern on
the part of his Administration regarding Bryza's unusually close
and controversial ties to Azerbaijani government officials, his
deeply troubling track record as a senior diplomat dealing with the
Caucasus, and persistent conflict of interest issues related to the
Caspian energy industry.
"Armenian American voters are, once again, disappointed that
President Obama - having failed to honor any of his many pledges to
Armenian American voters - is now, over the strong objections of
Senators from his own party, pressing for Senate confirmation of
his controversial and deeply flawed recess appointment of Matt
Bryza as Ambassador to Azerbaijan," said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. "We look to Senators to stand up for U.S.
interests, American values, and our nation's diplomatic credibility
by doing everything in their power to prevent the confirmation of
this candidate."
Armenian Americans are encouraged to express their concerns about
President Obama's decision, and to urge the Senate to block his
confirmation by sending free ANCA Webmails using the links below:
ANCA WebMail to President Obama:
http://anca.org/acti...a_president.php
ANCA WebMail to U.S. Senators:
http://anca.org/acti...ryza_senate.php
Bryza, who had served as Organization of Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) Mink Group Co-Chair, charged with mediating the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict from 2006 through 2009, was nominated for
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan in May of 2010. The Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) opposed his nomination, issuing a 10-
page report citing issues ranging from conflict of interest
concerns to his prolonged inaction in the face of the Azerbaijani
Government's destruction of the 13th Century Armenian cemetery in
Djulfa, and his inordinately close ties to the dictatorial Aliyev
Administration.
A complete overview of ANCA concerns can be found at:
http://www.anca.org/...aNomination.pdf
Following his Senate confirmation hearing this July, 2010, Bryza
was asked to respond to several rounds of written questions from
Senators regarding his track record in the region. After reviewing
his testimony, written responses, and reviewing his diplomatic
record, Senators Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez placed a `hold'
on Mr. Bryza's nomination, effectively blocking a vote on his
nomination by the full Senate.
In her remarks during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote
on his candidacy, Senator Boxer explained that she voted against
the Bryza nomination because he had not demonstrated the
willingness or the ability to meaningfully confront Azerbaijan's
aggression. `Despite my appreciation for Mr. Bryza's long service
as a Foreign Service Officer, I don't believe he is the right
person for this position,' explained Senator Boxer. `What concerns
me is that Mr. Bryza has demonstrated a pattern of unwillingness to
speak out forcefully in the face of increasing Azerbaijani
aggression against Nagorno Karabakh."
Senator Menendez, who has played a constructive role in reviewing
the Bryza confirmation process, noted that he had `serious
reservations about the U.S. ambassador nominee to Azerbaijan,'
citing Bryza's inaction in the face of Azerbaijan's desecration of
the Djulfa cemetery close personal ties to regional leaders, and
therefore about his ability to act as an unbiased representative of
the United States in Azerbaijan.
Even Senators voting in favor of Bryza expressed worries about his
nomination. The panel's Chairman, John Kerry (D-MA), stated that he
appreciated the concerns raised by Senators Menendez and Boxer and
anticipated continued Senate scrutiny. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
issued a statement following the vote, stating that he found
concerns raised by constituents and others `troubling, particularly
Mr. Bryza's relationship with the Azerbaijan Government.'
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918 <tel:+12027751918>
Fax. (202) 775-5648 <tel:+12027755648>
Email. anca@anca.org
Internet www.anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2011
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
elizabeth@anca.org
(202) 775-1918 <tel:+12027751918> / (703) 585-8254 <tel:+17035858254> cell
OBAMA RENOMINATES BRYZA FOR FULL TERM AS AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN
-- President Seeks U.S. Senate Approval to Extend "Recess"
Appointment
WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama, in the wake of his
controversial last-minute "recess" appointment of Matt Bryza as
Ambassador to Azerbaijan in the final days of 2010, is now seeking
formal Senate support for extending the term of this contentious
envoy's service in Baku, reported the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA).
The President's recess appointment of Brzya, in the last days of
the 111th Congress, came despite "holds" placed on his confirmation
by Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-
NJ). A "hold" is a Senatorial privilege that effectively blocks
the full Senate from voting upon a presidential nomination. The
President's push to get Bryza to Baku reflects a lack of concern on
the part of his Administration regarding Bryza's unusually close
and controversial ties to Azerbaijani government officials, his
deeply troubling track record as a senior diplomat dealing with the
Caucasus, and persistent conflict of interest issues related to the
Caspian energy industry.
"Armenian American voters are, once again, disappointed that
President Obama - having failed to honor any of his many pledges to
Armenian American voters - is now, over the strong objections of
Senators from his own party, pressing for Senate confirmation of
his controversial and deeply flawed recess appointment of Matt
Bryza as Ambassador to Azerbaijan," said ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian. "We look to Senators to stand up for U.S.
interests, American values, and our nation's diplomatic credibility
by doing everything in their power to prevent the confirmation of
this candidate."
Armenian Americans are encouraged to express their concerns about
President Obama's decision, and to urge the Senate to block his
confirmation by sending free ANCA Webmails using the links below:
ANCA WebMail to President Obama:
http://anca.org/acti...a_president.php
ANCA WebMail to U.S. Senators:
http://anca.org/acti...ryza_senate.php
Bryza, who had served as Organization of Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) Mink Group Co-Chair, charged with mediating the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict from 2006 through 2009, was nominated for
U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan in May of 2010. The Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) opposed his nomination, issuing a 10-
page report citing issues ranging from conflict of interest
concerns to his prolonged inaction in the face of the Azerbaijani
Government's destruction of the 13th Century Armenian cemetery in
Djulfa, and his inordinately close ties to the dictatorial Aliyev
Administration.
A complete overview of ANCA concerns can be found at:
http://www.anca.org/...aNomination.pdf
Following his Senate confirmation hearing this July, 2010, Bryza
was asked to respond to several rounds of written questions from
Senators regarding his track record in the region. After reviewing
his testimony, written responses, and reviewing his diplomatic
record, Senators Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez placed a `hold'
on Mr. Bryza's nomination, effectively blocking a vote on his
nomination by the full Senate.
In her remarks during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote
on his candidacy, Senator Boxer explained that she voted against
the Bryza nomination because he had not demonstrated the
willingness or the ability to meaningfully confront Azerbaijan's
aggression. `Despite my appreciation for Mr. Bryza's long service
as a Foreign Service Officer, I don't believe he is the right
person for this position,' explained Senator Boxer. `What concerns
me is that Mr. Bryza has demonstrated a pattern of unwillingness to
speak out forcefully in the face of increasing Azerbaijani
aggression against Nagorno Karabakh."
Senator Menendez, who has played a constructive role in reviewing
the Bryza confirmation process, noted that he had `serious
reservations about the U.S. ambassador nominee to Azerbaijan,'
citing Bryza's inaction in the face of Azerbaijan's desecration of
the Djulfa cemetery close personal ties to regional leaders, and
therefore about his ability to act as an unbiased representative of
the United States in Azerbaijan.
Even Senators voting in favor of Bryza expressed worries about his
nomination. The panel's Chairman, John Kerry (D-MA), stated that he
appreciated the concerns raised by Senators Menendez and Boxer and
anticipated continued Senate scrutiny. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
issued a statement following the vote, stating that he found
concerns raised by constituents and others `troubling, particularly
Mr. Bryza's relationship with the Azerbaijan Government.'
Edited by Aratta-Kingdom, 28 January 2011 - 05:00 AM.
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