Turkish Forum

Author: Harut Sassounian

  • Armenia Got Funding and Propaganda From EU and US, but not a Single Bullet

    Armenia Got Funding and Propaganda From EU and US, but not a Single Bullet

    The highly anticipated meeting between high-ranking European, US officials and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took place in Brussels last Friday. Armenians excitedly hyped up the meeting long before it was held.

    Some Armenians speculated vainly that Armenia would soon join the European Union, while others went as far as predicting Armenia would become a NATO member.

    While Armenians are a wonderful people, they have had a major shortcoming during their entire history which is the lack of skill in diplomacy.

    Even though Armenians suffered from invasions, occupation, massacres, and even genocide, they never understood that no foreign power would ever come to their rescue. They kept hoping that some country would save them, as if anyone had an obligation to do so. If Armenians never bothered to defend their own land, why would an outsider do such a thing? How can foreigners be more concerned about Armenia’s security and well-being than Armenians themselves?

    Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Armenians kept on believing for thousands of years the fairy tale that someone would come to their rescue. More recently, most Armenians believed that should they find themselves in real danger, Russia would save them. Naturally, this is the continuation of a long-standing wishful-thinking. Despite Armenian expectations, when Russia did not protect Artsakh in 2020 from Azerbaijan’s invasion, it was obvious that Russia had no obligation to defend Artsakh since it was not part of the Republic of Armenia. After all, the military alliance called the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was between Russia, four other ex-Soviet countries, and the Republic of Armenia, not Artsakh. But when Azerbaijan occupied portions of Armenia in 2021 and 2022, many more Armenians began to wake up to the fact that the CSTO would not lift a finger to defend Armenia’s territory.

    One would have thought that once Armenians finally realized this fact, they would at long last conclude that no one would defend Armenia. Regrettably, that’s not what happened. They continued their eternal search for saviors. Due to the growing antipathy toward Russia, many Armenians started believing that the West (Europe and the United States) or Iran would now come to their rescue. After a while, when they see that neither Europe nor the US nor Iran are going to save them, they will then fantasize that India and China would defend them. Thus, they would go from country to country looking for a new protector. But Armenians continue to believe that others are obligated to defend them. Every country in the world protects its own national interests, except it seems Armenia. If Armenia had a competent leader, he would have taken emergency steps to arm the country to the teeth to defend itself. There are those who say that Armenia would never be able to protect itself from its more powerful enemies, no matter how much it arms itself. While this is true, the solution is not to leave the borders of Armenia unprotected so anyone can walk in. Armenia’s enemies must realize that if they dare to cross its borders, they would pay a heavy price. They should know that Armenia is not a public park that they can freely go in as they please.

    Turning to the Brussels meeting of last Friday, naturally joining the European Union or NATO never came up. Armenia did receive pledges for a few hundred million dollars over the next four years, and a smaller amount from the United States economic aid. Naturally, this is a good thing. Who can argue against receiving a grant, assuming that the money will be wisely spent and not go to the pockets of pro-government contractors?

    Money was allocated to Armenia for economic development and various other infrastructures, such as energy. That is also good. We then heard a lot of propaganda about Armenia being a democratic state. This was simply a lip service to keep Prime Minister Pashinyan happy. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kept harping on promoting democracy in Armenia even though the US government pays no attention to such meaningless principles, except when it suits its own political and military interests. Otherwise, the United States would have imposed sanctions on Azerbaijan and Turkey long ago, due to their multiple violations of the democratic rights of their own population as well as those of Artsakh Armenians.

    Armenia does not need political propaganda from the West. Given the continuous attacks by Azerbaijan on Armenia, even while the Brussels conference was taking place, what Armenia needs the most right now are weapons to defend itself from its deadly enemies, Azerbaijan and Turkey. If and when we lose our homeland, it would be meaningless to have improved structures or democratic rule. With neither the East nor West providing a security blanket for Armenia, Pres. Aliyev is reassured that he can do as he pleases with Armenia with no one lifting a finger to protect it, except for handing a fistful of dollars and a lot of useless praise.

