WASHINGTON—ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s nomination of John Bass for U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to vote on the nominee on Tuesday, July 29:
“The ANCA cannot support the nomination of John Bass to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, on the basis of his Senate testimony that compounds President Obama’s broken pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide by retreating even further from the truth and tightening Turkey’s gag-rule on the U.S. government.”
“It is simply unacceptable—six years after President Obama pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide, five years after Ankara walked away from the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, and less than a year away from the 100th anniversary of the start of this still unpunished crime—for a U.S. ambassadorial nominee to respond to direct Senate questioning on the Armenian Genocide with generic references to ‘shared history.’ Such euphemistic language seeks to downgrade a genocidal crime to a bilateral conflict by establishing moral parity between unrepentant perpetrators and those that they mercilessly preyed upon.”
“We oppose Turkey’s gag-rule and all who accept Ankara’s veto over America’s right to speak with moral clarity about the Armenian Genocide. The United States must be represented in Ankara on April 24th of 2015 by a clear and compelling voice for truth.”
Bass’ complete statement presented at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing is available at:
http://www.foreign.senate.gov/download/bass-testimony-7-15-14
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Great remarks by Mr. Hamparian, but it is telling that the nominee did not address Armenia until several paragraphs into his testimony.
Bass is toast. Senators Menendez and Boxer will most probably derail this nomination.
Even though Aram is right and makes a compelling case, it is a sad and frustrating reality that John Bass’s nomination will probably be confirmed.
In diplomatic circles, ambassador’s rarely strongly express their own views and opinions. They are basically puppets of the administration, and they follow the State Department’s playbook. That is how they are vetted and nominated. Otherwise they are removed and demoted to some obscure position.
The Republic of Armenia is the only party that can refuse/deny the nomination, but for political reasons it is very rare that a host country rejects an ambassadorial nomination.
Senators Menendez and Boxer will ask the tough questions, but at the end of the day John Bass will be nominated. What a waste and travesty!!!.
The US recently accepted the corrupt and tarnished RoA’s ex Prime minister as Armenia’s ambassador to the USA. Serge Sarkissian will return the favor. This is called dirty politics.
Vart Adjemian