November 6, 2006 - 13:11 AMT
ANCA: Does Armenia Need Ambassador Denying Armenian Genocide?
The appointment of Richard Hoagland Ambassador to Armenia is still in the air. A diplomat should mind his expressions when speaking of a country where he is going to serve as an Ambassador, ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in Washington. "Why does Armenia need an Ambassador, who surpassed the President and now speaks of the 'so-called Genocide' and says Armenians were treated well in the Ottoman Empire. By the way, the President himself says it was a tragedy," she remarked adding that the State Department would never send an Ambassador denying the Holocaust to Israel. Meanwhile, according to a source in the U.S. Department of State, Richard Hoagland's designation will be approved. "This is our nomination and it should be approved. Although the hearings will resume in the newly elected Senate late November there will be no problem, I suppose. At long last the President can appoint the Ambassador bypassing the Senate. History records such cases," the source said adding that John Evans' activities were appreciated highly by the State Department and it's the President who decides on the terms of Ambassadors' service.