Category: Authors

I will attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of the upcoming “Armenia-Turkey normalization talks” on January 14, 2022 in Moscow. Armenia may be bungling these negotiations once again!

— To begin with, Armenia does not need to negotiate with Turkey to have the border opened. Such negotiations took place shortly after Armenia’s independence in 1991, when Armenia and Turkey opened their mutual border, until Turkey shut down its side of the border in 1993. Since Turkey is the one that closed its border with Armenia unilaterally, it can now open it also unilaterally. I fear that Turkey’s intent to hold such unnecessary negotiations is aimed at extorting concessions from Armenia.

— After its overwhelming loss during the 2020 war, Armenia’s defeated leader will be negotiating from a position of weakness. A devastated leader cannot have the mental and moral fortitude to negotiate properly with such a problematic and cunning enemy. New leaders must first come to power in Armenia so they can start the discussions, if necessary, from a non-defeatist attitude.

— There is a fundamental problem with Armenia normalizing its relations with Turkey, a nation that committed genocide, killing 1.5 million Armenians in 1915. A century later, Turkey still lies about its mass crimes and denies their occurrence. An unrepentant genocidaire cannot be a trusted party with which one can negotiate in good faith.

— In addition to its past crimes, Turkey outrageously participated in a new massacre of Armenians, killing and wounding thousands of young Armenian soldiers in the 2020 Artsakh war. To make matters worse, Turkey recruited Jihadist terrorists from Syria and arranged for their transportation to Azerbaijan during the war. How can Armenia’s Prime Minister engage in discussions with an enemy with such recurring hostility? Just imagine if Germany, a country that committed genocide against six million Jews, would attack today’s Israel and kill thousands of Israelis. Do you think Israeli leaders would then sit down with today’s German leaders and negotiate with them as if nothing happened? Every Jew in the world would be up in arms over such a prospect. Armenia’s leaders seem to be oblivious about Turkey’s past and present crimes. They are more than happy to negotiate with the criminals in Ankara with a callous attitude. If the Armenian leaders won’t defend their nation’s rights, how can they expect outsiders to care about Armenia more than them?

— Prime Minister Pashinyan came to power rejecting the rule of former President Serzh Sargsyan with the slogan “Merjir Serzhin” (Reject Serzh). Why is Pashinyan then copying Sargsyan’s flawed policies with Turkey? Armenians in and out of Armenia were up in arms over the previous president’s ill-fated 2009 Armenian-Turkish Protocols. It does not look like Pashinyan has learned anything from that failed experiment.

— “Negotiations without preconditions” is another mantra repeated by Armenian’s previous and current leaders. But the fact is that, rather than Armenia placing preconditions on Turkey, it is Turkey that is advancing preconditions. During the 2009 Protocols negotiations, Turkey said it did not have any preconditions, nevertheless, several Turkish preconditions ended up in the agreement. Pres. Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, confirmed such Armenian concerns when he said at the end of December while visiting Chicago: “we want the border to be opened and diplomatic relations to begin. For this, certain conditions must be met and certain issues must be negotiated.”

— The Protocols failed in 2009 because Azerbaijan objected to Turkey opening its border with Armenia. That helped save Armenia’s interests that were supposed to be protected not by Azerbaijan, but by the President of Armenia! The current negotiations may fail also, unless Pashinyan is ready to concede whatever Erdogan asks for. Turkey is now demanding that Armenia accept the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by signing a peace treaty, thus giving up Artsakh and Nakhichevan for good, and allowing the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” not just a road, linking Azerbaijan East with Nakhichevan. Finally, if Turkey comes to the table with preconditions, Armenia should be prepared to walk away or counter with its own preconditions: Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, restitution for consequent Armenian losses, and return of occupied Western Armenia.