  • Pashinyan Falsely Blames Armenia’s Problems On the Trauma from the Genocide of 1915

    Pashinyan Falsely Blames Armenia’s Problems On the Trauma from the Genocide of 1915

    With each passing day, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements contradicting Armenia’s national interests are getting increasingly alarming

    Pashinyan started by denigrating Mt. Ararat, the preeminent Armenian symbol. He then mocked Armenia’s coat of arms, questioning why there is a lion on it, claiming that there are no lions in Armenia. With this statement, Pashinyan made three factual errors:

    1) He did not seem to realize that the lion symbolizes courage and strength. It has nothing to do with whether there are lions in Armenia or not;

    2) There are over a dozen countries that have a lion on their coat of arms without having a single lion in their countries;

    3) He is also incorrect that there are no lions in Armenia. A well-known oligarch has had several lions in his Yerevan mansion for many years.

    The Prime Minister then made abusive remarks about Armenia’s national anthem using the excuse that it contains the word “enemy.” There are several other countries that have the word enemy in their national anthems.

    Pashinyan went on to complain that what is now called “Army of Armenians” (Hayots Panag) should be “Armenia’s Army” (Hayastani Panag), and that textbooks on the “History of Armenians” (Hayots Badmoutyoun) should be called “Armenia’s History” (Hayastani Badmoutyoun). He also wants to distance today’s Armenia from its past by contrasting “Real Armenia” with “Historical Armenia.” He then suggested, in line with Pres. Aliyev’s demand, that Armenia adopt a new constitution deleting the references to Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide.

    Last week, I wrote about one of Pashinyan’s top lieutenants’ incredible suggestion to make a list of all 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide. This is an indirect way of questioning the veracity of the Armenian Genocide.

    All of these statements indicate that Pashinyan is retreating from Armenia’s and Armenians’ nationalistic stands to appease Azerbaijan and Turkey.

    To make matters worse, on April 24, 2024, the Prime Minister issued a statement full of confusing words which reflect his unstable mental state. He referred to the Armenian Genocide as Meds Yeghern (Great Crime) 11 times and only four times as Genocide. Meds Yeghern is a term that Armenians used until the 1940’s to describe the Genocide before the term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin. Since then, the proper and legal term that should be used is Genocide or Tseghasbanoutyoun, in Armenian.

    It does not come as a surprise that Pashinyan, in his April 24 statement, once again obfuscated the meaning of the term genocide thus continuing his attempts to downplay Armenian national symbols and terminology.

    Pashinyan complained that due to the Meds Yeghern, Armenia often deals with other countries in a state of trauma or shock: “for this reason, sometimes we cannot correctly distinguish the realities and factors, historical processes and predictable horizons. Maybe this is also the reason why we get new shocks, reliving the trauma of the Armenian Genocide as a legacy and as a tradition.”

    By making such a statement, Pashinyan is blaming the trauma from the Genocide of 1915 for his incompetent decisions and mismanagement of the State. While it is true that there is such a thing as transgenerational trauma, I would advise the Prime Minister to look at his own inability to rule rather than the trauma from the Genocide.

    Pashinyan then surprisingly suggested that Armenians “stop searching for a homeland, because we have found that homeland, our Promised Land, where milk and honey flow.”

    It appears that Pashinyan has lost all perceptions of reality! He is describing Armenia with its existential problems as “the Promised Land where milk and honey flow!” More likely, he and his family are the ones living a luxurious life at the Armenian taxpayers’ expense.

    The only people who were pleased with Pashinyan’s April 24 message are the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An indication of that pleasure was the crowd of Turks gathered on April 24 in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., chanting: “Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Pashinyan,” in the faces of Armenian protesters.

