Turkish Forum

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  • BBC Was Biased and One-sided

    BBC Was Biased and One-sided

    By Azer HASRET

    Just a few days ago BBC World News aired an interview with two Armenian activists. One of them was connected live from Los Angeles, another one from Azerbaijani city of Khankendi.

    For those who is not quite enough familiar with the region of South Caucasus, Khankendi is a city within Karabakh Economic Region of Azerbaijan with the majority Armenian population. The city alongside with other parts of Karabakh and now Eastern Zangezur was under occupation of Armenia starting from early 1990s And the whole region was liberated by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war of 2020 provoked by Armenia to capture new lands.

    As Azerbaijan managed to end the war with total victory it has offered to local Armenians to stay and live in peace. Those days Armenian population of about 30-40 thousand people was ready for reconciliation. And under the control of the Russian peacekeepers, they started again to live usual life.

    Azerbaijan has kept open The Lachin Corridor for the Armenians of Karabakh to be in touch with Armenia as the region being under occupation of Armenia was connected to the latest. Thus, people have ties in Armenia, and they need to be in touch. Azerbaijan instead of being winner of the war, took into consideration this issue as well as a humanitarian need.

    But after some times Azerbaijan has discovered that Armenians are using The Lachin Corridor to carry in weapons and heavy army units in order to prepare for the new war. Alongside with this Azerbaijan managed to build completely new road connecting Karabakh’s center Khankendi with Armenia. Afterwards, a year ago the new road was open, and Armenians were happy to use this more suitable connection. But it was misused as well. That’s why Azerbaijan starting from April 23, 2023, installed new checkpoint at the border with Armenia in order to prevent illegal use of the road.

    Afterwards Armenians started to spread a propaganda, that Azerbaijan is “killing 120 thousand peaceful Armenians in Karabakh through starvation”. They call it even a new “genocide” again Armenians by Turks…

    But during these past months no single Armenian was killed due to starvation. And Azerbaijan did not close the road in full leaving it open for humanitarian needs. And by today as well Armenians are using the road in both directions to connect between Armenia and Azerbaijan Karabakh region. (Plus, Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society has sent 40 tons of wheat flour for Armenians in Karabakh which is still blocked by the Armenians and can’t be delivered to the people in need…)

    Instead of this situation Armenians are trying illegally pass through The Lachin Road. And Azerbaijan is preventing them from doing this. Plus, Armenian propaganda machine calls The Lachin Border Checkpoint “illegal installation”. According to their minds Azerbaijan must keep open its border with Armenia with no control. Is it possible? Or is there any country on the world which keeps its borders open with no checkpoints? Does Armenia itself keep its borders open to other countries as well? Not of course! But they demand that Azerbaijan must keep its borders open with no checkpoint for Armenians, even for others from foreign countries whom they wish to see in Karabakh!

    Now that was a small portion of the history or some kind of enlightenment for those who is not quite familiar with the region and the issues, which are misused by Armenian propaganda.

    As the situation is very clear, BBC World News a couple of days ago has aired and interview with two above mentioned Armenians. Of course, the media is and must be free to cover any issue. But even the BBC’s code of conduct requires to be balanced and impartial while airing any news or commentary.

    In BBC’s above-mentioned broadcast under the title “The Context” only one side was interviewed and given an opportunity to speak. And unfortunately, both interviewers were Armenians and both of them failed to speak in a fair manner. What did they do? Of course, they accused Azerbaijan for “killing and genociding 120 thousand Armenians of Karabakh through starvation”.

    We have noted that there are not 120 thousand Armenians in Karabakh. This is a small portion of population with a figure of between 30 to 40 thousand people.

    What was stranger and more unacceptable, the BBC presented an interviewer from Khankendi, Karabakh as a “Former Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh”!

    “Republic of Artsakh”? Where is it? What is that? Does the world know about this so-called republic? Not of course! There is nothing called a “Republic of Artsakh” and no world country, no international organization recognizes such an entity. But the BBC, seems does “recognize” it…

    Of course, we could stop a bit on the wordings of the interviewers. But we don’t do that. Because it was alongside with official Armenian fake propaganda and based on the accusations towards Azerbaijan with no base!

    We understand Armenian propagandists. But it is not easy to understand the BBC which is to serve the truth and only truth.

