ANCA: BRYZA RAISED MORE QUESTIONS THAN HE ANSWERED
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 28, 2010 – 17:42 AMT 12:42 GMT
Matt Bryza, President Obama’s nominee to serve as U.S. Ambassador
to Azerbaijan, raised more questions than he answered during a tense
appearance yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The questions addressed to Bryza reflected concerns that his actions
reflect a tilt toward Azerbaijani over Armenian positions, and that
the perception that he has not been even-handed would hinder his
ability to effectively advance U.S. interests and American values
in the region. Special areas of focus included his close ties into
oil-rich and corrupt Azerbaijani officials, potential conflict of
interest issues, his silence in the face of Baku’s threats of war,
and his slow and weak response to the Azerbaijani military’s videotaped
destruction, in 2005, of a 1,300-year old Armenian cemetery in Djulfa.
Senator Boxer opened her line of questioning by asking why the U.S.
State Department had not offered to clear condemnation of Azerbaijan’s
recent attack against Nagorno Karabakh defense positions. Bryza
responded that “what transpired that day remains not entirely clear
to us but we do know that there were several people who were killed.
There was an Azerbaijani movement across the line of contact, Armenia
responded, resulting in deaths.” He incorrectly attributed Nagorno
Karabakh defense forces response to Armenia and failed to explicitly
condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression, a point noted by Senator Boxer,
who stated: “I agree with you, and that is why I was looking for
a more forceful answer in the condemnation of Azerbaijan and that
is why I would like to re-ask this question:. . . In your opinion,
is the government of Azerbaijan actively trying to escalate the
conflict with Armenia?” Bryza again responded in generalities, saying:
“The administration believes that the government of Azerbaijan is
committed to the Minsk Group process, which is to create this peaceful
settlement. And if confirmed, what I would do would be to continue
to reiterate to President Aliyev and his team, again, there is no
military solution and to urge them to remain committed to the Minsk
Group process.”
Senator Menendez followed up, asking, “I’ve heard your comments that
there’s no military solution, but by the same token, sometimes I
think we need to be stronger than that even with our friends. Can
you respond to that?” Bryza responded: “Absolutely, and I couldn’t
agree with you more in raising these concerns and in response to your
question, I absolutely do understand why people would worry in this
way,” but once again fell short of explicitly condemning the most
recent Azerbaijani attacks on Nagorno Karabakh.
Both Senators Boxer and Menendez expressed concern about Bryza’s long
silence in the face of the government of Azerbaijan’s destruction of
the Armenian cemetery in Djulfa. Bryza, three months after this act
of desecration, eventually called the destruction “a tragedy”. When
pressed by Senators to about his delayed response, he blamed the
quality of the video footage stating it “was very foggy, it’s
grainy” then noted that he had privately expressed concern to the
Azerbaijani leadership on this matter. Both Senators noted that the
first documented public statement from Bryza came in response to
Armenian press inquiries months later, and asked for documentation
of other statements made in the interim.
“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,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“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 U.S.
interests and American values in the Caucasus region, and offer
thanks to Chairwoman Shaheen for raising relevant concerns regarding
a possible conflict of interest,” concluded Hamparian.
From: A. Papazian