A NEW U.S. AMBASSADOR IS ARRIVING IN YEREVAN TWO YEARS AFTER JOHN EVANS WAS RECALLED
PanARMENIAN.Net
31.07.2008 GMT+04:00
Most likely the U.S. Armenian Community and Hay Dat have been satisfied
with Marie Yovanovitch and the State Department’s claims that a
"Great massacre" occurred in 1915.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has approved of Marie
Yovanovitch’s candidacy as the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. Senators
approved the candidacy after the U.S. State Department had given
written answers to the question on mass killings of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey during the World War I. The Committee confirmed the
nomination by roll call, with Senator Boxer going against it. Final
decision on the Ambassador’s nomination will be announced on the August
session of the Senate. Marie Yovanovitch is to give a final approval.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At last a U.S. Ambassador Plenipotentiary will
lead the U.S. diplomatic mission in Armenia, and there will be
finally put an end to the rumours that the U.S.-Armenian relations
have worsened lately. Though many Armenian experts relate it to the
February 19 Presidential Elections, it is already 22 months since
the U.S. Ambassador left Armenia. Most likely the U.S. Armenian
Community and Hay Dat have been satisfied with the statements of
Marie Yovanovitch and the State Department claiming that a "Great
massacre" occurred in 1915. "The Administration recognizes that the
mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations of over one
and a half million Armenians were conducted by the Ottoman Empire. We
indeed hold Ottoman officials responsible for those crimes." stated
the letter of the State Department issued to the Chairman of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Joe Biden in response
to the questions on nominating Marie Yovanovitch to the post of
the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. US Assistant Secretary Matthew
Reynolds stated in the letter that during the Senate hearings Marie
Yovanovitch had mentioned the International Visitors Program under
consideration that would bring archivists from Turkey and Armenia
to the United States for professional training. "Our goal is to
help archivists protect the evidence of the past so that future
generations will have the documentation of the mass killings and
deportations of Armenians committed by Ottoman soldiers and other
Ottoman officials in 1915. Our goal is not to open a debate on whether
the Ottomans committed these horrendous acts; it is to help preserve
the documentation that supports the truth of those events" declared
Matthew Reynolds in the letter. "In her testimony, Ms. Yovanovitch
tried to convey her deep empathy with the profound suffering of the
Armenian people and in no way sought to cast any doubt on historical
facts," the U.S. Assistant Secretary concluded.
In his turn Director of the Hay Dat Office Giro Manoyan noted that
approval of Ambassador-designate Marie Yovanovitch culminated an
important milestone toward recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the U.S. executive branch. "Twenty-two months after Senator Menendez
put his hold on Richard Hoagland’s nomination, through the written
responses and clarifications of the Ambassador-designate Marie
Yovanovitch and the U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative
Affairs, the US Department of State affirms that: a) Over one and
a half million Armenians have fallen victim to the mass killings,
ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations conducted by the Ottoman
Empire", b) The US does not cast any doubt on the reality, and its
goal is to help preserve the memory of one of the greatest tragedies
of the 20th century, the Great Calamity. The refusal to qualify the
tragedy of the Armenian nation as Genocide is simply a manifestation of
the U.S. President’s policy. The recent developments showed that the
policy and efforts of the Armenian-American community in general and
of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) in particular,
have proved efficient. I am confident that the Armenian-Americans
and their US supporters will soon achieve the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by the US President. Turkey must be troubled by the
US current policy, since soon will arrive the day when the United
States of America, its legislature, its executive branch and its
President will require Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide,"
Mr. Manoyan concluded.
Everything is accurate, except for one thing: Ronald Reagan called
the 1915 occurrences "Genocide". And, as far as we can remember,
Turkey did not protest it much. Indeed, it was a different time;
Armenia was under the USSR rule and no one could picture that the
Karabakh War would break up and Ankara would have to take Azerbaijan’s
side. It was exactly then that Turkey became Azerbaijan’s hostage,
lobbying its interests in the U.S.A. By twist of fate, the author of
the U.S. Resolution 106 on the Armenian Genocide was Adam Schiff,
Jew by origin and some of the senators, who voted against Richard
Hoagland, were Jews too…
As Washprofile claims the U.S. policy depends on the rigid influence
of the Israeli lobby. It is a rather fragile coalition (composed of
individuals and organizations), not controlled by a general center,
its members sharing no common political ideology. In fact, there
is only one thing that unites the coalition members: it is their
aspiration to direct the American foreign policy toward stable and
absolute support of Israel by the U.S. Thus, the Israeli lobby works
in two fronts. It puts pressure on the legislative and executive
bodies of the U.S., meanwhile forming a favourable image of Israel
in public. And in order to carry out its intentions Israel is trying
to put the discussions on the Near East problems into such a line of
development that even theoretic prospect of changes in the U.S. policy
would appear anti-national and absurd in the region. As a most vivid
example of the Israeli persistence can serve the fact, that the
latter has hardly ever been seriously criticized by either House of
the Congress. Moreover, Dick Armey, Former House of Representatives
Majority Leader, declared in September 2002 that one of his principal
foreign-policy priorities was the defence of Israel and not that of
the U.S.A, as it was expected. And since Turkey is one of Israel’s
allies, it is quite logical that the Israeli lobby has gripped Turkey
as well and the most painful issue for Ankara is the Armenian Genocide.
Once Barack Obama occupies the Oval Office, changes will take effect in
the foreign policy of the U.S. Israel will remain a priority country
for the U.S., but Washington will certainly reconsider its position
towards other countries, including Turkey.
Meanwhile the Turkish newspaper "Tasam" writes: "Certain U.S. groupings
keep accusing Turkey of the Armenian Genocide. This fact may shake the
Turkish-Armenian relations, which, on the official level, did not exist
anyway. The strategic cooperation Moscow-Yerevan-Tehran on the one
hand and Turkey-Azerbaijan on the other hand serve as the main reason
why there are no relations established between Turkey and Armenia."