Matthew Bryza

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Matthew James Bryza
Assignment- 59-CF-DS-30461-06) Official portrait of Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs (Photographer- Ann Thomas--State) (59-CF-DS-30461-06 - DPLA - 4775623b6a22c29a5f0dca3563ee9a73.jpg
United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan
In office
December 29, 2010 – December 2011
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byAnne E. Derse
Succeeded byRichard L. Morningstar
Personal details
Born (1964-02-16) February 16, 1964 (age 57)
Spouse(s)Zeyno Baran
Alma materThe Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (MALD)
Stanford University (B.A.)
AwardsFletcher Young Alumni Award (2004);
Order of the Golden Fleece, Georgia (2009);
Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Fourth Class, Republic of Estonia (2010)

Matthew James Bryza (born February 16, 1964) is a former United States diplomat. His last post in the United States foreign service was the United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Education[]

Bryza graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International relations and obtained his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1988.[1]

Career[]

Beginning of the foreign service[]

Bryza joined the United States Foreign Service in August 1988. He then served in Poland in 1989-1991 at the U.S. Consulate in Poznań and the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, where he covered the Solidarity movement, reform of Poland’s security services, and regional politics. From 1991 through 1995, he worked on European and Russian affairs at the State Department. Bryza served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during 1995-1997, first as special assistant to Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and then as a political officer covering the Russian Duma, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.[1] He was recalled from Moscow after he allegedly hit a pedestrian in August 1997.[2] From 1997 through 1998, Bryza was special advisor to Ambassador Richard Morningstar, coordinating U.S. Government assistance programs on economic reforms in Caucasus and Central Asia. Starting from July 1998, he served as the Deputy Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, coordinating the U.S. Government's inter-agency efforts to develop a network of oil and gas pipelines in the Caspian region.[1]

European and Eurasian Affairs[]

In April 2001, Bryza joined the United States National Security Council as Director for Europe and Eurasia, with responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy on Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Caspian energy. In June 2005, he assumed duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He was responsible for policy oversight and management of relations with countries in the Caucasus and Southern Europe. He also led U.S. efforts to advance peaceful settlements of separatist conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Additionally, he coordinated U.S. energy policy in the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas and worked with European countries on issues of tolerance, social integration, and Islam.[1]

According to leaked diplomatic cables, Bryza had warned Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili in May that war would be a bad option for Georgia.[3]

In August 2009, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlining the concerns of the Armenian American community regarding what he called the recent "biased remarks by Matt Bryza" the U.S. Co-Chair to the OSCE Minsk Group charged with helping to negotiate a settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.[4]

Appointment as Ambassador to Azerbaijan[]

In May 2010, the White House appointed Bryza as the United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan.[5] On September 21, 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his ambassadorial nomination and sent it to the Senate floor. In a SFRC roll call vote, Democratic Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Barbara Boxer of California who are Armenian Caucus members tried to block the nomination voting against Bryza's appointment. On December 29, 2010, Bryza's appointment by President Obama was confirmed by the White House as a recess appointment.[6][7] He served as ambassador to Azerbaijan starting from February 2011.

In January 2012 Bryza left the post and the foreign service as the Senate did not confirm his nomination. His nomination was opposed by Armenian-American lobbying groups and several senators beforehand, because of accusations against Bryza of having a pro-Azerbaijani bias and questionable ties to Azerbaijani officials.[8] According to an article by Ganimat Zahid and Agil Khalil in the Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq, the then Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan, Heydar Babayev, paid for a significant portion of Bryza’s wedding in Istanbul. Both Zahid and Khalil were sued over their article and Azadlig correspondent Agil Khalil was the target of four murder attempts and had to fled to France.[9]

Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt, a powerful supporter of Bryza, described his departure as a "vivid example of how the larger U.S. national interest can fall victim to special-interest jockeying and political accommodation".[8]

Post foreign service career[]

Bryza works as a consultant on business and democratic development, and is a board member of several private companies in Turkey.[10] In June 2012, Bryza was appointed board member of , an affiliate of SOCAR.[11] Bryza is also a board member in NEQSOL holdings, an Azerbaijani energy and communications conglomerate.[12]

Since March 1, 2012, Bryza has been appointed the Director of the International Centre for Defense Studies, a Tallinn-based think thank.[13][14] In August 2012, he became board member of the Jamestown Foundation.[10]

Awards[]

Bryza was awarded with Fletcher Young Alumni Award in 2004, Order of the Golden Fleece, Georgia in 2009, Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Fourth Class, Republic of Estonia in 2010.[15]

Personal life[]

His first marriage ended in divorce. On August 23, 2007, he married Zeyno Baran, from whom he has a daughter. He lives with his family in Istanbul, Turkey.[16]

Bryza is fluent in Polish and Russian, and also speaks German and Spanish, and conversational Azerbaijani.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Biography of Matthew J. Bryza. Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs". July 2005. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  2. ^ "U.S. Envoy in Moscow Recalled After His Car Hits Pedestrian". Los Angeles Times. 1997-08-21. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  3. ^ "'Terrible Losses Overnight': Cables Track US Diplomatic Efforts to Avert Russian-Georgian Conflict".
  4. ^ "Official Press Release of A.N.C.A." Armenian National Committee of America and Hairenik Press. August 21, 2009. Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  5. ^ Shahin Abbasov (2010-05-21). "Matthew Bryza Named New US Ambassador to Azerbaijan". Eurasia.net. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  6. ^ "President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-01-03 – via National Archives.
  7. ^ "Matthew Bryza appointed U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan". Today.az. 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Solash, Richard (2011-12-29). "U.S. Ambassador To Azerbaijan Leaving Post". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  9. ^ "JULLIARD & LE COZ: Emissary entanglements: Nominee has ties to intensifying autocracy". The Washington Times. 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Matthew Bryza Joins Jamestown Board" (Press release). Jamestown Foundation. 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  11. ^ "Matthew Bryza to work at SOCAR's Turcas Petrol company". . 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-10-25.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "MATTHEW BRYZA: NEQSOL PAID $ 61 MILLION TO BUY A STAKE IN CAUCASUS ONLINE". Business Media Georgia. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  13. ^ "After Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza begins working in Estonia". Vestnik Kavkaza. 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  14. ^ Rikken, Kristopher (2012-03-02). "Veteran US Envoy to Post-Communist Europe Becomes Director of Think Tank". ERR. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  15. ^ "Matthew J. Bryza, F88". Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  16. ^ "Armenian lobby made me their 'target' - Bryza". News.az. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
  17. ^ "Ambassador". American Embassy in Baku. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2011-02-17.

External links[]

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Anne E. Derse 		United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Richard Morningstar
Retrieved from ""