Is Bryza the Right U.S. Envoy to Baku?‏

July 13, 2010 The Bryza Nomination: A Closer Look ANCA Expresses Reservations Regarding Matt Bryza's nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Read the ANCA Review on the Nomination Take Action - Send a WebMail to your Senators Sudan: ANCA Welcomes Charges of Genocide Against Sudan's al-Bashir Read more. . . AGHET: Rep. Schiff to Host Capitol Hill Premiere of Armenian Genocide Film Read more. . . Youth Empowerment: ANCA Leo Sarkisian Interns Batting a 1000 Read more. . . View photos on Facebook Take Action -- Pass the Armenian Genocide Resolution Send a Free Action Alert -- Help Expand U.S.-Armenia Trade Urge Congress to Contact the U.S. Trade Representative ANCA Stresses Need for Strict Scrutiny of Nominee to Serve as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today shared with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee a 7-page review of potential conflict of interest and policy-related reservations regarding President Obama's nomination of Matthew Bryza to serve as Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan. In letters sent to each of the panel's 19 members, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian explained that the Armenian American community's concerns on the Bryza nomination fall into "two general categories, the first pertaining to potential conflicts of interest, and the second to shortcomings in his execution of our nation's foreign policy priorities." Click here for the full text of this ANCA review. "There is," explained Hachikian, "credible cause, in our view, for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to look into how the professional activities of Mr. Bryza's wife, scholar Zeyno Baran, may have created potential conflict of interest issues with the conduct of his official duties." He noted that, "As is a matter of public record, Ms. Baran has professionally engaged in advocacy regarding the same U.S. policies and practices that Mr. Bryza has had an official role in formulating and implementing. Her employer, the Hudson Institute, again as a matter of public knowledge, receives funding from foreign and corporate interests, including energy firms, that are financially affected by the conduct of the very U.S. diplomacy that Mr. Bryza has overseen, and would certainly play a central role in coordinating if approved as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan." Read more. . . ANCA Welcomes ICC Charges of Genocide Against Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir Joins Anti-Genocide Groups in Urging State Department to Take Immediate Action to Prevent Further Atrocities In Sudan WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today welcomed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to expand its existing arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to include three counts of genocide, in addition to the crimes against humanity and war crimes charges leveled in March of last year. "Armenian Americans welcome the International Criminal Court's decision today to indict Sudan's President, Omar al Bashir, on charges of genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We are hopeful that this indictment, the first ever issued by the ICC for genocide, will lead to both decisive action against the al-Bashir regime's ongoing genocide against the people of Darfur, and, more broadly, to increased pressure on governments worldwide to work for a world in which genocide cannot be committed with impunity." In a July 12th ruling, the ICC stated: "there are reasonable grounds to believe [Omar al-Bashir] responsible for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, that include: genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction." Read more. . . AGHET: Ground-Breaking Film Spotlights the International Impact of Turkey's Genocide Denial WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. House Armenian Genocide Resolution author Adam Schiff (D-CA) will be hosting the Capitol Hill premiere of "AGHET: A GENOCIDE" -- a powerful documentary by German filmmaker Eric Friedler, documenting the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 and calling attention to the current day Turkish Government's international campaign of Genocide denial, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The 90-minute documentary, dubbed in English, will be shown on Wednesday, July 21st from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in Room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building Room, adjacent to the U.S. Capitol. "I am honored to host the screening of "AGHET" in order to help educate my colleagues and their staffs about the first Genocide of the twentieth century," explained Rep. Schiff. "In the fight for recognition, we are armed only with the truth; but in the end, the truth will be victorious." A pre-screening reception and the actual screening will be followed by a panel discussion, sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America, featuring AGHET Director Eric Friedler, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, SCREAMERS Director Carla Garapedian, and Vartkes Yeghiayan, Director of the Center for Armenian Remembrance. The discussion will be moderated by ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. Read more. . . Foreign Aid, Diplomacy 101 and Baseball: 2010 ANCA Leo Sarkisian Interns Batting a 1000 WASHINGTON, DC -- From grassroots calls in support of Armenian American foreign aid priorities, to meetings with Armenian diplomats and a night at the ball park with Members of Congress, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Leo Sarkisian interns hit the ground running in this, the 26th year of the program. "For over a quarter century, the Leo Sarkisian Internship program has served as an Armenian American advocacy boot camp - training the next generation of activists to effectively promote our collective Cause," said ANCA Legislative Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian. "After their eight weeks here in the nation's capital, they'll return to their home towns energized to work with fellow community members to take grassroots activism to the next level." Each of the interns participated in an intensive application process in their respective ANCA regions and looked forward to this hands-on educational experience, dreaming of coming out from their local communities and making a difference on a national scale. The year's intern class consists of university students from coast-to-coast and Canada, including: Anoush Abramian, Gassia Assadourian, Satenik Harutyunyan and Manuel Magpapian. Read more. . . 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