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Philip Cordon's Rocky Senate Confirmation Hearing

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  • Philip Cordon's Rocky Senate Confirmation Hearing

    PHILIP CORDON'S ROCKY SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING

    Greek News
    http://www.greeknewsonline.com/modules.php?na me=News&file=article&sid=10151
    March 30 2009
    NY

    Washington, D.C.- Uncertainty reigns among members of the Senate
    Committee on Foreign Relations for the nomination of Philip Gordon
    to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
    after statements he had made during his hearing before the committee
    when questioned by Senator Robert Menendez. More questions were
    submitted to Gordon on Friday and if members find his explanations
    unsatisfactory, his confirmation will be delayed and most likely he
    wont be able to accompany the President to his first European trip.

    On Wednesday Menendez held a private meeting with Gordon before the
    hearing but the latter failed to persuade the Democrat New Jersey
    senator that the views which he will furnish President Barack Obama
    during his term in office will be impartial and not affected by the
    his pro-Turkish views he had expressed during his career as academic
    and analyst.

    The US Senator negatively commented articles which Gordon had
    written against the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the US,
    his reaction when the Annan Plan was rejected by the Greek Cypriot
    community in 2004 during a referendum as well as his views on the
    role of Turkey.

    During the hearing, Menendez called on Gordon to say whether he
    agreed with the statement in Obama's pre-election campaign which
    referred to a political settlement of the Cyprus issue which will
    end the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus and correct the tragic
    division of the island.

    Gordon replied that he agreed, however he claimed that the view
    concerning occupation is expressed by the government of Cyprus and
    some experts.

    He went on to claim before the committee that there is a Turkish
    presence in the northern part of Cyprus which is not accepted by the
    government of Cyprus and it is an issue under negotiations which the US
    support for a solution to the Cyprus issue, adding he has not changed
    his views, even when indicated by Menendez that this was included in
    Obama's declaration.

    HEATED DIALOGUE

    SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Thank you Madame Chairman. I have a budget
    vote that is taking place, so I'm going to hopefully be able to get my
    questions in, but if not I may come back if there are still members,
    and return. If not, I'll submit them for the record.

    Mr. Gordon, I want to focus questions that -- we had an opportunity
    to have a brief discussion, and I want to follow up. Let me read
    this statement to you and ask you if you agree with it or not:
    "A negotiated political settlement on Cyprus wound end the Turkish
    occupation of northern Cyprus and repair the island's tragic division,
    while paving the way to prosperity and peace throughout the entire
    region." Is that something that you would agree with?

    MR. GORDON: Yes, Senator, I would.

    SEN. MENENDEZ: Okay. So, like the president of the United States, you
    recognize that there is an occupation in the northern part of Cyprus.

    MR. GORDON: There is a Turkish presence in the northern part of
    Cyprus that is not accepted by the government of Cyprus and would
    be the subject of the negotiations that we support to bring about a
    Cyprus settlement.

    SEN. MENENDEZ: But you don't consider it an occupation.

    MR. GORDON: There are a number of outside experts in the government
    of Cyprus who consider it an occupation.

    SEN. MENENDEZ: The statement I read to you is from then-Senator
    Obama as he was running for president of the United States. It was
    his policy statement, and so it's not simply my view or the view of
    others that it was a occupation, but it is his.

    Let me ask you this. I read your articles with reference to the Annan
    plan in which you criticized the Greek Cypriots who rejected it. That
    plan included -- and did you read that plan?

    MR. GORDON: I did.

    SEN. MENENDEZ: Okay. I know you supported it, and you also read it,
    right? So that plan included prohibiting Greek Cypriots from purchasing
    property in a third of their own country, allowing the same number
    of Greek Cypriots on the Cyprus Supreme Court as foreign citizens,
    constitutionally establishing Turkish troops permanently on Cyprus,
    and taking tens of thousands of Greek-Cypriot homes, and in essence,
    giving them for free to those who at present are occupying them,
    maybe with some compensation.

    It took Americans two years to approve our four-page
    Constitution. Cypriots were only given a few weeks to consider a
    constitution and its attachments that numbered over 9,000 pages. So I
    think one might see why a Western Democracy like Cyprus would reject
    permanently structuring the future of their country in such a way
    and in such a time frame.

    So how do you view, in light of these and other facts -- there have
    been 15 million crossings from one community to the other in recent
    years without an incidence of violence -- how do you in light of these
    facts, would you rethink your support of such settlement provisions
    on Cyprus that produce such an unproductive vote, or are you wedded
    to the views that you originally held?

