Turkish Forum

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  • US new media campaign in Tajikistan poses risk for president Rahmon

    US new media campaign in Tajikistan poses risk for president Rahmon

    smartphone journalismThe United States are to start a new media campaign in Tajikistan that aims to prevent corruption and other violations by Tajik authorities.  Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the foundation «Eurasia of the Central Asia- Tajikistan» launched a series of training programs for local journalists earlier this years. The program allows professional journalists to learn about latest search engine technologies and media promotion tools to report leaked information about Tajik authorities as well as to learn about possible ways of legal protection against government sanctions and bans.

    While the Tajik State Committee for National Security tightens the grip over the national media, a large part of the US media programs is being provided abroad in neighbor countries. For instance, in February 2017 a number of local journalists in collaboration with non-profit organization «InterNews Network» were sent to Armenia to take an internship in the local news agency «Hetq.am». As the program suggests, once the interns return back, they are supposed to perform media investigations on corruption and other misdemeanors pursued by high authorities in Tajikistan. In addition to that, the 3 local shooting teams will be selected to take up the training in the United States where they would master their skills in making documentary movies on human rights protection, as a part of the American project «Media Co-Op».

    Meanwhile, among the project trainers are international experts who were involved in training of activists and protesters in color revolutions in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Given the fact that the project graduates are to be provided by financial and legal support from the United States they are likely to pursue investigations that would undermine credibility of the Tajik authorities and the President Emomali Rahmon. Which by no means rises a debate about future Tajik-US relations and real intentions of Washington policy in Tajikistan

    Media campaigns and journalist trainings funded by the US are common in Tajikistan and around the Central Asia. Earlier last year the radio station «Ozodi» located in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe signed a sponsorship agreement with a number of foundations and financial institutions funded by American philanthropist and investor George Soros. As a result, the station openly criticized Dushanbe’s support for Moscow-Beijing economic cooperation, discouraged rapprochement of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in terms of water consumption, economic and cross-border cooperation and tried to prevent anti-terrorist cooperation between Dushanbe, Moscow and Beijing.

  • ARMENIAN LOBBYIST SELECTIVELY USES “GENOCIDE” RECOGNITION ARTICLE TO SUIT OWN AGENDA

    ARMENIAN LOBBYIST SELECTIVELY USES “GENOCIDE” RECOGNITION ARTICLE TO SUIT OWN AGENDA

    In an opinion piece dated August 15, 2017, a leading Armenian Diaspora lobbyist Harut Sassounian, also the publisher of The California Courier, used selective parts of an article I had written on Armenian lobby’s successful efforts to have the US State Texas recognize Armenian “genocide.” Sassounian did so to suit his agenda, while disregarding some important points.[1]

    Sassounian’s op-ed was widely distributed in the Armenian news outlets and was translated into French and both Eastern and Western Armenian.

    In analyzing the recognition of Armenian “genocide” by the Texas of House of Representatives on May 19, 2017 (bill HR-191), the points I had made were:

    1. The recognition was a major victory for the Armenian lobby.

    2. The Armenian lobby had tirelessly campaigned for the passage of the resolution, in contrast to the Turkish efforts which, in comparison, were feeble.

    3. For introducing HR-191 to the Texas House, at a 2016 gala, Armenian activists had solicited and received the endorsement of a Texas State representative, Scott Sanford, who was the Executive Pastor of a Baptist church in Texas, thereby introducing the religion factor into consideration.

    4. It was a grotesque irony that at that gala, a number of Texas politicians heard the human rights pitch of Armenian National Committee of Armenia (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian, clearly unaware that Hamparian’s predecessor was an ex-convict who had served almost 3 years in federal prison for illegally storing explosives and owning machine guns – some of which may have been used in terror attacks on Turkish diplomatic missions.

    5. The Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (TIAC) that processed HR-191 was disgracefully partisan, in that:

    (a) Of all the dates available, it held a public hearing on April 24 in an effort to please the Armenian lobby.

    (b) It announced the public hearing with one week’s notice, giving the Turkish side only a few days to be prepared, while the Armenian side had been informed and had prepared well in advance.

    (c) It invited Rep. Sanford as an “observer” at the hearing, even though he was not a member of the Committee.

