The midterm elections held on November 6, 2018, will significantly restrain Pres. Trump’s rule of the United States as a dictatorship.
In the first two years of his presidency, Trump often abused his powers by signing Executive Orders and by controlling both the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government through the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. During this period, Pres. Trump made many outrageous statements and acted as he pleased disregarding any politically, legally and morally correct behavior.
However, the President’s free ride has come to an end! With the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Pres. Trump will no longer be able to do as he pleases. He will be unable to propose any bills without the consent of the House Democrats who will investigate the illegal actions of the President and his cabinet members, as well as protecting the Special Prosecutor’s Russia collusion probe in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The new Democratic majority in the House will be able to subpoena Pres. Trump’s campaign associates which the previous Republican majority had blocked, and will also demand the release of the President’s tax returns which he has adamantly refused to disclose, hiding his business dealings in foreign countries.
This new state of affairs will have two concrete consequences. The U.S. government will be in gridlock for the next two years. Hardly any new bills initiated by Pres. Trump will be approved by the House. Secondly, frustrated by the House blocking his actions, Pres. Trump will lash out at the Democrats even more harshly than before. The President has already declared that if the Democrats investigate him, he will investigate them in return! This means that Pres. Trump’s anger and hostility will rise to new heights, leading him to send more insulting tweets and deliver more outrageous speeches at his political rallies.
During the next two years, Pres. Trump will be so busy attacking his political rivals that he will be unable to pay full attention to domestic and foreign policies which will hopefully limit his mischief in the United States and around the world!
Armenian-American Candidates in the Midterm Elections
On the positive side, at least eight Armenian-Americans won local, state and federal political seats during the Nov. 6, 2018 midterm elections.
Armenian-American Anna Eshoo (Dem.-CA) won reelection to the House along with Jackie Kanchelian Speier, another Democrat from California. Armenian-American Anthony Brindisi (Dem.-N.Y.) is 1,293 votes ahead of the incumbent Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney as of election night, pending thousands of votes yet to be counted. If Brindisi wins, he will be the third Armenian-American serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the history of the United States, there have been only seven Armenian-Americans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. They are:
— Thomas Corwin (1831-1840; 1859-1861), Republican from Ohio.
— Steven Derounian (1953-1965), Republican from New York.
— Adam Benjamin (1977-1982), Democrat from Indiana.
— Charles Pashayan (1979-1991), Republican from California.
— Anna Eshoo (1993-now), Democrat from California.
— John Sweeney (1999-2007), Republican from New York.
— Jackie Speier (2008-now), Democrat from California.
Incredibly, Thomas Corwin, of Armenian and Hungarian descent, was a highly-accomplished politician and diplomat. He is the only Armenian-American who became a U.S. Senator (1845-1850), a Republican from Ohio. Besides his service in the House and the Senate, Corwin was the Governor of Ohio (1840-1842), and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1850-1853). In addition, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (1861-1864).
Danny Tarkanian, Republican congressional candidate from Nevada, lost his election bid on Nov. 6, running against Democrat Susie Lee. Tarkanian trailed with 43.4% of the vote to Lee’s 51.4%.
Johnny Nalbandian, Republican congressional candidate from the Glendale, CA area, lost his election bid to incumbent Democrat Cong. Adam Schiff. Nalbandian had 23.5% of the vote to Schiff’s 76%.
Democrat Adrin Nazarian from the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles won reelection against Republican challenger Roxanne Hoge for the California State Assembly. Nazarian won 77.9% of the vote to Hoge’s 22.1%.
Elizabeth Warren (not to be confused with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren), granddaughter of Armenian Genocide survivors, lost her election for the California State Assembly to fellow Democrat Tasha Boerner Horvath.
Republican Rita Topalian lost her race for the State Senate against Democrat Bob Archeleta, who won by 65% of the vote.
Outside of California, Mari Manoogian, 26, Democratic candidate for Michigan State House, defeated her opponent former Michigan GOP chair David Wolkinson, with 57% of the vote vs. Wolkinson’s 43%. Manoogian was endorsed by Pres. Barack Obama, Sen. Gary Peters, and Governor-Elect Gretchen Whitmer.
Another Armenian-American candidate, Sara Gideon, a Democratic member of the Maine House of Representatives, was reelected.
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte was re-elected to Ward Three on Westbrook, Maine’s City Council. Turcotte, a refugee from Baku, Azerbaijan, is a strong advocate for Artsakh’s independence.
Finally, Lorig Charkhoudian, a Democratic candidate for Maryland’s House of Delegates, was elected to become the first Armenian-American to serve in the Maryland State legislature.
Most Armenian-Americans, who ran for political office on Nov. 6, won. The same is true for many non-Armenian supporters of the Armenian-American community. The Armenian National Committee of America reported that 92% of the congressional candidates it endorsed won their seats. This is great news!
On the other hand, Armenian-Americans are pleased that Cong. Pete Sessions (Rep.-Texas), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey, lost his reelection bid, despite contributions to him by pro-Turkey donors!
John Bolton, the National Security Adviser of Pres. Trump, visited Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia in October, conveying the White House position on regional and international issues. Bolton is known as a hawk on foreign policy and is often described as a warmonger for his extremist positions!
In his meetings with Armenian officials, Bolton spoke about U.S. sanctions on Iran which may affect third countries, including Armenia. He also made a surprise offer to sell American weapons to Armenia and discussed Armenian-Turkish relations, and the resolution of the Artsakh conflict.
