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ANCA: Yovanovitch Sworn In as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

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  • ANCA: Yovanovitch Sworn In as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

    ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA
    1711 N Street NW
    Washington, DC 20036
    Tel: (202) 775-1918
    Fax: (202) 775-5648
    Email: [email protected]
    Website: www.anca.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    For Immediate Release
    September 3, 2008
    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
    Tel: (202) 775-1918
    Email: [email protected]

    YOVANOVITCH SWORN IN AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

    WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch was
    officially sworn in at a September 2nd State Department ceremony
    during which the new Ambassador stressed her commitment to stronger
    U.S.-Armenia relations and working to ensure peace and stability in
    the Caucasus, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
    (ANCA).

    Video from Ambassador Yovanovitch's swearing in ceremony is posted
    on the ANCA YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/ANCAGrassroots)

    The Senate approved the Yovanovitch nomination, last month,
    following extensive questioning led by Senate Foreign Relations
    Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and
    Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and several requests for clarification of the
    State Department's position on the Armenian Genocide.

    Facing strong pressure and the prospect of a Senate "hold," Matthew
    Reynolds, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative
    Affairs, wrote to Chairman Biden to formally affirm that: "the
    Administration recognizes that the mass killings, ethnic cleansing,
    and forced deportations of over one and a half million Armenians
    were conducted by the Ottoman Empire." The complete text of the
    State Department letter is at:
    http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_relea ses.php?prid=1545

    Commenting on the State Department's letter, ANCA Executive
    Director Aram Hamparian had noted that "although clearly falling
    short of America's moral responsibility and national interest in
    recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, [the letter] did
    mark a step in the direction of distancing U.S. policy from the
    dictates of the Turkish government. While we, of course, remain
    troubled by the President's refusal to properly characterize the
    Armenian Genocide - as reflected in Ambassador Yovanovitch's
    responses - we were gratified to see that, as a result of pressure
    from Senators Biden, Boxer, and Menendez, the Department of State
    has retreated from its most offensive and factually unsupportable
    assertions calling into question the historical fact of Ottoman
    Turkey's destruction of its Armenian population."

    Following Senate approval of Amb. Yovanovitch's nomination, ANCA
    Chairman Ken Hachikian, Executive Director Aram Hamparian, and
    Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian met with Amb.
    Yovanovitch at the ANCA national headquarters in Washington, DC to
    discuss a broad range of U.S.-Armenia policy concerns.

    President Bush's previous nominee as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia,
    Richard Hoagland, was subject to two legislative holds by Sen.
    Menendez and was ultimately withdrawn by the Administration,
    following the nominee's statements denying the Armenian Genocide.
    The ANCA led the Armenian American community campaign opposing
    Hoagland's nomination, stating that a genocide denier could not
    serve as a credible and effective U.S. spokesperson in Armenia. The
    last U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, was fired by
    the State Department for properly characterizing the Armenian
    Genocide as 'genocide.'

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