    (d) It allowed equal time for all the testimonials, which, considering that there were 21 testimonials from the Armenian side as opposed to only 4 from the Turkish side, gave the Armenian lobby a major advantage.

    (e) It cut short this author’s attempt during his testimony to display a panel of Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian terrorists.

    6. The vast majority (137) of the politicians that voted yes on HR-191 had inexcusably ignored not only the Turkish oral testimony given during the hearing, but also detailed written documentation submitted earlier by the Turkish side.

    Sassounian largely ignored the prejudicial stance of TIAC as outlined in item 5 above and dwelled on my observation that the passage of HR-191 was a major victory for the Armenian lobby. He seems comfortable with the fact that TIAC was in cohorts with the Armenian lobby in moving forward with HR-191.

    Sassounian further claimed the passage had a “devastating impact” on the Turkish community’s efforts in Texas – a conclusion that was patently unwarranted. Even though HR-191 was a disappointment for the Turkish community, it was in no way a sign of despair.

    On the contrary, HR-191 was a wake-up call for the Turkish community to shake off its apathy and passivity to combat the deep-pocketed Armenian lobby’s efforts to mislead the American public.

    Sassounian had nothing to stay on the injection of religion to induce the politicians to support HR-191, and the shameless disregard by 137 Texas politicians of the evidence introduced by the Turkish side. All indications were that the politicians had already made up their minds with or without taking into consideration the evidence presented by the Turkish side.

    Nor did Sassounian seek to opine how the Texas politicians present at the 2016 gala would have reacted had they known that the predecessor of the speaker at that gala, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, was a federal ex-convict.

    However, Sassounian should be given credit for correctly reporting the fact that the passage of HR-191 was a feat masterminded by ANCA, and that the Turkish response to the proposed resolution was weak, with the “happy-hour-conscious” Houston-ATA organization being a cogent example.

    Sassounian’s selective use of parts of my article while ignoring important points is not surprising. The Armenian Diaspora has a habit of “massaging” news and distorting facts to suit its agenda. A primary example came to light in the wake of European Court of Human Right’s (ECHR’s) October 15, 2015 decision on the Switzerland-Perinçek case. The legal disappointment for the Armenian side was peddled by the Diaspora as a “victory.”[2]

    A similar disinformation attempt became unfolded when the Danish Parliament adopted a resolution relating to the 1915 relocation in Ottoman Empire on January 26, 2017. Even though the resolution did not recognize the events as genocide, it was reported otherwise by the vast majority of Armenian media.[3]

    Sassounian concludes his op-ed by stating that HR-191 was adopted “because it tells the truth.” If it were so, Mr. Sassounian should explain why the ECHR and the French Constitutional Council say otherwise. If he chooses to delve into history, at the minimum he should read about the 1920-21 Malta Tribunal and the 1923 Bucharest Manifesto of his fellow party member Hovhannes Kachaznuni, a leading Dashnak who categorized the relocation of Armenians as a necessity for the Ottoman government.

    Or at the least, Sassounian should explain why the Armenian side keeps its archives closed and refuses to participate in a committee of historians and experts to debate its genocide allegations. Deriding your opponents as “denialists” while running away from such a debate is inexcusable.

    *Photo: Ferruh Demirmen (left), Harut Sassounian (right)

    [1] Harut Sassounian, “Turkish Activist Admits Major Blow When Texas Recognized Armenian Genocide,” The California Courier, August 15, 2017, accessed August 26, 2017,

    [2] Ferruh Demirmen, “Armenian Spin Machine: Peddling a Humiliating Defeat as Victory,” Turkish NY, November 21, 2015, accessed August 26, 2017,

    [3] Ferruh Demirmen, “’Genocide’ Recognition: Once Again, Armenian Spin Machine At Work,” Center for Eurasian Studies (AVİM), March 7, 2017, accessed August 26, 2017,

  • Azerbaijan Forces Bulgaria to Fire Reporter Who Exposed Arms Shipments to Terrorists

    Azerbaijan Forces Bulgaria to Fire Reporter Who Exposed Arms Shipments to Terrorists

     HARYT
     
    Last month, I wrote about Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva’s revelations that Azerbaijan’s state-run Silk Way Airlines had shipped under diplomatic cover 350 planeloads of heavy weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups in Syria and many other countries in the last three years.
     
