Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
October 13, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA CHAIRMAN CHALLENGES STATE DEPARTMENT
ATTACK ON NAGORNO KARABAGH
— Speaking before over 900 at Western Region Banquet
Ken Hachikian Confronts Anti-Karabagh Remarks by Matt Bryza
WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Chairman Ken Hachikian, in remarks delivered yesterday before more
than 900 elected officials and community leaders at the annual
Western Region banquet, publicly and forcefully challenged recent
statements by senior State Department official Matt Bryza that, as
a precondition for peace, Armenia must agree that Nagorno Karabagh
is part of Azerbaijan.
Speaking before a capacity crowd at the the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library, Hachikian sharply condemned the "retreat from
principle" in U.S. policy toward the people and republic of Nagorno
Karabagh – who have strived, at the brutal cost of a generation of
its best sons and daughters – to live up to the fundamentally
American ideal that all people deserve to live free of foreign
tyranny, under a government of their own choosing." He added that,
"just this past week, we saw a senior State Department official,
Matt Bryza, moving farther from even the pretense of supporting
democracy, by saying that Armenia must accept the false proposition
that Nagorno Karabagh is part of Azerbaijan. He’s absolutely
wrong. And we all know it – and so does Baku and Ankara."
In an October 9th interview with the British Broadcasting
Corporation Russian language service, Bryza, who serves as Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State and also the State Department’s
representative to the OSCE Minsk Group talks, stated that Armenia
must agree that Nagorno Karabagh is legally part of Azerbaijan.
His comments follow a series of statements, over the past several
weeks, in which Bryza has demonstrated a pro-Azerbaijani bias by
prioritizing the misapplication of the principle of territorial
integrity to the Nagorno Karabagh issue over the basic right of all
peoples to self-determination.
The full text of Hachikian’s remarks follow.
#####
Ken Hachikian’s Remarks at ANC-WR Banquet
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
October 13, 2008
Archbishop, honorees & friends.
Thank you for coming here tonight and for your ongoing support.
I’d like to share with you a thought today. A very simple20one:
And that’s… the future of the Armenian Cause lies within your
hands.
We are blessed to live in a great nation, a country in which our
voice truly counts.
A republic rich in democratic traditions that provides each and
every one of us the opportunity- in the words of our enduring
Constitution – to petition government for redress of our
grievances.
Because, even as we cherish the rights and gladly shoulder the
responsibilities of American citizenship – whether our families
arrived generations ago or within our own lifetimes – we certainly
do have our share of grievances.
Strong views – informed by our Armenian heritage and driven by our
fundamental American sense of right and wrong.
Views about where our government has taken the wrong path.
Where Washington has fallen so short; failed to meet the high
standard of the American ideal
Nowhere is this starker than in U.S. government’s ongoing
complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide.
It is painful to me as an Armenian, as it is shameful to all of us
as Americans, that our great nation has, for far too long, caved in
to the Turkish government’s threats and blackmail on this core
question of human rights.
We have let ourselves be bullied and have caved in to foreign
pressure. Allowed a gag rule to be imposed on America.
An indignity visited upon all of us – and all Americans. A moral
outrage.
All the more so in light of Turkey’s attempts to twist the recent
opening of dialogue into an outright attack on Armenian Genocide
recognition – here in the United States and abroad.
Now is the time to show our collective commitment, our rock-solid
devotion to not only the cause of truth, but the sacred cause of
justice for our ancient and proud nation.
For our past, to be sure, to honor our martyrs – but even more so
for our future.
We now see a retreat from principle again in our government’s
recent policy toward the people and republic of Nagorno Karabagh –
who have strived, at the brutal cost of a generation of its best
sons and daughters – to live up to the fundamentally American ideal
that all people deserve to live free of foreign tyranny, under a
government of their own choosing.
Just this past week, we saw a senior State Department official,
Matt Bryza -moving farther from even the pretense of supporting
democracy, by saying that Armenians must accept the false
proposition that Nagorno Karabagh is part of Azerbaijan.
He’s absolutely wrong. And we all know it – and so does Baku and
Ankara. Armenian soldiers – some still boys, others well beyond
their best years – answered forever the question of Karabagh’s
destiny on the battlefields of war.
Countless graves along the front lines of this struggle stand as
testimony to this fact, each silently calling upon us – each and
every one of us – to defend their heroic achievements in the
capitals of the world.
Let us, who are gathered here today, match their "last full measure
of devotion" with our own.
In closing:
Let us seize the freedoms and opportunities we are blessed with as
Americans
Let us build a brighter future for ourselves and generations to
come …
Each and every one of us has a moral obligation to ourselves and
our ancestors to become warriors in this struggle.
I know we will persevere and we will win these battles.
But only with our collective efforts.
In simple yet powerful ways – the Armenian Cause rests within your
hands.
Thank you.
#####
Photo Caption: ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian speaking at the Western
Region Banquet