It became clear that Bolton tried to distance Armenia from its strategic ally Russia and key trading partner Iran, since the border with Armenia is blockaded by neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Even though serious concerns were expressed by many Armenian commentators and particularly Russian officials regarding the policies advanced by Bolton, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, was surprisingly upbeat and told the Armenian Parliament: “I’ve met with Bolton. There wasn’t even the slightest nuance during this meeting which can cause disturbance in Armenia and among the Armenian people. I consider this meeting to be a major diplomatic achievement for us, I will say in the future as to what is the reason that I am saying so.”
The Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan added: “The dialogue [with Bolton] was very successful, and the US understood the logic of our relations with the Russian Federation, Iran, our position on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, relations with Turkey, etc.”
Putting a positive spin on his meetings in Armenia, Bolton tweeted: “Yesterday I had a nice visit to Armenia, an important friend in the region. I enjoyed productive conversations with the [Acting] Prime Minister and his national security team.”
Despite the heated relations between the United States and Russia, Armenia has to maintain a delicate balance between the two superpowers. On the one hand, Armenia relies on Russia for its critical needs: weapons, energy, and trade, and therefore, cannot afford to antagonize its strategic ally. On the other hand, Armenia has maintained friendly relations with many other countries, particularly Western Europe and the United States.
Proposed Sale of Weapons to Armenia
Bolton surprised his Armenian hosts by offering them to purchase American weapons by stating that they are superior to those of Russia. However, he did not mention how impoverished Armenia would be able to pay for these weapons. As we know, Russia supplies the bulk of Armenia’s weapons either by providing loans or at discount prices. Pashinyan responded by stating that Armenia will consider the American offer, while Acting Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan told NEWS.am that there was no need to purchase U.S. weapons at this time.
By acquiring American weapons, Armenia would risk antagonizing Russia, its main source of arms. Secondly, the United States may be using its offer to Armenia as a cover to sell multi-billion dollars of advanced weapons to Azerbaijan, something it can afford to purchase, while Armenia cannot.
Bolton’s other illogical statement was that the Russian sale of weapons to Armenia and Azerbaijan has hampered the settlement of the Artsakh conflict. Ironically, this is exactly what Bolton is proposing by offering to sell U.S. weapons to both countries. In my opinion, the United States and all other countries should refrain from selling weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan! Pouring more weapons into a conflict zone can only to lead to increased violence and deaths on both sides.
Armenian-Iranian Relations
In response to Bolton’s statement that the United States will enforce sanctions against Iran “very vigorously” and for that reason the Armenian-Iranian border is “going to be a significant issue,” Pashinyan stated that Armenia as a landlocked nation does not have diplomatic relations with either neighboring Turkey or Azerbaijan, so it must retain “special relations” with its other two neighbors — Iran and Georgia — which are Armenia’s only “gateways” to the outside world. Pashinyan optimistically told the Armenian Parliament: “I think that the position of Armenia was clear, comprehensible and even acceptable to representatives of the U.S. delegation.”
Rather than pressuring Armenia to disrupt its critical trade relations with Iran, the United States should be urged to pressure Turkey and Azerbaijan to open their borders so Armenia can trade more easily with and through all four of its neighbors. Pashinyan correctly pointed out that the Republic of Armenia has its own national interests which do not always coincide with the interests of other countries. In my view, the United States has no right to demand that third countries comply with its misguided sanctions on Iran. Furthermore, since the United States is exempting Turkey from implementing U.S. sanctions on Iran, why shouldn’t Armenia be also exempt from these sanctions? Besides, Bolton acknowledged that the United States does not “want to cause damage to our friends in the process.”
Relations with Turkey
Bolton declared that the resolution of the Artsakh conflict would help open Turkey’s border with Armenia. Pashinyan responded by stating that Armenia is ready to establish relations and have open borders with Turkey, however, without any preconditions which Turkey tried to impose by linking the opening of the border with the Artsakh conflict. To counter Turkey’s precondition, I suggest that Armenia impose its own precondition by linking the opening of the border with Turkish recognition of the Armenian Genocide!
Resolution of Artsakh Conflict
Bolton suggested that the December 9 Parliamentary elections, during which Pashinyan’s political party is expected to win the majority of seats, will give him a strong mandate to take decisive steps in the resolution of the Artsakh conflict. Bolton did not seem to be aware of Pashinyan’s repeated statements that “the ones who determine whether to resolve or not resolve the Karabakh conflict are the Armenian people, and specifically the people of Armenia, the people of Artsakh and in this case also the Diaspora, because this is a Pan-Armenian issue.”
As Armenia is facing both internal and external uncertainties, it is mandatory that Armenians worldwide support their homeland and join forces against their common adversaries!
The heinous murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been exploited by leaders of several countries for their selfish political and economic gains, ignoring the vile nature of the crime. The main participants in this ugly game are Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.
On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen, visited Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to finalize his divorce documents so he could marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. Khashoggi never left the Consulate. He was murdered and reportedly dismembered by a special team of Saudi investigators who were sent to Istanbul the day before, and after the killing immediately returned to Saudi Arabia on two separate private jets.
Khashoggi, who had worked for years for the Saudi government in important positions, left Saudi Arabia and settled in the United States in 2017 after becoming disillusioned with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s limitless powers. Khashoggi began writing critical opinion columns in the Washington Post, while Saudi leaders made several unsuccessful attempts to lure him back to his native land.
Initially, Saudi Arabia announced that Khashoggi had left its Consulate in Istanbul within an hour or so of his arrival. However, after leaks from the Turkish government that there was no video of Khashoggi exiting the Consulate, the Saudi authorities changed their story, claiming that the dissident journalist was killed during a fistfight at the Consulate. A week later, the Saudi leaders changed their story once again, stating that Khashoggi’s murder was premeditated and not accidental. Saudi Arabia proceeded to fire five security officials and arrested a dozen others, claiming that neither King Salman nor the Crown Prince had any advance knowledge of the murder plan. Given the fact that the Crown Prince is in total control of the country, no one believes that he was unaware of Khashoggi’s killing by the Kingdom’s top security and intelligence officials.
