Category: Authors

So-called Turkish-Armenian Scholarship Conference in Berlin Exposes Hypocrisy Galore

By Ferruh Demirmen, Ph.D.

The news made hardly a ripple in the Turkish media, but a so-called Turkish-Armenian scholarship conference held on September 15-18, 2017 in Berlin had all the markings of a scandal. The conference, having the theme, “Past in the Present: European Approaches to the Armenian Genocide,” was the 10th in the series of “Workshop on Armenian-Turkish Studies” (WATS) held at different locations since its inception in 2010.

Primarily organized by the U.S.-based Middle East Studies Association (MESA), this year’s conference (WATS 2017) was held at the European Academy Berlin under the auspices of Dr. Martina Münch, a Minister of the State of Brandenburg. The co-organizers were the University of Michigan, University of Southern California (USC), and Lepsiushaus Potsdam.

The Pretense

The WATS series is magnanimously advertised as forums “where Turkish, Armenian and other historians could conduct an informed debate relating to the controversy surrounding the relocation of Ottoman Armenians during World War One.”

All that sounds good. The key words here are “controversy” and “debate.” Controversy on a historical topic should normally lead to debate, and the two words complement each other. The outcome of a debate may result in a stand-off, a compromise, and possibly accord.

This is how things should work out, especially in the academic world.

The Reality

But it turns out that lofty description for the WATS series is merely a PR front. For one thing, the institutions or universities that have organized and promoted the WATS conferences are those that advocate “Armenian genocide.” This is certainly the case with the organizers of WATS 2017.

In fact, the co-organizer Lepsiushaus Potsdam, a historical house where German Protestant missionary Johannes Lepsius (also known as the “Guardian Angel of the Armenians”) once lived, is now a museum in Potsdam, Germany, serving as a “Research Center for Genocide Studies.”

Obviously a mission well-suited for advancing the “Armenian genocide” cause! (Question: Has Lepsiushaus organized a conference on the 1904-1907 Namibian atrocities committed by German settlers in Namibia? The racial extermination and collective punishment brought upon the native population are sometimes known as the “First Genocide in the 20th Century.”

As for the other co-organizers, they are U.S.-based, and the positions of these institution on the 1915 events in Ottoman Anatolia are beyond dispute. They are die-hard proponents of “genocide.” In the U.S. the Armenian foundations are known for their “generosity” in advancing the “genocide” thesis, and a number of academic institutions reap rewards from this bounty. At the University of Michigan, for example, the Manoogian Foundation funds genocide advocacy under the banner of “Armenian Studies Program.”

Another foundation has enabled Prof. Taner Akçam, the “Prince Charming” of the Armenian lobby, to be awarded the “Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies” at Clark University in Massachusetts – never mind Akçam’s unsavory past related to subversive activities and prison term in Turkey. Earlier, Prof. Akçam received financial support from the Zoryan Institute, and was the beneficiary of the “Cafesjian Family Foundation” when he was at the University of Minnesota.

The largess from Armenian foundations to fund genocide “studies” goes on.

Second, and not surprisingly, the attendees to the WATS conferences have been those researchers that support one way or another the “Armenian genocide” narrative. Academicians with Turkish names are particularly welcome in these conferences. In fact, they are the prized attendees. Researchers, Turkish or foreign, that do not subscribe to the Armenian narrative are treated as “persona non grata.” The net effect is that the conferences act like exclusive clubs.

Hypocrisy

Given these facts, it is sophistry or chicanery to talk of WATS conferences as forums to provide “an informed debate relating to the controversy” on the 1915 events in Ottoman Anatolia. Such language is pure deception. There is no substantive debate in these conferences, and given the prevailing mindset, it is naive to expect any. The “Armenian genocide” narrative is treated as a historical truth, not as a controversy, and the overarching debate is nonexistent.

In fact, the title of this year’s conference, bearing the phrase “Armenian genocide,” drops all the pretense of being anything other than a doctrinaire posture on the 1915 events in Ottoman Anatolia.

What all this amounts to is hypocrisy – in fact contemptible hypocrisy, given that it takes place in an academic environment and violates what true academic scholarship stands for. The august corridors of the academia can sometimes be deafeningly numbing if prejudice and cushy incentives take over and the mind is grievously frozen.