    The President of Turkey, as he has done on every April 24 ever since 2014, issued a statement trying to fool the international community that he is acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. He actually lumped together Armenians and Turks and everyone else “who passed away or were martyred as a consequence of armed conflicts, rebellions, gang violence and terrorist acts” during “World War I.” He thus misrepresented the Armenian victims of genocide as war casualties. He described “the 1915 events” not as genocide, but a “tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.”

    In a direct message to Pashinyan, Erdogan stated that “Türkiye’s ties with Armenia … appear to depend on Yerevan’s stance on the issue [of genocide]… A new order is being established in the region, and it is time to set aside baseless claims. It is time to move forward with realities on the ground. It is better than moving forward with fabrications, tales.” This sounds very similar to what Pashinyan is trying to do. Erdogan made the intent of his message more obvious when he said: “Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan understands this [reality].” As a final dig, Erdogan stated: “I hope Armenia escapes from the darkness it was condemned to, thanks to its diaspora, and chooses the path of new beginnings.”

    The true meaning of Erdogan’s words was revealed when the Istanbul Governor’s Office once again banned the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 24. Actions speak louder than words!

  • What Will Pashinyan Do Next, Demolish the Genocide Museum?

    What Will Pashinyan Do Next, Demolish the Genocide Museum?

    Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his equally incompetent underlings have been making for months anti-Armenian statements. He started with denigrating Mount Ararat and then went on to criticize Republic of Armenia’s constitutionally-protected official symbols: the national anthem and coat of arms.

    Pashinyan also suggested that Armenia needs to adopt a new Constitution deleting its references to Artsakh and the Armenian Genocide which are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. He repeatedly makes the artificial distinction between “Historical Armenia” and what he calls “Real Armenia,” meaning today’s Republic of Armenia, which is a small part of the Armenian Homeland.

    Pashinyan has also been obsessed with begging for peace from hostile Azerbaijan which has no interest in making peace with Armenia. Pres. Ilham Aliyev’s only goal is the total destruction of Armenia, a country whose existence he rejects, calling it “Western Azerbaijan.” Regrettably, Pashinyan makes the excuse for all of his defeatist and compromising statements, using the scare tactic that if Armenia doesn’t comply with Azerbaijan’s demands, it would start a new war!

    Through one of his obedient servants, Pashinyan is now questioning the veracity of the Armenian Genocide, under the guise of confirming the real facts of the genocide. The latest scandal began with a highly questionable statement by Antranik Kocharyan, Chairman of the Parliament’s Defense and Security Committee and senior member of Pashinyan’s ruling Civil Contract party. Delving into subjects that are unrelated to his office, Kocharyan cast doubt about the facts of the Armenian Genocide. Naturally, the Azeri and Turkish media were extremely pleased with his statement.

    In an interview with Radio Free Europe Armenian Service on April 14, Kocharyan said that Pashinyan’s goal is to build “real foundations” related to the Genocide and to “make the list of compatriots subjected to genocide more objective.” Furthermore, he stressed that it is necessary to have the names of all Armenians subjected to genocide and verify “where, how and under what conditions” they were killed. Insisting on his misguided statement, the very next day he repeated it during a press briefing in parliament.

    Nevertheless, after coming under harsh criticism, Kocharyan claimed that he was expressing his personal views, not those of his political party, thus shielding Pashinyan from his irresponsible words. However, it is clear that Kocharyan would not have dared to make such a controversial statement without the prior approval of his boss, the Prime Minister, who single-handedly makes all governmental decisions. Besides, Kocharyan himself referenced Pashinyan in his statement about the Genocide.

    “This is a simple goal for us to know the addresses and locations of each of our 1.5 million compatriots. It is very important for the building of our relations [with Turkey] in the future as well,” Kocharyan said. “April 24 is approaching. Was it 1.5 million, 2 million or less? It should be strictly addressed. But if we don’t record it, the other side [Turkey] can always say that no such thing happened. And till today that have been saying so,” he added.

