U.S. Embassy to Armenia "disappointed by words of ANCA Executive Director"

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Embassy to Armenia expressed its "deep disappointment with the statement of ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America) Exec. Director Aram Hamparian. During a press conference in Yerevan on March 12 Mr. Hamparian said that the U.S. Senate will not approve Richard Hoagland's candidacy as U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan. R. Hoagland denies the Armenian Genocide and doubts in premeditated actions of Ottoman Empire authorities.



Particularly, the U.S. Embassy statement says, "His remarks were a willful distortion of reality and have no place in any serious discussion about policy differences.  Mr. Hamparian's comments are particularly out of place in Yerevan, where the Government of Armenia has already signaled its readiness to work with Ambassador Hoagland.  Neither Ambassador Hoagland nor the Administration has ever denied the mass murders and forced exile of over 1.5 million Armenians that occurred in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.  During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 28, 2006, Ambassador Hoagland specifically said, on the record, "No one in the Administration has ever denied the events."  He has read broadly the history of the period.  However, the Administration, and therefore Ambassador-designate Hoagland, does not use the word "genocide" to describe these events."