    That’s why as a career journalist with about 30 years of professional activity and international practice I do accuse the BBC’s this kind of stance and call on this news media to air apology and refutation. Hope, that BBC will find enough courage to do this…

  • Inflation is coming back

    Inflation is coming back

    Inflation on the rise

    By jumping onto the green machine too quickly at the expense of world oil, the Biden Administration has sown its old disastrous defeat.

    These communists/democrats are miminking  V. Putin of Russia, who has jailed Alexie Navalny for 20 years, and are trying the same feat with Donald Trump.

    The problem is these politicians think they know the law.

    Here is the big problem: There is no quick fix for Biden.

    The price of Diesel fuel has gone over the $4.00 threshold. There are only a few distilleries that can convert oil to diesel fuel. Trains, truckers, and airplanes use diesel. That raises the cost of everything.

    Now, to add more logs to the unwanted wind, the Panama Canal is in big trouble, and it is not China’s fault. It is the weather. ‘They have had a severe drought of over three years. The Lake that supplies water for the canals is running low. The Lake has to reduce the water it provides to the channel.

    Heavy-laden ships displace too much water, meaning they can not cross a crowded canal with other ships. The result is that the canal usually ferries 42 vessels a day through their waterways. It is now down to 32. Traditionally, 90 ships are waiting to go through, but now the figure 130. Ant if rain, thanks to El Nino, does not come in the next three months, the canal will have to go to a one-year restrictive plan.

    Just think of the added expense of fueling [the stationary ships and feeding their crews. Honestly, It raises the cost of the goods they are carrying.

    All of these factors lead to higher inflation. Unless our administration does not change its venu, higher interest rates are not the correct answer under normal circumstances. These healthy perishable produce items do not have a long shelf life.

    The solution to our problem is to shop and add to the kitchen can goods and paper items. When prices rise, we will have needed funds for perishable produce items that are good for one’s overall health.

    Larry Kudlow has often said the solution in his Fox TV show is DRILL BABY, DRILL.

    Cheerio,

  • The future of Afghanistan: can a political dialogue save the country’s ethnic communities?

    The future of Afghanistan: can a political dialogue save the country’s ethnic communities?

    taliban 2

    With the Taliban grabbing the power in Afghanistan in 2021 the country has been walking through a rocky path. Ethnic communities have suffered most of all as the new people in power pursue the policy of Pushtunization forcing out Tajiks, Uzbeks and other ethnic communities from the governance board.

    Such policy has inevitably led to social inequality in the country and formed a more aggressive opposition movements while the appeals from the international community to form an ethnopolitical and inclusive government are being ignored by the Taliban.  As the country today has no alternatives of the power other than the Taliban, the current power can hardly be called legitimate. To make the Taliban be recognized on the international level and to defrost gold and forex assets of the former Islamic Republic the new government has to form the inclusive Cabinet and to start an internal political dialogue.

    The world has seen many examples of polyethnic societies, starting from Italy where the northern part of the country is mostly inhabited by German and Slavic groups to the Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon with different ethnic and religious groups living together. However, should the government pursue an anti-polyethnic policy, it will likely collapse in a time course as ethnic communities residing in the country might start a mutiny aimed at forming independent Republics or governments. 

    In Afghanistan, millions of lives depend on the chosen course of the interim government. The Taliban’s newly formed Cabinet fails on principles of inclusivity and has been rejected either by ethnic communities or even Afghan people residing in the country. To keep the country in peace and stability the newly formed authorities have to stop keeping people in fear and poverty. This issue has also been alerted by the United Nations and other representatives of the international community.

    Feel free to leave your comments below to start a discussion.

  • Righteous Jews Appeal to Israel To Help Open the Lachin Corridor

    Righteous Jews Appeal to Israel To Help Open the Lachin Corridor

    There are pro and anti-Armenian individuals in every nationality. Jews are no exception. There are Jews who support us and those who oppose us. We should not generalize and paint everyone with the same brush. Armenians should not treat every Jew as an opponent just because the Israeli government denies the Armenian Genocide and sells billions of dollars of arms to Azerbaijan.

    Armenians have the right to criticize the Israeli government and Jews who are anti-Armenian. I severely condemned Israel’s denial of the Armenian Genocide in my 2015 lecture at an Israeli University. After the lecture, I met with the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and told him that the government of Israel, whose own people were victims of genocide, should have been the first country to recognize the Armenian Genocide, not the last. Pres. Rivlin told me that he recognized the Armenian Genocide and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for denying it.

    I just received copies of two letters sent by a group of righteous Israelis to their country’s top officials, requesting that they intervene with Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor.