    On Aug. 24, Dilyana tweeted: “I just got fired for telling the truth about weapons supplies for terrorists in Syria on diplomatic flights.”
     
    Dilyana posted on her facebook page that she was fired due to pressure on the government of Bulgaria by Azerbaijan, as she was about to leave for Syria to continue her investigation.
     
    In an interview with Armenpress, Dilyana said that before her firing she was called by the Bulgarian Special Security Agency and asked about her sources of information for her revelations. She replied that her source was the website of the Embassy of Azerbaijan which was hacked, but she would not provide any further details. Two hours later, she got a phone call from her newspaper, Trud Daily, telling her that she was dismissed.
     
    After she published her article, Dilyana revealed that the Azeri Embassy urged the Bulgarian government to investigate her; as a result she was fired from her job.
    The daring Bulgarian journalist, however, refuses to remain silent! She told Armenpress that no one can stop her from continuing her investigation: “They couldn’t stop me two months ago; they couldn’t stop me yesterday to speak out. I just posted on social media. They can’t force an independent journalist to keep silent. I’m not obliged to anybody. I’m obliged to tell the truth to the people, this is my job.”
     
    Dilyana stressed that Bulgaria was well-informed about these illegal weapons’ shipments since she had all the documents proving that the Bulgarian government, several European countries, the United States, and many others had given their approval for this secret and illegal operation!
     
    The Bulgarian journalist urged the United Nations to launch an investigation against Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. In addition, Dilyana appealed for support from independent journalists and the public at large. She emphasized: “I am not the first and last journalist to be fired for doing their job. I don’t have high expectations from the mainstream media, because they have their political agenda, their objectives and their policy. What I expect is to be able to spread this information worldwide not by the mainstream media.”
     
    Dilyana also revealed that Azerbaijan paid Bulgarian journalists to publish articles favorable to Baku. “I can give you a fact obtained from the leaked documents after the cyber-attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy. The Azerbaijani Embassy pays money to journalists for articles in favor of Azerbaijan or articles ordered to be published by Azerbaijan.”
     
    Dilyana insisted that she is determined to continue her work: “I’m going to set up my own on-line media, because no one in Bulgaria will now agree to publish my investigations. I will not be offered a job in the Bulgarian media. So I think about establishing my own media; this is the solution.”
     
    Confirming Dilyana’s revelations is an article by Thierry Meyssan, in the sott.net website, reporting that Operation Sycamore involves at least 17 states and represents several tens of thousands of tons of weapons: “Over the last seven years, several billion dollars’ worth of armament has been illegally introduced into Syria…. Numerous documents attest to the fact that the traffic was organized by General David Petraeus, first of all in public, via the CIA, of which he was the director, then privately, via the financial company KKR with the aid of certain senior civil servants…. New elements now show the secret of Azerbaijan in the evolution of the war [in Syria]…. While Bulgaria was one of the main arms exporters to Syria, it received help from Azerbaijan.”
     
    Meyssan, in his article, quotes Sibel Edmonds — ex-FBI translator and founder of National Security Whistleblowers Coalition — revealing that “Azerbaijan, under Pres. Heydar Aliyev, from 1997 to 2001, hosted in Baku the number 2 of Al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri. This was done at the request of the CIA. Although officially wanted by the FBI, the man who [was] then number 2 of the international jihadist network travelled regularly in NATO planes to Afghanistan, Albania, Egypt and Turkey. He also received frequent visits from Prince Bandar ben Sultan of Saudi Arabia.”
     
    The Armenian-American community should invite the distinguished Bulgarian journalist Dilyana to the United States in order to publicize through lectures and press conferences her sensational revelations about Azerbaijan’s illegal weapons’ shipments to terrorists.
  • Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy Unveils US Stronger Ties with Tajikistan

    Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy Unveils US Stronger Ties with Tajikistan

    The United States continue expanding their presence in the Central Asia as part of the program «The Great Central Asia». As President Trump announced his new policy on Afghanistan earlier this week, the US Administration have started looking towards Tajikistan, the key region on the Central Asia which has a longer border with Afghanistan.