Inconvenient Truths

The no-debate, doctrinaire stance on the Armenian issue stands in direct contradiction with an inconvenient truth: the 2013 and 2015 positions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the 2016 position of France’s Constitutional Council. These high judicial authorities in Europe have underscored the fact that “Armenian genocide” is controversial among scholars.

The doctrinaire stance is also in conflict with the position of a large number of Turkish and foreign researchers that do not subscribe to the Armenian narrative.

Another “inconvenient truth” is that the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide explicitly requires that any determination as to the crime of genocide must be made by a competent tribunal – a requirement the proponents of “Armenian genocide” would rather – and in fact do not – talk about. The claim of “Armenian genocide” by parliaments, politicians, establishments such as MESA, etc., runs counter the edicts of this Convention. This is what the ECHR and France’s Constitutional Court have ruled.

But then, as far as the Armenian side, why bother with such “details” when a well-funded, well-organized propaganda does a wonderful job to peddle the Armenian version of history!

The Armenian propaganda in the West has been so effective that it has given rise to what this author has called the “Settled History Syndrome,” an affliction in the Western media that accepts Armenian allegations as a fact without questioning the veracity of these allegations – in utter contempt of anti-genocide scholars, and more recently, also the judicial positions of high courts in Europe.

An Audacious Complaint

All the above aside, what made this year’s WATS conference all the more egregious was a letter sent by MESA President Prof. Beth Baron and MESA Executive Director Dr. Amy W. Newhall to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım of Turkey. Dated September 15, 2017, and copied to few other high Turkish officials as well as a number of EU, Council of Europe and UN officials, the MESA directors had the audacity to complain and express “deep concern” about Turkey-based scholars being allegedly prevented from attending the Berlin conference – while also preaching the virtues of “academic freedom” and “freedom of expression.”

But on the other hand, the same MESA officers didn’t have any compunction about limiting the conference to their hand-picked scholars.

The MESA letter led to angry protests from some circles in Turkey, including Dr. Doğu Perinçek, given that the efforts of some Turkish researchers opposing the “genocide” thesis, and wanting to participate in the conference, were rebuffed by the conference administrators.

On display was hypocrisy galore.

As far as known, Turkish officials have not replied to the MESA letter. A reply given by this author on October 27, 2017 can be viewed at:
https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Demirmen-MESA.pdf

Note: This article was originally published in The Diplomatic Observer in English and Turkish in December 2017, Ankara, Turkey.

December 7, 2017
Turkish President Erdogan Embroiled In New $15 Million Financial Scandal

Publisher, The Calfornia Courier

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power 14 years ago as a devout Muslim, announcing that he intended to eliminate corruption from Turkish politics.

As he consolidated his authority and moved from Prime Minister to an autocratic President, he forgot his promises and engaged in the very corrupt policies which he had condemned. As British historian Lord Acton has said… “power tends to corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely!”

This week, I wish to cover Erdogan’s fourth corruption scandal, starting by summing up the first three involving him and his family.

The first case is regarding Erdogan receiving an oil tanker worth $25 million as a gift from Mubariz Mansimov, an Azeri billionaire, in 2008. At Erdogan’s request, Mansimov later became a Turkish citizen and changed his last name to Gurbanoglu.

The second case occurred in December 2013, when Erdogan and four of his Ministers were implicated in a multi-million dollar corruption probe. Faced with litigation, all four Ministers resigned. However, Erdogan interfered in the trial, dismissing the lawsuit and firing the prosecutors and policemen who had exposed his Ministers’ corrupt practices! The private phone conversations between Erdogan and his son Bilal had been recorded, revealing their discussions on how to hide the hundreds of millions of dollars in cash they had received mysteriously!

The third case of corruption is the ongoing trial in New York City regarding a billion-dollar scheme to smuggle gold for oil from Turkey to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold dealer pleaded guilty last week to all seven charges, exposing the participation of a Turkish banker, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, and seven other defendants, including Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, who was accused of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from Zarrab in exchange for arranging the illegal scheme. Zarrab also implicated Pres. Erdogan for having authorized the illegal gold for oil trade.

