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SENATE SHOULD NOT CONFIRM BRYZA AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN
By Harut Sassounian
http://www.noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=5031
15.09.2010
At the request of Sen. Barbara Boxer, the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee had postponed from early August to mid-September its vote
on Matt Bryza, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Senators
Boxer, Harry Reid, and Robert Menendez were satisfied neither with
Bryza's answers during the confirmation hearing nor subsequently with
his written responses.
While Congress was in recess for the past 40 days, a number of
newspapers and websites questioned the appropriateness of Bryza's
nomination to such an important post. They raised several conflict
of interest issues regarding Bryza and his Turkish-born wife, Zeyno
Baran, who until recently was director of the Center for Eurasian
Policy at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
This article shall focus on a single issue -- the allegation that
Bryza and Baran had received gifts during their August 23, 2007
wedding in Istanbul. If true, this would not only abort Bryza's
chances of becoming ambassador, but more importantly, it would get
him into serious legal trouble. Under U.S. laws, government officials
and their spouses are prohibited from receiving gifts, even wedding
presents, unless these are given by close acquaintances. Such gifts
have to be reported to the U.S. government, and the Internal Revenue
Service. Bryza's case is more complicated. If he got gifts that he
did not report, while telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
under oath that he did not receive such gifts, he could be charged
with non-reporting of a gift, tax evasion, and perjury.
Bryza's celebrity wedding triggered a major controversy when Azeri
jouranlist Adil Khalil reported in the opposition newspaper Azadlig
that Haydar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economic Development,
had paid most of the couple's wedding expenses. Babayev refuted
the accusation and filed a lawsuit for libel, causing Khalil to be
arrested, severely beaten, stabbed, and forced to flee to France. The
newspaper's editor, Ganimat Zahid, was also arrested on unsubstantiated
charges. Last month, Azadlig suspended publication, after it was
evicted from its offices by the authorities. Having exhausted all
domestic court appeals, the newspaper's editor filed a claim against
Azerbaijan with the European Court of Human Rights.
According to Azeri and Turkish media reports, around 400 prominent
guests from several countries attended Bryza's 2007 lavish wedding,
held under tight security. Among the attendees from Turkey were the
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the U.S. Consul General in
Istanbul, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, members of parliament,
and major media figures. Bryza also invited Armenian officials to
his wedding, including Pres. Robert Kocharian and Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian, neither of whom attended. At the time, Bryza was
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group, the mediators of the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict.
Several high-ranking Azeri officials also attended Bryza's wedding in
Istanbul: Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who served as a wedding
witness, Minister of Economic Development Haydar Babayev, Azeri
National Petroleum Company President Rovnaq Abdullaev, Deputy Speaker
of Parliament Valeh Aleskerov, and Azerbaijan's Consul General in Los
Angeles Elin Suleymanov. Pres. Ilham Aliyev's letter of congratulation
was read at the start of the wedding. According to documents obtained
by this writer from the European Court of Human Rights, the Azeri
editor claimed that Pres. Aliyev sent "a special gift to the bride."
Even though Bryza and Baran requested that in lieu of gifts guests
make a contribution to a Turkish charity, it is common practice
in the Middle East to hand gifts -- particularly jewelry -- to
a newlywed couple. For example, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu, during a meeting with Hillary Clinton in Kabul in July,
told her that he would be sending a gift to the Secretary of State,
on the occasion of her daughter's wedding.
According to the Media Rights Institute, Minister Babayev's lawyers
confirmed during a court hearing in Baku that he attended the wedding
and "even had a gift" for Bryza. Yet, at his Senate confirmation
hearing, Bryza refuted the allegation that an Azeri official had
financed his wedding, adding that its entire cost was paid by the
couple's families.
The allegation that Bryza received wedding gifts should be thoroughly
investigated before the Senate votes on his nomination. Even though
Senators and members of the Armenian, Greek, and Cypriot communities
oppose Bryza for multiple reasons, the wedding expenses and gifts
are the only issues that could have serious legal ramifications.
Therefore, the Senate should wait for the outcome of the lawsuit
filed by the Azeri editor in the European Court of Human Rights.
Bryza should fully cooperate with such an investigation in order to
clear the clouds of suspicion hanging over his head, before he is
rushed to Baku. He should provide the complete list of his wedding
guests and disclose all gifts received by the newlyweds and their
families.
U.S. investigators should contact everyone who attended Bryza's
wedding to verify what gifts they gave to the couple on that occasion.
He should also be asked to produce a record of his wedding expenses
and how they were paid.
A few days ago, Sen. Boxer wrote a letter to this writer expressing
her serious concern about Bryza's inadequate responses to her questions
both during and after the confirmation hearing. She pledged to continue
her efforts "to determine if he is the appropriate representative
for the United States in this highly volatile region of the world."
Sen. Boxer and her colleagues should either reject Bryza's nomination
outright or place a hold on it until all allegations against him are
investigated and proven to be true or false!