    Boosted earlier in 2016 by the Secretary of State John Kerry, the cooperation between the United States and the Central Asia in trade, economic development, the anti-terrorism fight is likely to be particularly focused on making stronger ties with Tajikistan as the US Embassy in Dushanbe have lobbied the military and technical aid agreement between the United States and Tajikistan. The $100 billion agreement for a period of 5 years, from 2018 to 2023, has already been approved by Tajikistan authorities, according to the head of the Tajik Border Security Forces col. Avzalov.

    As part of the agreement, the US Embassy in Tajikistan with support of «AT Communication US» will implement a new operation control system designed by «HARRIS» to the Tajik Border Security Forces. The system is designed according to the C4ICR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) standard which is used by NATO. The system will also let the United States track Tajik military actions online by integration with the communication channels of the Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

    The stronger ties the bigger funding. The United States have decreased their military and technical financing around the world from $1 billion to $800 million since the start of 2017, while Tajikistan continues to receive larger funding than any other country in the region.

    However, by integrating the NATO control system to its Military Tajikistan will no longer be able to be a part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization which uses the Russian operation and control technologies while further strengthening of the US-Tajikistan relations may cause tension for Tajikistan authorities both with the Central Asian countries and Moscow. Finally, the initiative courageously taken by the Tajik Border Security Forces may have negative results considering the authoritative and self-dependent course of the President Emomali Rahmon.

  • Americana Now Accepts to Advertise Armenian Genocide Documentary

    Americana Now Accepts to Advertise Armenian Genocide Documentary

    HARYT
     
    Americana shopping mall executives in Glendale once again reversed themselves declaring that they not only now accept to advertise the Armenian Genocide Documentary, Architects of Denial, but offered to do it for free!
     
    In the process, Americana’s executives behaved erratically, unprofessionally, and most surprisingly, against their own business interests by behaving insensitively toward the major block of their shoppers, the large local Armenian population.
     
    It all started two weeks ago when Americana’s General Manager Julie Jauregui refused to sell space on its billboard by calling the Armenian Genocide documentary “too political.” When I contacted Americana for a proper explanation, I was told by Emily Davis, responsible for Americana’s Public Relations and Communications: “We have strict standards for our advertisements and we carefully review all content. This did not comply with the advertising guidelines for our portfolio properties throughout Southern California.” When asked why the documentary did not comply with Americana’s advertising guidelines, three days later I was told by Emily Davis, Americana had no further comment!
     
    Under pressure from the local Armenian community and the Armenian National Committee of America — Glendale Chapter, Jackie Levy, Americana’s Executive Vice President, changed course and sent a conciliatory letter to ANCA, dangling the hope that there would be a resolution to the issue after meeting with the Glendale City Council and the documentary producers, and declining to meet with ANCA.
     
    A few days later, Jackie Levy, sent a much harsher letter to the documentary producers stating once again that Americana declines the requested advertising because the shopping mall is for people “who can come together to enjoy themselves… that is why we have established policies prohibiting advertisements concerning political issues.” She then offered to meet with ANCA and expressed the wish to “reaffirm our longstanding support of the Armenian community….” which is a complete lie. Americana has repeatedly taken anti-Armenian positions, particularly on the Armenian Genocide issue when they banned the sale of genocide t-shirts three years ago.
     
    Jackie Levy then proceeded to make the most offensive remark, mentioning “comments we have received ranging from the Armenian community and the Turkish Consulate.” Ms. Levy should be asked how many Turkish shoppers frequent Americana vs. 100,000 Armenians in Glendale. Furthermore, why is she allowing the Consulate of a foreign despotic regime to interfere in the decisions of Americana and the local community? By doing so, she is equating Armenians — the victims of genocide — with those whose ancestors had committed such heinous mass crimes!
     
    Meanwhile the pressure started mounting on Americana by various American TV networks which broadcast the Armenian protests against the shopping mall. There were also more than 20 Armenian and non-Armenian speakers, including this writer, who addressed the Glendale City Council on August 15, expressing their outrage at Jackie Levy’s insensitive letter. At the end, all five City Council members expressed their unhappiness with Americana’s rejection of the Armenian Genocide ad and committed to follow up with the shopping mall’s executives to pressure them to change their position.
     