The fourth and latest corruption scheme involves members of Erdogan’s family who reportedly transferred $15 million to an off-shore company called Bellway Limited in the tax haven of Isle of Man, United Kingdom, in December 2011 and January 2012. This accusation was made by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland.

Party Chairman Kılıcdaroglu recently announced that a company was established on August 1, 2011 on the Isle of Man with a founding capital of 1 British pound. He revealed the bank statements and copies of the $15 million wire transfers to the Bellway Limited company:

— On December 15, 2011, Erdogan’s brother-in-law Ziya İlgen transferred $2.5 million, and on Dec. 26, 2011, $1.25 million.

— On December 15, 2011, Erdogan’s brother Mustafa transferred $2.5 million, and on Dec. 26, 2011, $1.25 million.

— On December 27, 2011, Erdogan’s father-in-law Osman Ketenci transferred $1.25 million, and on Dec. 28, 2011, $1 million.

— On December 27, 2011, Erdogan’s former executive assistant Mustafa Gündogan transferred $1.25 million, and on Dec. 28, 2011, $250,000.

— On December 29, 2011, Erdogan’s son Ahmet Burak Erdogan transferred $1.45 million, and on January 4, 2012, $2.3 million.

Kilicdaroglu filed a parliamentary motion requesting an investigation of the transfers. However, the majority dominated by Erdogan’s AK Party voted down the measure. When Kilicdaroglu was addressing the Parliament regarding the allegations against Erdogan, the State TV cut off the live transmission!

Turkish prosecutors announced last week that they are investigating the charges against Erdogan. However, as is widely known, no judge would dare to rule that Erdogan is guilty of any crimes, given the fact that many judges are dismissed or jailed for not complying with the Turkish President’s wishes.

As expected, Erdogan was furious at the allegations against his family. He declared that he would resign from his post if it is proven that he has a bank account in a foreign country. Ahmet Ozel, a lawyer for Pres. Erdogan stated that the bank documents publicized by Kilicdaroglu were “fake” and described the allegations as “lies.” Erdogan threatened that Kilicdaroglu “would pay a price,” and filed a lawsuit against him seeking $500,000 for defamation!

These scandals may have an adverse effect on Pres. Erdogan’s re-election in 2019, assuming that he would permit a fair election. We hope that Pres. Erdogan remains in office as he persists to undermine Turkey’s reputation worldwide!

December 5, 2017
Erdogan Keeps Alienating Everyone, Including Distinguished Foreign Scholars

Turkish President Erdogan is a ‘blessing’ to all those who are opposed to Turkish autocratic rule and massive violations of human rights. Not a day passes without the Turkish government behaving brutally against scholars, human rights activists, non-governmental organizations, journalists, and political opponents. Erdogan has done more harm to Turkey’s image around the world than anyone else since the Ottoman Turks’ implementation of the 1915Armenian Genocide.

The latest manifestation of Turkish intolerance of free speech and academic freedom was displayed when the University of Michigan’s Workshop for Armenian Turkish Scholarship decided to hold a conference at the European Academy in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 15-18, 2017. The conference was co-organized by the University of Michigan, USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, and Lepsiushaus Potsdam, under the auspices of Dr. Martina Münch, Minister for Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg in Germany.

Prominent multinational scholars, including Turkish academics, were invited to participate in this important conference. However, the Turkish Council of Higher Education prevented the travel of distinguished professors from Turkey to attend the conference on “Past in the Present: European Approaches to the Armenian Genocide.”

Prof. Beth Baron, President of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), sent a highly critical letter to Pres. Erdogan and Prime Minister Yildirim in September on behalf of its 3,000 members worldwide, describing Turkish efforts against the conference as “an assault on the academic freedom of scholars in Turkey and a disturbing new instance of a broader trend of stifling scholarship on topics deemed taboo by your government…. The events surrounding the WATS conference in Berlin represent another depressing instance of your government’s failure to respect basic human rights’ protections under Turkish law despite Turkey’s clear international obligations.”

Radical Turkish politician Dogu Perincek announced that the conference would “serve imperialism and the interests of Kurdistan” and called the Turkish participants ‘traitors.’ Other right wing nationalists and pro-government media in Turkey also denounced the conference.

