WHITE HOUSE HAS NOT SHIFTED ITS POSITION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - The White House administration has not yet identified its choice for the next nominee as US Ambassador to Armenia. Richard Hoagland is expected to be nominated for another post soon, Spokeswoman for the White House Emily Lawrimore said.

"President Bush believes Hoagland would have done a wonderful job, and thanks him for his willingness to serve his country," she said, The Los Angeles Times reported, according to PanARMENIAN.Net. But the US administration has not shifted its position on the Armenian
Genocide issue, the newspaper reports.

The Los Angeles Times says US's refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide is connected with the importance of American-Turkish relations and Turkey's support that Washington needs in the Middle East. The article reminds that 1.2 million Armenians were killed in the last years of the Ottoman Empire during the World War I, as fact that modern Turkey refuses to recognize.

The cause of Richard Hoagland's withdrawal is in New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez's persistent refusal to agree on his nomination, since Hoagland did not recognize the events of 1915 as Armenian Genocide during his confirmation Senate hearings.

"We are obviously pleased that the administration came to understand that I had no intention of withdrawing my hold. I hope the new nominee would be somebody who understands the reality of the Armenian Genocide and can express himself or herself when the time comes for a nomination hearing," the congressman underscored.

The Los Angeles Times also reminds that in a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, only 9% of Turks held a favorable view of the US.

On August 3 the White House withdrew Richard Hoagland's candidacy as US Ambassador to Armenia after New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez twice placed a hold on his nomination, since R. Hoagland did not recognize events of 1915 as genocide during his confirmation hearings before the Senate. Former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was recalled in September of 2006 because he had publicly called the events of 1915 genocide.