US Ambassador to Armenia to Leave Post Next Month

YEREVAN—U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch will leave Armenia in June as her tour of duty concludes, reported the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.

Yovanovitch, who assumed her duties in Armenia in 2008, is expected to return to Washington where she will become U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Northern and Central Europe.

In 2009, Yovanovitch received the Diplomacy for Human Rights Award from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for engaging “civil society and government in the promotion of human rights and democratization.”

Commenting on the news of Yovanovitch’s departure, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said, “We respect Ambassador Yovanovitch’s service and value her time in Yerevan, but regret that her term was marked by cuts in U.S. aid, a lack of progress on trade, and heavy pressure on Armenia to sign off on the one-sided Turkey-Armenia protocols.”

Hamparian noted that the protocols aimed to deliver for Ankara “its long-sought ‘historical commission’ to cast doubt on the Armenian Genocide, assisted the efforts of genocide deniers to defer and derail Armenian Genocide recognition efforts worldwide, and provided President Obama with political cover to break his pledge to properly recognize this crime.”

Despite his pre-election promises, Obama has consistently avoided referring to the destruction of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as genocide.

“Looking back—beyond all the hype used to promote the protocols—it’s clear that they have been a detriment to Armenia, a danger for Nagorno-Karabagh, an offense to Armenian Americans, and—as a result of Turkey’s brazen backpedaling—an embarrassment for U.S. diplomacy,” noted Hamparian.

Hamparian concluded, “We wish Ambassador Yovanovitch well in her new post and look forward to a comprehensive confirmation process that ensures that the president’s forthcoming nominee to serve in Yerevan will be a powerful voice for American values, and an effective leader who will deliver real results in developing a mutually beneficial U.S.-Armenia relationship.”