BYRZA IS THE WRONG MAN FOR THIS JOB, HACHIKIAN SAYS IN WSJ
Asbarez
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
The Wall Street Journal published a Letter to the Editor this week by
ANCA chairman Ken Hachikian, in which the latter criticizes the paper
for being off the mark in its editorials on the Bryza issue and the
offensive language employed when referring to Armenians pursuing the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Below is the full text of the letter.
***
You are off the mark in your editorials attacking Sen. Barbara Boxer
and the Armenian-American community for opposing President Obama’s
flawed nomination of Matt Bryza as ambassador to Azerbaijan (“Barbara
Boxer (D., Armenia),” Sept. 20, and “Undiplomatic Hold-Ups,” Oct. 6).
The stakes for U.S. interests, regional stability, and international
energy security are too high for this type of political
finger-pointing.
In the last three months, at least eight soldiers have died on
the Azerbaijan-Karabakh border. The U.S. government, in a failed
exercise in artificial even-handedness, has consistently refused
to stand up to Baku’s threats of war and attacks. Mr. Bryza is the
poster child for this strategy of appeasement. His refusal to call
out Azerbaijan’s aggression, his silence in the face of Azerbaijan’s
demolition of a 1,300-year-old Armenian cemetery, and his ardent
defense of Stalin-imposed borders at the expense of democracy, have all
contributed to the instability of this pivotal region. Add conflict
of interest issues to the mix and he is clearly the wrong diplomat,
at the wrong time, for this post.
America needs a fresh start in the Caucasus, with a new ambassador who
will stand strong against Azerbaijani aggression. Sen. Boxer and Sen.
Robert Menendez have provided the president an opportunity to put U.S.
policy back on the right track.
Finally, your dismissal of the ANCA’s support for the commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide as a “tribal Caucasian obsession” is offensive.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars has unanimously
concluded that what happened to the Armenians at the hands of the
Turks was a genocide.
Kenneth V. Hachikian Chairman Armenian National Committee of America
Washington.
From: A. Papazian