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Armenia’s Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced last week that his government is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey, however, without any preconditions.

This announcement came as a surprise to most Armenians who were hoping that Pashinyan will not repeat the mistake of former President Serzh Sargsyan who advocated for 10 years the ratification of the Armenia-Turkey Protocols which were intended to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries and open their mutual border. However, the Protocols included a number of unrelated issues such as the establishment of a historic commission to study the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government, under pressure from Azerbaijan, demanded that Armenia first make territorial concessions on the Artsakh conflict before ratifying the Protocols. Pres. Serzh Sargsyan was forced to reject this precondition and annulled the Protocols earlier this year.

The proposed Protocols had created a major dispute between the previous Armenian government and most Armenians worldwide. After coming to power in May of this year, Pashinyan repeatedly announced that he would focus on resolving Armenia’s internal problems such as bribery and corruption, and would not change the country’s foreign policy. Hence Pashinyan’s recent announcement that Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions is simply the continuation of the previous government’s position.

Back in September of 2018 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was visiting Baku, he repeated once again his preconditions for establishing relations with Armenia: “We want good relations with our neighbors but solving the Karabakh problem is the absolute precondition for Turkey to improve ties with Armenia.” Erdogan also mentioned his opposition to Armenia’s pursuit of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. On Dec. 11, 2018, an Erdogan spokesman repeated the Turkish preconditions once again in response to Pashinyan’s suggestion.

It is ironic that instead of Armenia putting preconditions on Turkey before agreeing to establish diplomatic relations, Turkey is the one demanding that Armenia comply with its preconditions. One would think that Armenians as victims of Turkish barbaric mass killings would be demanding that before establishing relations, Turkey acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and make adequate restitution for the enormous human and material losses! Such preconditions on Turkey are a trump card in the hands of Armenians which they should use as a bargaining chip.

In my opinion, Armenia’s repeated begging of Turkey to establish diplomatic relations and open its border is embarrassing and reveals the Armenian side’s weakness. Furthermore, Turkey would be the one benefitting from opening its border with Armenia, inundating the country with cheap Turkish products. As it is, Armenian markets are full of Turkish products imported via Georgia to the detriment of small scale Armenian manufacturers. The opening of the border with Turkey would be the death knell for many Armenian businesses.

One reason frequently mentioned by Armenia’s officials for offering to establish relations with Turkey and open the mutual border is the hope that such a gesture would make Armenia look good in the eyes of the world and make Turkey look unfriendly and hostile by rejecting the Armenian offer.

Turkish leaders, however, never care what the world thinks of them. They act in the best interests of their country regardless of the opinions or criticisms of others. Likewise, Armenia’s leaders should defend the interests of their country without trying to appease Russia, France, United States or anyone else!

Furthermore, on an issue so vital to all Armenians worldwide, no Armenian official should make a unilateral decision on matters that relate to Turkey. This is the major mistake that was committed by Pres. Serzh Sargsyan and it is hoped that the Pashinyan government will not repeat the same mistake, at a time when Armenia’s new leaders are encouraging the integration of Diaspora Armenians in homeland affairs.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continues to pressure Turkey not to open its border with Armenia until the Artsakh conflict is resolved in Baku’s favor. Consequently, Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Erdogan of Turkey, by their intransigence, ironically are the ones preventing Armenia from reaching an agreement detrimental to its own interests.

On a related matter, the Turkish Anadolu News Agency falsely reported that during a meeting with Turkish journalists, the Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had referred to the Armenian Genocide as “unpleasant events.”

Unfortunately, several Armenian media members reproduced the Turkish distortion of the Armenian Acting Foreign Minister’s words. Some even criticized him believing that he had in fact characterized the Armenian Genocide as “unpleasant events.”

The spokeswoman of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, Anna Naghdalyan, set the record straight by stating that the Acting Foreign Minister had not said such a thing and that the Anadolu News Agency had misrepresented Mnatsakanyan’s words. The spokeswoman told Hay Tsayn news that Anadolu had already apologized and corrected its error.

This is yet another lesson to Armenians who give interviews to the Turkish media, expecting their statements to be accurately reported. Having followed the Turkish media for decades, I can state that those who agree to be interviewed by a Turkish journalist should be warned that their words would be distorted. Once an altered interview is published, it is too late to complain by claiming that that’s not what they had said. The best way to ensure that an Armenian’s comments are not distorted is not to give an interview to the Turkish media!

Everyone knows that Ambassadors have to follow the foreign policy guidelines of their governments and cannot make their own decisions. Yet it is strange that successive U.S. Ambassadors are not allowed to call the Armenian Genocide, a genocide. Just imagine the uproar if a US Ambassador stationed in Israel would refuse to use the term Jewish Holocaust!

Contrary to public misconception even among Armenians, the United States has repeatedly recognized the Armenian Genocide at the highest levels of the government.

