WASHINGTON—The US Embassy in Baku reported that a recent attempt by Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza to visit the ruins of the 1,300 year old Armenian Cemetery in Djulfa, Nakhichevan was blocked by the same Azerbaijani Government which orchestrated its desecration some five years ago of this Armenian cultural and religious site
“Ambassador Bryza’s done far too little, five years too late,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), in response to the U.S. Embassy’s report on his failed bid to honor his commitment to the U.S. Senate that he would visit the remains of the 7th Century Armenian religious cemetery, which included thousands of intricate stone-cross gravestones, known as khatchkars.
“As Deputy Assistant Secretary in 2006, Matt Bryza, despite direct appeals for his intervention, waited three long months to make his first public statement regarding Azerbaijan’s video-taped act of cultural desecration, and even then only in response to a reporter’s inquiry at a Yerevan press conference. As a nominee for the post of Ambassador to Azerbaijan, he chose not to raise this hateful act of intolerance in his prepared testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and only after repeated questioning by Senators, pledged to visit this sacred site. As Ambassador, he waited another three months to attempt to keep this commitment, only to allow himself to be turned away by the very perpetrators who so brazenly demolished these historic stone-cross gravestones.”
News of the Azerbaijani government’s refusal to allow Bryza access to the historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa was revealed in a press release by the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, which neither explained why the American Ambassador was denied entry, nor, what the U.S. response will be to this most recent example of the Azerbaijani government’s stonewalling. Despite the real-time video of the cemetery’s destruction, detailed satellite imaging confirming the results of its demolition, and the widespread international condemnation of this assault on world heritage, the release only states that the Armenian khatchkars were “reportedly destroyed.”
In the release, Amb. Bryza is quoted as stating, in generic terms, that “the desecration of cultural sites – especially a cemetery – is a tragedy, which we deplore, regardless of where it happens.” He added that: “The United States continues to call on all parties to respect such sites and collaborate on their preservation,” but fell short of specifically condemning the Azerbaijani authorities for either their systematic desecration or their refusal of access to this cultural site.
Ambassador Bryza’s reluctance to speak out forcefully on the destruction of the Djulfa cemetery in 2005, was the topic of repeated questions by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) during his 2010 confirmation hearing. During this confirmation process, he did not commit to investigating the demolition, although he was asked to do so by Senator Boxer. Instead, he only stated that he would “visit Djulfa” and publicly and privately stress the importance of “safeguard[ing] Armenian religious and cultural sites in Azerbaijan.” In response to Senator Menendez’s follow up question, Mr. Bryza pointed to his visits to Armenian cultural sites in Nagorno Karabagh, which have not been at risk, as proof that he takes protecting cultural sites seriously.
In December, 2010, President Obama sidestepped Senate concerns and dual “holds” by Senators Boxer and Menendez and sent Ambassador Bryza to Azerbaijan through a recess appointment, which requires Senate approval for him to continue in his position past December, 2011. The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on his nomination.
Learn more about the destruction of the 1,300-year-old historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, watch the independent film “The New Tears of Araxes.”
View a timeline of the U.S. and international response to the destruction of Djulfa.
Learn more about the ANCA’s opposition to the nomination of Matthew Bryza as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, visit:
What do you expect from that combo—–byrza a Jew,his wife a turk.WAKE UP SPORTS FANS.,THE WATER IS NOT OVER YOUR HEADS.YET.
kill these stupid ‘jew’ comments, dont be as racists as the turks
He is a Jew! Should we call him Irish. No disrespect,they been called Jews for centuries.Why are you showing respect for someone who is fast finguring the Armenians,unless you are not.Call a spade a spade,not a club.
Bryza is Polish fyi.
Bryza might be a Polish Jew.
Is the same Matthew Bryza who got very upset as US Ambassador to Armenia called genocide “genocide”?? What to expect? Remember US Secretary of state, H. Clinton, did visit officially the “Shahid Alley of Baku” ( Baku’s myths) .. We all know who is buried there, these are criminals who did burn Armenian women and children in Baku, in Sumgait and else where in “Azerbaijani Republic” before attacking Karabakh!
Yes, Mrs. Clinton paid an OFFICIAL visit to the so-called shahid alley, where thugs and murderers are buried, but paid a very “quiet” and extremely controlled “personal” walkabout at our Tsitsernakapert.
the jews orchastrated the genocide just like theyve orchastrated so many more evil deeds they dont ever want christians to be more powerful then they are…wake up u dum ass armenians.
Its ironic,the turks to cover their heinous past,spend millions on people with FOR SALE on their backs,violating integrity,(their kind of people):.turkey with a 70% rate of illiteratcy among its citizenry.
Alex,
Turks sold their filthy underwear To American Jews!! what a culture and what a dirty civilization a nation like Turks can have…they live on stolen properties, where they burnt and destroy a huge Christian civilization, such as Byzantines, Armenians, Albanians, Greeks, Assyrians, you can’t even compare with their own neighbors such as Persians, Greeks, Serbians, Syrians, Iraqis, Bulgarian, and I am wondering what these people have to offer to world civilization and to be proud of it..yes 70% illiterate population are proud to be “Turk” even their faces do not look like Turk any more!! these people are really brain washed by “Turk owners” sending their donkeys into every corner of the world and teaching them to hate Armenians, and deny Genocide, where killing and destroying is a common habit with these donkey lovers in AzerBYjan and Turkey!!