    This is a very dangerous statement to be made by a high-ranking Armenian official. It is nothing less than parroting the Turkish denialist thesis which has for decades minimized the number of Armenian victims, saying that it is far fewer than 1.5 million and cynically asking, where are the bodies of the dead? Now comes a member of Armenia’s ruling party giving credence to the Turkish denials.

    Seeking to verify the number of Armenian Genocide victims is problematic for other reasons. One hundred and nine years after the genocide, Kocharyan has come up with the ‘brilliant’ idea of counting the number of the victims. It is impossible for anyone to go back in time and document the names and locations of all 1.5 million Armenian victims. There are no graves and no traces of the victims. Entire families with all their relatives were wiped out.

    Secondly, if Kocharyan goes ahead with his shortsighted suggestion, I doubt that it would be possible to come up with more than a couple of hundred thousand names of victims. This will be the greatest gift anyone can give to denialist Turks. The minute that relatively small number of victims is collected and announced, Turkish denialists will declare that Armenians just proved that there was no genocide and nowhere close to 1.5 million victims. The Turkish government will tell the world that it has been saying for a century that the genocide is a big lie and Armenians finally proved it.

    Neither Kocharyan nor denialist Turks have the slightest notion about the United Nations’ definition of genocide which is based on the intent to kill a particular group of people, “in whole or in part,” without specifying the minimum number of victims. So the whole exercise is not only a waste of time, but also counterproductive.

    I have a better idea. I wrote a column years ago suggesting that Armenians set up a “Wall of Shame” and list on it all those who have denied the Armenian Genocide since 1915, including denialist Turks and non-Turks, including some Armenians.

    To make matters worse, Zareh Sinanyan, Armenia’s “Chief Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs,” in a TV interview last week, shockingly welcomed Kocharyan’s unwise words, stating that he “likes the idea very much.” We should not be too surprised that, contrary to his title, Sinanyan has made several statements which are contrary to Armenia’s and Diaspora’s interests.

    If Pashinyan continues making his anti-Armenian statements, what will he announce next? The outlawing of the burning of the Turkish flag on April 24 in Yerevan or closing down the Genocide Monument and Museum, using his usual scare tactic that otherwise Turkey will attack?

    It is sad that on the eve of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we have to deal with Armenians who are serving the cause of Turkish genocide denialists rather than advancing our just demands from Turkey.

  • Turkey Bans Entry of Foreigners Who Criticize President Erdogan

    Turkey Bans Entry of Foreigners Who Criticize President Erdogan

    The Turkish government, led by the autocratic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has banned the entry of over 100,000 foreigners from 150 countries, including journalists and academics, just because they have expressed views critical of the government.

    This is a violation of the most basic principle of democracy — freedom of expression. This is also a violation of the criteria for Turkey’s membership in NATO and the Council of Europe which is based on “shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”

    Yet, neither NATO nor the Council of Europe criticize Turkey for its multiple and long-standing violations of their lofty principles. Even when the European Court of Human Rights, a part of the Council of Europe, rules that Turkey is guilty of violating such rights, the government of Turkey simply ignores the Court’s judgment and refuses to pay the ordered financial penalty, even though abiding by its verdict is mandatory for all members.

    Abdullah Bozkurt, the Sweden-based Turkish investigative journalist, exposed the Turkish ban in a Nordic Monitor article titled, “Turkey’s Secret Blacklist Targets Foreign Critics with Entry Bans and Deportations.”

    The Turkish government’s secret database designates the banned foreigners with the code G followed by two-digit numbers, describing the specific reasons for restricting their entry to the country.

    “The G-87 restriction code is perhaps the most frequently used designation for foreigners, signifying that an individual labeled with this code is deemed to pose a threat to general public safety. The alleged evidence justifying such classification often originates from intelligence sources or the assessment made by the risk group responsible for screening incoming passengers at airports or at border crossing points,” Bozkurt revealed.

