ANCA RELEASED A DOCUMENT REFERRING TO JOHN EVANS’S FIRING

2007-05-10
Defacto

Internal State Department documents, released this week to the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), reveal that a senior State Department official forced the return to the U.S. of former Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, prior to U.S. Senate's approval of his replacement, effectively ensuring that this key foreign post would remain vacant.

The key document released by the Department was an August 8, 2006 "Sensitive-Eyes Only for Amb. Evans" memo from Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried to Ambassador Evans. In the note, the Assistant Secretary acknowledged Ambassador Evans's willingness to remain in Yerevan, until the Senate confirmed Richard Hoagland, the career Foreign Service officer, who had been nominated by President Bush to fill the Yerevan ambassadorial post after the Evans firing. Fried stated he was aware of Evans’s willingness to remain in Yerevan in the light of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponement of its consideration of Richard Hoagland's nomination. However, he requested that Evans "depart post by the end of the first week in September."

The Department's decision, as communicated in the August 8, 2006 Dan Fried memo, was taken amid intense opposition by Armenian Americans and growing scrutiny by members of the U.S. Senate over Hoagland's denial of the Armenian Genocide. The Fried memo was sent after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's August 1st postponement of its confirmation vote, and prior to the panel's September 7th consideration of the Hoagland nomination. Forcing Ambassador Evans’s physical return to the U.S. prior to this vote afforded State Department lobbyists the "talking point" that opposing the Hoagland nomination would mean leaving an ambassadorial vacancy in Yerevan.
The Hoagland nomination, facing bipartisan opposition, was ultimately blocked by Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Bob Menendez (D-NJ). The New Jersey legislator placed a hold on his confirmation by the Senate, arguing that a U.S. ambassador, who denies the Armenian Genocide, cannot be an effective U.S. representative in Armenia.

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.

ON MAY 3rd AMBASSADOR JOHN M. EVANS TO BE HONORED WITH HENRY MORGENTHAU AWARD FOR MERITORIOUS PUBLIC SERVICE

2007-05-02
DeFacto

On May 3rd, in Cambridge Massachusetts, Ambassador John Marshall Evans will be presented with the distinguished Henry Morgenthau Award for Meritorious Public Service. The Award is presented by the Armenian Assembly of America to a public official, who has demonstrated exemplary leadership on behalf of the Armenian people and nation.

Grandson of the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the genocide, Henry Morgenthau III will be joined by Samantha Power, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" and Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, for this auspices occasion honoring Evans for speaking the truth.

Ambassador Evans is only the third recipient of the Morgenthau Award. The first U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Harry Gilmore was the first recipient on June 1, 1996. President of Armenia Robert Kocharian was awarded the honor on September 6, 1997.
Ambassador Evans is a true profile in courage. In 2005, while addressing Armenian-American communities across the country, the Ambassador re-affirmed the United States record and accurately described the events that took place from 1915 to 1923 as genocide. As a result of his public statements, Ambassador Evans' term of office was cut short by the Department of State. In addition, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) rescinded its Christian A. Herter Award for "constructive dissent", which Evans had received for his proper characterization of the Armenian Genocide. Ambassador Evans has since retired from the Foreign Service.

"Ambassador Evans is a man of principle and conviction," said Chairman of the Board of Trustees Hirair Hovnanian. "No one should be penalized for speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide, especially a public official, who has the responsibility of representing the United States abroad," Hovnanian added. "That is not the message our country should be sending to the rest of the world, if we are to remain the bastion of democracy and freedom for people everywhere."

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.

Double Genocide Correction from US Yerevan Ambassador

Friday, March 04 2005
Turks.US

The US Ambassador to Yerevan John Evans has had to apologize twice for use of the term "genocide" about events in Armenia, once to the US Administration and once to Turkey.

Evans criticized Washington's policy last week and said that Armenian events should be called "genocide" from now on. Top level administration of US State Department reacted to this statement and made Evans issue a retraction on the Embassy's internet site. The ambassador said in the message that the term "genocide" was his own evaluation and this did not indicate the US policy, which had not changed. Evans said that he was sorry for causing a misunderstanding. But Evans hid the term 'genocide' within the message of apology saying "there is no change in the policy of the US over the Armenian genocide." The Turkish ambassador to Washington Faruk Logoglu reacted to this message and the Washington administration approved Turkey's demand and made Evans correct the message of apology. Logoglu reminded the US State Department that the US does not recognize the Armenian genocide, but the term was used in the message of apology of the US Yerevan Ambassador. Logoglu noted that a term that is not accepted by USA could not be used in a statement of policy.

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.

Amb. Evans' Statements Recognizing the Armenian Genocide Do Not Represent A Formal Change in U.S. Policy

March 4, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans, only days after completing an official tour of Armenian American communities during which he repeatedly gave recognition to the Armenian Genocide, has noted that these comments were his private views and do not reflect a change in U.S. government policy. His statement on this subject was posted today on the Embassy's website - www.usa.am.


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.