Category: Harut Sassounian

The headline of the May 17 opinion column by David Ignatius in The Washington Post — “When diplomats get punished for doing their jobs” — triggered unhappy recollections of the forced resignation of John Evans, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, for daring to speak about the Armenian Genocide, as described in his recently published book, “Truth Held Hostage: America and the Armenian Genocide — What then? What now?”

The Ignatius article was about the scandalous treatment of another diplomat, Robin Raphel, a former assistant secretary of state, who was investigated by the Justice Department for espionage.

Raphel was a distinguished American diplomat. In a 2014 article, Washington Post reporters described her as “a fixture in Washington’s diplomatic and think-tank circles…. At the time of the raid, Raphel was a senior adviser on Pakistan for the office of the special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan. In that job, she was chiefly responsible for administering non-military aid such as U.S. economic grants and incentives. The 67-year-old longtime diplomat was among the U.S. government’s most senior advisors on Pakistan and South Asian issues…. At the time of the FBI search of her house, she had retired from the Foreign Service but was working for the State Department on renewable, limited contracts that depended in part on her security clearance.”

Raphel began her government career as a CIA analyst. She served 30 years in the Foreign Service while stationed in Great Britain, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Tunisia. In 1993, she was appointed as first assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs. She retired from the State Department in 2005 and returned in 2009 to work as an advisor to Richard Holbrooke, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior to that position, Raphel worked as a lobbyist for Cassidy & Associates, representing Pakistan, Equatorial Guinea and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, according to The Washington Post.

Raphel’s investigation began on Oct. 21, 2014, when the burglary alarm was triggered in her house. Incredibly, FBI agents could not bypass the alarm system, something common burglars are able do! Raphel rushed to her home and found the agents going through her files which included some classified documents. Simultaneously, other FBI agents were searching and sealing her State Department office. Subsequently, Raphel was placed on administrative leave, had her security clearance revoked, and her contract with the State Department was not renewed.

The New York Times revealed in March of this year that “the inquiry began when American investigators intercepted a conversation in which a Pakistani official suggested that his government was receiving American secrets from Raphel, conversations that led to months of secret surveillance,” and accusations that she was spying for Pakistan.

In his opinion column, Ignatius noted that her case raises “disturbing questions about how a diplomat with nearly 40 years’ experience became the focus of a career-shattering investigation — apparently without anyone seeking clarification from knowledgeable State Department officials about her assignment to open alternative channels to repair the badly strained relationship with Pakistan.”

Raphel explained to Ignatius: “The FBI’s case of me was flawed from the beginning because they had a fundamental misunderstanding of what diplomats do.”

Jeff Smith, a former CIA general counsel who was one of Raphel’s attorneys, told Ignatius that “if the Bureau [FBI] had talked to senior people at State who were knowledgeable about her work, I believe they would never have launched this investigation.”

Amy Jeffress, another one of Raphel’s lawyers, told The N.Y. Times in March: “It is of utmost importance to our national security that our diplomats be able to do their work without fearing that their routine diplomatic communications will subject them to criminal investigation.” Raphel’s colleagues raised $90,000 for her legal defense fund.

Even though the Justice Department ended up dropping all charges against Raphel, her case had a “chilling effect on other diplomats, who feared they might be next,” several State Department officials told Ignatius.

The hounding of experienced personnel like Amb. Evans and former assistant secretary of state Raphel deprives the United States of competent and honest diplomats who can fearlessly defend the foreign policy interests of the United States in an effective and fair manner.

It is still not too late to hold a congressional hearing on the appalling mistreatment of two outstanding civil servants Evans and Raphel. At the very least, the President or the Secretary of State should issue a formal apology to both diplomats!

A decade ago, two Turkish Islamist leaders — Recep Erdogan (now President) and prominent Sunni cleric Fethullah Gulen — were the best of friends. Their common enemy was the Turkish military. But as Erdogan solidified his dictatorial rule by castrating the generals, he turned against his old ally, Gulen, to monopolize his grip on power. Erdogan purged and jailed hundreds of Gulen followers: journalists, judges, police, and state officials.

To expand its global investigation into the activities of Gulen-led organizations, the Turkish government hired, for $50,000 a month, the London-based law firm of Amsterdam and Partners. The law firm will also provide legal advice on the Erdogan regime’s request for Gulen’s extradition from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

“We have been retained by the Republic of Turkey to expose allegedly unlawful conduct by the Gulen network worldwide,” stated Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, during a recent press conference in Washington DC. “The activities of the Gulen network, including its penetration of the Turkish judiciary and police, as well as its political lobbying abroad, should concern everyone who cares about the future of democracy in Turkey.”

The high-powered lawyer’s insincere lament regarding “the future of democracy in Turkey,” is preposterous, as Erdogan himself has single-handedly demolished all vestiges of democracy in Turkey!

In a recent press release, Amsterdam claimed that “The Gulen network, which operates more than 100 charter schools in the U.S., has become the subject of federal and local law enforcement and regulatory investigation in the United States. According to separate cases filed against Gulen-affiliated schools, the group has allegedly engaged in systemic abuse of the American visa system.” The lawyer representing Turkey also asserted: “Globally, the Gulen network operates thousands of schools and has an agreement with the African Union to open 1,000 new schools in the region.”

Erdogan’s long arm has now reached all the way into Texas, going after Harmony Public Schools, the largest charter school system based in Houston, which has 30,000 students and operates under various Gulen-affiliated non-profit organizations.

Last November, Amsterdam and Partners filed a 90-item public information request that would cost Harmony $4.5 million to complete. Even after the lengthy list was shortened, it would still cost Harmony $690,000 to compile and provide that information. The Texas Attorney General will now have to decide the appropriateness of the Turkish request.