In the meantime, the Turkish government, which has been in constant rivalry with Saudi Arabia for the dominance of the Sunni Islamic world, has been leaking to the Turkish media drip by drip the evidence of Khashoggi’s murder. Initially, the Turks claimed that the information came from Khashoggi’s apple watch which had recorded his torture and murder. When experts advised that the apple watch did not have such a capacity, it became clear that the Turkish government used the watch as a cover up for its secret recording devices installed inside the Saudi Consulate.
In my opinion, the Turkish government’s continuous leaks to the media were meant to send a message to Saudi authorities that it would make public potentially embarrassing evidence about Khashoggi’s killing, unless the Saudis would pay a large ransom for Pres. Erdogan’s silence. It is well-known that the Turkish economy is in shambles and desperately needs tens of billions of dollars to cover its foreign debts. Not hearing a positive response, Erdogan warned the Saudis that he would personally go on national TV and reveal the “naked truth,” unless the Saudis accommodated the Turkish demands. During his speech last week, for the first time, Erdogan made public the timeline of Khashoggi murder and raised serious doubts that it was accidental. However, the Turkish President seemed to keep the hope alive that the Saudis will eventually meet his shakedown demands by not making public all of his secretly collected evidence. In his speech, Erdogan neither mentioned the name of the Saudi Crown Prince nor the Turkish possession of audio/visual materials which had recorded Khashoggi’s painful death. Instead, Erdogan asked several questions that he probably knew the answers, such as: where is Khashoggi’s body and who is the Turkish collaborator who whisked it away at Saudis’ request? Meanwhile, to squeeze the Saudis further, the Turkish press published last week gruesome images of Khashoggi’s dismembered body!
The third culprit is the United States, more specifically, Pres. Trump. When he first got the news that Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Pres. Trump kept emphasizing his own “great achievement” of selling $110 billion of advanced U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia during his last year’s visit, ostensibly creating “450,000 jobs for American workers.” As usual, Pres. Trump exaggerated the financial benefits as he had not signed a contract for the sale of $110 billion of U.S. weapons. There was actually an agreement to sell only $10-$20 billion of weapons in the next five years. Furthermore, a year ago Pres. Trump had said that the same weapon sale would create 40,000 American jobs, not 450,000. However, a few days after Khashoggi’s murder, Pres. Trump exaggerated his numbers, this time to 500,000 jobs. A week later, he increased it again to “one million jobs,” and then to “over one million jobs.”
Regardless of how many jobs would be created and how many billions would the sale of the weapons bring, Pres. Trump never expressed his condolences to the Khashoggi family. Even though Pres. Trump kept warning Saudi Arabia of “severe consequences,” he valued the price of the weapons more than a human being’s life! The only American ‘punishment’ was the suspension of U.S. visas to the 18 Saudis who were sent to Istanbul to murder Khashoggi.
Regrettably, most heads of states do not care about human beings! What’s in it for me or my nation is the common practice. In the process, leaders are willing to lie, cheat, and even murder.
Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancée did the right thing by refusing Pres. Trump’s invitation to the White House. She did not want her grief to be exploited by a politician who only cares about his own selfish gains rather than the pain and suffering of the family members of a mutilated murder victim!
Unlocated mass graves of alleged Armenian Genocide
Yurdagül Atun , Ata Atun Cyprus Science University TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS yurdagulbeyoglu@hotmail.com, ata.atun@atun.com
Abstract According to some sources, The Armenian Genocide Appeals (the so-called Armenian Genocide or the Unfounded Armenian Claims) indicate that the Armenian deportation, which was carried out by the Ottoman State in Eastern Anatolia for internal security reasons from May to November 1915, was aimed at destroying the Armenian community in the region, Millions of Armenians are alleged to have been killed by this reason.
In the early years of the First World War, the Ottoman State while fighting in many fronts with Allied Powers, the Armenians attacked the Ottoman army jointly with the Russian army in the region up to Central Anatolia in the East, and rebelled in many cities. In order to overcome these rebellions, the Ottoman State held a joint meeting with the Armenian Patriarchs, especially the Armenian Members of the Tanzimat Parliament, and the leaders of the Armenian community, and informed them that the Ottoman State would take countermeasures if the Armenians continued to kill local Muslim people in Eastern Anatolia. On the basis of this notion, the Ottoman State in April 24, 1915 arrested 235 people who had organized the rebellions and closed down all the Armenian Committees and local organizations that supported and organized the rebellions. The Ottoman State promulgatiated the Temporary Law of Deportation, in 27 May 1915. Accordingly, it was decided some of the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia would be displaced to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. According to the Armenians’ claims, massacre and genocide were carried out under the deportation title and 1.5 million Armenians were killed. This article is about the mass graves of 1.5 million Armenians which would form the basis of the massacre allegations, the size, how and by whom they were dug, how the massacred Armenians buried and how the mass graves covered with soil. The paper is written to investigate whether there are mass graves or not.
Keywords: Ottoman, Armenian, Deportation, Mass grave, Genocide
Introduction
According to Halaçoğlu:
“The Ottoman archives carry instructions to the effect that Armenians and their properties are not to be subject to any harm and ill treatments during their journeys, and protection for them is also to be provided. The Ottoman Ministerial Council decided on 30 May, 1915 to provide all necessary means including housing, tools and funding from the immigration policy including medical check-ups. In addition, those who attacked Armenians during this transportation are to be arrested and punished under severe circumstances by the Court of Divan War.” (Halaçoğlu, 2013)
Therefore It is quite incompatible with the facts to claim that the Ottoman State, taking into account the lives, health and residence of the Armenians during their journey, committed a genocide under the referral of the Ottoman State, which issued a law ordering sick, elderly and children to be looked after. It is incompatible with logic as well as mathematical computation.