Any U.S. government official who refrains from using the term Armenian Genocide is distorting the long-standing record of the United States. As I have repeatedly written, the U.S. government first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 when it submitted an official report to the International Court of Justice, known as the World Court. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted two resolutions in 1975 and 1984 recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and Pres. Ronald Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation on April 22, 1981, making a reference to the Armenian Genocide.

Contrast the above U.S. historical record with the evasive statements made by recent U.S. Presidents and Ambassadors to Armenia, with the exception of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans who fearlessly spoke truth to power about the Armenian Genocide, risking his diplomatic career which was cut short in 2006 by the Administration of President George W. Bush.

On December 4, 2018, the proper acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide was discussed once again during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s confirmation hearing, on the nomination of Lynne Tracy as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.

In her opening statement at the hearing, Tracy avoided using the term Armenian Genocide: “Mr. Chairman, the horrific events of 1915, the Meds Yeghern or Great Calamity, when 1.5 million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, must never be forgotten. As President Trump stated on Armenian Remembrance Day this year: ‘As we honor the memory of those who suffered, we [must] ensure that such atrocities are not repeated.’ If confirmed, I pledge to do everything in my power to remember the Meds Yeghern victims and uphold that solemn commitment. We must also look to the future and the opportunities for Armenia’s next generation. Progress toward reconciliation with Turkey can help reduce Armenia’s isolation and bolster its economy. Towards that end, we encourage Turkey and Armenia to acknowledge and reckon with painful elements of the past. If confirmed, I will do my best to support Armenian and Turkish efforts to forge a more peaceful and productive relationship.”

Instead of upholding the U.S. historical record on the acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide, Tracy cleverly resorted to the old Armenian term “Meds Yeghern” to avoid using the correct term Armenian Genocide. She described “Meds Yeghern” inaccurately as “Great Calamity” which actually means ‘Great Crime.’

After Tracy’s opening statement, Sen. Ed Markey (Dem.-MA) asked her: “It seems unlikely that the Trump Administration will change its long-standing U.S. policy on how we refer to the Armenian Genocide. How do you address calls by the Armenian-American community to call what the 1915 slaughter was, a genocide?”

Tracy answered: “The Trump Administration and I personally acknowledge the historical facts of what took place at the end of the Ottoman Empire — of the mass killings, the forced deportations and marches that ended 1.5 million lives and a lot of suffering. And I will, if confirmed, do everything in my power to acknowledge and respect the losses and the suffering and commit myself to participating in any remembrance activities.”

Sen. Markey concluded: “It’s time for us just to stand up and call it what it was. It helps us in the future to have credibility.”

Sen. Bob Menendez (Dem.-NJ) then followed up with a series of questions to ambassadorial nominee Tracy on the Armenian Genocide: “Do you acknowledge that from 1915 to 1923, nearly 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children were killed by the Ottoman Empire?”

Tracy responded: “Yes, Senator. As I stated, the Administration and I acknowledge the historical facts that you have mentioned.”

Menendez: “Do you acknowledge that on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers — England, France, and Russia — jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first time ever another government of committing ‘Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization?’”

Tracy: “Senator, I am not aware of that particular event.”

Menendez: “I commanded it to your attention and you give me your written response after you read it. Do you acknowledge that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent Federal Agency, unanimously resolved on April 30th 1981, that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would document the Armenian Genocide in the Museum and has done through the examination of the public record?”

Tracy: “Senator, I will provide a written acknowledgment to you on that.”

Menendez: “Do you acknowledge that Henry Morgenthau, the United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time, said that the Turkish government’s deportation order for the Armenians was ‘a death warrant to a whole race,’ and ‘made no particular effort to conceal in their discussions with him.’”

Tracy: “Yes, Senator. I acknowledge the facts of that reporting of Ambassador Morgenthau.”

Menendez: “Would you discipline or otherwise punish an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia for an honest remembrance of the Armenian Genocide?”

Tracy: “Senator, I would expect that, as with myself, we follow the policy of the Administration. And, the policy is that we acknowledge the historical facts of the events of 1915 as a mass atrocity and that we participate in any remembrance activities. And, I’ll just say, as a senior leader in the Foreign Service, I am always open to debate on my team. I don’t punish people for expressing their viewpoints. But, as members of the Executive Branch, at the end of the day, we support the President’s policy.”

