John Evans to receive Professional of the Year award

PanARMENIAN.Net - John Marshall Evans, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, will receive the prestigious 2010 Professional of the Year award from the Armenian Professional Society of Los Angeles (APSLA), at its 52nd annual gala banquet on November 19, according to Armenian Reporter.

He will be attending with his wife, Donna Evans, former President of the World Affairs Council of Washington.

The American diplomat is being honored for his courage and his dedication to truth for openly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. Receiving this award is a “special honor”, he said. “I will be honored to join the ranks of previous honorees like Vartan Oskanian, and Dr. Vartan Gregorian. And I intend to speak about the concept of professionalism at the event.”

Asked whether he has ever regretted using the “Genocide” word, he shortly said: “No”.

“I do not regret it. I said what I said in 2005 in good conscience, based on my reading of history and the 1948 Genocide Convention. I knew before I used the word that there would be negative consequences for my career. What I do regret is that some of the other things I said at that time and in recent years may have been overshadowed by my use of the word, ‘genocide’,” he noted.

“I did not use the word for cheap effect, but in the context of an honest discussion with Armenian-Americans about the realities of Armenia’s international situation. I don’t see how one can be honest while denying the reality of the Genocide,” he stated.

Currently, Ambassador Evans is writing a book about the Armenian Genocide which he put on hold in 2009 “to await the outcome of the Turkish-Armenian Protocols.