Turkish Forum

Category: Authors

  • How to Get Rich While in Congress And Even After Retirement!

    How to Get Rich While in Congress And Even After Retirement!

    Two weeks ago, I reported that former Cong. Dan Burton had resigned as Chairman of the Washington-based Azerbaijan America Alliance because he had not been paid for a year!

    It is hard to feel sorry for a man who had eagerly gone to bed with the dictatorial regime of Ilham Aliyev until the money stopped!

    For years, many members of Congress have supported all sorts of shady causes and foreign and domestic interest groups to not only reap financial benefits during their tenure in Congress, but more importantly, land a lucrative lobbying job after their retirement from ‘public service’!

    Last week, a reader sent me an old article that had exposed Cong. Dan Burton’s questionable practices during his first 18 years in Congress, not including the last 12 years before his retirement! Titled “The Hypocrisy of Dan Burton,” the article was written by American Prospect Online reporter Lindsay Sobel in December 2001.

    Ironically, while Burton was Chairing the House Government Reform Committee, he was doing “plenty of favors for contributors, according to an exhaustive investigation by The Hill and other publications in 1997 and 1998,” Sobel wrote. Burton had done “favors for reputed terrorists, human rights violators, and a despot.” As an example, Sobel cites Burton’s request to “the State Department to give former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko a visa to visit the United States after receiving thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and honoraria from Mobutu’s Washington lobbyist…. Around the time of the contributions, Burton also made statements on the floor of the House of Representatives praising Mobutu.”

    Burton “also took thousands of dollars in legal contributions from people with business interests in Turkey,” Sobel reported. “Afterwards, he made a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives he had cribbed from a Turkish government official. The statement defended Turkey against well-documented charges that its government committed serious human rights violations against the Kurds. In 1996, Burton made another floor statement that almost exactly echoed materials that Turkey’s lobbying firm gave to members of Congress, according to The Los Angeles Times. Burton calls himself a defender of international human rights. Nevertheless, after receiving contributions from Turkey’s allies, he defended the country’s government on numerous occasions — despite the fact that the United Nations, State Department and numerous human rights groups have made serious allegations against Turkey’s government.”

    Sobel also reported Burton’s involvement “in programs put on by the conservative International Freedom Foundation. Later investigations revealed that South Africa’s apartheid government funded the Foundation in order to increase support for apartheid overseas, and discredit Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress. At least two Burton contributors worked in the Foundation’s Washington office, according to The Los Angeles Times. Consistent with his work with the Foundation, Burton opposed sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid government and openly criticized the African National Congress.”

    “In another case, Burton intervened with the Department of Education for a campaign contributor who owns a medical school in the Caribbean, according to Roll Call. Soon after doing the favor, Burton asked his contributor whether his daughter could apply to an affiliated veterinary program.”

    Sobel’s research on Burton indicated that he had “run into other kinds of trouble as well. For example, the FBI investigated charges that Burton demanded that a lobbyist for Pakistan raise $5,000 for his campaign or be barred from Burton’s office. (Burton admitted meeting with the lobbyist, but denied shaking him down.) In addition, The Hill reports that Burton paid his criminal defense lawyer $25,000 out of his campaign — rather than personal — funds. Also, according to The Hill, Burton took an allegedly illegal contribution from a group founded by five organizations that the State Department identified as Sikh terrorist groups. Burton advocated the group’s cause — an autonomous Sikh homeland in India.”

    Regrettably, Burton is not an exception in Washington. There are many others in and out of Congress who are just like him. Therefore, it is imperative to establish an Armenian-American watchdog group that investigates the financial records of all elected officials who consistently vote against Armenian issues and support Azerbaijan and Turkey. These two countries have such odious human rights records that the only reason politicians would support them is to enrich themselves either during their service in Congress or after retiring, and often both!

  • U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Faces Criticism at Glendale Appearance

    U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Faces Criticism at Glendale Appearance

    Richard Mills, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, spoke at the Western Prelacy in La Crescenta, California, on March 10, during his tour of Armenian communities throughout the United States to brief them on his diplomatic work in Armenia.

    In his welcoming remarks, Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, expressed the hope that “the United States, as a champion of justice and human rights, will in due time join the scores of nations that have formally acknowledged the indisputable truth of the Armenian Genocide.”

    Amb. Mills spoke about the progress Armenia has made in the last two decades and presented the four priorities being pursued the U.S. Embassy:

    1) deepening business and trade relations between Armenia and the United States;

    2) countering corruption;

    3) strengthening democracy, human rights, and civil society;

    4) creating a better understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals.

