It has been President Bush's policy not to use term 'Genocide'

PanARMENIAN.Net - I am honored by the confidence that President Bush and Secretary Rice have shown in me by nominating me for the post of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Ambassador-Designate to Armenia, Ms. Marie L. Yovanovitch said in her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 19, 2008.



"If confirmed, I pledge to build on my 22 years of service to our country to protect and defend American interests in the increasingly vital region of the South Caucasus. Only in the United States would it be possible for someone like me - a first generation immigrant to the United States - to appear before you as an Ambassadorial nominee. My father fled the Soviets and then the Nazis. My maternal grandfather escaped from Russia after the revolution and raised his family in wartime Germany, where my mother grew up stateless. My parents brought me to this country in search of a safe harbor, a harbor that provided freedom and opportunity, dignity and respect.



"The United States offered our family a second chance, just as so many Armenian-Americans received a second chance in our country after they were driven out of the Ottoman Empire. In no way do I want to equate my own family history with that of Americans of Armenian heritage here in the United States. But I do wish to convey that I understand from personal experience that the events of the past can haunt the present and that individuals, born a generation or more after apocalyptic events, seek recognition of the injustices of the past.



"The U.S. government - and certainly I - acknowledges and mourns the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations that devastated over one and a half million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire. The United States recognizes these events as one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century, the "Medz Yeghern" or Great Calamity, as many Armenians refer to it. That is why every April the President honors the victims and expresses American solidarity with the Armenian people on Remembrance Day.



"The Administration understands that many Americans and many Armenians believe that the events of the past that I have referred to should be called "genocide." It has been President Bush's policy, as well as that of previous presidents of both parties, not to use that term. The President's focus is on encouraging Turkish citizens to reconcile with their past and with the Armenians. He seeks to support the painstaking progress achieved to date. President Bush believes that the best way to honor the victims is to remember the past, so it is never repeated, and to look to the future to promote understanding and reconciliation between the peoples and governments of Armenia and Turkey. A key part of that effort is to end Armenia's isolation in the region by encouraging normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey and the opening of their land border. The Armenian government has requested that we facilitate this process. It will not be easy nor will it likely be quick, but there are some hopeful signs.



"President Bush believes that normalization can and should be achieved. The result would be an improvement in the life of every Armenian. If I am confirmed, my priority would be to support the efforts of the United States in working towards regional stability by facilitating Armenian-Turkish relations and a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. Armenia is isolated from its second largest neighbor, Turkey, and every year scores of soldiers die along the line of contact with Azeri forces in Nagorno Karabakh. The status quo in both situations is unacceptable, a deterioration unthinkable and clearly not in U.S. or regional interests," Ms. Yovanovitch said.