Senator Kerry announces vote on Bryza confirmation despite nominee's evasive answers

August 1, 2010 - 16:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced that his panel will hold a vote next Tuesday, August 3rd, on the confirmation of Matthew Bryza, President Obama's controversial nominee to serve U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, despite the nominee's evasive and incomplete answers to a series of written questions submitted to him by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and key members of this influential panel, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Mr. Bryza's evasive, unresponsive, and incomplete written answers to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, even more than his spoken testimony before this panel, confirm our reservations about his troubling track record, and clearly confirm that he is not the right person to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "American diplomacy in the region would be well served by a fresh start, with a new ambassador who doesn't have deep ties into Azerbaijan's corrupt government, a history of turning a blind-eye to Baku's aggression, or serious conflict of interest issues."

"We want to thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and offer our sincere appreciation to Senators Boxer and Menendez and all the those who have worked hard to ensure that we send an ambassador to Baku who can effectively represent U.S. interests, persuasively advance American values, and - crucially, for the cause of peace - constrain an increasingly belligerent Aliyev regime from acting on its threats of renewed war," added Hamparian.