MESA’s President sent copies of her critical letter to: President of the Turkish Parliament; Justice Minister of Turkey; President of the Turkish Higher Education Council; Chair and Vice Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights; High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations; Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Turkey’s Ambassador to the United States; and United States Ambassador to Turkey.

Not surprisingly, several weeks later, neither Pres. Erdogan nor the Prime Minister had responded to the MESA letter!

In addition, a statement was issued by the WATS Organizing Committee on Sept. 18, 2017, describing Ankara’s refusal to allow Turkish scholars to attend the Berlin conference “an attack on free speech and academic freedom, indeed, to extend such intellectual repression beyond the borders of Turkey. We share the concern of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) of North America that such actions seriously and scandalously damage scholarship and the free exchange of knowledge.”

WATS stated that the conference came “under sustained attack by Turkish ultra-nationalist political circles in Turkey and Germany. Long-time deniers of the Armenian Genocide in the international arena declared that the conference will ‘serve imperialism and the interests of Kurdistan’ and framed the Kurdish issue as forming ‘the second Israel,’ clearly an anti-Semitic slur.”

WATS also declared that “Turkey has been hurt by the current atmosphere of intimidation and threats as evidenced in the treatment of the scholars who wished to attend the WATS conference in Berlin…. We… call on the Turkish government to restore the academic freedoms that have been and are being violated in Turkey. We demand as well that the Turkish state desist from interfering in intellectual exchange and expression outside of Turkey…. Such interference infringes on the democratic order in Turkey and in hosting countries. The events surrounding the WATS conference in Berlin demonstrate one more instance of the Turkish state’s refusal to respect basic human rights’ protections both under Turkish law and Turkey’s clear international obligations.”

Finally, Dr. Fatma Muge Gocek, Professor at University of Michigan (originally from Turkey) and co-organizer of the Berlin conference, wrote a commentary in the Washington-based Ahvalnews.com Turkish website on Nov. 10, 2017, titled: “Harassment of Turkish academics in the West should be stopped.”

Prof. Gocek wrote: “I have been constantly harassed by the Turkish state because of my work. This harassment has taken the form of online slander campaigns, anonymous threats traced back to Turkey, and people at my talks planted by the Turkish state who try to challenge and demean me. I have encountered this harassment both in the United States and in Europe, despite the fact I have only given lectures at universities. Once, the FBI had to be called in to investigate a personal threat I received. This situation, which was already bad and completely antithetical to the freedom of expression and opinion, has become worse this year.”

Prof. Gocek further stated that the Turkish protesters who came to the Berlin conference “not only heckled and filmed participants, but also tried to break into our meeting. Finally, Turkish newspapers reported our activities as a bizarre conspiracy to attempt to control Turkey and create a second Israel there.”

Prof. Gocek concluded her critical commentary by calling on Western countries to take action against Turkey: “What is most disturbing for me is not only the persistence of Turkish state violence in Turkey, but its extension outside the country, as I have experienced in Europe and the United States. It is time for the West to take an effective stand against this escalating harassment on its own soil. I believe that such harassment differs from terrorist violence only by degree as both intend to challenge, undermine and destabilize Western norms and values. Only by taking an effective stand against foreign state harassment would the West be able to contain the lack of accountability for violence that exists within such authoritarian countries like Turkey.”

November 28, 2017
Turkish PR Agent Ronn Torossian’s Father and Grandparents are Armenians

Last week I wrote a column about Ronn Torossian, President of 5W Public Relations firm in New York City, who had signed a contract for $60,000 to do PR work for the Republic of Turkey in the United States.

I wrote that I did not know if Torossian was an ethnic Armenian or simply had an Armenian last name, since some Jews and Iranians also have Armenian last names. Before writing the previous column I had attempted to contact him and had left two voice mail messages at his office. But, he did not return my phone calls.

After writing that column, I received several emails and phone calls from Mr. Torossian. However, he requested that our phone conversations be off the record. I also received many emails and phone calls from Armenians around the world who knew the Torossian family.