    MR. GORDON: Thank you Senator. As we discussed yesterday, I
    acknowledged that I did support the Annan Plan at the time. I thought
    it was better than the status quo. I thought it had enormous problems
    because it's a terribly complicated situation, but I thought it was
    better than the status quo because it was a settlement, because it
    brought security to the island, because it recognized one Cyprus,
    which is U.S. government policy, because it would lead to a significant
    departure of Turkish military presence, and a territorial adjustment
    that that would be in the interest of both sides.

    I supported it like the United Nations, like the European Union
    and like the Bush Administration, so that was my thinking, and we
    discussed that a bit yesterday. But that is irrelevant because as
    you say the plan was rejected. As you noted, it was rejected by a
    democratic majority of Greek Cypriots in the Republic of Cyprus. And
    they spoke, and democracy spoke, and the --

    SEN. MENENDEZ: And I appreciate that. The question is: Those who are
    trying to revive the Annan plan, and even though the two parties are
    negotiating, and the reason I ask you these questions is because the
    reason you get nominated for this position is your expertise, your
    background, your knowledge, and the fact that the secretary of State,
    and for that fact, the president of the United States, will ask you
    what are your views.

    And therefore you will have not an insignificant position by which to
    fashion U.S. foreign policy, and that's what I'm concerned. I'm also
    concerned when I read your comments with reference to the Armenian
    Genocide. This is a quote from an article you wrote: As if tensions
    with Turkey were not already strained enough by the Iraq world and the
    Curtis issue, moves in the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize
    a "Turkish Genocide" against Armenians in 1915 have stroke the sense
    of crisis.

    And, you know, I have a concern when there is a veto by a foreign
    government over domestic policies and policies of the United States,
    including the Congress of the United States. And I have a real concern
    that those who would be in the position of authority would actually
    seek to fashion that.

    You know, that same record doesn't speak out about Turkey's legacy of
    denial. The fact that it has a series of other issues that affects
    its entrance into the European Union, with Cyprus being one. The
    whole question of the (Ecumenical Patriarch ?) and a whole host of
    others. So I'm concerned that at the end of the day that there will
    be the appropriate balance here, if you were to be confirmed by the
    senate. Can you speak to that for me?

    And lastly, since I'm going to have to go for budget votes, and I'm
    going to hang in here to listen to your answers as long as I can. In
    the pursuit of complete transparencies, would you provide for us for
    the record subsequent to this hearing, the list of countries that
    will be under your jurisdiction. And would you also provide to us the
    organizations that you have worked with prior to this nomination? And
    what monies were received both those organizations from any foreign
    government at the time that you were involved there?

    MR. GORDON: Sure, I would be happy to do that. Very briefly based on
    a number of very important issues that I know are important to you
    and to this committee and to this administration. On the Annan plan
    very briefly, my understanding is it's not on the table in terms of
    the debate about whether we support it or not. My understanding is
    that there is no such thing as an Annan plan any more.

    What there is, very fortunately -- what there are, are negotiations
    that are going on directly between the two parties. It's not the
    U.N. writing a plan. It's not the United States writing a plan, but
    the two parties on the island are negotiating, which is a very good
    thing because I think like you Senator, I believe that a negotiated
    settlement on Cyprus would be very much in the interest of the parties.

    You quoted comments of mine on Armenia, and the suggested that these
    congressional measures would provoke a nationalistic backlash in
    Turkey, which analytically I think is accurate. And that's what I
    was writing. I have been at a think tank for a number of years, and
    that's what we do when we analyze. And I was making the analytical
    statement that such a resolution would provoke a nationalistic backlash
    in Turkey.

    You suggested the need for balance, and I absolutely agree. And I
    absolutely agree that the United States and Congress and citizens,
    including in Turkey, need to recognize that a terrible tragedy took
    place. That more than a million and a half people were driven from
    their homes and massacred. And people need to recognize that in honor
    of the victims of that strategy.

    And that sort of balance, I think, is necessary as I say not only here,
    but in Turkey. And you mentioned the debate within Turkey, and I think
    if you've looked at my writings, you have seen that I've personally
    long encouraged that. The United States government has encouraged
    that. And if confirmed, I would also do so. I think there's been some
    progress in that regard, including on this issue. But not enough,
    and if confirmed, I would make it a priority of mission for you.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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