Category: America

  • Iraqi Kurds Out-Lobby Iraqi Arabs In Washington

    Iraqi Kurds Out-Lobby Iraqi Arabs In Washington

    This week, we learned that the White House knew about last year’s deal between Texas-based Hunt Oil and the Kurdish Regional Government.

    Apparently the threat it posed to the fragile negotiations in Baghdad didn’t concern the president as much as he suggested in public.

    The Kurds have made a lot of friends in Washington during the past few years — especially among Republicans.

    It’s a relationship that’s bolstered by aggressive lobbying by the Kurds. The Kurdish Regional Government has 11 active contracts with U.S. lawyers and lobbyists, according to the State Department’s database maintained under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The Kurds have been shelling out far more money on K Street than any other group or government in Iraq.

    A key ally for the Kurds is the firm Barbour Griffith Rogers, the lobbying shop founded by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, formerly head of the Republican National Committee. BGR receives $700,000 a year from the Kurdish Regional Government. Their agreement says the firm will “arrange meetings” with U.S. media and government officials.

    The firm has a separate agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party for a $262,500 annual fee, according to the FARA database.

    The Kurdish Regional Government also has a deal with the Republican-linked firm Russo, March and Rogers for running a “media campaign” and a “public relations campaign.”

    The Washington Post last year also noted the Kurds efforts to reach out to evangelical Christians.

    In the past year, the Kurds have spent more than $3 million to retain lobbyists and set up a diplomatic office in Washington. They are cultivating grass-roots advocates among supporters of President Bush’s war policy and evangelicals who believe that many key figures in the Bible lived in Kurdistan. And they are seeking to build an emotional bond with ordinary Americans, like those forged by Israel and Taiwan, by running commercials on national cable news channels to assert that even as Iraq teeters toward a full-blown civil war, one corner of the country, at least, has fulfilled the Bush administration’s ambition of a peaceful, democratic, pro-Western beachhead in the Middle East.

    The Kurds are probably watching this year’s campaign very closely.
    Source:
  • “opinion of Azerbaijanis will carefully be considered”

    “opinion of Azerbaijanis will carefully be considered”

    Barack Obama: “I can assure you that opinion of Azerbaijanis will carefully be considered if the issue of Mourad Topalian’s terrorist activity comes before the Senate”

    [ 02 Jul 2008 11:53 ]

    Washington. Husniyya Hasanova–APA. “I can assure you that opinion of Azerbaijanis will carefully be considered if the issue of American Armenian National Committee’s former chairman Mourad Topalian’s terrorist activity comes before the Senate”, said US presidential nominee Barack Obama in his response to the letter of protest of Azerbaijanis living in Illinois.

    Obama represents Illinois in the US Senate. The presidential candidate also noted that he was gratified by the opportunity that the people of Illinois had given him to work on some very challenging issues that would affect the country’s future. This year, the U.S. Senate has considered – or will soon consider – important legislation relating to the President’s surveillance program, consumer protection, energy policy, and next year’s federal budget. “As I have approached these and other issues, I have appreciated the input I have received from Illinoisans like you. While lawmakers and their constituents may hold different perspectives at times, I feel it is particularly important that I hear the views of any Illinois resident, who feels strongly about a particular issue”, said Obama. Former chairman of the American Armenian National Committee arrested for his terrorist activity met after his release with the pro-Armenian Congressman Howard Berman and discussed with him the “Lobbyist issue”. Thousands of Azerbaijanis living in the United States sent letters of protest to all elected bodies of the country, as well as to Senator Barack Obama via US Azerbaijanis Network (USAN). Alongside with Obama, other congressmen have also reacted to the Mourad Topalian’s meeting with the Howard Berman, member of Californian House of Representatives.

  • Stratfor – Is War With Iran Coming?

    Stratfor – Is War With Iran Coming?

    Stratfor

    Geopolitical Diary: A U.S.-Iranian Dance of Diplomacy

    The United States has raised the possibility of opening a diplomatic interests section in Iran. To avoid giving the impression that the idea was an unqualified U.S. position, State Department officials carefully leaked word of an ongoing debate about the plan to the press. But the news was not met with immediate denial by U.S. officials. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to rule the idea out — instead Rice said she preferred not to comment on internal U.S. deliberations.

