WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian today called upon Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to address reports that the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, is being forced from office based upon truthful and forthright statements last April about the Armenian Genocide.

In a March 8th letter, Hachikian asked Secretary Rice to comment on published accounts (California Courier, March 9,2006) that the Ambassador is being recalled, well before the normal end of his term of office, due to remarks during a series of presentations to Armenian American communities across the country.

Speaking last year to an Armenian American gathering at the University of California at Berkeley, Amb. Evans said, “I will today call it the Armenian Genocide… I informed myself in depth about it. I think we, the U.S. government, owe you, our fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing this problem. Today, as someone who has studied it… there’s no doubt in my mind [as to] what happened . . . I think it is unbecoming of us, as Americans, to play word games here. I believe in calling things by their name.” Referring to the Armenian Genocide as “the first genocide of the 20th century,” he said: “I pledge to you, we are going to do a better job at addressing this issue.” Amb. Evans also disclosed that he had consulted with a legal advisor at the State Department who had confirmed that the events of 1915 were “genocide by definition.”

Within days after his remarks and the conclusion of a speaking tour of Armenian American communities, Ambassador Evans was apparently forced to issue a statement clarifying that his references to the Armenian Genocide were his personal views and did not represent a change in U.S. policy. He subsequently issued a correction to this statement, replacing a reference to the Genocide with the word “tragedy.”

Later last year, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), in recognition of his honesty and commitment to principle, decided to honor Ambassador Evans with the “Christian A. Herter Award,” recognizing creative thinking and intellectual courage within the Foreign Service. Sadly, as Washington Post staff writer Glenn Kessler revealed on June 9th, AFSA withdrew its award following pressure from “very serious people from the State Department.”

In his letter, Hachikian wrote that, “the prospect that a U.S. envoy’s posting – and possibly his career – has been cut short due to his honest and accurate description of a genocide is profoundly offensive to American values and U.S. standing abroad – particularly in light of President Bush’s call for moral clarity in the conduct of our international affairs.”

He added that, “if, in fact, punitive measures are being taken against Ambassador Evans, this would represent a tragic retreat from our nation’s core values. It would also represent a new low in our government’s shameful complicity in the Turkish government’s campaign of denial. Not only does the State Department continue to be publicly silent as Turkey criminally prosecutes its writers and citizens for speaking about the Armenian Genocide, it appears the State Department is following Turkey’s lead by muzzling and punishing an American diplomat for his speech and his acknowledgement of a genocide that is extensively documented in the State Department’s own archives.”

The ANCA letter also urged Secretary Rice to respond in a timely manner to the series of written questions on this matter submitted on February 16th by Congressman Adam Schiff during her testimony before the House International Relations Committee. Among these questions was a specific request that the Secretary assure the Committee that the Department of State has not taken – and will not take – any punitive action against Ambassador Evans for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide.

The full text of the ANCA letter is provided below.

March 8, 2006

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

I am writing with respect to extremely troubling reports regarding punitive actions by the State Department against our country’s Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, based upon his truthful and forthright statements about the Armenian Genocide.

The most recent edition of the California Courier (March 9, 2006), a respected Armenian American newspaper, has reported, based on well-placed sources in the Armenian government, that Ambassador Evans is being recalled, well before the normal end of his term of office, due to his speech on the Armenian Genocide. The prospect that a U.S. envoy’s posting – and possibly his career – has been cut short due to his honest and accurate description of a genocide is profoundly offensive to American values and U.S. standing abroad – particularly in light of President Bush’s call for moral clarity in the conduct of our international affairs.

If, in fact, punitive measures are being taken against Ambassador Evans, this would represent a tragic retreat from our nation’s core values. It would also represent a new low in our government’s shameful complicity in the Turkish government’s campaign of denial. Not only does the State Department continue to be publicly silent as Turkey criminally prosecutes its writers and citizens for speaking about the Armenian Genocide, it appears the State Department is following Turkey’s lead by muzzling and punishing an American diplomat for his speech and his acknowledgment of a genocide that is extensively documented in the State Department’s own archives.

As you recall, earlier this year, on February 16th, Congressman Adam Schiff submitted a series of written questions regarding this matter to you during your testimony before the House International Relations Committee. Among these was a specific request that you assure the Committee that the Department of State has not taken – and will not take – any punitive action against Ambassador Evans for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. As of today, I understand that he has yet to receive a response to this inquiry.

In the interest of ensuring that the Congress has the information it needs to perform its constitutionally mandated oversight function, I urge you to respond fully and in a timely manner to Congressman Schiff’s questions. More broadly, I call upon you to clarify the State Department’s actions regarding this matter. If, in fact, the State Department has taken punitive steps against Ambassador Evans, you should fully and openly explain your policies and actions to the American people. If, on the other hand, the Department has not taken any such steps, you owe it to the American people to affirm that it is not the policy of the United States of America to punish its diplomats for speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Along with over one and a half million Armenian Americans across the country, I look forward to your response to this issue.

Sincerely,

Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman