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Bryza Wrongly Tells Senators: Armenian Patriarch Is Dead

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  • Bryza Wrongly Tells Senators: Armenian Patriarch Is Dead

    BRYZA WRONGLY TELLS SENATORS: ARMENIAN PATRIARCH IS DEAD
    Harut Sassounian Publisher

    Noyan Tapan
    27.07.2010 | 09:17

    Barack Obama ran for the Presidency on a platform of "change" and
    promised to bring a fresh approach to domestic and foreign policy
    issues. After the election, however, he disappointed his supporters
    by continuing many of his predecessor~Rs policies.

    One example of Pres. Obama's failure to break with the past is his
    nomination of Matt Bryza as the next Ambassador to Azerbaijan. Bryza
    is a relic from the Bush Administration with a checkered and
    controversial past. He is a liability rather than an asset to the
    Obama administration and the United States.

    For several months, Bryza had been going around Washington, dropping
    not so subtle hints that he will become the next Ambassador to
    Azerbaijan. The fact that it took almost a year before he was
    actually nominated to that post, indicates that there were serious
    complications, including concerns by Russia about Bryza~Rs role in
    the Georgian-Russian war, Azerbaijan~Rs objection to his backing of
    Armenia-Turkey protocols, conflict of interest allegations about his
    wife~Rs work, and questions about his wedding expenses.

    Given all of these controversies, Bryza would have never been nominated
    as Ambassador to Azerbaijan, were it not for some powerful friends at
    high places. According to press reports, Dan Fried, former Assistant
    Secretary of State, had personally recommended Bryza to Secretary of
    State Hillary Clinton for the post of ambassador.

    Bryza~Rs marriage to Zeyno Baran, a native of Turkey, generated the
    most controversy. The issue was not her ethnic origin, but what she
    did for a living, as Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at
    the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think thank that reportedly
    receives funding from ExxonMobile and other energy companies.

    According to Washington Times, "Turkish and Azerbaijani business
    interests funded a major conference at the Hudson Institute, which
    was organized in part by Mrs. Bryza." The newspaper quoted ANCA as
    stating that "the policy positions that Mrs. Bryza has advocated have
    often been aligned with ~E the interests pursued by the Azerbaijani
    government and energy corporations with interests in the Caspian [Sea]
    region," and that "Mr. Bryza might be in violation of federal ethics
    rules because of his wife~Rs connections to Turkish and Azerbaijani
    business interests."

    Bryza was extensively questioned about his possible conflicts of
    interest during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee~Rs July 22
    hearing on his nomination as Ambassador to Azerbaijan. In response,
    Bryza told the Senators that the U.S. government had thoroughly checked
    his family~Rs finances and "uncovered no conflicts of interest." He
    further told the Senators that his wife "Zeyno has undertaken a pledge
    to refrain from bringing any issue related to the Hudson Institute
    before~Ethe State Department or before the U.S.

    Embassy in Baku." Needless to say, his wife~Rs reported "pledge"
    is not a legally binding commitment.

    Another controversial issue addressed by Bryza at the hearing was
    the serious allegation that Heydar Babayev, former Azeri Minister
    of Economic Development, helped pay for the Bryzas~R lavish 2007
    wedding in Istanbul. Infuriated by the accusation, Babayev sued
    the Azeri newspaper that had published the story. The journalist
    who had written the report was arrested and beaten, before fleeing
    the country. He has since filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan in the
    European Court of Human Rights.

    Bryza assured the Senators that it is "absolutely untrue" that
    Minister Babayev had financed his wedding. Nevertheless, should the
    European Court find that Minister Babayev had in fact helped pay
    for the wedding, Bryza could face several serious charges, including
    violation of U.S. government~Rs gift acceptance and disclosure policy,
    non-reporting of such contribution to IRS as income, and perjuring
    himself during Senate testimony.

    Bryza proudly announced to the Senators that he and his wife had
    invited to their wedding people they had known during the course of
    their work over the last decade -- including government officials,
    diplomats, opposition leaders, NGO~Rs, and religious leaders in
    Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus and Greece. Bryza stated that
    among the invitees to the wedding was "the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob,
    now deceased!"

    As is widely known, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey is very much
    alive, even though he suffers from dementia. It is simply astounding
    that Bryza does not know that Patriarch Mesrob is still alive --
    someone he felt close enough to invite to his wedding! One hopes that
    this error is not indicative of how misinformed Bryza is about key
    people and events in that critical part of the world, where he seeks
    to represent the United States.




    From: A. Papazian
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