BUSH RESUBMITS NOMINATION FOR U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

President George W. Bush on Tuesday re-nominated as ambassador to Armenia a career diplomat whose confirmation was blocked by Senate Democrats in the last Congress. The White House announced the submission of Richard Hoagland Tuesday, despite calls by top Democrats to withdraw the nomination because of his refusal to call the World War I-era killings of Armenians genocide. Hoagland's predecessor, John Evans, reportedly had his tour of duty cut short because, in a social setting, he referred to the killings as genocide. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, blocked the nomination after Hoagland's refusal to use the word genocide at his confirmation hearing in June. Bush needed to resubmit the nomination, because it effectively expired at the end of the previous Congress in December. Menendez and the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in early December asking the Bush administration to withdraw the nomination. The Bush administration has warned that even congressional debate on the genocide question could damage relations with Turkey, a moderate Muslim nation that is a NATO member and an important strategic ally. Turkey has adamantly denied claims by scholars that its predecessor Ottoman state killed Armenians in a planned genocide. (Photolur photo: Richard Hoagland.)
AP

Headlines for January 10, 2007

KOCHARIAN IN FRESH ATTACK ON ARMENIAN TAX BODIES
By Emil Danielyan
President Robert Kocharian on Wednesday accused Armenia’s tax authorities of lacking the will to combat widespread tax evasion in earnest and warned them against any involvement in the upcoming parliamentary ...
‘OLIGARCHIC’ PARTY CLAIMS NEW MEMBERSHIP RECORD
By Ruzanna Khachatrian
A rapidly growing party led by Armenia’s wealthiest government-connected businessman claimed on Wednesday to have already recruited a staggering 370,000 members, more than all other political groups taken ...
U.S. CONGRESS TO MULL NEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL
By Aram Vanetsian in Los Angeles
Buoyed by the Democratic takeover of the U.S. Congress, pro-Armenian members of the House of Representatives will re-introduce this month a draft resolution recognizing the World War I-era killings of ...
BUSH RESUBMITS NOMINATION FOR U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
AP
President George W. Bush on Tuesday re-nominated as ambassador to Armenia a career diplomat whose confirmation was blocked by Senate Democrats in the last Congress. The White House announced the submission ...