I also noticed that several readers had posted comments under my column in various websites, insisting that Mr. Torossian was not an Armenian, but simply Jewish or Iranian who carried an Armenian last name. These commentators were basing their presumptions on the fact that all of the articles about Mr. Torossian on the internet referred to him as being Jewish and mentioned his extensive record of activism and involvement in Jewish causes and organizations.

However, I was informed by a Canadian Armenian, a former resident of Jerusalem, that he grew up in that city with Ronn’s father, Harout Torossian, who now lives in New York City. Ronn’s grandfather was Voskan Torossian and the grandmother was Mariam.

Voskan and his family lived in the Convent of Jerusalem’s Armenian Patriarchate. Voskan worked as a handyman at the Patriarchate. Ronn’s father attended Saints Tarkmanchats Armenian School in the Convent. Both Ronn’s father and grandfather were members of Homenetmen (Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts). Voskan was also a devoted member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Since Ronn’s father was married to a Jewish woman, Ronn is considered by the Jewish community to be Jewish. He was raised as a Jew and considers himself to be Jewish and not Armenian. From Ronn’s family friends and his father’s former classmates I have learned a lot more about his relatives and their personal lives, but to protect Ronn’s privacy I decided not to divulge any more details. I only mentioned his father and grandparents to prove that he is partly of Armenian heritage, and not Iranian or fully Jewish.

Interestingly, in one of the emails Ronn Torossian sent me after my first article, he stated: “I am Jewish. I am American born and raised in a Jewish home, and proudly educate my children in Jewish day schools. I do not and never have considered myself to be Armenian. You are conducting a comical, ridiculous and destructive ugly litmus test.” He asked that the rest of his email be considered off the record.

I answered Torossian in an email: “Thank you for finally contacting me. I wish you had responded to the two phone messages I left for you in the past month. I respect that you feel Jewish. That is your choice and decision. However, being Jewish does not exonerate you from the unacceptability of doing PR for a country that denies Genocide whether you are Jewish, Armenian or any other nationality. Being of both Jewish and Armenian ethnic ancestry makes you a descendant of survivors of both the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide which places the double burden on you to be especially sensitive to Genocide deniers. Just because you are making money spinning for Genocide deniers does not justify your professional activities. As I pointed out in my column, you yourself have criticized those who do PR for dictators. Yet you are paid to do PR for the dictator Erdogan. If you don’t consider Erdogan to be a dictator, then you are one of the few individuals in the world who thinks so!”

Ronn Torossian replied to my email: “Criticize me all you wish. Please don’t raise my family or your perceptions of my ethnicity. I have never considered myself Armenian all my life.”

I must inform Ronn Torossian that over the years I have written dozens of columns criticizing all those who have been hired by the Turkish government for the purposes of lobbying or public relations, regardless of their nationality. It is unacceptable to represent Turkey for money, a country that is run by a dictator, violates the human rights of its citizens, and denies the Armenian Genocide.

Ironically, back in June 2010, before Torossian signed a PR contract with Turkey, he had organized an anti-Turkish protest in Manhattan after the Israeli military attacked a Turkish humanitarian flotilla. Torossian was quoted as stating: “what these so called peace activists on the Turkish vessel pulled off was nothing short of a cleverly devised anti-Semitic lynching.”

November 21, 2017
Ronn Torossian Hired to do PR For Turkey; Is He Really an Armenian?

The website Medium.com posted two articles by Louise Neu revealing that Ronn Torossian had signed a contract to represent Turkey as its PR agent! Torossian is President of the 5W Public Relations firm based in New York City.

Justice Department records indicate that Torossian signed the agreement on May 25, 2017. His firm will get paid an additional $60,000 for the period of May 16-Nov. 16, 2017, which is automatically renewable for another six months. This payment is in addition to the amount specified in the contract signed on August 10, 2016.

It is noteworthy that Torossian signed the agreement with Turkey nine days after Pres. Erdogan watched his bodyguards beat up a group of demonstrators in front of Turkish Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC. Three days after the protesters were beaten and injured, Torossian published an article in The Algemeiner, titled: “Deport Radical Islamist Preacher [Gulen] and Maintain American Interests.”

