Suren Sargsyan, the founder of the Armenian Center for American Studies, an international expert, said at the Hayeli press club, referring to the observation of Harut Sassounian, the Armenian-American writer, well-known public figure, editor-in-chief of the California Courier newspaper, in an interview with Lilit Makunts. “Harut Sassounian is a serious man and public figure. He has done serious work in Armenia. He regularly came to Armenia, followed the processes taking place here, and has a very bright idea of both the American political processes and the structure and approaches of the Armenian community. And I can in no way question what he said. Especially since I also follow the American diplomatic process and the press. The Ambassador’s work is also constantly monitored by our center. Makunts avoids meetings with the community and is the only and first ambassador in the history of Armenia to have never visited the largest community, Los Angeles. She is the seventh or eighth ambassador of Armenia, and such a thing has never happened before. Makunts has been there since August and has not met with the Armenian community in Los Angeles. In other words, when you are an ambassador to a country and you have a population of several hundred thousand and you do not go there, this speaks about everything that Mr. Sassounian mentions.”
“Look, lately they do not trust the Foreign Ministry and they openly talk about it. If you have noticed, the last ambassadors are appointed not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but from abroad. In the United States, in Spain, in the Russian Federation, and in Germany, ambassadors are appointed not for personnel diplomats, but for political appointments, and the number of political appointments is increasing. It turns out that the functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are completely disappearing. And dozens of diplomats who have come a long way in important countries or worked as ambassadors or diplomats are leaving the diplomatic system today. In other words, people have been working for decades to become an ambassador, but they are being replaced by one of the street blockers, an English teacher, or a former general,” said the international expert, referring to the recent appointment of ambassadors.
Ashot Hakobyan