     

    The Ambassador explained that the United States encourages reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey by continuing to support the Protocols that were signed in 2009, but not ratified. Speaking of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, Amb. Mills remarked that “Armenians were massacred and marched to their deaths by the Ottoman Empire,” carefully avoiding the term ‘Armenian Genocide.’

    At the end of the Ambassador’s presentation, I had the privilege of being called upon to ask the first question. I respectfully commented:

    “I know that ambassadors don’t decide U.S. foreign policy. You are simply the messenger. I would like to go on record to say that it is deeply offensive to the Armenian community for you to come here and not use the word genocide to describe what happened to Armenians in 1915. I am not blaming you. It is not your fault! You know what happened and the U.S. government knows what happened. American officials have repeatedly recognized the Armenian Genocide since 1951. I have written a book that documents U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide which I will be happy to give you. It is not understandable to Armenians and non-Armenians around the world why the U.S. government is now reluctant to use a word that describes what it acknowledged a long time ago. This reluctance puts the United States at a disadvantage when its officials give lectures to Armenians in Armenia about democracy, morality and justice, and yet they fail to comply with their own principles. The U.S. government should be an example to the rest of the world! I am just using you as a messenger. I see that one of your colleagues from the State Department is here with you. I hope that you would transmit my message to your superiors in Washington.”

    Amb. Mills gave the following brief answer: “My only response will be to reiterate Pres. Obama’s goal which he set forth in his statement on April 24th: ‘We want full, frank and just acknowledgment of what happened from the Turkish government and Turkish people.’”

    Regrettably, the U.S. Ambassador was simply following Pres. Obama’s deplorable reluctance to utter the words ‘Armenian Genocide,’ despite his repeated promises to do so as a candidate.

    Regardless of whether Pres. Obama and his underlings use the term genocide, the fact remains that the United States has repeatedly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide at the Presidential and Congressional levels.

    Nevertheless, the Armenian-American community and Armenians worldwide have an obligation to confront and reject every attempt to minimize or distort the proper characterization of the Armenian Genocide. Remaining silent upon hearing such reprehensible terminology is an insult to the memory of the Armenian Martyrs, particularly when unacceptable euphemisms are uttered in Armenian church halls and community centers.

    Amb. Mills was probably surprised by the adverse reaction of the audience to his statements not only regarding the Armenian Genocide, but also his faulty claim that Turkey was fighting against ISIS!

    Unfortunately, we cannot expect every American Ambassador to sacrifice his/her diplomatic career by telling the truth to power as did John Evans, the former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. He boldly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide at a great personal cost, during a similar tour of the Armenian communities in the United States.

    Amb. Mills should be commended for his efforts to improve U.S.-Armenia relations. However, his superiors in Washington should be made aware that his good work is being undermined by their shameful word games regarding the Armenian Genocide!

  • Former Congressman Quits Promoting Azerbaijan’s Interests in Washington

    Former Congressman Quits Promoting Azerbaijan’s Interests in Washington

     

    Here is news that you don’t hear every day: a former Congressman stops working for a foreign client after not receiving his pay for a year!

    This is exactly what happened to Cong. Dan Burton (Republican-Indiana) who quit last week as chairman of Azerbaijan America Alliance, a powerful Azeri propaganda outfit in the United States, after waiting a whole year to get paid.

    What were his Azeri masters thinking? How could they cheat one of their agents in Washington? This is a good way to get your lobbyist turn against you!

    Lobbyists promote a client’s interests, not because they support its cause, but to make money. Personal financial gain was the only reason why Cong. Burton was backing one of the world’s most repressive and corrupt governments. When the money stopped, there was no longer a reason for him to promote Pres. Aliyev’s dictatorial regime.

    The Azerbaijan America Alliance was founded by tycoon Anar Mammadov, a 34-year-old billionaire playboy. Interestingly, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump had lent his name for a substantial fee to a luxurious hotel built by Mammadov’s company in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    Reporter Carl Schreck and Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) obtained a copy of the e-mail Cong. Burton sent on March 1, 2016 to James Fabiani whose Washington-based firm does lobbying work for the Azerbaijan America Alliance. “As I have not heard from you or Anar, and have not been paid for a year, please consider this e-mail as a letter of resignation as Chairman of the Azerbaijan America Alliance,” Cong. Burton wrote.

    Here are further details from this scandalous affair disclosed by RFE/RL:

    “Burton’s resignation follows months of speculation about the fate of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, a prominent pillar of a broader Azerbaijani lobbying campaign in the United States to portray Azerbaijan as a stable energy and security partner for the West. The lobby involves both private and state money.”