    Hours after her statement, the official Iranian news agency said Iran was prepared, in principle, to consider the request if it is officially made by the United States. So, a week after word was leaked to The New York Times of Israeli maneuvers in preparation for a possible air strike on Iran, the Administration has opened a diplomatic door. 

    Currently, American affairs in Iran are handled by the Swiss Embassy, without U.S. diplomats present. Under full diplomatic relations, which this new deal still would not be, the United States would have an embassy and ambassador in Tehran, and the Iranians would have one in Washington. This is a step short of diplomatic recognition. U.S. diplomats would be present in Tehran — and Iranians in Washington — but likely working under the auspices of the Swiss and Pakistani Embassies, which house their respective interest sections presently. The United States has this sort of arrangement with Cuba. It allows diplomatic presence and representation without full recognition.

    Cuba is hardly a model of international warmth for the United States, but the question is trajectory. At the moment, there is no formal diplomatic presence in Iran. There would be if this were to happen. And that would obviously represent a major psychological shift in U.S.-Iranian relations. It is not that the Americans and Iranians don’t talk. Apart from direct meetings in Baghdad, the Iranians have high-level diplomats in New York. There have also been meetings, varying in degrees of formality, in Switzerland and other venues. In fact, the Americans and Iranians talk all the time, directly, indirectly and sometimes it appears in Haiku poetry. The idea that the United States and Iran don’t talk just isn’t true.

    The importance of this offer is not what it would yield, but that it was made. The United States took the first step, even if it did not take it irrevocably and no formal offer was made. The administration is being cautious. The Americans still recall how in 2003 they were embarrassed by the Iranians who rebuffed an offer by the United States to send help and a visit by a high-level U.S. delegation, including the elder George Bush, to the earthquake-ravaged city of Bam.

    Today the United States is not offering diplomatic exchanges. While it said it might offer them, the United States emphasized its division on the subject. U.S. diplomatic translation: “We’d like to exchange diplomats but if you say no, we never asked.” The Iranians quickly replied that if asked, they might agree. Iranian diplomatic translation: “Ask and we’ll say yes.” The speed of the Iranian response is telling. They were not surprised by the request. Their answer was ready. Which means, as one would expect, they were sounded out before.

    So on Friday it appeared that the world was on the verge of war between Israel and Iran, with the United States supporting Israel. By late Monday, the United States was proposing raising the level of diplomatic relations and the Iranians were indicating that they were open to it. In our mind this reinforces the idea that the careful leaking of putative Israeli war games was part of a “bad cop, somewhat better cop” routine, designed to work the Iranians psychologically. They were offered the choice between Israeli air strikes or improving diplomatic relations. The second offer sounded much better than the first.

    Setting aside the purple rhetoric on all sides, we have long believed that the Americans and Iranians were talking and actually working together in Iraq. The massive decline in casualties in Iraq is not simply due to U.S. military operations. The decision by the Iranians to rein in Shiite Iraqi militias had a significant impact on it. Indeed, in our view, the Iraq issue has always been more important to both countries than the nuclear weapon issue, and in Iraq, there has been progress.

    Both governments are urgently concerned with face. Neither wants to appear to be conceding anything to the other. When the Great Satan meets the Axis of Evil, no public compromise is possible. So all compromising is done privately. And that’s what makes this important. The tentative offer is very public and comes from the highest levels of government. It has been acknowledged officially. Now, this is the United States and Iran so anything public can collapse quickly. But the offer itself, no matter how it was couched, is extremely significant as is the response. In many ways we regard this as more significant than the Israeli exercises. 

  • A U.S.-Iranian Dance of Diplomacy – IS WAR COMING?

    A U.S.-Iranian Dance of Diplomacy – IS WAR COMING?

    STRATFOR Geopolitical Diary:

    The United States has raised the possibility of opening a diplomatic interests section in Iran. To avoid giving the impression that the idea was an unqualified U.S. position, State Department officials carefully leaked word of an ongoing debate about the plan to the press. But the news was not met with immediate denial by U.S. officials. In fact, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to rule the idea out — instead Rice said she preferred not to comment on internal U.S. deliberations.

