were also raised over Bryza's incomplete responses to Senate inquiries. In response to questions raised during his Senate confirmation process about the potential conflict of interest between his professional work and the Caucasus-related advocacy of his wife, Caspian energy expert Zeyno Baran, Bryza, asserted: “Since January 2009, she has conducted no conferences, briefings, studies or other official work related to the South Caucasus.” However, there were numerous conferences and briefings where Baran spoke or testified on the South Caucasus after January 2009. 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". Hiatt criticized Senators for opposing Bryza's nomination. A few months later, Bryza left the State Department to join the Azerbaijani-government affiliated Turcas petrol board. 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. Within months of leaving the State Department after the Senate failed to confirm his nomination to be ambassador to Azerbaijan partly because of conflict of interest concerns, Bryza was appointed in June 2012 as a board member of Turcas Petrol, an affiliate of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. Bryza is also a board member in NEQSOL holdings, an Azerbaijani energy and communications conglomerate. Since March 1, 2012, Bryza has been appointed the Director of the International Centre for Defense Studies, a Tallinn-based think tank. In August 2012, he became board member of the Jamestown Foundation. 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. 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. Bryza is fluent in Polish and Russian, and also speaks German and Spanish, and conversational Azerbaijani. References External links Ambassadors of the United States to Azerbaijan Living people Recess appointments Recipients of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Georgia) The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Stanford University alumni 1964 births American expatriates in Turkey United States Foreign Service personnel Recipients of the Order