U.S. ambassador nominee to Armenia worked for pro-Turkish Congressman

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) expects a rigorous Senate confirmation process in the months ahead on Barack Obama’s nomination of John A. Heffern to serve as U.S. ambassador to Armenia.

Current U.S. envoy to Yerevan Marie L. Yovanovitch, nominated by former President George W. Bush, will conclude her three-year mission in June.

In the mid-1990s, Heffern worked for former Congressman Doug Bereuter (R-NE) who was consistently one of the most pro-Turkish and anti-Armenian Representatives to serve in Congress.

Without pre-judging nominee Mr. Heffern personally, he will have a steep hill to climb in explaining and distinguishing his views from those of former Congressman Bereuter. For example, in 1995-1996, when Heffern was on the Congressman's International Relations Committee staff, Bereuter voted against several measures aimed to promote not only Armenia's interests, but human rights interests around the world.

These measures included, most notably, the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, which prohibits U.S. economic assistance to any country that impedes or restricts the transfer or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance to another country. Heffern's former boss also voted against an amendment to cut $25 million in aid to Turkey, which was proposed in reference to Turkey's human rights violations and ongoing blockade of Armenia. Further, the Congressman voted against an amendment to cut aid to Turkey until it had "taken all appropriate steps to honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide."

The Assembly hopes Mr. Heffern can successfully climb that hill and represent America's views and clear record, not only on the need to squarely recognize the Armenian Genocide and its consequences, but also on addressing Azerbaijan's aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to ensure peace in the region with open borders, respect for human rights and commitment to democracy.

John A. Heffern is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels. Prior to his current post, Mr. Heffern served as Executive Assistant to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia. Mr. Heffern's career has also included overseas assignments to Japan, Malaysia, Ivory Coast and Guangzhou, China.