Mathematical Evaluation
According to the Armenians’ allegations, the so-called genocide was carried out within five and a half months from the end of May to the middle of November. It is not possible to actually claim that “Thousands of Armenians were forced to die freezing from the cold” as this can not be realized due to the climatic conditions within the period.
There is also a major calculation error in terms of the claims against the conduct of the Ottoman State that must be looked at more closely. Suffice to stay, if a total of one and a half million Armenians were killed during this so-called massacre or genocide, which began at the end of May and ended in the middle of November, the law enforcement officers, ordained by the Ottoman State on average, must systematically kill tens of thousands of people every day.
If one decides to approach these claims optimistically, assuming that every single Armenian murdered is killed by a single bullet, 10,000 bullets must be spent each day and 1.5 million bullets in total. According to the Ballistic Table, a bullet weight of 7.65 mm is 6.5 grams on average. . (Ballistic Table,
The total daily requirement of 10,000 bullets is 65 kg, together with casings 85 kg. Therefore a total of 12.75 tons of bullets are required. Since these bullets can only be carried on the backs of animals in the mountains, this would be only possible with 2 donkeys or 2 camels and 4 people doing at least 2 shifts in order to carry the necessary daily bullets to the slaughter area.
Also, in order to keep 10 thousand people under control and execute them, it is necessary to have a military unit or armed enforcement force available in the area.
We are talking about the past, and therefore must know that it is not possible that such deep pits cannot be dug without the aid of trucks, excavators and the technology of today. Since thousands of excavators and trucks cannot be used in the past, thousands of people are needed to dig the mass graves, and to throw the slaughtered into the pits, and to cover them again. A service team providing food, beverages, toilets, and bathing for these thousands of armed people who are supposed to have carried out the massacres or genocide must also be in the vicinity of the slaughter field to address the needs of the alleged murderers.
Massacres and Mass Graves Found in the World
In 2018, five new mass graves were uncovered in the Arakan province of Myanmar, revealing the severity of the massacre against the Muslim population. )
According to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, the discovery of at least 5 mass graves buried 400 unknowns in the Gu Da Pyin village of Buthidaung province, northern part of the province of Arakan province, has been confirmed. (Atwood, 2018)
According to Amor Mashovic, president of the DNA Center in Tuzla, “…When you include the year 2015, the number of public cemeteries in the country is 800. I cannot believe that the war in which 32 thousand 152 people were “lost” to records is still not officially considered “genocide”. In 1995, the mass graves of the corpses were buried with shovels and were seen by the American satellites. Some mass graves have 1200, some have 200 people…”
To sum up, Amor Mashovic declares that 32,152 people have been massacred and that these people have buried 800 mass graves that have been replaced three times. (Masovic, 2015)
According to the news of Yeni Safak Newspaper dated March 24, 2018; “110 ÖSO soldiers were killed by the PKK / PYD’deki in Syria in the empty square of the Hallubi village, mass graves were found near the dam.” (Yeni Şafak, 2018)
According to Türkiye Newspaper’s news on 24 April 2001; “Algeria (UAE) – The traces of the massacres carried out by the French during 1954-1962 in Algeria have still not disappeared. In the city of Tebessa, east of Algeria, there was a body of 300 Algerian fighters who were estimated to have been killed during the Algerian-French war between 1954 and 1962, the corpses were found during a water-pipe dig. The spokesman of the Ministry of War explained that the corpses belonged to the soldiers of the National Liberation Front and that there were traces of torture on their skeletons. It was stated that this mass grave was the largest mass grave in the last decade. ” (Türkiye, 2001)
The news about the three different regions of genocide and mass graves in the world reveals that the mass graves buried after the massacres are revealed that investigations prove that no mass grave can be hidden, despite the fact that the burial sits have been changed three time, as is the case in Bosnia.
Dimensions of the Human Body
In order to be able to generalize calculations, it is necessary to take the average of the dimensions of the human body.
The average size of people living in Eastern Anatolia region: Shoulder width: 0.50 m. Height: 1.68 m. Body thickness: 0.35 m. The body is covered horizontally Area: 0.84 m2 The volume produced horizontally by the body: 0.294 m3
According to unfounded Armenian allegations that 1,5 million Armenians were killed in five and a half months, the average number of people killed per day: 10,000 people.
Assuming that three people were placed on top of a mass grave: Man in each horizontal row: 3334 people The height of the volume created by three people on top of each other: 1.05 m. The minimum soil height that must be covered by 3 people: minimum 0.65 m. Total excavation depth: Minimum 1.05 + 0.65 = 1.70 m.
Total excavation area: 3334 (one horizontal row human figure) x 0.84 (horizontal area of the body) = 2800 m2 Volume to be excavated: 1.70 m. (Excavation depth) x 2,800 m2 (Total excavation area) = 4760 m3
Size of a football field Football field measurements are in the form of a rectangle. The width of the football field should be between 45 and 90 meters and the length between 90 and 120 meters. Regular football stadiums made in international standards are between 64 and 75 meters in size and between 105 and 120 meters in height.
The average width of a football field is 50 m and the length is 100 m. , the soccer field covers an area of about 5,000 m2.
Since the area of the mass grave to be excavated must be at least 2800 m2, in terms of making comparisons this field is about 1/2 football field or 50 m. in width and 56 m. It can be defined as a rectangle in its length.