    The unsuspecting foreigners become aware of their ban only after they arrive at a Turkish airport. Some of them are refused entry, while others are arrested. The reason for their ban could be as innocent as posting or liking a message on social media. The restrictive measures are not only a violation of the rights of these individuals, but also a violation of the Turkish constitution, as no laws have been passed authorizing such bans.

    The information on the foreigners are collected either by the Security General Directorate (Emniyet) and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) or diplomats at Turkish Embassies overseas who monitor those who make critical comments about Erdogan’s government. To make matters worse, some of these foreigners are described as terrorists, without any evidence, simply for criticizing Turkey.

    In 2019, former Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu publicly warned: “In Europe, especially in Germany, there are people who attend meetings of terrorist organizations and then come to [the resort cities of] Antalya, Bodrum and Mugla for vacation. We have taken precautions now. …Let them come, see if they can enter the [country] easily. It’s not so simple. We will detain them and send them back.”

    Ironically, the Erdogan government has facilitated the entry into Turkey of real terrorists belonging to ISIS. Bozkurt mentioned that “in 2012, Erdogan personally assisted a one-time al-Qaeda financier to enter Turkey, despite a ban on him imposed by a UN Security Council designation, and secretly met with him in Istanbul and Ankara several times.”

    Sometimes, the Turkish government detains a completely innocent foreign visitor for the purpose of extorting from another country political favors or the exchange of prisoners. An example of such Turkish blackmail took place when Pres. Erdogan ordered the arrest of American pastor Andrew Brunson and offered to exchange him with Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who had escaped to the United States from Turkey after being falsely accused of plotting a coup against Erdogan. Pres. Trump refused to exchange Gulen for Brunson and imposed sanctions on Turkey. After serving two years in jail, pastor Brunson was finally released and allowed to return to the United States.

    The extensive list of individuals on the Turkish government’s blacklist has given rise to a lucrative business for certain law firms who specialize in defending the rights of those banned from entry into the country. Sometimes even after the courts have ordered the government to remove the name of an individual from the black list, the Turkish government has refused to comply, claiming that its evidence cannot be presented in court because it is considered a state secret.

    Bozkurt concluded his article: “The blacklist serves as a tool in the Erdogan government’s toolbox to perpetuate an intimidation campaign against critics, particularly foreign journalists, activists and human rights defenders. Denying entry or enforcing abrupt deportations, the government has used the blacklist to restrict the reporting activities of foreign journalists on the ground. Over the last decade, numerous foreign journalists have been affected by this practice, facing the repercussions of having their names added to the list. It appears that the blacklist will continue to be maintained by the Erdogan government’s repressive rule for the foreseeable future.”

    A simple solution to this problem is for foreigners not to travel to Turkey, thus protecting themselves from harassment, deportation or arrest. The refusal to go to Turkey would deliver a major blow to the country, as millions of tourists visit Turkey each year, injecting tens of billions of dollars into the bankrupt Turkish economy.

  • Pashinyan is a Greater Threat to Armenia’s Security, Than Artsakh’s Government-in-Exile

    Pashinyan is a Greater Threat to Armenia’s Security, Than Artsakh’s Government-in-Exile

    We all know the disasters that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan brought upon Armenia in addition to losing Artsakh due to his incompetence.

    We can cite Pashinyan’s many misguided actions and contradictory statements. Following his complete mismanagement of the military as Commander-in-Chief during the 2020 war, Pashinyan is now making sure that Armenians forget about the loss of Artsakh by wiping out its name from people’s memory.

    Pashinyan took no action to protect Artsakh Armenians’ right to live peacefully in their millennia-old homeland. He also made no advance preparations to house the over 100,000 refugees from Artsakh, even though he knew that after the 2020 war Artsakh Armenians would eventually flee to Armenia.

    To make matters worse, knowing that in future elections Artsakh Armenians will not vote for his political party, Pashinyan declared that they are not citizens of Armenia. These people for decades have had passports of the Republic of Armenia which were recognized not only by Armenia but also by foreign countries when they travelled overseas. Regrettably, thousands of Artsakh Armenians have since left Armenia for Russia to find shelter and work to be able to feed their families.