— Before signing the 2009 Armenia-Turkey Protocols, Pres. Sargsyan made a half-hearted attempt to visit several Diaspora communities ostensibly to hear their views. Pashinyan has made no such attempt. He has not consulted with anyone from the Diaspora. Pashinyan should realize that relations with Turkey are a pan-Armenian issue, not solely a domestic matter of the Republic of Armenia. He should take into consideration Diaspora’s views, even if he is the one who makes the final decision. Moreover, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently stated that “extremist groups” in the Armenian Diaspora “should not put pressure on Yerevan,” to disrupt the Armenia-Turkey relations. In addition, Erdogan’s spokesman Kalin said in Chicago recently: “the current Armenia-Turkey normalization process will destroy the Armenian community of the United States.” Such a statement is an unwelcome interference in intra-Armenian affairs. Turkish officials’ unwarranted statements should galvanize all Armenians to reject their unacceptable intervention.

— The qualifications of the person conducting the negotiations on behalf of Armenia are extremely important. Erdogan appointed as Turkey’s negotiator the seasoned diplomat, former Turkish Ambassador to the United States, and notorious genocide denialist Serdar Kilic. Pashinyan, on the other hand, in line with his many other unqualified appointments, named Ruben Rubinyan, a young neophyte with zero diplomatic experience. His only claim to fame is that he is a member of Pashinyan’s political party and Deputy Chairman of the Armenian Parliament. Amazingly, when questioned about Rubinyan’s qualifications, Pashinyan and his political colleagues claimed that Rubinyan’s party affiliation is much more important than his inexperience, thereby putting their party’s interests ahead of that of the nation. Thus, the outcome of the upcoming negotiations is crystal clear since the wolf will be facing the lamb! There must be more competent and experienced Armenian diplomats who can conduct such sensitive negotiations.

— Pashinyan keeps repeating proudly that the leaders of Russia, the United States, and France support his plans to negotiate with Turkey. Let’s not forget that Azerbaijan and Turkey also support this initiative. All of these countries are simply advancing their own interests, not that of Armenia.

— Finally, Pashinyan’s much touted claim of economic benefits to Armenia as a result of opening the Armenian-Turkish border is a dubious expectation. Already, without the border being open, Turkish products have flooded the Armenian market. The opening of the border would mean that the cheaper Turkish products will destroy Armenia’s domestic production. A tiny country with a small population cannot compete with Turkish products which enjoy the advantage of “economies of scale” (higher volume at lower cost). To make matters worse, Pashinyan just threw away the only bargaining chip Armenia had by lifting the temporary ban on the import of Turkish goods, thus depriving Armenia of its trump card in these negotiations.

Turkey, a destitute country with a failing economy, collapsed Lira, 12% unemployment, 36% inflation, and raging coronavirus (7th highest number of infections in the world), is desperate to ameliorate its domestic dismal conditions and mend its damaged ties with the United States, Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. An astute Armenian negotiator, realizing the Turkish eagerness to impress the world, would attempt to extract more favorable terms for normalizing relations with Turkey.

No one opposes negotiations with Turkey as long as the negotiator representing Armenia is a competent person who is able to bring benefits to Armenia’s interests.

In October 2021, the Patriarch of Istanbul, Sahag Mashalian, delivered at the Holy Hovhannes Church in the Kumkape district of Istanbul a very strange sermon full of conspiracies and fear-mongering statements. His anti-scientific and irresponsible words were intended to deter his parishioners from getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, thus endangering their lives.

In his sermon, the Patriarch quoted from chapter 13, verses 16-18 of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. I am not a theologian, but I believe he is misusing verses from the Bible to spread falsehoods and disinformation. The Book of Revelation, an enigmatic work by Apostle John, has many interpretations, but linking his writings to a virus that surfaced two thousand years after his death is senseless and dangerous, particularly in Turkey which has the sixth highest number of deaths in the world from the coronavirus.

The Patriarch began his sermon by referring to the following passage of the Book of Revelation: The beast “forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name…. That number is 666.”