Interestingly, Louise Neu revealed that Torossian had written another article in Newsmax on Feb. 17, 2017, criticizing the media coverage of Michael Flynn’s resignation. Ironically, Torossian had written an earlier article in Newsmax on May 20, 2015, critical of PR Firm Levick Communications’ work for the Embassy of Qatar, in which he stated: “There are those who feel it is OK to spin for dictators and terrorists. Yet, this writer [Torossian] agrees with the owner of the world’s largest PR firm, Richard Edelman, who said, ‘PR is not like the law — Not everyone deserves representation.” Contradicting himself, Torossian engaged in the hypocritical action of defending the interests of Erdogan, the dictator of Turkey!

In addition, Torossian wrote on January 27, 2017, in The Observer, published by Pres. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, criticizing PR firms that “whitewash repressive regimes….” He concluded: “dictators and terrorists don’t deserve any PR help.”

I called Torossian’s office twice. Each time a staff member assured me that he would return my call. I never heard from him. Louise Neu had a similar experience when she tried to reach Torossian. When she tweeted him about his connections to Turkey and Trump associates, Torossian tweeted back: “I shot JFK! My ex-wife is Russian!!!! I even ate caviar this week!” Torossian is not only impolite in not responding to phone messages, but he is reported to have a bad temper against his employees and others! The New York Times described him as “brash and aggressively outspoken.” He is also reported to have business dealings with shady Jewish and Russian oligarchs, according to Louise Neu. Even though Torossian has an Armenian last name, I was not able to confirm if one or both of his parents are Armenians, or neither one!

Ronn Torossian is also “a partner, Chief Marketing Officer and advisory Board member of JetSmarter,” according to his Linkedin profile. JetSmarter is a controversial company described as “uber for planes.” The CEO of JetSmarter is Sergey Petrossov, the son of Vatchagan Petrossov, who definitely has an Armenian name.

The main reason I was interested in Ronn Torossian’s employment as a PR agent for Turkey is that there was a similar situation with Barry Zorthian who worked from October 1980 to February 1984 for the lobbying firm of Gray and Co., hired by Turkey. Zorthian was a former executive for Voice of America and Time, Inc. In 1968-69 he was the chief U.S. spokesman in Saigon, Vietnam.

After I had become aware that Zorthian was simultaneously an executive at a lobbying firm for Turkey and Board Member of the Armenian Assembly of America, I called him to ask if his dual roles did not create a conflict personally or for his firm. As a sign of respect for a fellow Armenian, I cautioned him that if he answered my questions, it could lead to his dismissal from his job. Zorthian, 63, replied that he did not care if he lost his $65,000-a-year job as senior vice president of Gray and Co. He went ahead and honestly answered all my questions. Zorthian explained that he worked in the public relations office and not on the Turkey account which was handled by the firm’s lobbying department.

As soon as my article was published on the front page of the California Courier on January 19, 1984, the Turkish newspaper Tercuman reported my interview with Zorthian which caused a great embarrassment to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, finding out that an Armenian-American was a top executive for the lobbying firm that was getting paid $300,000-a-year by Turkey.

On Feb. 21, 1984, the lobbying firm’s vice chairman, Alejandro Orfila, told Zorthian that the Turkish Ambassador Sukru Elekdag was extremely irate reading the newspaper report. Orfila quoted Amb. Elekdag stating: “I hired you guys to help me with my political problems, and instead you’re creating problems for me… You must do something drastic that I can report back to my government or else I’ll be forced to cancel the contract.”

The PR firm’s chairman, Robert K. Gray, cut his vacation short in Acapulco, Mexico, and immediately returned to Washington. Zorthian was fired after rejecting Mr. Gray’s request to resign.

Even though I was not pleased to see Mr. Zorthian lose his job, but as a young reporter who had started working as a journalist six months earlier, it was very satisfying that my obscure article made the headlines in Turkey and came to the attention of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Amb. Elekdag. Furthermore, the Washington Post wrote a lengthy article on April 13, 1984, quoting from my article and mentioning my newspaper as the source of this international controversy.

I urged Zorthian to file a lawsuit accusing Gray and Co., of employment discrimination due to his national origin. Zorthian did file charges with the Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights, claiming he was illegally fired because of his Armenian background.

Unfortunately, I do not know the outcome of Zorthian’s lawsuit. Both he and his wife have passed away since then.