    The first letter was sent to Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on January 15, 2023, asking for his assistance to prevent “a grave humanitarian crisis and loss of life” due to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. The 17 prominent Jewish signers of the letter, including Rabbis, journalists and scholars, wrote: “We believe that you, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, through your ties with your counterparts in Azerbaijan and Russia, can help to avoid this grave humanitarian crisis. Therefore we ask that you approach them urgently to work for the lifting of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.”

    The second letter was sent on August 11, 2023, to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog who had recently visited Azerbaijan. The letter-writers requested him “to make a personal appeal to your counterparts in Azerbaijan and demand their immediate removal of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.” The 35 prominent Jewish signers of the letter, including Rabbis, scholars, journalists, a former Cabinet Minister and Member of Knesset, architects and scientists, wrote: “The State of Israel enjoys close ties with Azerbaijan, the state which is responsible for this crisis, and has the ability to resolve it. These ties obligate the State of Israel to take a clear stand, and not to stand idly by…. The aid that we [Israel] provided [to Azerbaijan] means that we have a special responsibility not to be a bystander, and also gives us an important opportunity to have a positive impact. We cannot remain silent, especially in light of our historic and multilayered connection with the Armenian people.”

    Beyond these letters, hundreds of Jews and Armenians in Israel held several protests during and after the 2020 Artsakh War. One of the protests was in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, criticizing the sale of Israeli arms to Azerbaijan. Some of the protesters held models of drones with blood stains painted on them with the words ‘Made in Israel.’

    Avidan Freedman, one of the founders of Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to stopping Israeli arms sales to human rights violators, published an article in The Times of Israel on August 13, 2023, titled: “The Artsakh humanitarian crisis is our responsibility. Here’s why.” He wrote: “Israel provided Azerbaijan with 69% of its arms in the period between 2016 and 2020. During the 2020 Artsakh War, a senior Israeli military source asserted that ‘Azerbaijan would not have been able to continue its operation at this level without our support.’” Freedman concluded: “the current humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh was enabled by Israeli support…. The emerging humanitarian crisis, Israel’s military support of Azerbaijan, and the Jewish people’s historic and moral connection to the Armenian people combine to create a clear moral responsibility. Israel must take a moral stance and call on Azerbaijan to immediately lift its blockade of the Lachin Corridor.”

    To illustrate the depth of pro-Armenian sympathies among some Jews, I would like to quote Dr. Israel Charny, one of the signers of the above mentioned two letters. He is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide and author of “Israel’s Failed Response to the Armenian Genocide.” In 2009, Charny and I were invited to speak at the UK Parliament. Since he could not attend due to illness, he submitted his speech in writing. Here is an excerpt: “No less than the arch fighter for peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Shimon Peres, now President of Israel, then serving as Israel’s Foreign Minister, twice went notably out of his way to insult the history and memory of the Armenian Genocide.”

    In 2001, Charny sent a scathing letter to Peres: “You have gone beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass…. As a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian Genocide, comparable to denials of the Holocaust.”

    In response to an “especially insulting” denial by Peres in 2002, Dr. Charny sent him one of my editorials in The California Courier, with the following note: “I am enclosing with great concern for your attention an editorial in a leading US-Armenian newspaper calling on Armenia to expel the Israeli Ambassador [Rivka Cohen, after she denied the Armenian Genocide]. For your further information, the author of this editorial, who is the head of the United Armenian Fund in the US — comparable to our United Jewish Appeal — was for many years a delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.”

    Armenians should support their friends and criticize their opponents regardless of their nationality.

  • Armenia’s Incompetent Actions at the UN  Did More Damage Than Good

    Armenia’s Incompetent Actions at the UN  Did More Damage Than Good

    The United Nations Security Council is composed of 15 member states: Five are permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and the other 10, have a term of two years, on a rotational basis.

    The Security Council’s powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. It is the only UN organ with the authority to issue binding resolutions on member states.

    With such extensive responsibilities, the Security Council is the right UN body to deal with Azerbaijan’s blockade of 120,000 Artsakh Armenians which risks their starvation resulting in genocide, according to the UN definition of that term.

    Regrettably, the Armenian government, due to the mismanagement of its approach to the Security Council, mishandled this unique opportunity to get the UN body to adopt a resolution urging Azerbaijan to immediately unblock the Lachin Corridor. Otherwise, it would impose severe sanctions.