Here are excerpts from the Patriarch’s bizarre sermon which I have translated into English:

“And whoever will not have this seal [of the beast] will not be able to do any business, will not be able to travel, [and] will not even be able to eat bread…. Therefore, placing a technology chip in our body, on our hand or our forehead, we understand that it is the symbol of perfect control. This means that wherever you go, they will know where you are. Whatever information exists about you will be in it [the chip]: your illnesses, your relationships, your condition, [and] your bank accounts. It will all be in it. Your health will be in it. And without it, you will not be able to do anything. And, of course, this will be presented to us as progress, as a technological advantage. And sometimes we will willingly take this chip.

“These are no longer theories. In certain European countries, this system has started. What will we do? What will we be? When the time comes, they will compel us to have such chips in which it’s written 666 or the name of that son of Satan. What will we do? Christians have always spoken about this topic as a musing that it will happen in the future. People in the future should think about it. But it has come now. It came to our doors. In a few years, at the latest in the year 2030, this development will become a reality.

“What will we Christians do? Our church leaders, the Primates, should speak about this issue which they do not. But the faithful at the bottom of the church speak because the prophecy is so explicit, the word of God is so clear that it is spoken about. And what will happen when the leaders of the church, the Primates, those with the rank of Bishop do not talk about it, when the people at the bottom speak about it, then this will be spoken about in an exaggerated and redundant manner? The church has a doctrine called eschatology. It is the knowledge of the last days. In our faith we say that Christ shall return. This is an integral part of our faith. Therefore, the doctrine of the church, in a clear manner, should elucidate this topic to the Christian communities.

“Christian leaders should get together and speak about this issue, while it is still early. After these things happen, it will be too late. We should now come together and talk. Church and bishopric meetings should be held about this topic now, while we are still free and have the ability. In a few years, we will not have that ability. As a Patriarch, I call upon my people and church leaders to get interested in this topic and blow the horn. Because in the Bible, for us, for Christian leaders, there is a dreadful statement. By the mouth of prophet Ezekiel God says: I appointed you a watchman over this people. If you see the sword, the danger, and do not sound the alarm, and the sword comes, then their blood will reach you. But if you sound the alarm and say that the sword is coming, take precautions, and if they do not do that, the sword comes, then you are free of their blood. Therefore, for Christian leaders, a topic that is redundant or exaggerated, when Christian leaders come together and speak about a topic that is considered shameful, can speak about it. I commend those who listen to us and my people within the reach of my voice: the day has come! We can no longer postpone the eschatology. We are obligated to apply the healthy doctrine in our days, spread the faith and acquire the means to see what we can do….”

To show that the Patriarch’s alarming words about vaccination are not based on religion, all we have to do is refer to the statement issued by the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, about the vaccine.

According to a recent dispatch by Azatutyun.am, “The Armenian Apostolic Church dismissed religious reasons given by its believers refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.” The Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council stressed that “vaccination does not pose a spiritual danger.”

The Church also announced that Catholicos Karekin II and many other clergymen have been vaccinated.

I hope Armenians will listen to the advice of the Catholicos and not that of the Patriarch of Istanbul regarding the coronavirus vaccine to save their own lives as well as the lives of those around them.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of one’s nationality, ethnic origin or religion. However, when that pride becomes so fanatical, reaching the level of absurdity, then we are dealing with someone who has lost all sense of reality.

Turkish political analyst Burak Bekdil acknowledged in his article published by BESA Center Perspectives: “The Turkish-Islamist psyche is susceptible to…the pitfalls of honor, fatalism, conspiracism, bombast, publicity, and confusion.”

Over the years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made many bizarre statements that raise suspicions about his mental sanity.

Here are some examples of Erdogan’s nutty statements.

In 2014, Erdogan told a group of Latin American Muslims visiting Istanbul that Muslim Pilgrims discovered America several centuries before Christopher Columbus: “It is alleged that the American continent was discovered by Columbus in 1492. In fact, Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before Columbus in 1178. …In his memoirs, Christopher Columbus mentions the existence of a mosque atop a hill on the coast of Cuba. A mosque would look perfect on that hill today.” Of course, Columbus never said such a thing in his memoirs.