    Hours after her statement, the official Iranian news agency said Iran was prepared, in principle, to consider the request if it is officially made by the United States. So, a week after word was leaked to The New York Times of Israeli maneuvers in preparation for a possible air strike on Iran, the Administration has opened a diplomatic door. 

    Currently, American affairs in Iran are handled by the Swiss Embassy, without U.S. diplomats present. Under full diplomatic relations, which this new deal still would not be, the United States would have an embassy and ambassador in Tehran, and the Iranians would have one in Washington. This is a step short of diplomatic recognition. U.S. diplomats would be present in Tehran — and Iranians in Washington — but likely working under the auspices of the Swiss and Pakistani Embassies, which house their respective interest sections presently. The United States has this sort of arrangement with Cuba. It allows diplomatic presence and representation without full recognition.

    Cuba is hardly a model of international warmth for the United States, but the question is trajectory. At the moment, there is no formal diplomatic presence in Iran. There would be if this were to happen. And that would obviously represent a major psychological shift in U.S.-Iranian relations. It is not that the Americans and Iranians don’t talk. Apart from direct meetings in Baghdad, the Iranians have high-level diplomats in New York. There have also been meetings, varying in degrees of formality, in Switzerland and other venues. In fact, the Americans and Iranians talk all the time, directly, indirectly and sometimes it appears in Haiku poetry. The idea that the United States and Iran don’t talk just isn’t true.

    The importance of this offer is not what it would yield, but that it was made. The United States took the first step, even if it did not take it irrevocably and no formal offer was made. The administration is being cautious. The Americans still recall how in 2003 they were embarrassed by the Iranians who rebuffed an offer by the United States to send help and a visit by a high-level U.S. delegation, including the elder George Bush, to the earthquake-ravaged city of Bam.

    Today the United States is not offering diplomatic exchanges. While it said it might offer them, the United States emphasized its division on the subject. U.S. diplomatic translation: “We’d like to exchange diplomats but if you say no, we never asked.” The Iranians quickly replied that if asked, they might agree. Iranian diplomatic translation: “Ask and we’ll say yes.” The speed of the Iranian response is telling. They were not surprised by the request. Their answer was ready. Which means, as one would expect, they were sounded out before.

    So on Friday it appeared that the world was on the verge of war between Israel and Iran, with the United States supporting Israel. By late Monday, the United States was proposing raising the level of diplomatic relations and the Iranians were indicating that they were open to it. In our mind this reinforces the idea that the careful leaking of putative Israeli war games was part of a “bad cop, somewhat better cop” routine, designed to work the Iranians psychologically. They were offered the choice between Israeli air strikes or improving diplomatic relations. The second offer sounded much better than the first.

    Setting aside the purple rhetoric on all sides, we have long believed that the Americans and Iranians were talking and actually working together in Iraq. The massive decline in casualties in Iraq is not simply due to U.S. military operations. The decision by the Iranians to rein in Shiite Iraqi militias had a significant impact on it. Indeed, in our view, the Iraq issue has always been more important to both countries than the nuclear weapon issue, and in Iraq, there has been progress.

    Both governments are urgently concerned with face. Neither wants to appear to be conceding anything to the other. When the Great Satan meets the Axis of Evil, no public compromise is possible. So all compromising is done privately. And that’s what makes this important. The tentative offer is very public and comes from the highest levels of government. It has been acknowledged officially. Now, this is the United States and Iran so anything public can collapse quickly. But the offer itself, no matter how it was couched, is extremely significant as is the response. In many ways we regard this as more significant than the Israeli exercises. 

