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Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
PRESIDENT BUSH NOMINATES RICHARD HOAGLAND AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
Washington, DC - President George W. Bush has nominated Richard
E. Hoagland to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia.
If confirmed, Hoagland would replace Ambassador John Evans who was
rebuked by State Department officials last year after publicly
affirming the Armenian Genocide during his meetings with major
Armenian-American communities.
In those exchanges, Ambassador Evans declared that "the Armenian
Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century." Following
his statements, Ambassador Evans issued a clarification of his
remarks.
Members of the House and Senate, as well as the Assembly, publicly
supported Evans' declarations and called on President Bush to also
properly characterize the events as genocide. More recently, nearly
60 lawmakers supported a letter from Armenian Caucus Member
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
expressing concern over reports that Evans is being forced out of his
post.
The congressional letter stated in part: "It is our hope that these
announcements are inaccurate given Evans' service to his country...we
must not allow the perception to linger that he is being required to
vacate his position early for accurately labeling the cataclysmic
events of 1915 as genocide."
Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian said that "If in
fact Ambassador Evans is being required to vacate his position for
employing the proper term for the Armenian Genocide, then he is being
unjustly penalized for speaking the truth. Ambassador Evans is a
well-respected career foreign service officer who has done much to
strengthen U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations."
Hovnanian added that there is sufficient context and validation for
Evans' use of the term, which are in keeping with contemporaneous
declarations of Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1981 and that of President
George Bush, who has employed the textbook definition of genocide in
his annual April 24 statements.
Evans' characterization conforms to the publicly stated conclusions of
over 120 renowned Holocaust and Genocide scholars on the
"incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide," and that of the
International Center for Transitional Justice on the use of the term
Armenian Genocide, which stated that: "The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be
justified in continuing to so describe them." Evans pointed to the
ICTJ findings when he made his public statements about the Armenian
Genocide.
Furthermore, the U.S. played a leading role in attempting to prevent
the genocide and helping those that survived. U.S. Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau helped to alert the world to these
atrocities and the U.S. national archives contain thousands of pages
documenting the killings of the Armenian people. Evans' use of the
term is thus a continuation of this historical fact.
Last June, in an unprecedented move, the American Foreign Service
Association (AFSA) rescinded its award to Ambassador Evans for
properly characterizing the Armenian Genocide. The prestigious
Christian A. Herter Award was withdrawn just days before Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with
President Bush.
"America should not cultivate relations with Turkey by refraining from
telling the truth about this crime against humanity," Hovnanian
continued. "Rather, the U.S. should reaffirm what we all know to be
fact and firmly and irrevocably reaffirm the Armenian Genocide."
Ambassador Hoagland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service,
currently serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic of
Tajikistan. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Public
Diplomacy in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs.
Ambassador Hoagland received his bachelor's degree from Taylor
University and two master's degrees from the University of Virginia.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2006-053
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
PRESS RELEASE
May 24, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
PRESIDENT BUSH NOMINATES RICHARD HOAGLAND AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
Washington, DC - President George W. Bush has nominated Richard
E. Hoagland to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia.
If confirmed, Hoagland would replace Ambassador John Evans who was
rebuked by State Department officials last year after publicly
affirming the Armenian Genocide during his meetings with major
Armenian-American communities.
In those exchanges, Ambassador Evans declared that "the Armenian
Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century." Following
his statements, Ambassador Evans issued a clarification of his
remarks.
Members of the House and Senate, as well as the Assembly, publicly
supported Evans' declarations and called on President Bush to also
properly characterize the events as genocide. More recently, nearly
60 lawmakers supported a letter from Armenian Caucus Member
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
expressing concern over reports that Evans is being forced out of his
post.
The congressional letter stated in part: "It is our hope that these
announcements are inaccurate given Evans' service to his country...we
must not allow the perception to linger that he is being required to
vacate his position early for accurately labeling the cataclysmic
events of 1915 as genocide."
Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian said that "If in
fact Ambassador Evans is being required to vacate his position for
employing the proper term for the Armenian Genocide, then he is being
unjustly penalized for speaking the truth. Ambassador Evans is a
well-respected career foreign service officer who has done much to
strengthen U.S.-Armenia bilateral relations."
Hovnanian added that there is sufficient context and validation for
Evans' use of the term, which are in keeping with contemporaneous
declarations of Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1981 and that of President
George Bush, who has employed the textbook definition of genocide in
his annual April 24 statements.
Evans' characterization conforms to the publicly stated conclusions of
over 120 renowned Holocaust and Genocide scholars on the
"incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide," and that of the
International Center for Transitional Justice on the use of the term
Armenian Genocide, which stated that: "The Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all of the elements of the
crime of genocide as defined in the Convention, and legal scholars as
well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be
justified in continuing to so describe them." Evans pointed to the
ICTJ findings when he made his public statements about the Armenian
Genocide.
Furthermore, the U.S. played a leading role in attempting to prevent
the genocide and helping those that survived. U.S. Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau helped to alert the world to these
atrocities and the U.S. national archives contain thousands of pages
documenting the killings of the Armenian people. Evans' use of the
term is thus a continuation of this historical fact.
Last June, in an unprecedented move, the American Foreign Service
Association (AFSA) rescinded its award to Ambassador Evans for
properly characterizing the Armenian Genocide. The prestigious
Christian A. Herter Award was withdrawn just days before Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with
President Bush.
"America should not cultivate relations with Turkey by refraining from
telling the truth about this crime against humanity," Hovnanian
continued. "Rather, the U.S. should reaffirm what we all know to be
fact and firmly and irrevocably reaffirm the Armenian Genocide."
Ambassador Hoagland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service,
currently serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic of
Tajikistan. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Public
Diplomacy in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs.
Ambassador Hoagland received his bachelor's degree from Taylor
University and two master's degrees from the University of Virginia.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2006-053