A highly respected Australian church leader was a KGB spy, according to newly released Russian intelligence archives.
Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Australia and New Zealand, was listed as a KGB agent, codenamed “Zorik” in the papers of former KGB archivist and defector Vasili Mitrokhin, which were released by the UK’s Churchill College Archive last month.
Born in Syria in 1946, the late Archbishop Baliozian arrived in Australia in 1975 to serve as Vicar General of the diocese of the Armenian Church before being appointed as Primate of Australia and New Zealand in 1982.
A highly respected religious leader and a well-known figure in Chatswood, Sydney, Archbishop Baliozian was strongly committed to ecumenism, working for cooperation and greater unity between Christian churches.
He was the first president of the National Council of Churches in Australia from 1994 to 1997 and president of the NSW Ecumenical Council from 2005 to 2007. He represented the Armenian Church at the World Council of Churches.
Archbishop Baliozian was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995 “in recognition of service to the Armenian community” and the Centenary Medal in 2001, again for community service.
However, Mitrokhin’s papers on KGB espionage operations in Australia allege Archbishop Baliozian was recruited by Soviet intelligence in 1973 while undertaking theological studies in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union.
According to Mitrokhin’s notes of Soviet state security files, Aghan Baliozian went on to work as a KGB agent while studying and teaching in Jerusalem in 1974, and maintained “ongoing communications in three countries”. He continued contact with the KGB after he transferred to the Armenian Church in Australia, according to the papers.
However, Mitrokhin’s papers also suggest that his performance in Australia was considered unsatisfactory. The third department of the KGB’s foreign intelligence directorate, responsible for operations in Australia, concluded Archbishop Baliozian had “insufficient operational training” and eventually discontinued his employment.
The precise terms of Archbishop Baliozian’s separation from the KGB are not recorded in Mitrokhin’s notes and it is not known whether he had any further dealings with Soviet intelligence in the 1980s.
Mitrokhin’s notes of KGB files record Soviet state security’s extensive efforts to recruit clergy as agents and informants, especially in churches with a significant presence in the former Soviet Union.
British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, who collaborated with Mitrokhin on two books, claims that, during the Cold War the KGB recruited a number of representatives on the World Council of Churches, mainly from the Russian Orthodox Church but from other denominations as well, in successful efforts to influence the Council’s policies.
Archbishop Baliozian died in September 2012. More than 600 people attended his funeral at the Armenian Apostolic Church in Chatswood, including three archbishops from Jerusalem, India and Armenia.
Many NSW political figures paid tribute to the archbishop, with Liberal MP Jonathan O’Dea applauding his commitment to inter-religious dialogue as well as his abilities as an orator.
“Always approachable and gregarious, the archbishop was captivating as a speaker… He would simply speak from the heart, capturing the attention of young and old in his congregation and developing a strong and loyal following,” Mr O’Dea told the NSW Parliament.
UK’s most senior police officer jumps into taxi to pursue suspect who stole money from driver
The UK’s most senior police officer broke off from a radio interview to make an arrest today.
According to Irish Times Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe jumped into a taxi to pursue a suspect after the driver complained his passengers refused to pay the fare and had stolen cash from him.
Sir Bernard, who was taking part in a pre-recorded interview with BBC London 94.9 Drivetime presenter Eddie Nestor near Bruce Grove station in Tottenham, north London, joined the chase first in the minicab and later in a squad car.
He went on to apprehend a teenager, Scotland Yard said.
In a recording of the interview, Sir Bernard can be heard asking the driver if he knows where the suspect is, adding: “I’m going to go with you.”
His force said in a tweet: “Commissioner Hogan-Howe arrested a 19yo man on suspicion of theft this morning after being flagged down by local taxi driver.”
The driver, who gave his name as Mohammed, told the BBC a passenger took £20 (€25) from his dashboard before running away.
He said: “When I see the police, I ask the police ‘please can you stop the guys?”
He said he was not aware who the officer who came to his aid was, but described him as a “very good, very kind” man.
It is not the first time Sir Bernard has gone back to his “bobby” roots.
