Bryza says Obama administration did not face Armenian lobby’s pressure.

The former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza, has dismissed the reports the Senate faced pressures by the Armenian lobby in failing to endorse his nomination in 2011.

Speaking to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, the diplomat said the failure to appoint him ambassador this time was very probably conditioned by President Barrack Obama’s electoral interests.

“Last year [President Barack Obama] used his constitutional powers to go around that blockage. He understood the strategic interest of Azerbaijan and pressed ahead. This time, his decision may be based on factors that go beyond factors related to Baku. Obviously we are in an electoral year,” he said.

Adressing the Armenian Genocide, Bryza noted that there has been a progress to Turkish society’s approach to the issue.

“There has been a progression. [There is more acceptance of] an open discussion of what happened. I think the Hrant Dink murder was a huge awakening for millions of Turks. It’s not just the government, it’s society that has moved forward to consider that terrible killings were committed by Ottoman troops. But what has not changed at all for legitimate reasons is the firm Turkish view that this should not be recognized politically as genocide; it’s not the business of any politician in any country to characterize these events as genocide or not as genocide. It has to be up to societies, not to others, to have a decision taken based on a political calendar. To me that’s dishonest [otherwise],” he said.