    Furthermore, Pashinyan refuses to meet with any Artsakh official and opposes Artsakh Armenians holding protests in Yerevan to complain about their dire conditions in Armenia.

    Here is the latest example of Pashinyan’s anti-Artsakh actions. Last week, the President of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan gave an interview to the French Le Figaro newspaper in which he said that the Republic of Artsakh continues to exist despite its occupation by Azerbaijan. He also stated that there is an Artsakh government-in-exile in Yerevan where his offices are located.

    Shahramanyan’s words angered Pashinyan who immediately lashed back and warned that legal action will be taken against all those who talk about an Artsakh government-in-exile. Without any evidence, Pashinyan accused the Artsakh leaders of threatening Armenia’s national security. Not understanding the meaning of the term ‘government-in-exile,’ Pashinyan said that there is only one government in Armenia and there cannot be a second government, even though nobody was talking about creating a second government. If Pashinyan had any knowledgeable advisers, they would have informed him that there are in many countries dozens of ‘governments-in-exile’ which are universally accepted under international law.

    In reality, the only person in Armenia who is threatening the security of Armenia is Pashinyan himself. Not only he has not defended the rights of Artsakh Armenians who are citizens of Armenia, but has also allowed Azerbaijan’s military to cross Armenia’s borders in 2021 and 2022. In addition, when Pres. Aliyev demanded that Armenia hand over to Azerbaijan four Armenian villages, Pashinyan warned their inhabitants that otherwise Azerbaijan will start a new war.

    In his harsh reply to Shahramanyan, Pashinyan also threatened to take appropriate measures so that “foreign forces do not use certain [Artsakh] circles as a threat to the security of Armenia.” It is regrettable that Pashinyan is falsely accusing Artsakh Armenians of being manipulated by foreigners.

    Pashinyan’s real problem is not Artsakh’s government-in-exile, but the fact that Artsakh Armenians are taking steps to keep the memory of Artsakh alive, which is highly embarrassing for him, since he is the one who gave it away. We have lost Artsakh to the enemy, but we should not erase it from our memory. We have an obligation not only to remember Artsakh, but transmit the dream of returning to Artsakh to the next generation. This is critical because if future generations do not know that Artsakh is an Armenian land, when the opportunity presents itself for its liberation, they will not take advantage of it, thus losing Artsakh forever, not because of what the enemy has done, but because of our own inaction.

    In the meantime, we can only regret that Armenia’s Prime Minister, wittingly or unwittingly, is doing Pres. Aliyev’s bidding by trying to suppress even the memory and dream of Artsakh. Furthermore, it will be shameful if Pashinyan, acting on his threats, were to order the arrest of Artsakh leaders in Armenia, thus joining Baku in holding Artsakh leaders as captives.

    With each passing day, Pashinyan is intensifying his anti-Armenian actions. How long will Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora remain silent in the face of such self-defeating actions? When will Armenians wake up from their slumber, say ‘enough is enough’ and find a new competent leader to lead the nation out of this quagmire? Contrary to Pashinyan’s contention, Artsakh is not a closed issue. Armenians should not continue to sit with their arms folded and watch Armenia gradually disappear because of the misdeeds of one man!

    Finally, it would be shameful if Shahramanyan and other Artsakh officials were to be forced by Pashinyan to leave Armenia and relocate their government-in-exile to a foreign country.

  • German Television Exposes Azerbaijan’s Massive Bribery of European Officials

    German Television Exposes Azerbaijan’s Massive Bribery of European Officials

    This is not the first time that autocratic Azerbaijan has come under scrutiny for handing out billions of dollars in bribes to Western officials to ignore its massive violations of the human rights of its own population and Artsakh Armenians.

    The term ‘Caviar diplomacy’ was coined to describe specifically the corrupt practices of Azerbaijan in European institutions. Regrettably, some equally corrupt European officials were happy to pocket the millions of dollars offered to them by Azerbaijan.

