ANCA shares reservations regarding Bryza nomination with Senate panel

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) shared with members of the US 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."

The full text of this review is available on the ANCA website at: http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/misc/BryzaNomination.pdf

"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 US 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 US diplomacy that Mr. Bryza has overseen, and would certainly play a central role in coordinating if approved as US Ambassador to Azerbaijan."