Frank Pallone: U.S. Shouldn't Refrain from Declaring Truth to Promote Relations with Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - The controversy surrounded the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans continued to grow this week with a powerful statement by the Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus, calls for Congressional hearings, and a series of as yet unanswered inquiries from the national media during the State Department's daily press briefing, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). In a May 25th statement on the House floor, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) forcefully condemned the Administration for forcing Amb. Evans to vacate his post for publicly affirming the Armenian Genocide. He voiced his "fear that the Government of Turkey may have played a role in this unfortunate event. I strongly believe they have expressed concern to the White House over Evans' remarks last year. In fact, immediately following his remarks, Evan issued a "correction," all too seemingly at the behest of the Administration. We must not allow a third party to interfere in U.S. diplomacy and refrain from declaring the truth in order to promote relations with Turkey."



Congressman Pallone noted that he has yet to receive an explanation from the State Department, despite having written a letter to the Secretary more than two months ago requesting a thorough description of the reasons behind the Ambassador's recall. Commenting on similar unanswered letters and questions posed during Congressional hearings regarding this controversy, he noted that, "now, the White House has made an 'official' announcement but still has not given an explanation." He closed by expressing his "hope that the newly-appointed U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, will not play the word games of the White House, and comply with Turkey's campaign of genocidal denial."