In another outlandish claim, Pres. Erdogan announced that Turkey will send a spaceship with a Turkish astronaut to the moon in 2023 on the centennial of the Republic of Turkey. He speculated that a female astronaut may be a part of the Turkish space team. It would be interesting to see how Turkey, a bankrupt country, could spend billions of dollars on such a far-fetched adventure, not to mention its lack of space technology. Maybe this whole topic is a hoax to divert the people’s attention from their woes and empty pockets to gazing at the moon and stars! A skeptical Turk sarcastically said: “We cannot go to the supermarket, so how will we go to space?” Another Turk remarked, “We were not able to distribute masks [for COVID] to citizens, so how do we go to space?”

Before Erdogan can fantasize about going to space, he should worry about the collapsing Lira, millions of unemployed Turks, and a huge percentage of his people suffering from abject poverty. According to Turkish sources, 34 million Turks are on the verge of starvation. In the first six months of this year, 1.6 million Turkish families had their electricity and gas cut off because they could not pay their bills.

Turkish analyst Burak Bekdil wrote that he “grew up in classrooms filled up with mottoes like ‘A Turk is worth the world,’ ‘Turks have had to fight the seven biggest world powers,’ and ‘A Turk’s only friend is another Turk.’ Our textbooks taught us that the supreme Turkish race dominated the entire world for centuries; that the Ottoman Empire collapsed only after a coalition of world powers attacked it; that we lost WWI because we had allied with the Germans, who were defeated (not us); and that one day, we will make the entire planet Turkish. We were taught that an Ottoman warrior could keep on fighting even after having been beheaded by the [Byzantine] enemy.”

As a result, Bekdil explained, “Turks are hungry for fairy tales about the good life they did not get to enjoy over the past century, but believe they deserve. Any feel-good news propaganda, even Erdogan’s famous ‘The West, including the Germans, are jealous of us!’ tirade, finds millions of receptive listeners in Turkey’s post-modern marketplace of absurdity.”

In an article titled, “‘Jesus Was Turkish’: the Bizarre Resurgence of Pseudo-Turkology,” Luka Ivan Jukic wrote in NEW/LINES Magazine: “You would be forgiven for not knowing that former U.S. President Barack Obama was a Turk. Or that Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad were, likewise, of Turkic origin. You would be forgiven for not knowing that Russia is really a great Turkic nation, that Kazakhs and the Japanese are genetically identical or that the legendary English King Arthur was, you guessed it, a Turk. You would be forgiven because none of this is true. Yet in countries from central Europe to Central Asia and everywhere in between, supposed historical facts like these and the theories they support have made their way from the minds of overzealous and pseudo-academics into national school textbooks, popular culture and, indeed, official government ideology.”

In 1932, the Turkish language Institute invented the fake “Sun Language Theory” which claimed that “the Turkish language was the source of all human language and therefore all human civilization,” Jukic wrote. “Linguists from the Institute claimed that language had been invented by sun-worshipping proto-Turks in Central Asia as they babbled at the sun.” Furthermore, the Turkish History Thesis claimed that “Turks had brought civilization to China, Europe, India and elsewhere when they migrated from the Eurasian Steppe.” These pseudo-theories found their way into Turkish textbooks and popular books, brainwashing several generations of Turks. Most adherents of these pseudo-scientific claims are the followers of Pres. Erdogan.

There is no super race. All people are equal. They are all God’s children. While claims of superiority may satisfy a vain human inclination, no one should treat other races as inferior.

A lot has been written about larger than life Sen. Bob Dole since his passing on December 5 at the ripe old age of 98. He was a soldier, Kansas State Representative for two years, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 8 years, U.S. Senator for 27 years, three-term Senate Majority Leader for 11 years, Republican vice presidential nominee in 1976, and presidential nominee in 1996. He was a decorated war hero and champion of the Armenian Cause.

His life took a tragic turn after he got critically wounded in Italy during World War II while serving in the U.S. Army, crippling his shoulder and right arm. Armenian orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Hampar Kelikian, was able to save Dole’s wounded arm, after seven surgeries which the miraculous doctor performed free of charge.