In 2006, when he was chief constable of Merseyside Police, he chased and arrested a suspected drink-driver in Liverpool.
It means Sir Bernard has made an arrest in every rank he has held since becoming an officer in 1979, Scotland Yard said.
After the pursuit, the commissioner told the BBC: “The important thing for today, at least for me, is that I have made an arrest at every rank as a police officer, so as chief constable at Merseyside, but never as commissioner, and I have been here three years — that’s very slack, it’s a disgrace, but today we have put it right.”
A Met Police statement said the commissioner was recording an interview at around 11.20am when the minicab stopped and the driver asked for help.
It said: “Four males were seen to jump out of the vehicle and run off, closely followed by an officer who was with the commissioner.
“A 17-year old youth was arrested inside Bruce Grove Rail Station on suspicion of theft, handling and making off without payment.
“Descriptions were circulated and the commissioner got into a police car which arrived at the scene and went to look for the outstanding suspects.
“In nearby Napier Road, N1, one of the suspects, a 19-year old man, was seen and arrested on suspicion of theft and making off without payment.”
A spokesman confirmed the commissioner had initially got into the taxi before continuing the pursuit in a police vehicle.
The two suspects are currently being held in police stations in north London.
DOV FRIEDMAN, THE JACKSON INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS AT YALE UNIVERSITY
AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu
Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan
Throughout Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan appeared committed to outdoing himself in his hyperbolic criticism of Israel. A series of references to Israel massacring the population of Gaza culminated with accusations that Israel had “surpassed Hitler in barbarism.”
The comments marked only the latest nadir in Turkey-Israel relations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has typically been muted in his responses to Erdoğan’s previous outbursts. But Netanyahu reacted differently to his Turkish counterpart’s latest paroxysm. He called Erdoğan’s comments anti-Semitic, and downgraded diplomatic relations with Turkey to the “minimum required”.
In the scheme of the four-plus year Turkey-Israel feud, this incident might seem to change little. The deal that began with Netanyahu’s apology for the Mavi Marmara snagged on the question of payment, but its outlines remain clear — if the sides can ever move beyond petty insults, that is.
Erdoğan certainly benefits domestically from harsh rhetoric toward Israel, and he is presently in the home stretch of a presidential campaign he desperately wants to win on the first ballot.
All the while, economic relations between Turkey and Israel have never been better — with trade up 39% to $48.5 billion in 2013, and on pace to break that record in 2014. Tourism between the two countries remains strong, and there were a record number of Turkish visitors to Israel in 2013.
It is enough for optimists to look past the histrionics and see relations that are stable and productive, at least beneath the surface.
That analysis may be breaking down, however, when it comes to one huge economic topic: energy, and specifically Israel’s gas reserves.
There is widespread agreement that a gas pipeline from Israel’s fields to Turkey’s ports is the most logical and lucrative export route available. Yet Turkey’s scorching rhetoric has, in Israel’s eyes, undermined its reliability as a partner for new initiatives — even for what is, at core, a mutually beneficial economic project. As a result, a joint venture that by any reasonable measure should commence seems to be indefinitely stalled, to the economic and strategic detriment of both parties.
Turkey’s interest in Israeli gas stems from its rapidly increasing domestic needs. Natural gas consumption has risen threefold since 2001 and rose by a third between 2009 and 2012 before leveling off around 47 billion cubic meters (BCM) per year in 2013.
Russia supplied more than 55% of Turkey’s natural gas, and Iran chipped in nearly another 20 percent. Russia’s market power enables it to extract a high price for its gas, and Turkey’s long term take-or-pay contracts only exacerbate the financial burdens.
In an effort to achieve cost savings through competition, Turkey has actively sought to diversify its supply lines. Azerbaijan currently provides roughly 4 BCM to the Turkish market, with plans to increase its supply to Turkey above 10 BCM in the coming years. Turkey also seeks gas from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) rich gas fields in northern Iraq, though these are unlikely to come online until nearly the end of this decade.
