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Armenians try to block nominee
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 21, 2006
Ambassador-pick Hoagland must admit genocide, critics demand
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau
Armenian-Americans in Southern California and elsewhere are leaning
on the U.S. Senate to block President George W. Bush's ambassadorial
nominee to Armenia until he utters the word "genocide."
So far, no lawmaker has placed a hold on Ambassador-designate Richard
Hoagland. But Sen. Barbara Boxer and several others say they are
frustrated by the refusal of Hoagland and the U.S. State Department
to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during the Ottoman
Empire as a genocide.
The controversial issue cut short the tenure of John Evans, the
previous U.S. ambassador to Armenia, after he openly declared that
the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 should indeed be
called genocide.
"My concerns are about the absurdity of a policy that does not allow
an ambassador to recognize the genocide of a people in the country
in which he is serving," Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said Thursday.
Coleman likened the situation to hypothetically having a
U.S. ambassador to Israel who was unable to call the massacre of 6
million Jews during World War II the Holocaust.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman for the Armenian National Committee
of America - which this week formally requested that the Senate delay
Hoagland's confirmation - said the organization believes he cannot
represent U.S. interests in Armenia.
"Sending a genocide denier to Armenia is a disservice to the American
people," Chouldjian said. "How effective can a U.S. ambassador to
Armenia be if they, in confirmation hearings, deny the genocide?"
Hoagland, in written responses to Senate lawmakers, denied being
instructed not to us the word genocide.
At the same time, he repeatedly sidestepped questions about precisely
why the administration feels the mass deportations and killings should
not qualify as genocide.
"This tragedy is of such enormous human significance that its
historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of
politics, but through heartfelt introspection among civic leaders,
scholars, and the societies at large," Hoagland wrote to Boxer.
The U.S. government, sensitive to offending Turkey - a traditionally
close and strategic NATO ally - has steadfastly refused to refer
explicitly to the issue as a genocide.
Turkey, for its part, acknowledges that atrocities were committed
against Armenians, but maintains there was no intention to eradicate
a people - and therefore no genocide.
Turkish officials point out that Armenian militias teamed up with
advancing Russian armies, killing thousands of Turks in the chaotic
aftermath of World War I. They contend about 300,000 Armenians
were killed.
Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey program at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, D.C., said the Hoagland controversy comes
at a difficult time in U.S.-Turkish relations.
Resentments, he noted, still linger in the U.S. over Turkey's refusal
to allow America a northern front in the Iraq war and the Turkish
government's recent decision to host Hamas leader Khalid Mishal.
Meanwhile, Turkey has signaled it will send an army into northern
Iraq to confront Kurdish terrorists, despite U.S. warnings that the
country should not take unilateral action there.
"It is no longer so easy to talk about a strategic partnership between
Turkey and the United States," Taspinar said.
The problems, he added, have significantly eroded the rationale that
the U.S. should not alienate Turkey with genocide resolutions because
of its role as a key ally in the region.
"For the lawmakers, there is no reason why they should defend
Turkey. Ankara has proven to be an unreliable partner in Iraq. There's
quite an anger," he said.
Meanwhile, Boxer and other lawmakers say Hoagland's nomination will
be delayed.
"A lot of people have concerns, so nothing's happening on it,"
Boxer said.
Added Chouldjian, "At the very least, the State Department has an
obligation to explain clearly what its policies are with respect to
this issue."
Regardless of when Hoagland gets to his post, Taspinar said the
genocide dispute underlying the nomination could further erode an
already rocky U.S.-Turkey friendship.
"Any kind of recognition of the genocide issue will poison
Turkish-American relations, which have already gone to hell because
of Iraq. The White House does not want that," he said.
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 21, 2006
Ambassador-pick Hoagland must admit genocide, critics demand
BY LISA FRIEDMAN, Washington Bureau
Armenian-Americans in Southern California and elsewhere are leaning
on the U.S. Senate to block President George W. Bush's ambassadorial
nominee to Armenia until he utters the word "genocide."
So far, no lawmaker has placed a hold on Ambassador-designate Richard
Hoagland. But Sen. Barbara Boxer and several others say they are
frustrated by the refusal of Hoagland and the U.S. State Department
to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians during the Ottoman
Empire as a genocide.
The controversial issue cut short the tenure of John Evans, the
previous U.S. ambassador to Armenia, after he openly declared that
the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 should indeed be
called genocide.
"My concerns are about the absurdity of a policy that does not allow
an ambassador to recognize the genocide of a people in the country
in which he is serving," Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said Thursday.
Coleman likened the situation to hypothetically having a
U.S. ambassador to Israel who was unable to call the massacre of 6
million Jews during World War II the Holocaust.
Elizabeth Chouldjian, spokeswoman for the Armenian National Committee
of America - which this week formally requested that the Senate delay
Hoagland's confirmation - said the organization believes he cannot
represent U.S. interests in Armenia.
"Sending a genocide denier to Armenia is a disservice to the American
people," Chouldjian said. "How effective can a U.S. ambassador to
Armenia be if they, in confirmation hearings, deny the genocide?"
Hoagland, in written responses to Senate lawmakers, denied being
instructed not to us the word genocide.
At the same time, he repeatedly sidestepped questions about precisely
why the administration feels the mass deportations and killings should
not qualify as genocide.
"This tragedy is of such enormous human significance that its
historical assessment should be determined not on the basis of
politics, but through heartfelt introspection among civic leaders,
scholars, and the societies at large," Hoagland wrote to Boxer.
The U.S. government, sensitive to offending Turkey - a traditionally
close and strategic NATO ally - has steadfastly refused to refer
explicitly to the issue as a genocide.
Turkey, for its part, acknowledges that atrocities were committed
against Armenians, but maintains there was no intention to eradicate
a people - and therefore no genocide.
Turkish officials point out that Armenian militias teamed up with
advancing Russian armies, killing thousands of Turks in the chaotic
aftermath of World War I. They contend about 300,000 Armenians
were killed.
Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey program at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, D.C., said the Hoagland controversy comes
at a difficult time in U.S.-Turkish relations.
Resentments, he noted, still linger in the U.S. over Turkey's refusal
to allow America a northern front in the Iraq war and the Turkish
government's recent decision to host Hamas leader Khalid Mishal.
Meanwhile, Turkey has signaled it will send an army into northern
Iraq to confront Kurdish terrorists, despite U.S. warnings that the
country should not take unilateral action there.
"It is no longer so easy to talk about a strategic partnership between
Turkey and the United States," Taspinar said.
The problems, he added, have significantly eroded the rationale that
the U.S. should not alienate Turkey with genocide resolutions because
of its role as a key ally in the region.
"For the lawmakers, there is no reason why they should defend
Turkey. Ankara has proven to be an unreliable partner in Iraq. There's
quite an anger," he said.
Meanwhile, Boxer and other lawmakers say Hoagland's nomination will
be delayed.
"A lot of people have concerns, so nothing's happening on it,"
Boxer said.
Added Chouldjian, "At the very least, the State Department has an
obligation to explain clearly what its policies are with respect to
this issue."
Regardless of when Hoagland gets to his post, Taspinar said the
genocide dispute underlying the nomination could further erode an
already rocky U.S.-Turkey friendship.
"Any kind of recognition of the genocide issue will poison
Turkish-American relations, which have already gone to hell because
of Iraq. The White House does not want that," he said.