U.S. Senate panel approves ambassadors to Armenia, Turkey

John Heffern, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said.

According to the source, Mr. Heffern is an experienced career diplomat with 20 years of diplomatic service. He is currently Deputy Chief of U.S. Mission to NATO.

Before the vote, Heffern making remarks on the events that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 avoided uttering word “genocide” noting that “the U.S. President characterizes these events.”

At the same time, he said he is well aware of the domestic developments in Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the Armenian-Turkish relations.

By contrast, the nomination of U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, was approved in a divided vote, ANCA reported.

Voting against Ricciardone’s appointment as America’s top envoy to Ankara were Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jim Risch (R-ID).

Earlier, Ricciardone had said that “most of the Christian churches functioning in Turkey prior to 1915 are still operating as churches.”