  • Turkish-American Relations

    Turkish-American Relations

    Turkish-American Relations

    Reports


     

    Title:  Turkey Brief: The U.S. – Turkey Relations
    Date: March 2008
    Author: DEIK/TAIK
    Length: 157 pages
    Format: Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf)
    Content Summary: Turkey has been rapidly integrating into the global economy and has become an appealing country for investment in the process of integration into the European Union. In the past 5 years, overage annual growth rate has been 7 percent in Turkey which is result of production, investment and export activities of private sector. Turkey has the most dynamic and most integrated private sector of the Balkans, Middle East, South Africa and Central Asia. Therefore, it is seen as a leader and taken as an economic model in these regions. The foreign trade volume of Turkey reached to 277 billion US Dollars in 2007. Turkey by itself exports 65% of the industrial materials of the Middle East and North Africa. The industrial materials constitute 65% of Turkish export commodities, whereas 10% are technological products. Turkey is the 6th biggest trade partner of European Union. The competitive markets such as OECD, EU and USA account for 65% of Turkey’s total export.

    This is an indepth report covering Turkey’s Economic Outlook including current performance, the country’s structural transformation, EU prospects and IMF relations; Commercial Relations, legal framework, platforms for business, bilateral trade and other relevant issues; Defense Relations; Business Prospects including existing opportunties by sector, and relevant investment issues; as well as a list of further resources.

    Title:  Turkish- American Economic Relations: How do design a private-sector based approach?
    Date: February 2007
    Author: TEPAV
    Length: 15 pages
    Format: Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf)
    Content Summary: This is presentation that summarizes the ways in which Turkey and the US can work together for mobilizing private sectors capacity.

    Title: Turkey’s Trade Development Strategy Towards the Americas
    Date: August 2006
    Validity: December 2008
    Author: The Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade
    Length: 7 pages
    Format: Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf)
    Content Summary: Turkey has diversified its export markets with the help of new strategies launched since 2000. Turkey has been making considerable efforts in order to increase its exports towards new and alternative markets.

     

  • Invigorating the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership

    Invigorating the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership

     

     

    Invigorating the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership

     

    Ornek bir neocon profili arayanlar icin, Matt Byrza sunumda bulunmus.

    Washington Institute, Ataturk’u anma konferanslari duzenliyor mu bilmiyorum fakat, KK (Kukla Kurdistan) planlarinin yesermesine neden olan Turgut Ozal’in anisina bulunulan konferansda Byrza’nin sarf ettigi cumleler, gayet dikkat cekici. 

    Turkiye’nin enerji ihtiyacini karsilayabilmesi icin gerekli koridoru acabilmenin en kolay yolu, Dogu ve Bati Azerbaycan arasindaki Turk bolgesinden Ermeni hududunun kaldirilmasi ve Turkiye’den baslayan bir koridorun Orta Asya’ya kadar uzanmasi iken, Bryza’nin Ermenistan engelinin ortadan kaldirilmasi ihtimalini dusunemiyor olmasi bir neocon acisindan bayagi ilginc. Belki de Turkler’e karsi asla samimi olmayacaklari icin, gecmiste oldugu gibi, bugun de Ermeniler’i alet olarak kullanip, aba altindan Turkiye’ye gosterebilmek amaciyla bu konuya egilmek istemiyorlardir.

    Bir taraftan Turkiye’yi kritik oneme haiz bir ortak olarak tanimlarken, diger taraftan, bu kritik durumun Turkiye’nin tepesinin attirilmasi halinde Avrupa icin cok daha fazla kritik sorunlara yol acabilecegini de, umarim fark edebiliyorlardir. Turkiye aleyhindeki her turlu gelismeye seyirci kalan ve hatta KK konusunda Turkiye aleyhine Barzani ile iliskilerini saklamaktan cekinmeyen bu noecon zihniyet, Sangay Beslisi’nin Tacikistan ve Iran ile olusturacagi guc sonrasinda, Turkiye’ye acik cek verebilmesi ihtimalini de bence artik ciddi olarak dusunmelidir.

