Two U.S. Assistant Secretaries of State were asked about America’s reaction (I mean non-reaction) in regards to the destruction of the world’s largest medieval Armenian cemetery in March of 2006. One said he has not heard about the particular vandalism, yet it is America’s universal policy to follow up on that, the other said he has heard about the vandalism but it is not in America’s policy to follow up on that.

One of them, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried, according to Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s March 27, 2006, report (accessible through subscription databases), was asked on March 27, 2006, “How with the U.S. deal with Azerbaijan regarding, or how will it take to task, regarding the issue of the Armenian historical landmarks of the Cemetery of Djulfa that was destroyed by the Azerbaijanis?”

According to the script, Daniel Fried answered, “When I go to Baku and when U.S. officials go to Baku, we always raise issue of living – Not just issues of Nagorno-Karabakh, but issues of long-term peace in the south provinces. Now I would be happy to raise issue of Armenian historical sites in Azerbaijan. These historical sites, regardless of differences of Nagorno-Karabakh, need to be respected and need to be protected. This is a universal policy of the United States, and I look forward to hearing from you about some of these sites so that we can raise it with the Azerbaijani government.”

Just twenty days before Asst. Secretary Fried’s comments, according to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza visited Armenia’s capital Yerevan and was asked the following, “My question refers to the fact that cross stones in Old Jugha were destroyed. Are any steps being taken by the United States Government to stop this destruction of cultural heritage?”

According to the U.S. Embassy website, Bryza answered, “That is tragedy. It is a horrible thing that has happened in Jugha. It’s not really up to the United States to take steps to stop it. I mean, this is happening in a foreign country. But of course we are in repeated contact with the Government of Azerbaijan at the very highest level. There is no question in my mind, since I have been doing a lot of the contact, that the senior leaders in Azerbaijan know how serious we take this matter. And all I can say is I hope those who did it will be held responsible, but most importantly, let’s make sure this never happens again, anywhere, in the Caucasus, where there are so many vital cultural heritage sites and spiritually important sites that are threatened in all three countries, frankly, in the Caucasus.”

This is what the humanity gets from American foreign policy.