    The proper way to have handled the petition to the Security Council would have been for Armenia to prepare the text of a draft resolution, meet with all 15 members, and try to get them to agree to the proposed resolution. Since the blockade has been going on for eight months, the Armenian government had plenty of time to do this work.

    Without any preparations, petitioning the Security Council and expecting a positive outcome is unrealistic and self-defeating. The ambassadors of the 15 member countries always receive advance instructions from their foreign ministries on what to say during the UN meetings and if there is the pre-prepared text of a proposed resolution, they are told how to vote. Nothing is decided on the spot during the meeting and no action can be taken that has not been agreed upon in advance.

    The Armenian government should have known these basic facts and have taken the proper steps before requesting a Security Council meeting in order to ensure a successful outcome. In this absence of such a preparatory work, it is not surprising that the Security Council did not adopt a resolution to warn Azerbaijan that unless it unblocks the Lachin Corridor immediately, severe sanctions will be imposed.

    During the meeting, all 15 member states delivered speeches, many of them urging Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor and resolve the issue through peaceful negotiations. The French Ambassador delivered the most favorable speech for Armenia, while the Russian Ambassador’s remarks were disappointing. When the meeting was over, everyone got up and went home without adopting a resolution and resolving the blockade. Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are non-members of the Security Council, repeated their myriad of lies about the Lachin Corridor, denying the obvious facts known to the whole world. To counter Turkey’s remarks, why didn’t Armenia arrange to have Cyprus or Greece attend the meeting to support its position?

    Regrettably, the UN Security Council member states preferred to pursue their own narrow national interests rather than trying to save the lives of 120,000 starving Artsakh Armenians, thus abdicating their humanitarian responsibility and undermining the integrity of the United Nations Organization. Shamefully, the Security Council did not even bother to back up the two decisions of the International Court of Justice on unblocking the Lachin Corridor.

    Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who flew to New York on this occasion, gave a proper speech, urging the Security Council “to act as genocide prevention body and not as genocide commemoration, when it might be too late.” Mirzoyan asked that the UN dispatch an interagency needs assessment mission to Artsakh, which was ignored. Nevertheless, he failed to request that the UN Security Council order Azerbaijan to open the Lachin Corridor and impose sanctions, if it did not comply. On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, did not bother to fly from Baku to New York, knowing full well that nothing will happen at the UN meeting.

    Azerbaijan’s Ambassador falsely stated that since Artsakh is a part of his country’s territory, it can do as it pleases and no one has the right to interfere. The whole world knows that he is completely wrong. Human rights violations are of universal interest. They are of serious concern to the whole world and are not the internal issue of any one country.

    While it is true that several Ambassadors urged Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor, regrettably, these requests were mere words which fell on deaf ears. Azerbaijan ignored all such requests, as it has rejected similar pleas from several heads of states, foreign ministers, the European Union, European Council, European Court of Human Rights, World Court, and Secretary-General of the United Nations. Words without action are meaningless.

    To save face, Prime Minister Pashinyan told Armenians after the UN meeting that now the whole world knows that Azerbaijan, contrary to its denials, was blocking the Lachin Corridor. This is a meaningless statement as everyone already knew that the Corridor was blocked. That was not the purpose of the UN Security Council meeting. The purpose was to adopt a resolution and impose sanctions on Azerbaijan. Armenia failed to accomplish that important objective.

    The UN Security Council meeting was much more than a missed opportunity for Armenia and Artsakh. Having raised and then shattered the expectations of Armenians that the Security Council will lift the blockade further demoralized Armenians worldwide. It would have been far more preferable for Armenia to take no action rather than make a half-baked attempt which caused more damage.

    Since last week’s failed meeting, Azeri officials have boasted that no one at the UN believed Armenia’s ‘baseless accusations,’ as a result of which no decision was taken. Regrettably, Azerbaijan is now emboldened more than ever to take further aggressive steps against Artsakh and Armenia, knowing full well that no one in the world will take any action against Azerbaijan.

  • Disney’s Controversial Ataturk Movie Angered both Armenians and Turks

    Disney’s Controversial Ataturk Movie Angered both Armenians and Turks

    It takes an especially incompetent Walt Disney Company executive to come up with a movie project that enraged both Armenians and Turks alike. That employee should be fired for damaging the coffers as well as reputation of the company.

    The Disney+ streaming service had planned to make a six-part series that dramatizes the life of Kemal Ataturk who is the Founding Father of the Republic of Turkey, worshipped by almost all Turks. Insulting Ataturk is punishable by up to three years in prison. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) started a campaign in June to protest against Disney’s movie project.

