BRYZA WRONGLY TELLS SENATORS: ARMENIAN PATRIARCH IS DEAD
Harut Sassounian Publisher
Noyan Tapan
27.07.2010 | 09:17
Barack Obama ran for the Presidency on a platform of “change” and
promised to bring a fresh approach to domestic and foreign policy
issues. After the election, however, he disappointed his supporters
by continuing many of his predecessor~Rs policies.
One example of Pres. Obama’s failure to break with the past is his
nomination of Matt Bryza as the next Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Bryza
is a relic from the Bush Administration with a checkered and
controversial past. He is a liability rather than an asset to the
Obama administration and the United States.
For several months, Bryza had been going around Washington, dropping
not so subtle hints that he will become the next Ambassador to
Azerbaijan. The fact that it took almost a year before he was
actually nominated to that post, indicates that there were serious
complications, including concerns by Russia about Bryza~Rs role in
the Georgian-Russian war, Azerbaijan~Rs objection to his backing of
Armenia-Turkey protocols, conflict of interest allegations about his
wife~Rs work, and questions about his wedding expenses.
Given all of these controversies, Bryza would have never been nominated
as Ambassador to Azerbaijan, were it not for some powerful friends at
high places. According to press reports, Dan Fried, former Assistant
Secretary of State, had personally recommended Bryza to Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton for the post of ambassador.
Bryza~Rs marriage to Zeyno Baran, a native of Turkey, generated the
most controversy. The issue was not her ethnic origin, but what she
did for a living, as Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at
the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think thank that reportedly
receives funding from ExxonMobile and other energy companies.
According to Washington Times, “Turkish and Azerbaijani business
interests funded a major conference at the Hudson Institute, which
was organized in part by Mrs. Bryza.” The newspaper quoted ANCA as
stating that “the policy positions that Mrs. Bryza has advocated have
often been aligned with ~E the interests pursued by the Azerbaijani
government and energy corporations with interests in the Caspian [Sea]
region,” and that “Mr. Bryza might be in violation of federal ethics
rules because of his wife~Rs connections to Turkish and Azerbaijani
business interests.”
Bryza was extensively questioned about his possible conflicts of
interest during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee~Rs July 22
hearing on his nomination as Ambassador to Azerbaijan. In response,
Bryza told the Senators that the U.S. government had thoroughly checked
his family~Rs finances and “uncovered no conflicts of interest.” He
further told the Senators that his wife “Zeyno has undertaken a pledge
to refrain from bringing any issue related to the Hudson Institute
before~Ethe State Department or before the U.S.
Embassy in Baku.” Needless to say, his wife~Rs reported “pledge”
is not a legally binding commitment.
Another controversial issue addressed by Bryza at the hearing was
the serious allegation that Heydar Babayev, former Azeri Minister
of Economic Development, helped pay for the Bryzas~R lavish 2007
wedding in Istanbul. Infuriated by the accusation, Babayev sued
the Azeri newspaper that had published the story. The journalist
who had written the report was arrested and beaten, before fleeing
the country. He has since filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan in the
European Court of Human Rights.
Bryza assured the Senators that it is “absolutely untrue” that
Minister Babayev had financed his wedding. Nevertheless, should the
European Court find that Minister Babayev had in fact helped pay
for the wedding, Bryza could face several serious charges, including
violation of U.S. government~Rs gift acceptance and disclosure policy,
non-reporting of such contribution to IRS as income, and perjuring
himself during Senate testimony.
Bryza proudly announced to the Senators that he and his wife had
invited to their wedding people they had known during the course of
their work over the last decade — including government officials,
diplomats, opposition leaders, NGO~Rs, and religious leaders in
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus and Greece. Bryza stated that
among the invitees to the wedding was “the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob,
now deceased!”
As is widely known, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey is very much
alive, even though he suffers from dementia. It is simply astounding
that Bryza does not know that Patriarch Mesrob is still alive —
someone he felt close enough to invite to his wedding! One hopes that
this error is not indicative of how misinformed Bryza is about key
people and events in that critical part of the world, where he seeks
to represent the United States.
From: A. Papazian