New US envoy to Armenia due in two weeks

"Hoagland is well-versed on the Caucasus history. As for the current ambassador John Evans, he is an outstanding envoy and it is wrong to say that he is being recalled or even being estranged from diplomatic service. This is not true," the American official said, AssA-Irada reports.

"Ambassadors serve the president and should follow his policy. US President George Bush's policy on the mass killings of Armenians is very clear, as he points out in his annual addresses," said Bryza.

"If someone disagrees with it, they are at liberty to make their own decisions, but these should not be divulged. Certainly, our job is also to advise him, but we must support his policy when it comes to public statements."

The decision to replace Evans came after he called for recognition of the "genocide of Armenians" that allegedly took place in Ottoman Turkey at the dawn of the last century during a meeting with the Armenian community in California in February 2005.

US officials had never used the "genocide" term before.

/AzerNEWS/