Matthew Bryza, the former co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group and candidate for the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, laid the responsibility for pogroms and desecration of the 1,300-years-old Armenian cemetery in New Juga on the Azerbaijani authorities.
The U.S. Senate member Barbara Boxer asked a number of questions to get explanations from Bryza. One of the questions concerned the desecration of the Armenian cemetery in New Juga. Responding to question about those responsible, Bryza voiced the opinion that the Azerbaijani authorities must bear responsibility.
Speaking of the bloody incident on the line of contact between the NKR and Azerbaijani troops on July 18, when four Armenian - and one Azeri - soldiers were killed, Bryza said that despite his statement that the incident was the result of Azeri soldier crossing the line of contact, all the details are not yet known. According to Bryza, as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair and Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State he condemned all the threats of war and stressed that no military solution to the conflict is possible. If confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, he will go on lobbying the messages, Bryza said. He stressed that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must, besides the principle of territorial integrity, be based on peoples’ right to self-determination and nonuse of force or threat of force.
Ara Hambarian, Head of the Hay Dat office in Washington, commented on Bryza’s statements and pointed out he goes on giving evasive answers, putting himself in an even worse situation and showing his candidacy is wrong.
NEWS.am reminds readers that at the July 23 hearing of Matthew Bryza’s candidacy, the Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez raised key political issues. Specifically, Jeanne Shaheen asked Bryza to answer questions her voters are concerned over, including accusations of his having close ties with high-ranking Azerbaijani officials. Bryza said that he maintained professional contacts not only with Azeri, but also with Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh officials.