Excavator excavation capacity Today, with an excavator capacity of 0.75 m3 bucket capacity and 90 percent bucket capacity, an excavator is able to excavate only 258 m3 in one hour with easy, medium and medium difficulty. Such a scoop can excavate a 4760 m3 cavern at 18.5 hours without stopping and 22.5 hours with food and catering. (Celal et al, )
Manual excavation capacity According to calculations of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, the excavation capacity of 3 workers and the top head is 40 m 2 per 16 hours or 2-4 m3/hour according to soil structure. According to this finding, the average excavation capacity of a worker for 1 hour is 0.5 m3. (King Fahd, 2017)
According to another source; the average amount of excavation that a person can do in a total of about 10 hours by working 2 hours per day for a 15 minute break and for a 45 minute break during lunch is about 4.0 m3. (Calin et al, 2003: p 201). According to this finding, the average excavation capacity of 1 hour is 0.4 m3.
According to the empirical findings of Goldenseal, 1 worker can excavate 1,308 m3 in 2.5 hours. (Goldenseal, 2017) According to this finding, the excavation capacity of one worker is 0.52 m3 per hour according to soil structure.
When the average of these 3 differences are taken, the excavation capacity of 1 worker can be taken as 0.48 m3 per hour according to soil structure.
According to the empirical findings of Goldenseal, a worker can emit 1,308 cubic meters of excavated soil in an excavation pit in 2.5 hours. According to this finding, the earth-throwing capacity of one worker is 0.52 m3 per hour according to the soil structure. (Goldenseal, 2017) Another worker puts this land in a hand-held car with an average capacity of 1,308 cubic meters in 2.6 hours and pours back 10 meters away. According to this finding, the carrying capacity of one worker is 0.50 m3 per hour according to soil structure. (Goldenseal, 2017) According to these findings, on average 3 workers are required to excavate 0.5 m3 of soil in 1 hour, to be thrown out of the shovel and to be taken out of the buried area.
Minimum mass grave area required to bury 10,000 people: 2800 m2 Minimum excavation depth: 1.70 m. Soil volume to be excavated: 2800 m2 x 1.70 m = 4760 m3
4760 m3 Number of persons required to be able to perform soil excavation in maximum 10 hours: 4760 m3 ÷ 10 hours ÷ 0.48 m3 / hour / worker = 992 workers. (Digging the pit)
Amount of soil excavated in 1 hour = 4760 m3 ÷ 10 hours = 476 m3 The number of workers required to discharge 476 m3 of land excavated in 1 hour; 476 m3 ÷ 0.52 = 916 workers (landing)
The number of workers required to move one third of the land (1.70 – 1.05 = 0.65 m) out of the excavation pit in one hour to outside the excavation area: One third of the soil mined in one hour = 476 m3 ÷ 3 = 159 m3 Number of workers required to remove 159 m3 of soil from the excavation area: 159 m3 ÷ 0.5 m3 = 318 workers (carrying the surplus of the disposable soil out of the field)
Movement of the bodies of the slaughtered people to the burial site to be thrown immediately to the pits without waiting for it to finish, 3 rows above and 65 cm above them. The number of additional people required for each 1 m2 excavation area to be covered with soil is 2.
Excavation area = 2800 m2 Area to be excavated per 1 hour over 10 hours = 2800 m2 ÷ 10 hours = 280 m2 280 m2 Number of additional people required for burial in the excavation area: 280 m2 x 2 people = 560 people (burial and covering)
The number of workers required for excavation (992 persons), landing out (916 persons), carrying out the land (318), burial and covering (560 persons) within 1 day with a working time of 10 hours: 992 + 916 + 318 + 560 = 2786 people. The minimum total number of workers required for 5 days shifts and 2 teams per day is estimated to be 2786 x 2 = 5572 workers, since it is not possible for the mentioned workers to work 10 hours each day without interruption for 150 days.
The number of people required to meet the food, drinking water, rest, sleep, cigarette, disease, treatment, first aid, wash water and toilet needs of 5,572 people working five hours a day, two shifts, this being the most optimistic and minimum estimate; Delivery of food: 25 people Travel kitchen and dishwashing: 50 people Drinking water and washing water supply: 45 people and 20 water transport vehicles, 40 cows and caring. Establishment and deterioration of the traveling dormitory: 50 people Expedition hospital and treatment hospital: 15 people Total service staff: 185 people
Even assuming that tens of thousands of captured prisoners are left hungry and thirsty, if there are no prisoners surrounded by barbed wire around the Nazis, and the prisoners are confiscated outdoors, the minimum number of soldiers required to prevent such prisoners from escaping and revolt is at least 2500.
Systematically slaughtering 10 thousand people a day, so that 1.5 million people can be slaughtered in the timeframe of five and a half months, the opening of the pits in the size 50 x 56 m., the burial of the slaughtered and the covering of them. A total of at least 8257 people are required to perform these operations. (5572 workers + 185 kitchens and supply + 2500 soldiers)
In addition to human power, there are approximately 1,000 digging tools (992 people for excavation), 1000 shovels (916 people for throwing out land), 200 shovels (318 people for carrying out land), and 600 shovels for burial and 560 people to cover it), in total: 1000 pieces of digging and 1800 shovels are required together with the backups.
Armenian population in Anatolia in 1915
The archives have censuses from 1882 to 1915. Instead of Ottoman documents, the population declarations given by the French, British, Germans, Americans and the missionaries there, and especially the Armenian Patriarch to the Ottoman Empire in relation to taxes, helped the determination of the Armenian population in Eastern Anatolia in 1915.
