U.s. Envoy To Armenia Recalled

[MosJan]

U.S. Envoy To Armenia Recalled

 

By Emil Danielyan

 

President George W. Bush has officially confirmed the impending dismissal of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans which Armenian circles in the United States attribute to the diplomat’s public recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

 

The White House announced on Tuesday that Bush will ask the U.S. Senate to endorse his nomination of Richard Hoagland, Washington’s outgoing ambassador to Tajikistan, as Evans’s replacement. It offered no explanation for the widely anticipated move.

 

Evans has been tipped to lose his current job for the last three months. Armenian-American groups and activists have suggested that he is paying the price for his controversial reference to the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as “genocide.”

 

U.S. officials have declined to publicly confirm or deny this. “We all serve at the pleasure of the President,” Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told the Armenian Assembly of America on March 27 when asked to comment on the issue. The Assembly and another Armenian lobbying group in Washington, ANCA, have voiced strong support for Evans, demanding that the Bush administration refrain from recalling the envoy.

 

Evans has served as ambassador to Armenia for less than two years. All of the four previous heads of the U.S. mission in Yerevan had longer tenures. “I do not know when I will be leaving Armenia and I have not submitted by retirement papers,” the 58-year-old career diplomat told reporters on March 7.

 

Evans openly contradicted the long-running policy of successive U.S. administrations when he declared in a February 2005 speech in California that “the Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century.”

 

Washington was quick to disown the remarks, saying that it reflected only his personal views and did not signify any change in U.S. policy on the sensitive subject. “He did not coordinate with the U.S. government. He did not clear his remarks with the State Department,” a senior Bush administration official told RFE/RL at the time.

 

“I used the term “genocide” speaking in what I characterized as my personal capacity,” Evans clarified in a subsequent written statement. “This was inappropriate.”

 

The extraordinary genocide recognition led to a decision by the U.S. Foreign Service Association to give Evans its annual prestigious award designed for American diplomats displaying “constructive dissent” in their work. However, the association then unexpectedly withdrew the award. Reports in the U.S. press suggested that the decision, which came ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s June 2005 trip to Washington, was made under pressure from the State Department.

 

Turkey, which is a key U.S. ally, vehemently denies that the Armenian massacres constituted a genocide and has repeatedly warned Washington against using the politically sensitive term.

 

In his last April 24 address to the Armenian-American community, Bush again stopped short of describing the mass killings as genocide, speaking only of “one of the horrible tragedies of the 20th century.” But he at the same time cited and praised an independent study, commissioned by prominent Armenians and Turks in 2002, which concluded that the slaughter of some 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians fits the internationally accepted definition of genocide.

 

(Photolur photo: John Evans.)

[ED]

U.S. Envoy To Armenia Recalled

 

By Emil Danielyan

 

“We all serve at the pleasure of the President,”

 

 

now this is another idiot who is in power, asistant secratary of state?

with such a statment he should be out of the office, first of all elected officials serv the people and the country

 

this kind of a statment is fit for someone who is sucking up to ottoman sultan, come and think of it bush is not far from it

[Arpa]

I’ll just repost what I had said here;

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=13549&hl=evans

Could the mods please merge these threads together under whatever!?

If Yerevan had enough gumption to reject the new appointment of that Hoagland, read “hog-land”

 

“If handled correctly this incident can be a valuable tool for us to publicize the hypocrisy.

Amb. Evans should run for public office whereby he, with our support will bring forward his experience both as an ambassador and resident of Yerevan.”

 

Hovannes Evanian for President!!

Edited May 25, 2006 by Arpa

[ED]

PRESS RELEASE

May 24, 2006

Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian

Tel: (202) 775-1918

 

REP. MARKEY LEADS CONGRESSIONAL OPPOSITION TO

WHITE HOUSE RECALL OF U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

 

-- Letter Signed by 60 U.S. Representatives

Sent on Eve of White House Announcement

of Ambassador's Replacement

 

-- ANCA Calls for Senate Foreign Relations

Committee to Hold Hearing on Firing

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Over 60 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Ed Markey

(D-MA), sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking

for clarification on reports of U.S. Ambassador to Armenian John

Evans' recall over his forthright remarks about the Armenian

Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America

(ANCA).

