InternationalAmbassador Evans: I have no regrets for calling Genocide by its name
Published: Tuesday November 02, 2010
Ambassador John Evans.
Los Angeles - John Marshall Evans, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, will receive the prestigious 2010 “Professional of the Year” award from the Armenian Professional Society of Los Angeles (APSLA), at its 52nd annual gala banquet on November 19. He will be attending with his wife, Donna Evans, former President of the World Affairs Council of Washington.
The American diplomat is being honored for his courage and his dedication to truth for openly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. Receiving this award is a “special honor”, he said in a brief correspondence with this writer. “I will be honored to join the ranks of previous honorees like Vartan Oskanian, and Dr. Vartan Gregorian. And I intend to speak about the concept of professionalism at the event.”
No regrets
Has he ever regretted using the “Genocide” word, I asked. “The short answer is no”, he answered. “I do not regret it. I said what I said in 2005 in good conscience, based on my reading of history and the 1948 Genocide Convention. I knew before I used the word that there would be negative consequences for my career. What I do regret is that some of the other things I said at that time and in recent years may have been overshadowed by my use of the word, ‘genocide’,” he noted.
“I did not use the word for cheap effect, but in the context of an honest discussion with Armenian-Americans about the realities of Armenia’s international situation. I don’t see how one can be honest while denying the reality of the Genocide,” he stated.
Hailing from Williamsburg, Virginia, Mr. Evans studied Russian history at Yale (B.A., 1970) and Columbia Universities where he started a PH.D program before joining the Foreign Service. His diplomatic tour of duty has included Tehran, Prague, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moldova, the U.S. Mission to NATO, and at the U.S. State Department.
A Russian expert, he directed the State Department’s Office of Analysis for Russia and Eurasia, in 1999, receiving several awards. From May 2002 until September 2004 when he presented his credentials to Armenian President Robert Kocharian as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, he directed the Office of Russian Affairs.
His association with Armenia began when he coordinated the American response to the devastating 1988 earthquake in Armenia. At the time, he received a medal and an appreciative statement from the Armenian government.
Courageous declaration
Shortly after he assumed his ambassadorial position in Armenia, it was at February 2005 meetings in California, that Ambassador Evans declared, “I will today call it the Armenian Genocide. I think we, the U.S. government, owe you, our fellow citizens a more frank and honest way of discussing this problem. The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. I pledge to you, we are going to do a better job at addressing this issue.”
Thus, the American diplomat became the first U.S. official since former President Ronald Reagan did in April 1981, to publicly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
Ambassador Evans had intensely studied the matter, and had also consulted with a lawyer from the U.S. State Department before publicly going on record.
The repercussions of publicly stating the “G” word were immediate and explosive. The American Foreign Service Association cancelled the distinguished “Constructive Dissent” award it was to give to the Ambassador in a June 17, 2005 ceremony in the Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Reception Room of the U.S. State Department.
The normal diplomatic term for U.S. ambassadors in foreign countries is three years, but in mid 2006, Ambassador Evans was recalled by the State Department.
At a farewell dinner in honor of the outgoing diplomat, President Robert Kocharian honored him with the prestigious Mkhitar Gosh medal in recognition of the diplomat’s “remarkable contribution to the development and strengthening of Armenian-American friendly relations.”
Writing a book on Armenian Genocide
Currently, Ambassador Evans is writing a book about the Armenian Genocide which he put on hold in 2009 “to await the outcome of the Turkish-Armenian Protocols. It is essentially completed,” he wrote to this writer, “but I need to revise the ‘recommendations’ section in which I attempt to identify some things, that ought, in my opinion, to be done to ensure a better future for Armenia and Armenians.”
In the meantime, he continued, “I have given substantial testimony to the Oral History Project of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, and recently signed off on the edited transcript which will eventually end up in the Library of Congress.”
Why is the Genocide issue much bigger for the Diaspora than for Armenia or Nagorno-Karabagh, I asked. “As U.S. Ambassador in Yerevan, I was never asked about the Genocide by the local press,” he answered. “This does not mean, however, that Armenians in the Republic of Armenia do not care about their history. They do. It is simply that they have many other current concerns, about jobs, education, their future. The issue of the Genocide, as we learned when we did some careful polling, does figure among the concerns of Armenians in Armenia.”
Considering the evolution of his career, what advice would the Ambassador give to students considering a diplomatic career. “The great thing about diplomacy is that it presents ever-broadening horizons,” Ambassador Evans stated. “It never narrows one in a professional sense. Any and all areas of knowledge from science to history and culture and religion, can come into play in the course of a diplomatic career.