If Mr. Torossian is truly an Armenian, how could he do PR for Turkey? More importantly, how could Turkey hire him given Mr. Zorthian’s experience?

November 14, 2017
Delighted to Report That Azeri Officials Read My Columns and Follow My Advice

Back in August 2013 I wrote a column headlined: “Baku’s Blacklist of Artsakh Visitors Helps Armenia, Hurts Azerbaijan,” explaining the foolishness of Azeri officials blacklisting anyone who visits Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) without Azerbaijan’s permission. I stressed that blacklisting visitors to Artsakh from around the world was a disservice to the interests of Azerbaijan in the first place, because the blacklist isolated Azerbaijan from the rest of the world! In fact, the larger the number of blacklisted people — many of them prominent individuals and high-ranking officials — the more Azerbaijan deprives itself of such important visitors.

In my 2013 column, after quoting several famous individuals who ridiculed being blacklisted by Azerbaijan, I suggested that my name be also added to the blacklist since I had gone to Artsakh and written a column about my visit. Amazingly, shortly after my suggestion, the government of Azerbaijan added my name to the blacklist: “Harut Sassounian, Syrian-American journalist of Armenian descent.” Since then, I visited Artsakh again!

I must add that many years ago, while Papa Aliyev was the President of Azerbaijan, he invited me through intermediaries to Baku to meet with him and discuss the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. Of course, I declined the invitation. I even turned down Pres. Heydar Aliyev’s offer to meet with him in a third country, such as the UK, if I did not want to come to Azerbaijan. I turned down that suggestion too. So, now that I am on the black list, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry has deprived their President of the ability to invite me to Baku!

There are more than 700 names on the Azeri blacklist, including parliament members, businessmen, journalists, entertainers, elected officials and other celebrities. The latest visitor to Artsakh to be blacklisted is Anthony Bourdain, who is the host of a world famous CNN food show. Last week, he went to Armenia and Artsakh to do a TV program on the Armenian cuisine in both countries, and Azerbaijan immediately declared him persona non grata!

Bourdain’s name was added to the blacklist “for his disrespect of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Hikmet Hajiyev, Azeri Foreign Ministry spokesman, told Agence France-Presse. “Filming a food show on Azerbaijan’s occupied territory is an insult to one million Azerbaijani refugees who were forcefully expelled from their homes,” Hajiyev added. This makes no sense. The only thing Azeri officials were able to accomplish is prevent Bourdain from going to Azerbaijan and prepare a CNN show on the Azeri cuisine, which would have provided a lot of publicity for the country!

Azerbaijan’s black list has several major shortcomings:

1) So far, there are only 700 names on the black list, whereas, over the years, several hundred thousand tourists have visited Artsakh from around the world. While the names of all visitors to Artsakh are not publicly known, certainly much more than 700 visitors have gone to Artsakh! It appears that someone at Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry is sleeping on the job.

2) Why is it that of the 700 names on the black list, there is not a single citizen of Armenia? While the names of regular visitors from Armenia may not be known to Azeri officials, they surely know that the President, Prime Minister, and other high-ranking officials from the Republic of Armenia frequently visit Artsakh and their trips are well publicized. Could it be that Azerbaijan does not consider citizens of Armenia visiting Artsakh to be foreigners? Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry’s website acknowledges that “Nagorno-Karabagh” is “temporarily out of the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” Is it possible that Azerbaijan now considers Artsakh to be permanently “out of the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan?”

3) Very few of the blacklisted visitors have complained about not being able to visit Azerbaijan. On the contrary, many of them have expressed their pride that their names are on Azerbaijan’s black list. Even more shocking, several individuals, not seeing their names on the black list after visiting Artsakh, have asked that they be added to the black list because they consider being on that list a badge of honor!

To make matters worse, in recent months Azerbaijan has requested that other countries extradite their citizens to Baku for having visited Artsakh. In one case, a journalist from Belarus was shamefully arrested and sent to Azerbaijan where he was jailed for several months! He was finally released after international pressure on Azerbaijan and condemnation by the European Council.

This is an abuse of power and export of Azeri oppression and intimidation to third countries which must be ashamed for collaborating with a despotic Azeri regime!

November 1, 2017