The Armenian population declared by the Armenian Patriarch N. Varjabedian in 1881:
According to the Armenian Patriarchate, the figures of Catholic and Protestant Armenians in six provinces are explained as follows. (Atun, 2013) State Year 1881 Erzurum 128,478 Van 133,859 Bitlis 130,460 Diyarbekir – Elaziz 107,059 Sivas 243,515 Total 743,371 According to the explanation made in 1882; (Atun, 2013) State Year 1882 Erzurum 280,000 Van 400,000 Bitlis 250,000 Diyarbekir – Elaziz 270,000 Sivas 280,000 Total 1,630,371
When the lists are placed side by side, it is seen that the population increase within a year is 887 thousand people, 120 percent, it appears that the increase is not normal and quite misleading.
Colonel Henry Trotter, the British Embassy specialist concerning population reports noticed inconsistent figures in the explanation of Patriarch and made a report. On February 15, 1882, the number of Armenians residing in the regions of Erzurum and Van was 372,500 and Nasuri was 85,000. (Atun, 2013)
Other official documents and explanations about the Armenian population in Anatolia:
The total number of the population living in Erzurum, Van, Bitlis, Harput, Diyarbakır and Sivas regions is 2,615,000 – 666,000 Muslims and 1,018,000 Armenian population in a 1912 study by Marcel Leart. (Atun, 2013)
In his book “Armenia On The Road To Independence”, Richard Hovannisian explains that the population of Armenians living in the borders of the Ottoman State in 1914 is between one and two million, including Istanbul.
In his book “Histoire de l’Armenie”, Hrant Pasdermadjian explains that 2,100,000 Armenians lived in 1914, including Istanbul, within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, while the world had an Armenian population of 4,100,000. The number of Armenians living in Anatolia as of that date is 1,400,000 according to the content of the memorandum signed by A. Aharonian and Boghos Nubar on February 12, 1919 and submitted to the Paris Peace Conference by the Armenian Delegation. (Atun, 2013)
The number of Armenians living in Anatolia is about 1,400,000, according to the content presented by the Greek Prime Minister Venizelos at the Paris Peace Conference on 12 February 1919. (Atun, 2013)
Near East Relief Report on Armenians living in Syria in 1921: (Near East Relief Report) According to the report, after the F. Boullion Agreement signed with the Government of Ankara, the British-French occupations subsequently returned to the 300,000 Armenian Cilicia region and emigrated from the region in 1921. The report clearly states that between 200,000 and 300,000 Armenians are alive in the Syrian territory and that they want humanitarian assistance. (Atun, 2013) Near East Relief Report on Armenians living in Armenia in 1921: (Near East Relief Report) The report says that the number of Armenians living in Armenia in the Caucasus in 1921 was one million and half of them (500,000) applied to the Aid Group for help. (Atun, 2013)
According to the US Senate’s Resolution 266 of 22 April 1922, the number of Armenians living in Anatolia, Syria and Russia as of December 31, 1921 was 1,414,000 and no mention of genocide by any word, meaning or implication. (Atun, 2013)
The total population of Armenians living in the world according to the contents of the Proof of Entitlement 1-8-58, a US government document signed by US Secretary of State W. R. Anderson in 1922, was 3,004,000. 817,873 of them have migrated from Anatolia and 281,000 of them still live in Anatolia. (Atun, 2013)
760,000 Armenians were living in the Ottoman territories according to the content of Andıç on 2 February 1923 presented to the Lausanne Peace Conference in 1923. (Atun, 2013)
According to the information given by Şükrü Server Aya in the conclusion of the US Senate’s review of the “Near East Assistance Report” dated December 31, 1929, the number of Armenians alive in history is 1,300,000 and the number of Armenians who died is incredibly low. The number of Armenians who die as a result of hunger, poverty, illness and regional conflicts is at most 300,000 if the official report of the US Senate is trusted. (Atun, 2013 & Aya, 2013)
Conclusion
According to the records in the Ottoman archives, the death was not found in the deportation records starting in May of 1915, to November. The Report of the Near East Assistance Group, created by the US Government, does not refer to the deportation as a massacre or genocide. (Atun, 2013 & Aya, 2013 &
If one and a half million (1,500,000) Armenians were killed within the five-month period of migration as the Armenians claimed, an average of ten thousand (10,000) people a day should be killed by a simple mathematical calculation. According to this average, at least 150, 2800 m2 in size, about 50 x 56 m. is necessary as a mass grave in its dimensions to be found.
According to the most basic principle of law, in order for a murder claim to be prosecuted in court, the body of the person killed must also be found and presented to the court as proof. (David, 2003, 817) Despite the fact that the mass graves of 8 thousand Bosnians, which were slaughtered by the Serbs mercilessly and the location changed 3 times, were found, some people doubt the alleged Armenian genocide allegations as they have not been revealed.
The fact that none of the 8,257 people involved in such a massacre or genocide have not opened their mouths or and that no one has even been able to show a mass grave involving people killed in the alleged genocide, casts a shadow over the claims of genocide and undermines its credibility .
When the reports on Armenians living in Anatolia, Syria, Iraq and Armenia in 1915 were examined, it is seen that the number of Armenians ranged from 600 hundred to 1 million 700 thousand. If one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered in 1915 as it was alleged, as in the reports published by the US Senate after the war, the number of Armenians living in Anatolia, Syria and Russia in 1923 could not be 1,414,000 and the number of Armenians migrating to USA and Europe could not be 817,873. These mathematical calculations and population censuses made in various years, given by the French, British, Germans, Americans and the missionaries there, especially the Armenian Patriarch, to the Ottoman Empire every year, and especially after the First World War reveal that the Armenian Genocide allegation is met with doubt, is groundless, and unfounded.
