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/assets/pdf/misc/BryzaNomination.pdf
To watch the complete hearing visit: http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=f0f6218f-5056-a032-5226-5f5c40434a3b
great job Anca,and Anca’s sporters It is show us ,when we Armenians work together we accomplish so many good things, next step is build strong economy in Armenia,world can respect us.Good luck to all Armenians and to Armenia.
It is both troubling and disappointing that the Obama Administration couldn’t find a more qualified diplomat than Matt Bryza. For years, Bryza’s rhetoric has been anti-Armenian. This is another slap in the face of Armenian-Americans, who were told – before the 2004 election – that President Obama envisioned a new type of foreign policy: change we can count on. I hope Armenian-Americans will hold Obama Administration advocates (read: Democrats) responsible in November, as they did Republicans in the Bush II Administration.