    Finally, Americana executives reversed their position once again on August 17, by announcing shortly before ANCA’s press conference scheduled to declare a boycott of Americana by the local Armenian community. Jackie Levy announced that Americana now agrees to display the advertisement and “at no cost to the producers.”
     
    Ms. Levy excuses Americana’s earlier negative decision as a “misunderstanding” of their position on human rights “and for that we apologize. We have always condemned violence and atrocities of any form anywhere in the world, including the Armenian Genocide that has impacted the lives of Armenians in our community.”
     
    In response, ANCA announced that they consider Americana’s reversal an “initial positive step.” The ANCA further stated that the shopping mall “should be demonstrating its corporate citizenship” and “must seek a relationship with the community that demonstrates, in concrete terms, its understanding and care for the surrounding community and our city. In the coming weeks, we look forward to meeting with Mr. Rick Caruso [Americana’s owner] and his management team to discuss, in concrete terms, how we can forge a better relationship and bond between the community and the Americana and Caruso Affiliated that results in a genuine, constructive and meaningful long-term relationship.”
     
    Given Americana executives’ contradictory statements in the last couple of weeks, the Armenian community has lost complete trust in their promises. Mr. Caruso, Americana’s owner, not only should review the shopping mall’s relationship with the local Armenian community, but also decide if several of his executives should continue working for him given their unprofessional behavior.
  • Central Asia Faces New Future: between Turkey, Iran, China and Russia

    Central Asia Faces New Future: between Turkey, Iran, China and Russia

    Central Asian leaders are known for their absolute power and life-long immunity from prosecution. The tradition that was started by the late Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov who held the title Turkmenbashi (The Leader of All Turkmen) until his death in 2006, later followed by his successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 77 and finally the Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, 64, has been well enjoyed by its followers for over 20 years by now.

    However, the leaders are getting old and the region just might be on the threshold of the new era. The recent death of the Uzbek President Islam Karimov has marked the beginning of inevitable changes and has made the issue a public debate. The Central Asia is of great interest of its strong neighbors: Turkey, Iran, Russia and, finally, China. Each of the country is eagerly waiting to gain its own geopolitical goals and ambitions there. It’s only a matter of time now. In the long-term scenario, as seen by political analysts, China will most likely strengthen its political and economic development, while Turkey will likely become more stable economically. Finally, Iran might recover its power due to its nuclear program agreement.

    The key factor might be played by migrant workers. Though China is the huge labor pool that offers low-cost migrant workers it still cannot compete with Russia when it comes to the Central Asia: most of the people’s income in this region is coming from Russia as there are more jobs to Central Asian migrant workers than in any other country. Nevertheless, the competition between Turkey and Iran will most likely continue to grow. Considering the fact that some Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are highly vulnerable due to terrorism threats and geographic proximity with Afghanistan, Turkey, if it keeps its stable economic growth, has all chances to confront terrorism by taking the leading control in the region in the long run.

    Meanwhile, the current Central Asian leaders keeping in mind all the dangers coming to them struggle to extend their authoritarian leadership as longer as possible by empowering their children and by filling all the important government positions with their family members. One of the brightest examples of such practice may be found in Tajikistan. Earlier last year Emomali Rahmon’s daughter, Ozoda Rahmon has been appointed as his chief of staff while her husband, Jamoliddin Nuraliev, the First Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan is one of the strongest candidates for the President elections in 2020 along with the President’s son, Rustam Rahmon. But due to the recent scandal that put Jamoliddin Nuraliev in the spotlight as he has been regularly seen in public together with Takhmina Bagirova in Austria (where Bagirova lives) and other countries during the holiday season, Nuraliev might soon be off the game leaving Rustam Rahmon the only real candidate for the President.  But whether the current leaders’ successors be able to be as powerful as their fathers or their presidency will mark the end of the authoritarian power in the region the Central Asia’s new wave of development is inevitable. As the pro-Moscow leaders will go, the region this will most likely be the platform of disputes between Iran, Turkey and China.