He speaks up, loses job

GLENDALE — John Marshall Evans, the former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, did something that none of his predecessors in the State Department ever dared. He called the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottomans in 1915 a "genocide."

For using that word, Evans said, he lost his job.

Evans came to Glendale on Tuesday to appear on the Larry Zarian Forum television show.

And while his comments didn't go over well with the State Department, he is now hailed by local Armenian Americans as a hero.

"He is one of the most respected people in the Armenian community," Zarian said.

Evans was appointed ambassador in August 2004. He first spoke about the Armenian genocide six months later in Watertown, Mass., and then again during addresses in Los Angeles, Fresno and Berkeley, Evans said.

At each address, he made it clear that his position on the genocide was not shared by the State Department, Evans said.

"While I was ahead of the thinking of the United States government, I did make the distinction that this was my personal view," he said.

Evans' comments won him admiration from the Armenian American community and the American Foreign Service Assn. — comprised of current and former U.S. foreign service officers — selected Evans to receive their prestigious "constructive dissent" award.

But the State Department, which has not recognized the killings as a genocide, ordered Evans to issue a retraction of his statements and the American Foreign Service Assn. revoked the constructive dissent award on a technicality, Evans said.

Despite the retraction and after a career in foreign service, the State Department forced Evans into early retirement in September.

"He spoke the truth about the Armenian genocide and for that the State Department punished him under influence from the Turkish government," said Zanku Armenian, board member of the Armenian Committee of America, Western Region. "For the risk he took, the Armenian American community is forever grateful."

Evans said he does not regret his statements and though he supports the United States' foreign policy in Armenia, he remains critical of the government's position on the genocide.