 

The letter was sent on the eve of a May 23rd White House

announcement nominating Richard Hoagland to serve as the new

Ambassador to Armenia. Amb. Evans will be relieved of his duties

as soon as Hoagland's Senate confirmation process is completed.

 

The Administration has recalled Amb. Evans over his February 2005

statements at Armenian American community functions, during which

he properly characterized the Armenian Genocide as 'genocide.'

Following his statements, Amb. Evans was apparently forced to issue

a statement clarifying that his references to the Armenian Genocide

were his personal views and did not represent a change in US

policy. He subsequently issued a correction to this statement,

replacing a reference to the genocide with the word "tragedy." The

American Foreign Service Association, which had planned to honor

Amb. Evans with the "Christian A. Herter Award," recognizing

creative thinking and intellectual courage within the Foreign

Service, reportedly rescinded the award following pressure from the

State Department a few days before Turkish Prime Minister Recep

Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Washington, DC to meet with President

Bush.

 

"Ambassador Evans has been recalled for doing nothing more than

honoring the forsaken pledge of his president," said ANCA Executive

Director Aram Hamparian. "We want to thank Congressman Markey and

his 59 colleagues for calling for a clarification and rejecting the

Armenian Genocide 'gag-rule' imposed by the Turkish government and,

sadly, enforced by our own State Department."

 

"Armenian Americans truly regret that the Administration lacks the

courage to speak honestly about its reasons for firing Ambassador

Evans," added Hamparian. "We call upon the Senate Foreign

Relations Committee - the Congressional panel constitutionally

charged with oversight of diplomatic appointments - to hold a

hearing thoroughly examining the reasons behind this firing, the

role of the Turkish government, and the broader implications for

the future of the Foreign Service that a senior American diplomat's

career has been ended simply for speaking the truth."

 

The 60 Members of Congress expressed special concern about the

destructive precedent of recalling a U.S. diplomat for speaking

truthfully on matters of historical record. They wrote that, "we

must not allow the perception to linger that he [Amb. Evans] is

being required to vacate his position early for accurately labeling

the cataclysmic events of 1915 as genocide." The Representatives,

noting President Ronald Reagan's references to the Armenian

Genocide, reminded Secretary Rice that Amb. Evans "did nothing more

than succinctly repeat the conclusions enunciated by those before

him."

 

The Congressional signatories also expressed concern about the role

of the Government of Turkey in the impending removal of Amb. Evans

from his posting. "Were the United States to allow the views or

beliefs of a third country to interfere with our diplomatic

postings to the Republic of Armenia," wrote the House members, "it

would establish a dangerous precedent and be injurious to the long-

standing relationship built on trust and friendship between the two

countries."

 

"I am seriously concerned at the early departure of Ambassador

Evans," stated Rep. Markey. "I hope that this sudden action by the

State Department is not related to comments made by Ambassador

Evans about the Armenian genocide. 60 members of Congress have

signed on to a letter to Secretary Rice asking questions about

whether or not Ambassador Evans was forced out of his post. I look

forward to a response from the State Department."

 

On March 8th, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian expressed grave

disappointment at reports that Amb. Evans would be penalized for

speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide. In a letter to

Secretary Rice, Hachikian wrote that, "the prospect that a U.S.

envoy's posting - and possibly his career - has been cut short due

to his honest and accurate description of a genocide is profoundly

offensive to American values and U.S. standing abroad -

particularly in light of President Bush's call for moral clarity in

the conduct of our international affairs."

 

Subsequently, several Members of Congress, including Congressional

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-

CA) and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) have each called on Secretary

Rice for a clarification of the State Department's position on this

issue. The Los Angeles Times, in a strongly worded March 22nd

editorial, made direct reference to Amb. Evans' impending

dismissal, calling on the Turkish Government and U.S. State

Department to end their policies of genocide denial.

 

Members of Congress joining Rep. Markey in cosigning the letter to

Secretary Rice were: Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI),

Charles Bass (R-NH), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV),

Howard Berman (D-CA), Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH),

Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO),

John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Scott

Garrett (R-NJ), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX), Raul

Grijalva (D-AZ), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Rush Holt (D-NJ),

Michael Honda (D-CA), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Joe

Knollenberg (R-MI), James Langevin (D-RI), Sander Levin (D-MI), Zoe

Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn

Maloney (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), James McGovern (D-MA),

Michael McNulty (D-NY), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Candice Miller (R-

MI), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Devin Nunes (R-

CA), John Olver (D-MA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ),

Collin Peterson (D-MN), George Radanovich (R-CA), Mike Rogers (R-

MI), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Linda Sanchez (D-

CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Joe Schwarz (R-

MI), Mark Souder (R-IN), Ted Strickland (D-OH), John Tierney (D-

MA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter

Visclosky (D-IN), Diane Watson (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and

Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

 

The full text of the Congressional letter follows.