    The ANCA called on Disney+ “to cancel its series glorifying Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — a Turkish dictator and genocidal killer with the blood of millions of Greek, Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite and other Christian martyrs on his hands.”

    Ironically, despite his own share of crimes and anti-Armenian actions, Ataturk was honest enough to admit during an interview with the Los Angeles Examiner on August 1, 1926: “These leftovers of the former Young Turk Party, who should have been made to account for the lives of millions of our Christian subjects, who were ruthlessly driven en masse from their homes and massacred, have been restive under the Republican rule. They have hitherto lived on plunder, robbery and bribery, and become inimical to any idea or suggestion to enlist in useful labor and earn their living by the honest sweat of their brow.” Regrettably, on several other occasions, Ataturk contradicted himself justifying the Armenian Genocide.

    The news of Armenian objection to the Disney movie, the company’s subsequent change of plans, and the irate Turkish reaction became the topic of countless articles around the world, publicizing the issue of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish media blamed the ANCA, ‘the powerful Armenian lobby’ in the United States, for successfully pressuring the Disney Company.

    Disney had originally announced that the series glorifying Ataturk will be shown on the Disney+ network starting on October 29, 2023, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic. Changing its plans, Disney+ now plans to release the movie in two parts: The first part will air on the Disney-owned Fox TV in Turkey on October 29 and the second in Turkish theaters on December 22. Both films will be shown again next summer. It cost Disney $8 million to produce ‘Ataturk.’

    Ebubekir Shahin, chairman of Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), said that it will launch an official investigation into Disney’s decision. Huseyin Yayman, chairman of the Turkish parliament’s Digital Media Commission, threatened severe sanctions against Disney: “We will impose harsh fines, including license cancellation for Disney+, bandwidth reduction, and advertising bans.” Prominent Turkish figures, including politicians, artists and journalists, angrily denounced Disney and cancelled their subscriptions to Disney+, which has 50,000 subscribers in Turkey. Omer Celik, spokesman of Turkey’s ruling AK Party, called Disney’s change of plans ‘shameful’ and alleged the company had caved in to ‘the Armenian lobby.’ He also stated that ANCA’s intent was to prevent the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations. Serdar Kilic, the Turkish ambassador in charge of his country’s normalization process with Armenia, also cancelled his subscription to Disney+. The Turkish government’s news agency, Anadolu Agency, published a commentary by Burak Caliskan of York University titled: “Did the Armenian lobby take over Disney+?”

    Turkey even pressured its Armenian community to oppose Disney’s decision. Bedros Shirinoglu, Chairman of Armenian Foundations Association of Turkey, a hostage of the Turkish regime, issued a shameful statement touting the non-existent freedom of expression in Turkey and calling on “American-Armenian organizations to act more responsibly.” Likewise, Parliament member Sevan Sıvacıoglu, representing Pres. Erdogan’s political party, expressed concern that Disney’s decision hampers the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations and undermines the potential for fostering friendly ties between the two countries.

    According to the Middle East Eye, “In June, Disney removed numerous shows and movies from Disney+ to reduce ongoing residuals and its tax bill. This strategy also resulted in the removal of eight Turkish TV shows and movies produced exclusively for Disney’s Turkish streaming platform, with the suspension of new Turkish content launches.” Disney+ (Turkey) confirmed that it had made such a decision.

    This whole controversy could have been avoided if Disney had done a little bit of research before embarking on such an unwise adventure. Disney has no business preparing a documentary on Ataturk or any other political figure. Disney blindly undertook this project, angering many Armenians around the world. And then, realizing its mistake, Disney washed its hands and cleverly dumped the documentary on Fox-TV in Turkey.

    Nevertheless, the battle is partly won. Even though the giant Disney Company changed its plans, Armenians worldwide now need to pursue this issue with the top executives Disney for three reasons:

    1) To completely cancel the Ataturk documentary and not hand it over to Fox-TV in Turkey;

    2) To make sure that the Disney Company will never again consider making a Turkish propaganda film;

    3) Urge Disney to make a documentary on an Armenian topic, such as the Armenian Genocide and Republics of Armenia and Artsakh.

    Regrettably, once again, the Armenian-American community is left alone in battling the all-powerful Turkish government, without any assistance from the leaders of Armenia who are acting as if Armenian issues are of no interest to them.