From: A. Papazian
By Harut Sassounian
http://www.noravank.am/eng/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=5031
15.09.2010
At the request of Sen. Barbara Boxer, the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee had postponed from early August to mid-September its vote
on Matt Bryza, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Senators
Boxer, Harry Reid, and Robert Menendez were satisfied neither with
Bryza's answers during the confirmation hearing nor subsequently with
his written responses.
While Congress was in recess for the past 40 days, a number of
newspapers and websites questioned the appropriateness of Bryza's
nomination to such an important post. They raised several conflict
of interest issues regarding Bryza and his Turkish-born wife, Zeyno
Baran, who until recently was director of the Center for Eurasian
Policy at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.
This article shall focus on a single issue -- the allegation that
Bryza and Baran had received gifts during their August 23, 2007
wedding in Istanbul. If true, this would not only abort Bryza's
chances of becoming ambassador, but more importantly, it would get
him into serious legal trouble. Under U.S. laws, government officials
and their spouses are prohibited from receiving gifts, even wedding
presents, unless these are given by close acquaintances. Such gifts
have to be reported to the U.S. government, and the Internal Revenue
Service. Bryza's case is more complicated. If he got gifts that he
did not report, while telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
under oath that he did not receive such gifts, he could be charged
with non-reporting of a gift, tax evasion, and perjury.
Bryza's celebrity wedding triggered a major controversy when Azeri
jouranlist Adil Khalil reported in the opposition newspaper Azadlig
that Haydar Babayev, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economic Development,
had paid most of the couple's wedding expenses. Babayev refuted
the accusation and filed a lawsuit for libel, causing Khalil to be
arrested, severely beaten, stabbed, and forced to flee to France. The
newspaper's editor, Ganimat Zahid, was also arrested on unsubstantiated
charges. Last month, Azadlig suspended publication, after it was
evicted from its offices by the authorities. Having exhausted all
domestic court appeals, the newspaper's editor filed a claim against
Azerbaijan with the European Court of Human Rights.
According to Azeri and Turkish media reports, around 400 prominent
guests from several countries attended Bryza's 2007 lavish wedding,
held under tight security. Among the attendees from Turkey were the
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the U.S. Consul General in
Istanbul, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, members of parliament,
and major media figures. Bryza also invited Armenian officials to
his wedding, including Pres. Robert Kocharian and Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian, neither of whom attended. At the time, Bryza was
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group, the mediators of the Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict.
Several high-ranking Azeri officials also attended Bryza's wedding in
Istanbul: Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who served as a wedding
witness, Minister of Economic Development Haydar Babayev, Azeri
National Petroleum Company President Rovnaq Abdullaev, Deputy Speaker
of Parliament Valeh Aleskerov, and Azerbaijan's Consul General in Los
Angeles Elin Suleymanov. Pres. Ilham Aliyev's letter of congratulation
was read at the start of the wedding. According to documents obtained
by this writer from the European Court of Human Rights, the Azeri
editor claimed that Pres. Aliyev sent "a special gift to the bride."
Even though Bryza and Baran requested that in lieu of gifts guests
make a contribution to a Turkish charity, it is common practice
in the Middle East to hand gifts -- particularly jewelry -- to
a newlywed couple. For example, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu, during a meeting with Hillary Clinton in Kabul in July,
told her that he would be sending a gift to the Secretary of State,
on the occasion of her daughter's wedding.
According to the Media Rights Institute, Minister Babayev's lawyers
confirmed during a court hearing in Baku that he attended the wedding
and "even had a gift" for Bryza. Yet, at his Senate confirmation
hearing, Bryza refuted the allegation that an Azeri official had
financed his wedding, adding that its entire cost was paid by the
couple's families.
The allegation that Bryza received wedding gifts should be thoroughly
investigated before the Senate votes on his nomination. Even though
Senators and members of the Armenian, Greek, and Cypriot communities
oppose Bryza for multiple reasons, the wedding expenses and gifts
are the only issues that could have serious legal ramifications.
Therefore, the Senate should wait for the outcome of the lawsuit
filed by the Azeri editor in the European Court of Human Rights.
Bryza should fully cooperate with such an investigation in order to
clear the clouds of suspicion hanging over his head, before he is
rushed to Baku. He should provide the complete list of his wedding
guests and disclose all gifts received by the newlyweds and their
families.
U.S. investigators should contact everyone who attended Bryza's
wedding to verify what gifts they gave to the couple on that occasion.
He should also be asked to produce a record of his wedding expenses
and how they were paid.
A few days ago, Sen. Boxer wrote a letter to this writer expressing
her serious concern about Bryza's inadequate responses to her questions
both during and after the confirmation hearing. She pledged to continue
her efforts "to determine if he is the appropriate representative
for the United States in this highly volatile region of the world."
Sen. Boxer and her colleagues should either reject Bryza's nomination
outright or place a hold on it until all allegations against him are
investigated and proven to be true or false!
From: A. Papazian