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Washington Times
June 14 2012
Embassy Row
Diplomatic dispute reopened
President Obama inevitably reopened a bedeviling dispute when he
nominated a senior diplomat to serve as ambassador to Azerbaijan,
which is locked in a deadly conflict with neighboring Armenia.
Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas and a key player in the
Great Game of energy politics in the Caucasus. But Armenia is rich in
the politics of Washington, where the landlocked nation with no energy
resources has powerful friends on Capitol Hill.
Whenever a U.S. president nominates an ambassador to either country,
the longstanding conflict between the nations dominates the
questioning at Senate confirmation hearings.
Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Jeanne Shaheed of New
Hampshire quizzed Richard Morningstar when he appeared before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week.
The two senators, both Democrats who have a significant number of
Armenian-Americans in their states, questioned Mr. Morningstar about
Azerbaijan's relations with Armenia.
Mr. Menendez noted that Azerbaijani President Ilam Aliyev recently
warned that `our main enemies are the Armenians of the world.'
Mr. Aliev added that `Armenians will live in fear' as long as they
occupy an ethnic-Armenian enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding areas, which comprise about 20 percent of Azerbaijan.
The two countries fought a six-year war over the territory that ended
in 1994 after the death of about 4,600 people and the displacement of
more than 1 million.
Mr. Morningstar, who has dealt with U.S. interests in the region as a
special envoy, called those comments `counterproductive.' However, he
also said the United States has an interest in selling military
equipment to Azerbaijan to help it defend against possible aggression
from Iran, its southern neighbor.
Mr. Menendez asked Mr. Morningstar about the slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians in the Ottoman Turkish Empire during World War I.
Armenian-Americans regularly pressure U.S. presidents to recognize the
killings as the `Armenian Genocide,' but most U.S. leaders, including
Mr. Obama, have called the massacre everything but `genocide' to avoid
angering Turkey, a key NATO ally.
`I have to ask you whether or not you contest any of the facts of what
transpired in 1915, as it relates to 1.5 million Armenians who were
brutally massacred and marched to their deaths in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire,' Mr. Menendez asked.
`No, I do not,' Mr. Morningstar replied.
Mr. Menendez helped block Mr. Obama's last choice for ambassador to
Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, because he suspected the career diplomat
had close personal ties to Mr. Aliyev and other Azerbaijani
powerbrokers. Mr. Obama bypassed the Senate and named Mr. Bryza in a
one-year recess appointment, which expired in January.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/14/embassy-row-diplomatic-dispute-reopened/
June 14 2012
Embassy Row
Diplomatic dispute reopened
President Obama inevitably reopened a bedeviling dispute when he
nominated a senior diplomat to serve as ambassador to Azerbaijan,
which is locked in a deadly conflict with neighboring Armenia.
Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas and a key player in the
Great Game of energy politics in the Caucasus. But Armenia is rich in
the politics of Washington, where the landlocked nation with no energy
resources has powerful friends on Capitol Hill.
Whenever a U.S. president nominates an ambassador to either country,
the longstanding conflict between the nations dominates the
questioning at Senate confirmation hearings.
Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Jeanne Shaheed of New
Hampshire quizzed Richard Morningstar when he appeared before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week.
The two senators, both Democrats who have a significant number of
Armenian-Americans in their states, questioned Mr. Morningstar about
Azerbaijan's relations with Armenia.
Mr. Menendez noted that Azerbaijani President Ilam Aliyev recently
warned that `our main enemies are the Armenians of the world.'
Mr. Aliev added that `Armenians will live in fear' as long as they
occupy an ethnic-Armenian enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding areas, which comprise about 20 percent of Azerbaijan.
The two countries fought a six-year war over the territory that ended
in 1994 after the death of about 4,600 people and the displacement of
more than 1 million.
Mr. Morningstar, who has dealt with U.S. interests in the region as a
special envoy, called those comments `counterproductive.' However, he
also said the United States has an interest in selling military
equipment to Azerbaijan to help it defend against possible aggression
from Iran, its southern neighbor.
Mr. Menendez asked Mr. Morningstar about the slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians in the Ottoman Turkish Empire during World War I.
Armenian-Americans regularly pressure U.S. presidents to recognize the
killings as the `Armenian Genocide,' but most U.S. leaders, including
Mr. Obama, have called the massacre everything but `genocide' to avoid
angering Turkey, a key NATO ally.
`I have to ask you whether or not you contest any of the facts of what
transpired in 1915, as it relates to 1.5 million Armenians who were
brutally massacred and marched to their deaths in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire,' Mr. Menendez asked.
`No, I do not,' Mr. Morningstar replied.
Mr. Menendez helped block Mr. Obama's last choice for ambassador to
Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, because he suspected the career diplomat
had close personal ties to Mr. Aliyev and other Azerbaijani
powerbrokers. Mr. Obama bypassed the Senate and named Mr. Bryza in a
one-year recess appointment, which expired in January.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/14/embassy-row-diplomatic-dispute-reopened/