Pennington hopes for confirmation of Marie Yovanovitch as U.S. envoy in Yerevan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Appointment of Ambassador is extremely important for the Armenian-American relations, said Mr. Joseph Pennington, the U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Armenia.



"The U.S. Embassy hopes for soonest appointment. Ms. Marie L. Yovanovitch will be questioned by the Senate members, who are to decide whether to confirm the designation or not. It's a democratic process and we hope for a positive decision," he said.



President Bush's previous nominee as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Richard Hoagland, was subject to two legislative holds by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and was ultimately withdrawn by the Administration, following the nominee's statements denying the Armenian Genocide.



On March 28, 2008, Bush nominated Amb. Marie L. Yovanovitch to serve as America's next Ambassador to Armenia.



"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," new Ambassador-designate said during the June 19 hearing.



"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."



"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," Ms. Yovanovitch said.