Menendez concluded: “This is the problem with nominees who come before us, and it’s not you particularly. In fact, we have a historical reality: 1.5 million people were massacred. That’s a genocide. And yet, we send an Ambassador to a country and have them go to a memorial of a holocaust of the Armenian people and yet they won’t be able to call it a genocide. It’s pretty ironic. If we are not able to acknowledge the past, we are destined to relive it. So I hope that the Department [of State], this is not unique to this Department. It’s been going on for a while. We need to change that reality. I gave you a series of questions because I try to give you all the other elements. But the reality is that it seems we cannot have the words come out of our lips — Armenian Genocide. That’s what took place. That’s what history shows. That’s what the world recognizes. That’s what our own Federal Agencies recognize like the Holocaust Museum. So I hope you can look at all the other questions and give me answers in order to get to a better place.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider Tracy’s nomination at a future hearing after she submits her promised written answers to the questions asked by Senator Menendez.

The Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has made attracting overseas investors the priority of his new government.

So far, it is too early to determine if foreign investors are interested in doing business in Armenia. The common explanation for the lack of new investors is that they are waiting for the results of Parliamentary elections scheduled for December 9, 2018. It is expected that the Acting Prime Minister’s political party will win the majority of the Parliamentary seats. Government officials believe that this will encourage foreigners to start investing in Armenia.

However, there is an additional way that Armenia can attract new foreign investors relatively quickly by offering them citizenship. Many countries around the world have offered such citizenship opportunities to foreigners, including the United States, Europe and third world countries.

Earlier this year, the hetq.am investigative website published an article on Arton Capital, a company that specializes in “citizenship by investment” programs around the world. A delegation from the company visited Armenia last year at the invitation of the International Center for Migration Policy Development. Anton Capital’s website stated after the visit: “the concept of citizenship by investment was embraced by [Armenia’s] high level officials at the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Administration, the Central Bank, the Police, the State Migration Service and the Center for Strategic Initiatives.”

Armand Arton, a Bulgarian-Armenian, is the President of Arton Capital, and Emil Shahmooradian is the company’s Vice President of Business Development. Arton Capital has offices in a dozen countries. On his company’s website, Armand Arton stated: “as a proud Armenian, I am honored to offer my years of professional experience and acute know-how to help the country meet its foreign direct investment goals. In support of its philanthropic commitment, Arton Capital has pledged to donate the consulting fees awarded by the contract to help refugees in Armenia. More than 20,000 Syrians, many of whom are ethnically Armenian, have found refuge in Armenia since the Syrian war began in 2011.”

Countries offering such a program require from foreigners different levels of investment to qualify for citizenship. Arton Capital recommends that Armenia require the small amount of $50,000 as a minimum investment for a foreigner to become a citizen. Other countries demand much more from foreign investors with the most attractive countries asking as much as $10 million of investment for citizenship. The Company estimates that Armenia would receive $138 million of additional revenue in the next six years, if it implements the suggested investment for the citizenship program.

According to hetq.am, Arton Capital recommended that “Armenia offer potential investors two options: a $50,000 direct contribution to a state-owned fund or a $100,000 investment in a fund run by an asset management company chosen by the government, which would offer the possibility of some return. It further suggests that Armenia sets two types of fees. The first would be a non-refundable processing fee of up to $10,000; the second fee, the amount of which is not specified, would cover background checks into applicants’ records and sources of income.”

Arton Capital’s trip report on Armenia “highlights the country’s positives, such as its strong ties to global economic hubs and its geographic and cultural proximity to strategic markets. Armenia offers investors access to Russia and almost all the post-Soviet states, which means around 250 million potential consumers, including in Central Asia – plus almost 82 million more in neighboring Iran, with which the country has friendly relations. And if the country achieves visa-free access to the Schengen zone, which it might in five to seven years, it could justly claim to have recreated its historic role as a stop on the Silk Road linking east and west. As a whole, investors looking for long-term value can be sold on the advantages of Armenia. With [visa-free access] to 60+ countries and its special relationship with Russia together with its geographical proximity with Iran, obtaining an Armenian citizenship will be seen not only as a means to secure one’s future and security, but also as a strategic move for one’s business development and positioning.”

Significantly, hetq.am cautioned in its article that some foreigners interested in investing in other countries for the sake of acquiring citizenship can bring with them all sorts of illegal activities, such as tax evasion, money laundering, corruption and organized crime.

Armenian government officials have to balance the benefits of the investment for citizenship program with its drawbacks. Foreign applicants have to be thoroughly vetted before being granted Armenian citizenship in return for their investments.

Update on Armenian-American Candidates in US Elections

In addition to the list of Armenian-American candidates in the U.S. midterm elections that I reported in an earlier article, we should add:

— Dick Harpootlian (Democrat) was elected to the South Carolina State Senate on November 6, 2018. He won 52.3% of the votes against his Republican rival Benjamin Dunn’s 47.6%.

— Anthony Brindisi (Democrat) was elected a Member of Congress from upstate New York on Nov. 6, 2018, according to the final count of the vote. Brindisi’s great grandparents were born in Mardin, southeastern Turkey and fled during the Armenian Genocide to Aleppo, Syria, where his grandfather was born. As of January 2019, there will be three Armenian-Americans in the U.S. House of Representatives: Brindisi, Eshoo, and Speier.