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Not a week passes without the disclosure of another major scandal in Azerbaijan or Turkey. The latest such scandal was exposed by the Stockholm Center for Freedom in an article written by exiled Turkish writer Abdullah Bozkurt, titled: “Utah case exposes more dirt on Turkey’s Erdogan.”
The article reveals that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s corrupt tentacles reach into the United States, which makes the subject of this scandal of particular interest to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in connection with his Russia probe and “international organized crime network,” according to Bozkurt.
“A federal grand jury in Utah returned a sealed indictment on Aug. 1, 2018, naming Erdogan as the leader of a foreign country who met with highly controversial businesspeople in California and Utah in what was claimed to be a major money laundering and tax fraud case,” Bozkurt reported.
The indictment, unsealed on Aug. 24, 2018, charged that “Jacob Ortell Kingston, the chief executive officer, and Isaiah Kingston, the chief financial officer of Washakie Renewable Energy (WRE), by filing false claims for tax credits, obtained over $511 million in renewable fuel tax credits that were designed to increase the amount of renewable fuel used and produced in the US. Lev Aslan Dermen (Levon Termendzhyan), owner of California-based fuel company NOIL Energy Group with links to a transnational criminal enterprise, is also identified as a partner in this grand scheme. From 2010 through 2016, they fabricated documents and rotated products within the US as well as overseas to make it appear that they were engaging in real trade to qualify for the tax credits,” Bozkurt wrote.
The indictment stated that Jacob Kingston was arrested on Aug. 23, 2018, while on his way to Salt Lake City international airport headed to Turkey after he was tipped off. Bozkurt reported: “The Kingstons had already bought a luxury mansion in a seaside town in Turkey according to a wire transfer from a WRE account to Termendzhyan’s account at Turkey’s Garanti Bank on March 5, 2014. More wire transfers to Turkey were listed in the indictment. Jacob Kingston, who frequently traveled to Turkey to meet with top Turkish officials including Erdoğan, was often greeted like a VIP at the Turkish airport, was provided a police escort and did not even use his passport to enter Turkey according to witness testimony in the US indictment.”
Jacob Kingston first met Erdogan in New York in September 2017 when the Turkish President came to the US to attend the UN General Assembly. This meeting took place “after FBI raided the Kingston group’s properties on Feb. 10, 2016, and the revelations of the fuel tax scam had already made the headlines in Utah,” according to Bozkurt.
“In early November 2017, Jacob flew to Turkey to hold a series of high-level meetings in both Ankara and Istanbul. He tapped Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, the chairman of SBK Holding LLC, as the main conduit in Turkey, while he kept a separate investment and asset management firm, Mega Varlık Yönetim A.Ş., which was set up with equity of $450 million in Turkey,” Bozkurt wrote.
“Termendzhyan also has a company named SBK Holdings USA, which is a sister company to Korkmaz’s SBK Holding LLC in Turkey. Korkmaz was quoted as telling the Turkish press that his partnership with WRE has resulted in an investment valued at $1 billion and thanked Erdoğan for personally facilitating the business deals. According to the press release issued on Sept. 9, 2016, by the Turkish government’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT), WRE, the Noil Energy Group and SBK Holding LLC have made significant investments in Turkey and planned to do more. The partnership with SBK Holding began in 2013 with Noil Energy making the first batch of investments in real estate. Construction and real estate businesses comprise the prime source for ill-gotten proceeds for Erdoğan’s massive multi-billion-dollar wealth. The total investment reached $500 million with another half million dollars assigned to a Mergers and Acquisitions fund for operations in Turkey. The trio has made investments in all types of sectors including pharmaceuticals, automotive, chemicals, technology, glass, and food,” according to Bozkurt.
“With Erdoğan’s political backing and cover, SBK Holding has expanded its operations into various areas including finance, energy, real estate, defense, mining, industry, tourism, technology, and logistics. The company is mainly active in the finance industry through investment banking, asset management, and raw materials financing. It also has substantial interests in the energy sector that span both the US and Russian markets. Erdoğan was not bothered at all by the fact that Termendzhyan was already implicated in a major probe that was being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security for money laundering, tax evasion, and stolen oil. Edgar Sargsyan, the ex-president and former legal counsel for SBK Holdings USA, stated in his declaration filed in court on July 14, 2017, that Termendzhyan, a Russian [Armenian], is the head of a criminal organization. It is worth remembering that he was arrested in 1993 for a gas tax scam in the US, where the Russian mafia was known to have been actively involved in similar scams in the ’80s and ’90s. He was also charged with tax fraud and armed assault in the past and was convicted of battery in 2013,” Bozkurt reported.
Interestingly, “Korkmaz appears to be the main conduit linking the Kingstons and Termendzhyan to pro-Erdoğan businessman Ekim Alptekin, whose Dutch shell company Inovo BV hired former national security advisor Mike Flynn’s Flynn Intel Group to run a smear campaign and defame Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen, a US-based cleric who emerged as the main critic of the Erdoğan regime. Flynn tapped former CIA director James Woolsey to do the work against Gülen in a meeting held with Korkmaz in California in August 2016. Woolsey and his wife had a meeting with both Korkmaz and Alptekin in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016, to discuss the proposal. On Sept. 19, 2016, Flynn met with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the foreign minister of Turkey, and Berat Albayrak, Erdoğan’s son-in-law who is also a minister in his cabinet, to discuss another proposal to kidnap Gülen and whisk him away from US soil to Turkey. Two months later, on Nov. 8, 2016, Flynn published a poorly written, derogatory op-ed on The Hill news website about Gülen, which many suspected was penned by Turkish operatives, not Flynn. Flynn later admitted to making false statements including lying about the fact that Turkish government officials were supervising and directing the work. He also misrepresented his lobbying on behalf of the Erdoğan government and lied about the op-ed he published on The Hill website,” Bozkurt wrote.
