United States Ambassador To Armenia
Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 23, 1990, having previously been the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the constituent republics of the USSR since 1936, and part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic since 1920. In the wake of the August Coup (1991), a referendum was held on the question of secession. Following an overwhelming vote in favor, full independence was declared on September 21, 1991. However, widespread recognition did not occur until the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. The United States recognized Armenia on December 25, 1991.
The embassy at Yerevan was opened February 3, 1992, with Steven Mann as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
The U.S. ambassadorial post to Armenia became vacant on May 24, 2006, when the then-current ambassador John Marshall Evans was recalled by the Bush administration, purportedly over remarks by Evans concerning the Armenian genocide. On May 23, 2006, and again on January 9, 2007, President Bush nominated Richard E. Hoagland to be the new ambassador to Armenia, but the nomination was delayed in The Senate in a dispute between the Bush administration and Congress over the Armenian genocide issue. Rudolf V. Perina, the chargé d'affaires ad interim, served as the chief of the mission until August 1, 2008 when Marie L. Yovanovitch began her term as the ambassador.
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