InternationalBoxer, Menendez block Bryza’s appointment
As holds come, Obama agrees to meet Aliyev at UN
Published: Thursday September 23, 2010
Boxer and Menendez (on right) during an event last year with New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman in back. Sen. Boxer's office
Washington - Matt Bryza appears unlikely to be approved as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan any time soon after two senators requested that his nomination be "held" after expressing concerns he may be too soft on the regime in Baku.
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) voted against approving Bryza in the Foreign Affairs Committee, which cleared him by a voice vote on September 21, and then requested holds later the same day.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) requested that the holds be placed after it found Bryza's answers during July 22 testimony and subsequent written exchanges with senators "unconvincing."
The Senators and ANCA argued that while serving as U.S. envoy for the Karabakh conflict Bryza failed to rebuke Azerbaijan on its anti-Armenian rhetoric and actions. They in particular pointed to the 2005 destruction of ancient Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan and more recent deadly skirmishes on the Line of Contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.
In his responses Bryza argued he sought to be even-handed in his dealings with Armenia and Azerbaijan, but did not fully explain reasons for lack of condemnation of Azerbaijan's behavior or lower than congressionally-allocated U.S. aid to Karabakh.
In recent weeks, concerns about Bryza's record were also raised by Paris-based Reporters without Borders, which defends rights of journalists.
The nominee was in turn defended by his former State Department colleagues, as well the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post which published editorials angrily attacking the senators and ANCA.
While blocking of ambassadorial nominees is rare, in 2006 Sen. Menendez held up the nominee for Ambassador to Armenia, forcing the Bush Administration to eventually pick another candidate.
Currently, members of the Senate are also holding up nominations for U.S. Ambassadors to Turkey and Syria. Holds in those cases appear to emanate from senators' concerns over those countries' policies towards Israel.
The Obama Administration will have to decide whether to re-nominate Bryza when new Congress convenes next January or replace him with another nominee.
U.S. Embassy in Baku has had no ambassador since June 2009 and Bryza's nomination was initially expected to be made around that time.
But according to sources familiar with the process, Azerbaijan refused to agree to Bryza's appointment until Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned President Ilham Aliyev about it last April.
Recent reports from Baku - published by Turkey's Hurriyet and Eurasianet.org - indicate that Azerbaijan's leadership remains wary of Bryza and, more broadly, unhappy with being ignored by the Obama Administration. That latter feeling apparently sharpened after U.S. president invited leaders of Armenia and Georgia to a Washington summit earlier this year while keeping Aliyev out.
In a move likely designed to address that perception, President Obama agreed to meet Aliyev on sidelines of United Nations' General Assembly meetings on September 24, their first meeting since Obama took office.
The White House issued the following release after the meeting:
"Read-out of President Obama's meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
By The White House on 09/24/2010
President Obama met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in New York today to discuss issues of shared interest and ways to further strengthen relations between our two nations.
President Obama expressed his appreciation for Azerbaijan's contributions to supporting the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.
He reaffirmed strong U.S. support for the OSCE Minsk Group process to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the ceasefire along the Line of Contact and stressing the need to find a peaceful solution based on the Helsinki principles of non-use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.
The leaders also discussed regional security issues and ongoing energy cooperation.
In the context of President Obama's speech at the UN yesterday, he expressed his hope that Azerbaijan as a young democracy would implement democratic reforms and increase protections for human rights, including by releasing two jailed bloggers.
The President noted that strong institutions contribute to fostering economic growth and stability in Azerbaijan and both leaders expressed a desire to develop closer ties between our two countries."