 

#####

 

Congress of the United States

Washington, DC 20515

 

May 22, 2006

 

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice

Secretary

United States Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

 

Dear Secretary Rice:

 

We are writing to express our concerns regarding recent information

indicating that U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans would be

departing early this summer from his assignment as a result of

declaring in February 2005 that "the Armenian Genocide was the

first genocide of the twentieth century," during public exchanges

with Armenian-American communities. It is our hope that these

announcements are inaccurate given Evans' service to his country -

in the Foreign Service and as a well-respected ambassador - in a

region of strategic importance to the United States.

 

Ambassador Evans issued a "clarification" and then a "correction"

of his remarks. Last June, the American Foreign Service

Association originally intended to honor the Ambassador for his

"constructive dissent" and intellectual courage and initiative with

the Christian A. Herter Award as a result of his recognition of the

Armenian Genocide, but later withdrew the distinction.

 

It now appears that Evans is being forced out of his post. We must

not allow the perception to linger that he is being required to

vacate his position early for accurately labeling the cataclysmic

events of 1915 as genocide.

 

By employing the proper term last year, the Ambassador was only

building on previous statements by our leaders in government, as

well as the repeated declarations of numerous world-renowned

scholars. In 1981, President Reagan issued a presidential

proclamation that said in part: "like the genocide of the Armenians

before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it --

and like too many other persecutions of too many other people --

the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten . . ." In

effect, Ambassador Evans did nothing more than succinctly repeat

the conclusions enunciated by those before him.

 

We have also heard that concerns raised by the Government of Turkey

regarding Ambassador Evans' remarks may have played a role in this

affair. We certainly hope that this was not the case. Were the

United States to allow the views or beliefs of a third country to

interfere with our diplomatic postings to the Republic of Armenia,

it would establish a dangerous precedent and be injurious to the

long-standing relationship built on trust and friendship between

the two countries. In addition, Assistant Secretary of State

Daniel Fried recently stated his friendship and support for Evans.

 

At this critical time in U.S. history and the South Caucasus

region, we respectfully request your clarification regarding the

current status of Ambassador John Evans. It is our hope that that

he will not be forced to prematurely end his exemplary service to

the United States and the Republic of Armenia because of his

reaffirmation of the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide.

 

Sincerely,

[MosJan]

U.S. Congressmen against Recall of Ambassador Evans from Armenia

25.05.2006 17:04 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Over 60 Members of Congress, led by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for clarification on reports of U.S. Ambassador to Armenian John Evans’ recall over his forthright remarks about the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

 

Amb. Evans will be relieved of his duties as soon as Hoagland's Senate confirmation process is completed. The 60 Members of Congress expressed special concern about the destructive precedent of recalling a U.S. diplomat for speaking truthfully on matters of historical record. They wrote that, “we must not allow the perception to linger that he [Amb. Evans] is being required to vacate his position early for accurately labeling the cataclysmic events of 1915 as genocide.” The Representatives, noting President Ronald Reagan’s references to the Armenian Genocide, reminded Secretary Rice that Amb. Evans “did nothing more than succinctly repeat the conclusions enunciated by those before him.”

 

“Ambassador Evans has been recalled for doing nothing more than honoring the forsaken pledge of his president,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We want to thank Congressman Markey and his 59 colleagues for calling for a clarification and rejecting the Armenian Genocide ‘gag-rule’ imposed by the Turkish government and, sadly, enforced by our own State Department.” "Armenian Americans truly regret that the Administration lacks the courage to speak honestly about its reasons for firing Ambassador Evans," added Hamparian. "We call upon the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - the Congressional panel constitutionally charged with oversight of diplomatic appointments - to hold a hearing thoroughly examining the reasons behind this firing, the role of the Turkish government, and the broader implications for the future of the Foreign Service that a senior American diplomat's career has been ended simply for speaking the truth."