Ferhat Encu, a Kurdish member of the Turkish Parliament from the Sirnak province of Turkey, delivered a while back extremely critical remarks about Turks and Turkey on the floor of the Parliament in Ankara. I just discovered the video of his bold speech on YouTube.

Encu, a member of the Kurdish HDP Party, is well known for his steadfast opposition to the Turkish government for its perpetual violence against Kurds and violation of Kurdish human rights. In 2011, the Turkish Air Force bombed a group of Kurdish civilians killing 34 of them, including several members of Encu’s family!

During his speech, Encu, 33 years old, received many threats from Turkish parliament members. Subsequently, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and jailed. He remains in jail!

Here are Encu’s six-minute-long powerful remarks in the Turkish Parliament which was constantly interrupted by threats: “I will make my statement short and to the point. Some of you call us killers. But, who kills civilians and who is a killer? You are!”

Threats shouted at Encu from the Parliament floor: “Shut him up! Take that terrorist and shoot him!”

Parliament Speaker: “Let him speak. Say what you have to say and finish it.”

Encu continued his remarks: “Together here, you are tough! But, the truth is you are just a mouth and nothing more. I, as a Kurd – history is my witness – that I, as a Kurd, live in my land, Kurdistan, at a time when you were gathering grassroots and feeding, playing around with your horses in Mongolia…”

Shouts from the floor: “Shoot him!”

Encu: “This so called your land is not your land, nor that of the AKP [Pres. Erdogan’s ruling party]. This land is older than all of you. It belongs to the real people…”

Parliament Speaker: “You will be punished for this. You can talk this over Kebab during lunch time. You support terrorists in front of us.”

Encu: “The honorable Greeks and Armenians were here…”

Shouts from the floor: “Shoot that terrorist.”

Encu: “We Kurds are still here. No tanks and none of your military can remove us…”

Shouts from the floor: “We destroyed your city.”

Encu: “You can destroy it, but we will build a dozen more. You Turks are nothing. We have defeated worse monsters than you in Silopi. Drop your bombs. Kill our children. Kill civilians, but you cannot kill us being a Kurd in Roboski, all over Kurdistan or what you call ‘Turkey.’ Humanity has seen worse than you. We defeated them…”

Parliament Speaker: “You will go to jail for this. Five years will be your minimum sentence.”

Encu: “I don’t give a damn. Truth is more important than life…”

Shouts from the floor: “He needs a bullet. Arrest him!”

Parliament Speaker: “We have sent for security. He will be arrested.”

Encu: “We Kurds will always be Kurds, before you Turks came here and after you Turks leave here. Your ‘Turkey’ is the stolen land of Greeks, Armenians and us Kurds. History is my witness.”

Shouts from the floor: “Your head will roll.”

Encu: “What can you do? Here I am against hundreds of you. What you got in you?

Parliament Speaker: “You will be punished for this.”

Encu: “Kill me. I will still tell the truth.”

Parliament Speaker: “Say that when the security gets here. By this law book, I will send you to 10 years in prison. Ten years is the minimum.”

Shouts from the floor: “He needs to be shot right here.”

Encu: “I will finish.”

Shouts from the floor: “You will pay with your life for this; you scum Kurd!”

Encu: “Bark all of you as you wish. I stand strong here, come and face…”

Shouts from the floor: “That is enough. Where is the security?”

Encu: “You all act tough in a group, but alone, you are cowards. Our Kurdish youth showed that to your military. No Turkish soldier or police can patrol a Kurdish street. Your soldiers ran from our youth. Like now, you just have mouths and act tough together. But, face to face you are nothing…”

Shouts from the floor: “Shut that Kurd up!”

Encu: “Alone, I, as a Kurd, can take on all of you…”

Shouts from the floor: “Firing squad!”

Encu: “You think by killing us you can defeat us; it only makes us stronger. You call me a ‘terrorist,’ I, who fight for my freedom from your occupation. I, who lived in this land for thousands of years, you come and occupy it. I fight for the freedom of my people, for freedom like all other nations…”

Shouts from the floor: “You will be shot!”

Encu: “I face death and bullets bravely for my freedom like millions of other Kurds. No occupation lasts forever. Freedom always triumphs at the end…”

Shouts from the floor: “You signed your own death warrant by a Turkish bullet. You are a dead man walking. Don’t let him leave alive from here.”

Parliament Speaker: “Go back to your seats. He is alone. There is nothing to worry about. He is alone. We are many. We will get him. Take your seats.”

The fearless and self-sacrificing Ferhat Encu has joined thousands of other innocent Kurds and Turks who have been arrested by the Turkish government in recent years for expressing their opinions and some for no reason at all! It is shameful that world leaders have remained silent in the face of such massive and persistent Turkish violations of human rights!