    “Baku’s detractors accuse President Ilham Aliyev’s government and its proxies of trying to paper over an abysmal human rights record with ‘caviar diplomacy,’ using gifts, vacations, and other expensive incentives to gain friends and curry favor with foreign officials.”

    “Aliyev recently removed broad powers from the Transport Ministry, overseen by Mammadov’s father, suggesting the family’s influence in the government is waning.”

    “Several reports in the Azerbaijani media since August have cited unidentified sources as saying that Mammadov planned to shutter the Azerbaijan America Alliance due to financial difficulties amid the broader economic crisis Azerbaijan is grappling with due to plunging energy prices.”

    “Over the past five years, the Azerbaijan America Alliance has poured a total of $12.3 million into U.S. lobbying efforts, according to the public-interest website Opensecrets.org, having wined and dined Washington’s elite and pushed Baku’s interests in meetings with senior members of Congress.”

    “The organization, which is not formally affiliated with the Azerbaijani state but has hewn closely to the Aliyev government’s line, has continued this spending, paying $1.46 million for U.S. lobbying services in 2015, most of which went to Fabiani & Company, according to public lobbying disclosures.”
    “The group spent $430,000 for its 2012 dinner, which was attended by then-House of Representatives speaker John Boehner and 15 other members of Congress, including Burton, according to a 2013 filing under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).”

    “Burton was named chairman of the Azerbaijan America Alliance in February 2013, a month after he left office after a 30-year career in Congress. He told RFE/RL this week that Fabiani introduced him to Mammadov, chairman of Garant Holding, a conglomerate with interests that include construction firms, hotels, and insurance companies.”
    “Investigations by RFE/RL have previously revealed that Anar Mammadov’s business interests are tied to the ministry overseen by his father, Ziya Mammadov.”

    “Burton said that he did not engage in lobbying during his time with the Azerbaijan America Alliance, but that he would occasionally invite members of Congress to ‘social functions’ staged by the group. He also published opinion articles supporting the Azerbaijani government.”
    Last May, I ran into Cong. Burton in the lobby of a New York hotel. I complained to him about his ongoing efforts on behalf of Azerbaijan and his votes against resolutions on the Armenian Genocide during his tenure in Congress. He gave me his business card, asking me to contact him…. I did not, and have no plans to do so now that he is no longer working as a propagandist for Azerbaijan.

     

  • Iranian Hatred of Turks Goes Back a Thousand Years

    Iranian Hatred of Turks Goes Back a Thousand Years

    During the past one thousand years, the relationship between the two neighboring Islamic states of Persia and the Ottoman Empire vacillated between peaceful coexistence and outright war. The populations of these two states were not only of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, but were also divided in their Islamic faith — the Persians were Shia, while the Turks were Sunni. The divisions between Iran and Turkey continue to this day.

    Many readers are familiar with the anti-Turkish references in the works of Western writers, particularly after successive episodes of Armenian massacres leading to the 1915 Genocide, such as the damning words of French writer Victor Hugo, “The Turks have passed by here, all is in ruins and mourning.”

    Yet, little is known about references in Persian literature regarding Turks. Roubina Ohanian, an Armenian native of Iran, now residing in Glendale, California, has filled that void with her book, “The Interpretation of the Name and Word Turk in Iranian Literature.” Ohanian has meticulously researched and translated from Farsi into Armenian dozens of lines from several notable Persian poets from the Middle Ages who had penned their highly negative impressions of Turks, revealing that Iranian antipathy toward Turks has long roots.

    The Persian references regarding Turks come from such well-known poets as Ferdowsi in the 10th Century and Hafez in the 14th Century. Turkic tribes first invaded Persia in the 11th Century, followed by the Seljuks. In the 13th Century, Iran was conquered by the Mongols and then by Turkmen tribes who were finally defeated in 1592 AD. Many wars ensued between Persia and the Ottoman Empire in subsequent centuries.

    Ohanian has presented in her book quotations from 13 Persian poets and writers. While Armenians have their own tragic memories of oppressive Turkish rule, it is interesting to learn of the similarly negative experiences of other nations that came in contact with Turks.

    Here are several lines from Persian Middle Age poets translated by Ohanian from Farsi to Armenian which I have translated to English:

    Ferdowsi (925 – 1020 AD):

    “No one has learned wisdom from Turks,
    No one will obey a Turk.”

    Asadi Tusi (11th Century):

    “No one ever saw any loyalty from a Turk;
    From Iranians they have seen nothing but loyalty.”

    Khawaja Abdullah Ansari (1006 – 1088 AD):

    “It would be surprising that a Turk would understand love,
    As it would be surprising that a Turk does not rob and steal.”

