Azernews.Az

Former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza, who wrapped up his one-year diplomatic mission after the US Senate did not approve him for the post, has moved to Turkey with his spouse, prominent Turkish analyst Zeyno Baran, he told Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

Bryza, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary, was appointed by President Barack Obama as ambassador to Azerbaijan bypass the Senate on December 29, 2010 under a so-called recess appointment. He had to end his mission in Azerbaijan and return to Washington in early January 2012 after his final approval in the Senate was blocked by several pro-Armenian senators claiming his bias toward Azerbaijan, Turkey’s long-standing ally.

Asked if his stepping down from the ambassadorial post could be considered "a sacrifice for his private life", Bryza said, "I suppose you can say that. After President Obama decided not to recognize the 1915 events as genocide [allegedly committed against Armenians in Ottoman Turkey], I turned into a target. Armenians turned my candidacy for the post of Azerbaijan envoy into a subject of new controversy. That group [Armenian National Committee of America] did its best to make me look biased. Now, they will probably take advantage of my moving to Turkey, too."

"True, I love Turkey, but, at the same time, can’t I love Armenia and Azerbaijan? While serving as a diplomat, I worked with Armenia on a settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and during that time there was no criticism from the Armenian leadership over my impartiality," Bryza said.

Bryza previously acted as the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, along with his counterparts from Russia and France.