This week, Amsterdam and Partners is expected to file a 30-page complaint with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) against Harmony schools. Jim Arnold, an Austin-based lobbyist, also hired by Turkey, sent an e-mail to the Texas Governor’s office stating that the complaint “will outline a series of allegations concerning Harmony’s financial operations as well as their alleged misconduct, and request a comprehensive investigation by TEA.”

In response, Soner Tarim, chief executive officer and co-founder of Harmony Public Schools, told the Houston Chronicle that the targeting of his schools by the Turkish government is “mind-boggling and politically motivated.”

Meanwhile, Amsterdam and Partners has filed similar complaints against the Gulen-affiliated Magnolia Charter Schools in California, “urging the California Department of Education to conduct a full investigation of the charter network’s financial practices,” according to the Houston Chronicle.

In a strongly-worded letter, Cong. Brad Sherman complained about the Turkish government’s attacks on Magnolia Charter Schools: “President Erdogan is a repudiation of everything that good American schools stand for. He has personally done tremendous damage to democracy in the Republic of Turkey.”  Cong. Sherman also wrote in his April 26 letter that “Amsterdam & Partners was being paid $600,000 a year to disparage Magnolia Public Schools” and that “at various times, President Erdogan’s government has assisted ISIS. Accordingly, I cannot think of a worse source of information about American education than President Erdogan and his paid agents,” the Houston Chronicle reported.

Tarim told the Houston newspaper that regretfully “The Turkish government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless time attacking these American schools, forcing Harmony to match the effort. The money and energy would be better spent on students.”

Armenian-Americans can sit back and watch with great interest this costly and scandalous court battle between the Turkish government and Gulen’s organization. Let them waste their money and energy by fighting each other rather than wining and dining U.S. officials on all-expense paid extravagant junkets to Turkey and lobbying members of Congress against Armenian issues!

For eight years now, Pres. Obama has failed to keep his campaign promise to call the Armenian Genocide a genocide. Yet, for some incomprehensible reason, which can only be described as naiveté, many Armenians in the United States and around the world have kept up the vain hope ever since 2009 — Pres. Obama’s first year in office — that he will use the term Armenian Genocide in 2010 or 2011 or 2012.

When he did not utter those words at the end of his first term in office, these naive Armenians were convinced that Pres. Obama would pronounce them during his second and final term, starting in 2013. They wrongly reasoned that Pres. Obama would be more likely to say genocide then, as he would not run for reelection, and therefore not worry about criticism from either Turkey or his domestic political opponents.

When Pres. Obama continued his refusal to say Armenian Genocide, these same naive Armenians came up with a new reason to keep up their wishful thinking. They thought that since Pres. Obama had dared to reverse the long-standing restrictive U.S. policy on Cuba, he would act with similar boldness on the Armenian Genocide issue! This, of course, proved to be a baseless speculation.

Finally, when all else failed, the naive Armenians expected Pres. Obama to pronounce those two forbidden words on April 24, 2016; his last opportunity to do so. That prediction also did not materialize. In his latest statement, Pres. Obama used every euphemism in the dictionary to describe what happened to the Armenians in 1915, except for the word genocide! Here are the results of the latest verbal gymnastics practiced by Pres. Obama: “mass atrocity; deported; massacred; marched to their deaths; suffered; dark days; tragedy; violence; and horror.” Why is the leader of the most powerful country on earth torturing himself and his aides to come up with so many words, when a single word — genocide — would suffice?

Incredibly, some Armenians crossed all bounds of naiveté, by claiming that since Pres. Obama used ‘Meds Yeghern’ in his annual commemorative statements, that term should be viewed as a fulfillment of his campaign promise and an acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. The problem is that Obama, as a presidential candidate, did not promise that if elected he would say ‘Meds Yeghern.’ On the contrary, he promised to say Armenian Genocide and even insisted that “America deserves a President who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide; I will be that President.” Furthermore, ‘Meds Yeghern’ is not a legal term and has no meaning for non-Armenians. If ‘Meds Yeghern’ is the equivalent of Armenian Genocide, why would Pres. Obama for eight years always use the former and never the latter? While Armenians may be naive, the same cannot be said about Pres. Obama and his aides who know what they are saying and why!

There are two culprits in this nonsensical situation: The first is Pres. Obama who gave a promise that he did not keep, thus misleading all those who trusted him and voted for him; some twice! If Pres. Obama does not mind leaving a legacy of not telling the truth to the American public, that is his problem and not that of the Armenian-American community!

The second culprit consists of all those who desperately, year after year, hoped that Pres. Obama would use the words Armenian Genocide, even though there was no need for such a statement. The Armenian Genocide has been repeatedly recognized by the United States: in a legal document submitted by the U.S. government to the World Court in 1951; two resolutions adopted by the House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984; and Pres. Reagan’s Presidential Proclamation of April 22, 1981. Why do Armenians seek the words Armenian Genocide, when it has already been stated by a previous president? Does every American President have to use that term before Armenians are satisfied that the Armenian Genocide is indeed recognized by the United States?

Unfortunately, most Armenians confuse the issue of genocide recognition with U.S. governmental policy on Turkey. None of the other countries that are considered to have recognized the Armenian Genocide have an antagonistic policy vis-à-vis Turkey. Nor does the U.S.! All of these countries balance genocide recognition with maintaining normal and even cordial relations with Turkey. The United States should not be construed as not having recognized the Armenian Genocide just because its leaders avoid using that term for misperceived political or economic reasons! One can condemn U.S. policy towards Turkey without questioning its recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, accusing the U.S. government of not having recognized the Armenian Genocide, as many Armenians often do, casts doubt on the veracity of the Genocide and does a great disservice to the Armenian Cause!