    Nizami (1140 – 1203 AD):

    “Even the King did not know,
    No such thing as a loyal Turk.”
    Anvari (12th Century):

    “As you have not started your journey with your gentle horse,
    Don’t leave, the road is full of bloodthirsty Turks.”

    Khaghani (1120 – 1190 AD):

    “Drinking blood with a friend is an old tradition,
    Turks are blood drinkers and don’t recognize their friends.”

    Saati (1184 – 1283 AD):

    “At that time you sent me a student,
    A Turk; there was no one worse than him.”

    Many of these Persian descriptions of Turks would be viewed today as racist as they unfairly label all Turks with the same stereotype. All nationalities have some good and bad among them. The real problem, however, is the violent policies of the Turkish state that brutally oppressed minorities and conquered nations, resulting in mass crimes and genocide against Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Cypriots, Greeks and Iranians!

  • Tight US Presidential Race: Good News for Armenian-Americans

    Tight US Presidential Race: Good News for Armenian-Americans

    SASSUN-4

    Now that the two major political parties have begun holding Primaries to select their nominees for this fall’s Presidential elections, Armenian-Americans are weighing the merits of the eight remaining candidates.

    I would like to propose that from now on Armenians refrain from asking presidential candidates whether they would recognize the Armenian Genocide once elected. There are two problems in posing such a question:

    1) Armenians should know from previous disappointing experiences that they cannot trust promises made by most politicians.

    2) There is no need to ask for such a promise since the Armenian Genocide has been repeatedly recognized by the various branches of the US government for many years:
    a) Document submitted by the US government to the World Court in 1951;
    b) Resolutions adopted by the House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984;
    c) Pres. Reagan’s Proclamation referring to the Armenian Genocide on April 22, 1981.

    Furthermore, the continued pursuit of genocide recognition — when it has been already recognized — would simply undermine its acknowledgment and cast doubt on it veracity.

    Instead, Armenian-Americans should ask presidential candidates for their positions on more pressing issues such as:
    1) Allocating more foreign aid to Armenia and Artsakh (Karabagh);
    2) Promoting US trade with Armenia;
    3) Pressuring Turkey to lift its blockade of Armenia;
    4) Demanding that Turkey return the confiscated Armenian churches to the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul;
    5) Condemning Azerbaijan for its repeated threats and attacks on Armenia and Artsakh;
    6) Supporting the independence of Artsakh.

    Once elected, officials would want to satisfy some of these demands in order to maintain the support of the Armenian community during their future campaign for reelection.

    Here are the records of all six Republican presidential candidates on Armenian issues:

    Gov. Jeb Bush (Florida)
    — Traveled with his son on a humanitarian mission to Armenia on Dec. 24, 1988, shortly after the earthquake;
    — Issued an Armenian Genocide proclamation on April 7, 2006;
    — Received the Friend of Armenians Award in 2013 from the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church.

    Gov. John Kasich (Ohio)
    — Received ratings of C, D, and F from ANCA during most of his tenure in the House of Representatives, 1983-2001;
    — Cosigned letters to Pres. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev supporting Artsakh’s independence in 1991;
    — Cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2000;
    — As Governor, issued a proclamation in 2012 to celebrate Armenian Independence Day.

    Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas)
    — Received a C- rating from ANCA in 2014;
    — In 2015, issued statement on the Armenian Genocide and cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

    Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida)
    — Received a C rating in 2012 and B in 2014 from ANCA;
    — Voted for passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2014;
    — Cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2015;
    — Cosigned letter to Pres. Obama urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2015.

    Neurosurgeon Ben Carson (Michigan): No statements on Armenian issues.

    Businessman Donald Trump (New York): No statements on Armenian issues.

    Here are the records of the two Democratic presidential candidates on Armenian issues:

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (New York)
    — As Senator, cosigned letters to Pres. Bush urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2005 and 2006;
    — Cosponsored Resolutions on the Armenian Genocide in 2006 and 2007;
    — As Presidential candidate in 2008, made a promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide;
    — Later in 2008, spoke at a Turkish Cultural Center banquet in New York City in the presence of then Prime Minister Erdogan;
    — During an official visit to Yerevan in 2010, placed a wreath at the Genocide Monument, which the US Embassy in Armenia called a “private” act, even though the ribbon on the wreath carried the inscription: “From Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton”;
    — In 2012, as Secretary of State, referred to the Armenian Genocide as “a matter of historical debate,” contradicting her earlier clear stand on this important issue.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
    — Received an A+ rating in 2012 and C in 2014 from ANCA;
    — During his tenure in the House of Representatives (1991-2007), he supported a variety of Armenian issues, including the Genocide Resolution, in 1996, 1997, and 2000;
    — Cosigned letters to Pres. Bush urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2002, 2003, and 2004;
    — As Senator, he cosponsored in 2012 two Resolutions on the Armenian Genocide and Return of Armenian Churches by Turkey.