More importantly than treating him physically, Dr. Kelikian boosted the self-confidence of the future Senate leader to focus on what he was left with rather than complaining about what he had lost. This was an important lesson that Bob Dole kept in mind the rest of his life.

Dr. Kelikian was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. He shared with his patient, Bob Dole, the hellish experience of the Armenian Genocide, during which he lost several members of his family and barely survived himself. Those horrible stories left their indelible mark on young Dole who never forgot the Armenian tragedy. When he rose to the highest ranks of power, he did his best to bring a degree of justice to the long-suffering Armenian nation by trying to get the United States acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

Dole’s valiant efforts in the Senate on behalf of the Armenian people were thwarted by the Clinton Administration and Sen. Robert Byrd (Democrat-West Virginia). However, 30 years later, the publicity generated by Sen. Dole’s persistent dedication to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide paid off. Fortunately, Bob Dole lived long enough to see the fruits of his untiring efforts, when Pres. Joe Biden, Bob Dole’s close friend and political rival, issued a Statement on April 24, 2021 recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Dole sent a personal note to Pres. Biden thanking him for his acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide.

I would like to share with readers my recollections of accompanying Sen. Dole on a fact-finding trip to Armenia, October 13-15, 1997, to assess Kirk Kerkorian’s planned multi-million dollar humanitarian projects through his Lincy Foundation. The delegation included Alice Kelikian, the daughter of Dr. Kelikian, Armenia’s Ambassador Rouben Shugarian, Chairman of Lincy Jim Aljian and his wife Marjorie, two of Senator’s aides, and Sue Temkin, a tax attorney from Dole’s Washington law firm. We travelled on board Kerkorian’s private jet. I travelled with the delegation in my capacity as the person in charge of the Lincy projects in Armenia.

In a gesture reserved to visiting heads of state, then Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan and several high-ranking officials came to the Yerevan airport to welcome Sen. Dole to Armenia. Also present at the airport was the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Peter Tomsen. Although Pres. Levon Ter-Petrossian was out of the country on a visit to France, he spoke with Sen. Dole by telephone.

Sen. Dole, as a hero to the Armenian nation, was received enthusiastically both by the public and officials. During the couple of days we were in Armenia, we met with the Prime Minister, Chairman of the Central Bank, Minister of Trade and Industry, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (their respective ministers were with the President in France), Chairman of Parliament and his two deputies, Chairmen of all parliamentary committees, local businessmen and bankers. Sen. Dole also met with leaders of three opposition parties and held a press conference.

We visited the U.S. Embassy, where we were briefed by the Ambassador, Commercial Attaché, and representative of USAID. We also met with Catholicos of All-Armenians Karekin I at the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. We toured a state-of-the-art clothing factory owned by a businesswoman who had 500 employees. Finally, we visited the Children’s Cardiac Center where Dr. Hrayr Hovaguimian, an Armenian-American, was the chief surgeon.

Sen. Dole was deeply touched during his visit to the 70 young children at the Nork Orphanage. When he learned that the staff of the orphanage had not received their salaries for several months, he graciously offered to provide their back pay.

Another moving experience was Sen. Dole’s visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument and Museum where he laid a wreath. He and Alice Kelikian planted a tree in memory of Dr. Hampar Kelikian.

This was Sen. Dole’s second trip to Armenia. He and his wife Elizabeth visited Armenia in 1989, following the December 1988 earthquake. In 2019, the Republic of Armenia bestowed the prestigious “Order of Honor” on Sen. Dole.

Sen. Dole was still active at the age of 97. On September 15, 2020, Sen. Dole and his lobbying firm, Alston & Bird, signed a contract with the Armenian government to “monitor current events relevant to US-Armenia relations and provide strategic counsel with respect to improvement of that relationship.” Sen. Dole wrote: “These services may include outreach to United States Government officials as well as Members of Congress and their staffs.” The contract was for one month at a cost of $10,000.

The Armenian nation will long remember this great man who never forgot the Armenian surgeon who restored his health and did his best to bring acknowledgment to the Armenian Genocide.