    “Bringing this intricate web of influence and manipulation to light is a groundbreaking film by German broadcaster ARD, ‘Am Abgrund’ (on the precipice). Though the film is fiction, it is based on a series of investigations dubbed ‘Azerbaijani Laundromat,’ exposing how the Azerbaijani government bribed the Council of Europe politicians. The investigations published in 2017 discovered how the government of Azerbaijan was the driving force behind a $2.9 billion secret slush fund that may have helped it pay off European politicians,” Lamiya Adilgizi wrote on the globalvoices.org website.

    “Baku has cleverly navigated the corridors of power in Europe, winning over politicians with a mix of luxurious trips and direct cash payments. The aim? To ensure these influential voices speak up for Azerbaijan’s interests, particularly within the halls of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and even Germany’s own Bundestag,” wrote Adilgizi.

    The film, directed by investigative reporter Daniel Harrich, premiered at an event organized by the German Parliament on February 20. A follow-up documentary is planned to further reveal Azerbaijan’s corrupt lobbying efforts in Europe.

    The film exposes both the bribe-giving Azeris and bribe-taking European officials. “At the heart of this tale is both Azerbaijan, a country rich in energy resources and scrutinized over its ruling government’s authoritarian practices, but also European countries, known as champions of democracy, rule of law, and human rights, who have long been mentors to the emerging nations from the Soviet era. But here’s the twist — instead of spreading these cherished values, it seems they, too, are vulnerable to corruption….”

    The movie starts with Azerbaijan’s efforts to silence its domestic opponents who are thrown in jail for bravely exposing the regime’s human rights violations. It features “dramatic scenes that replicate footage from hidden cameras planted in the bedroom of renowned journalist Khadija Ismayilova in 2012, exposing her private life. Ismayilova penned a series of investigations into government corruption linked to the ruling family of Aliyevs. The leaked footage aimed to tarnish the journalist’s reputation. Ismayilova was later jailed on bogus charges and spent two years behind bars as a result.”

    The film follows “Gerd Meineke, a fictional member of the German Bundestag who also serves in the Council of Europe. Meineke discovers that the latter institution created back in 1949 to foster democracy and the rule of law has been compromised and that German Members of Parliament have been swayed by Azerbaijan’s regime, trading their votes in the Council of Europe for money, gold, prostitutes, and other bribes, betraying the principles of democracy and human rights.”

    Meineke’s attempt to pass a resolution condemning Azerbaijan for its numerous political prisoners is defeated by other members after receiving bribes from Azerbaijan.

    During the discussion following the screening of the film, director Harrich said: “The issue extended beyond the government of Azerbaijan and implicated Western politicians and societies in the corrupt practices fueled by Azerbaijan’s natural resources. Among the guests to the screening was the German Member of Parliament Frank Schwabe who has recently become known for his loud criticism of the Azerbaijani government. It was Schwabe who challenged the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE during the Assembly’s opening winter session in January 2024.”

    Schwab told Global Voices that his attempt to tell the truth about Azerbaijan “aligns with the mission of the Council of Europe. If a member of this organization doesn’t respect its principles, then action is necessary.” After boycotting Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine, Europe started buying gas from Azerbaijan which is partly imported from Russia. However, “it’s crucial that we don’t overlook human rights violations for the sake of trade relationships,” Schwab said.

    After PACE’s refusal to ratify the credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation in January 2024, “‘the timing [for the film’s launch] couldn’t be better,’ said Gerald Knaus, the chairman of the European Stability Initiative, a think tank, and a vocal critic of the Azerbaijani government, in an interview with Global Voices. His think tank coined the term ‘caviar diplomacy’ in 2012 and was the first to document Azerbaijan’s influence at the Council of Europe.”

    Knaus warned of the possible expulsion of Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe if it does not release its political prisoners by April 2024, the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe.

    There are over 200 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.