    Irak’in, Bush yonetimince gosterilen alakasiz gerekcelerle isgalini halen savunabilen, bu isgale destekte bulunmadigi icin hala Turkiye’yi suclayan absurd bir dusunce tarzi, bugun yanlizca diger ulkelerde degil, Amerika’nin bizzat icinde, hem cumhuriyetciler hem de demokratlar tarafindan siddetle kinanirken, Bryza’nin 1 Mart konusunu topluma sunabilmesi, ancak, “he got balls” olarak tanimlanabilir. KK gibi yardiminin istendigi konularda sagir Ismet’i oynayip, halk tarafindan girilmesinin istenmedigi AB konusunda destekte bulunmak, Turkiye’nin cikarlari ile bagdasmamaktadir. Ancak kucuk bir elit kesimin cikar iliskilerine yonelik yatirim olan bu AB konusu, uzun vadede Turkiye’yi nihai sona goturebilecek bir afyondur. Bu afyonun Turkiye’ye sunulmak istenmesi ise, yanlizca Gazprom uzerinden Rusya ekonomisine indirilmesi istenen darbeye yardimci olma amaci tasimaktadir. Ki bu da neoconlarin tek super guc olarak kalmasi ve gerekce bile gosterme zahmetine katlanmadan istedigi ulkeyi isgal edebilme ozgurlugune kavusabilmek icin kullanilan bir kamuflajdir. Turkiye’nin degil, Avrupa’nin cikarlarini gozetmektedir Byrza, bu konuda da.

    Turkiye icin ally tanimlamasini kullanan Byrza, diger taraftan Turkiye’nin basina 1984’den beri aktif olarak bela olan PKK teror orgutunden hala Kurdistan Isci Partisi olarak bahsederken, ancak Washington’daki Turkiyeliler’den alkis toplar, bu turdeki konusmasi icin. Turkler’den degil. Kasim 2007 Erdogan Bush gorusmesinde PKK’yi Amerika’nin “da” dusmani ilan etmek, PKK’nin 1984 – 2007 arasindaki tum teror aktivitelerine cikar karsiliginda sicak bakmak demektir ki, buradan anlasilabilecegi gibi, Byrza ve tum diger neoconlarin dostluk ve muttefiklik tanimi, musterek degil, yanlizca tek tarafli cikar iliskileri ile endekslidir.

    Irak’da Turk olduklari bilindigi halde kafalarina cuval gecirilen askerlerin durumunu ve Turkiye’deki yankisini anlamakta zorluk cekermisse bulunulan bir tutum, bu olayin bizzat Barzani’nin oglu tarafindan videoya alinisinin Turkler tarafindan olagan karsilanmasini istermiscesine yapilan kustahca yorumlara karsilik, Israil’in esir alinan iki askerine karsin Lubnan’a savas ilan etmesini ve ordusu ile Lubnan’a girmesini, Byrza’nin nasil aciklayabilecegi ilginc bir konu olacaktir. Turkler’in askere yonelik bakis acisini ABD Disisleri’nde calistigi surece anlayamamis ise Byrza, en yakin zamanda isgal etmekte oldugu koltuktan inip, New York’un Hunts Point Market’inde limon satmaya baslamasi, su anda bulundugundan cok daha fazla fayda saglayacaktir ulke icin. En azindan ekonomiye katkisi olacaktir.

    Cuval konusunda Ankara’ya bir ozur mektubu bile gondermenin geregini vurgulamayan Byrza’nin, Iran konusunda Turkiye’nin Tahran’a mesaj gondermesini bekleyebilmesi, Turkiye’yi muttefik olarak degil, ancak kuresel kartele bagli bir manda olarak gormesi ile aciklanabilir. Hele ki Guney Kore, Guney Vietnam, Surinam, Guyana, Kosova gibi ulkeleri resmen taniyip da Kuzey Kibris Turk Cumhuriyeti’ni tanimadigi ifadesinin ciktigi yorumlardan sonra, Byrza’nin Turkiye hakkindaki yorumlarinin cikar acisindan Turkiye’ye fayda saglayacagini sanabilecekler, ancak la-la land politikacilaridir.

    Turkiye’de AKP aleyhine acilan davanin nedenini de muamma olarak yorumlayan Byrza, ya samimi degildir yahut da Kongre’de bu konuda calismalarda bulunan Kongre Uyeleri’nin calismalarini aciklamak istememektedir.

    Her halukarda da boylesine bir tutum, samimiyetsizlik ornegidir.

    Gusan Yedic