Association Withdraws Award to U.S. Envoy

By Glenn KesslerWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, June 9, 2005; Page A19

The American Foreign Service Association recently announced that John M. Evans, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, was to receive a prestigious award for "constructive dissent" for characterizing as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. His comments stirred such a diplomatic tempest that Evans not only had to retract his remarks but also had to later clarify his retraction.

Earlier this week, however, the selection committee met again and decided to withdraw the honor, known as the Christian A. Herter Award. They decided not to offer any award in the category, reserved for a senior foreign service officer. Other awards are issued for officers at lower levels.

The US Sate Department in action! What is your next move Ms. Condoleezza Rice?

The timing of the association's decision appeared curious, given it came just before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Washington for a meeting with President Bush to bolster strained U.S.-Turkish relations. John W. Limbert, president of the association, said that no one at the organization can remember an award being withdrawn after it had been announced.
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Limbert said the committee, made up of current and former State Department officials, concluded that the award to Evans did not meet the selection criteria. He declined to comment further, saying State Department officials would have to explain their concerns.

L. Bruce Laingen, who chaired the selection committee, said "very serious people from the State Department in particular" expressed concern about the award to Evans.[...].

"Dissent has to be within the system," Laingen said. He said the committee did not focus on that fact until it was reminded by the State Department.
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears Here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.