STATE DEPARTMENT STILL BACKS NOMINATED ENVOY TO AZERBAIJAN
news.az
Aug 5 2010
Azerbaijan
Philip J. Crowley The US State Department hopes that the ambassador
designate to Azerbaijan, Matt Bryza, will be confirmed by the Senate,
a spokesman said yesterday.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told a daily briefing
that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry had
discussed the confirmation of ambassadors with Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.
"We do hope to have Senate action on roughly 31 or up to 30 - 31
nominees pending for positions in the State Department," Crowley said
in his opening statement at the briefing.
"On the nominee front, we certainly are anxious to get our nominees
into positions here at the State Department into key ambassadorships.
We do expect to get a number of confirmations through the Senate
on 5 August. We hope, including Jim Jeffrey, to be the ambassador
in Baghdad, and Matt Bryza as well. We have a number of deserving
candidates who hope to get on the job as quickly as possible,"
Crowley said.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday postponed until
September a final vote on the candidacy of the ambassador-designate
to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, following concern from Senator Barabara
Boxer.
Bryza's candidacy is opposed by Armenian lobby groups in the USA. They
say that as deputy assistant secretary of European and Eurasian affairs
and an OSCE mediator on the Karabakh conflict, Matthew Bryza has
shown bias towards Azerbaijan. They also voice concern at potential
conflicts of interest with the work of Bryza's Turkish-born wife,
Zeyno Baran, at the think-tank the Hudson Institute.
"We'll see what happens with the Senate this week. We do expect to
get a number of confirmations through the Senate tomorrow," Philip
Crowley said yesterday.
From: A. Papazian
news.az
Aug 5 2010
Azerbaijan
Philip J. Crowley The US State Department hopes that the ambassador
designate to Azerbaijan, Matt Bryza, will be confirmed by the Senate,
a spokesman said yesterday.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told a daily briefing
that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry had
discussed the confirmation of ambassadors with Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.
"We do hope to have Senate action on roughly 31 or up to 30 - 31
nominees pending for positions in the State Department," Crowley said
in his opening statement at the briefing.
"On the nominee front, we certainly are anxious to get our nominees
into positions here at the State Department into key ambassadorships.
We do expect to get a number of confirmations through the Senate
on 5 August. We hope, including Jim Jeffrey, to be the ambassador
in Baghdad, and Matt Bryza as well. We have a number of deserving
candidates who hope to get on the job as quickly as possible,"
Crowley said.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday postponed until
September a final vote on the candidacy of the ambassador-designate
to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, following concern from Senator Barabara
Boxer.
Bryza's candidacy is opposed by Armenian lobby groups in the USA. They
say that as deputy assistant secretary of European and Eurasian affairs
and an OSCE mediator on the Karabakh conflict, Matthew Bryza has
shown bias towards Azerbaijan. They also voice concern at potential
conflicts of interest with the work of Bryza's Turkish-born wife,
Zeyno Baran, at the think-tank the Hudson Institute.
"We'll see what happens with the Senate this week. We do expect to
get a number of confirmations through the Senate tomorrow," Philip
Crowley said yesterday.
From: A. Papazian