    The polls and results of the early Primary elections indicate that no candidate in either party is likely to have an overwhelming majority in the Primaries and the November elections which would encourage the candidates to be more accommodating to all voters, including Armenian-Americans.

    Under these circumstances, my suggestion to the Armenian-American community is to refrain from making an early commitment to any candidate. The decision as to whom to support can be made later as the presidential race gets tighter and the candidates get more desperate for votes!

  • Talaat’s Personal Account of The Armenian Massacres

    Talaat’s Personal Account of The Armenian Massacres

    SASSUN-4
    ,

    In my last week’s column, I reported that Talaat Pasha, the mastermind of the Armenian Genocide, had told British intelligence officer Aubrey Herbert in 1921 that he had written “a memorandum on the Armenian massacres.”

    I would like now to present brief excerpts from Talaat’s lengthy account published in the November 1921 issue of Current History, the monthly magazine of The New York Times, titled: “Posthumous Memoirs of Talaat Pasha,” and subtitled: “The former Grand Vizier’s own account, written shortly before his assassination, of why and how Turkey entered the war — Secret alliance that preceded the conflict — Causes of the Armenian massacres as stated by the man who ordered them.”

    In an introductory note, Current History editors explain how they obtained a copy of this revealing report: “…After Talaat’s death, the manuscript passed into the possession of his wife, who remained in Germany; she has not yet published the whole of it, but after the acquittal of her husband’s assassin she permitted the Paris correspondent of Vakit, a liberal Turkish newspaper published in Constantinople, to reproduce the most interesting portions of it. These have been translated from Turkish for Current History by M. Zekeria, a native of Constantinople. They represent about fifty pages of the original manuscript, the opening sentence of which, ‘I do not tell all the truth, but all I tell is truth,’ aroused a great sensation in Turkey.”

    In his memoirs, as in his interview with Aubrey Herbert, Talaat tries to exonerate himself by blaming everyone else — Armenians, Russians, even Turks — for the Armenian massacres. He does not deny “the deportations of the Armenians, in some localities of the Greeks, and in Syria of some of the Arabs,” but claims that such reports “were exceedingly exaggerated.” Talaat then adds: “in saying this, I do not mean to deny the facts. I desire only to eliminate the exaggerations and to relate the facts as they occurred.”

    The former Grand Vizier confesses: “I admit that we deported many Armenians from our eastern provinces, but we never acted in this matter upon a previously prepared scheme. The responsibility for these acts falls first of all upon the deported people themselves. Russia, in order to lay hand on our eastern provinces, had armed and equipped the Armenian inhabitants of this district, and had organized strong Armenian bandit forces in the said area.”

    Attempting to repair his tarnished image, Talaat acknowledges the Turkish brutalities against Armenians: “I admit also that the deportation was not carried out lawfully everywhere. In some places unlawful acts were committed…. Some of the officials abused their authority, and in many places people took preventive measures into their own hands and innocent people were molested. I confess it.”

    Continuing his face-saving rhetoric, Talaat concedes: “I confess, also, that the duty of the Government was to prevent these abuses and atrocities or at least to hunt down and punish their perpetrators severely. In many places, where the property and goods of the deported people were looted, and the Armenians molested, we did arrest those who were responsible and punished them according to the law. I confess, however, that we ought to have acted more sternly, opened up a general investigation for the purpose of finding out all the promoters and looters and punished them severely. But we could not do that. Although we punished many of the guilty, most of them were untouched.”

    Talaat proceeds to provide excuses for not pursuing perpetrators of the Armenian massacres who “were short-sighted, fanatic, and yet sincere in their belief. The public encouraged them, and they had general approval behind them. They were numerous and strong. Their open and immediate punishment would have aroused great discontent among the people, who favored their acts. An endeavor to arrest and to punish all these promoters would have created anarchy in Anatolia at a time when we greatly needed unity.”

    To set the record straight, Talaat’s claims that Armenians stabbed Turkey in the back during WWI are completely false. Minister of War Enver Pasha, Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman Armed Forces, in a letter to the Bishop of Konya, praised the bravery of Turkish-Armenian soldiers fighting against the Russian Army in the winter of 1914-1915.

    Ironically, Talaat’s assertion that his government would have taken brutal actions against Armenians even at “a time of peace,” reconfirms long-standing Turkish genocidal practices as previously demonstrated by the Hamidian and Adana massacres of Armenians which were carried out when there were no wars.