Alptekin fled to Turkey after he was interviewed by the Mueller team in May 2017 and dodged the subpoena that was subsequently issued after investigators concluded that he had lied to them. Korkmaz was also ordered to testify before a grand jury in Washington on Sept. 22, 2017, over possible violations of federal criminal laws including the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). He also did not comply with this subpoena. “It was believed that money in the amount of some $450,000 that Alptekin’s Dutch shell company paid to Flynn, in fact, came from Korkmaz. The Utah indictment reveals that Termendzhyan fled to Turkey in August 2017 on the day state search warrants were executed on his home and office,” Bozkurt revealed.
“If there was an independent judiciary in Turkey, this would have been addressed first and foremost by the Turkish criminal justice system, and Erdoğan would have been forced to leave office in disgrace, at the very least. Most likely he and his thugs would have been sentenced to prison for breaking about a dozen Turkish laws. That is no longer possible since the corrupt Turkish president has crippled the judiciary, destroyed the independent media and suspended the rule of law in the aftermath of a major graft investigation in December 2013 that uncovered his corrupt practices involving highly controversial Iranian and Saudi businesspeople. Now we see US judicial action on Erdoğan’s crimes that extended all the way to American soil. This time he won’t have the political clout to cash in to derail or hush up the legal cases that implicate him. He unsuccessfully tried before in the Hakan Atilla case in New York, and he will likely suffer the same fate in the Utah case as well,” Bozkurt concluded.
Another Azerbaijan-related major corruption scandal is brewing in Europe. The country’s crooked officials have swindled billions of petrodollars for their personal benefit while the majority of the Azeri people live in abject poverty.
The latest example is on the front pages of most British newspapers. Mrs. Zamira Hajiyeva, 55, the wife of an Azerbaijani banker, has spent over $21 million by shopping at the Harrods luxury department store in London between 2006 and 2016.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency alleged that stolen funds were used to buy a $15 million, five-bedroom house in the exclusive London neighborhood of Knightsbridge, 100 yards from the doors of Harrods. The house is now worth $20 million. She is also accused of spending almost $14 million to purchase a golf and country club in Ascot, The Guardian newspaper reported. Incredibly, Mrs. Hajiyeva owns two reserved parking spaces in Harrods at a cost of $500,000 a year. She was given permission to live in the UK eight years ago under a visa scheme for wealthy investors, without checking her source of funds.
“Mrs. Hajiyeva is the wife of Jahangir Hajiyev, 57, the former chairman of the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan. In 2016 he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for defrauding the bank out of $3 billion,” according to Rupert Neate of The Guardian.
Mrs. Hajiyeva’s lawyers in London had petitioned to keep her name, the husband’s name, their nationality and his bank a secret. However, the British court of appeal lifted the veil of secrecy at the request of the media.
The National Crime Agency stated that Mrs. Hajiyeva used 35 American Express, Mastercard, and Visa credit cards issued by her husband’s bank to fund her spending spree. On one trip to Harrods she spent $200,000 on Boucheron, a luxury jewelry, perfume and watches brand. On another trip she bought $132,000 of Cartier jewelry. She also purchased a $42 million Gulfstream G550 jet. Her wine cellar is stocked with some of the world’s most expensive bottles, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hajiyeva’s daughter from a previous marriage, who was a student in London, had shares worth $20 million paying dividends of $1.3 million a year. Mrs. Hajiyeva also has two 17 and 20 year old sons from her current husband, who were also educated in private British schools.
Mrs. Hajiyeva’s husband gave her $1.3 million to invest in British government bonds, and received $26,000 monthly expense allowance. However, after her husband’s arrest, she fled Azerbaijan and began selling her family’s silver at Christie’s auction house.
The Azerbaijani authorities are interested in questioning Mrs. Hajiyeva in connection with her husband’s banking case, accusing her and other family members of serving as conduits for Mr. Hajiyev’s scheme to take money out of the country.
Mrs. Hajiyeva is the first person in the UK’s new anti-corruption law — “Unexplained Wealth Order” — designed to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money. Justice Supperstone demanded that she explain the source of the funds for her lavish purchases. If she is unable to do so, her properties could be seized. The Judge agreed that “this evidence is significant in the light of the reports of Mr. Hajiyev’s trial allegations made against him included abuse of his position at the Bank by issuing credit cards in the names of family members, through which large debts were run up against the Bank.”
Mr. Jahangir Hajiyev, as chairman of the IBA bank between 2001 and 2008, had an official salary of $71,000 a year. However, Werner Capital, which manages property investment for wealthy people, produced a report in 2011 disclosing that Mr. Hajiyev was worth $73 million, The Guardian reported. The prosecutor, Jonathan Hall, who represented the National Crime Agency, announced: “As a state employee between 1993 and 2015, it is very unlikely that such a position would have generated sufficient income to fund the acquisition of the property.”
In court, Mrs. Hajiyeva stated that she had no knowledge of the source of funds for her purchases, claiming that her husband was responsible for the payments. She described Mr. Hajiyev as “a man of substantial means.” She has hired a team of highly paid British lawyers to defend her in court.
For the time being Mrs. Hajiyeva’s expensive London mansion and the golf and country club remain frozen and cannot be sold.
It remains to be seen if the British government would seize Mrs. Hajiyeva’s properties in London. There are many more such cases which will come before the courts in the coming months, exposing the widespread corruption of Azeri officials who have stolen billions of dollars from their country’s oil wealth, investing them for their personal benefit in many countries around the world!