Turkey has factored Israeli gas into its strategy as well. Even with projected increases in consumption to 70 BCM per year by 2025, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, and Israel collectively could help the Turks limit their dependence on Russia and Iran.
Israel would not be some bit player in this scheme.
With fully-funded infrastructure projects and based only on current reserves, Israel could export 22 BCM per year. Even with Egypt claiming 7 BCM per year at present, Israel could conceivably still pipe 15 BCM to Turkey — more than 20% of the Turks’ projected domestic needs a decade from now.
For its part, Israel faces open questions about how Leviathan — its largest gas field — will be funded. In late July, Noble Energy elected to delay until 2015 its decision about investing $6 billion in Phase 1 development. Strictures on reserving gas for the domestic market and the threat of anti-trust intervention to fix prices factored heavily into the decision.
At the same time, only Egypt has emerged as a viable revenue-driving export destination. Yet Turkey’s voracious appetite for natural gas could ensure the profitability of a fully-developed Leviathan field, while incentivizing further development of Israel’s gas industry through exploration.
The country’s direction under Erdoğan endangers this arrangement. Turkey has positioned itself less and less as the mediating, facilitating actor of the late-2000s and early-2010s. An increasingly divisive foreign policy — consisting of fevered perorations after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s coup in Egypt and an apparent toleration of Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra’s presence on Turkish soil — culminated in Turkey taking its place as Hamas’ deputy interlocutor in negotiations with the U.S. and Israel during the latest Gaza crisis.
Israel has taken note of the Turkish government’s shift. While Israel is not reckless or foolish enough to cancel profitable existing business relationships, future ones — especially in areas of such strategic import, like energy — will attract heavier scrutiny.
Some experts argue that this is sound policy. Why should Israel provide a strategic asset to an openly hostile leader like Erdoğan? Others believe that, while Israel should still pursue the deal, it will not.
They explain that the deal is in Israel’s best interest, so why should it matter who stands at the other end? But, they claim, Netanyahu feels too bitterly toward Turkey’s AK Party government to countenance rebuilding strategic ties and selling them gas.
Whether Israel should or will sell to Turkey, few in Israel believe that a pipeline deal with Turkey is in the making in the near term. Turkey will carry on paying Russia and Iran’s steep fees, and Israel will await word on Noble’s future plans for Leviathan.
This is merely one consequence of the Gaza operation: the non-realization of a deal on natural gas that both sides want — and may desperately need.
Izmir beachhead established. PKK raids Gülen Gang in Saylorsburg, Pa.
Candy, flowers and laughing women. Weeping, cursing and shoeboxes.
A pre-raid aerial view of the Gülen Gang’s headquarters, Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, August 7, 2014
By Max Placid / McClatchy Newspapers
In a morning mist, Pennsylvania’s paramilitary forces landed on the Turkish coast at Izmir on August 4. They met no resistance but they did encounter a jubilant Turkish crowd who greeted the Pennsylvanians by bombarding them with Turkish delight candy and Atatürk flowers. As the Rocky Balboa Brigade, an elite unarmed (except for their fists) attack force, sprinted down Martyrs Street, hilariously laughing women streamed into the Kordon, Izmir’s magnificent seaside esplanade. “Go Rocky!” they screamed through tears of joy, “Get Bulent for us!” Of course, they werereferring to the hapless Turkish deputy prime minister who bizarrely admonished Turkish women for laughing in public. It seemed to the surprised Pennsylvanians that they were participating in some sort of weird liberation. As the Balboa Brigade veered left onto Kemalpasha Street tables of sliced melon, white cheese and glasses of rakı (the Turkish national beverage) appeared. But the highly disciplined Pennsylvanians ignored the temptation. “Yo Turks! On the way back! On the way back!” shouted Colonel Rocky Balboa, brigade commander. It was obvious that their immediate objective was not Izmir.
On the home front, on the same day as the Izmir landing, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett launched a pre-emptive pre-dawn raid on the CIA safe-house of an alleged imam, Fethullah Gülen. Gülen is a longtime, infamous ally of the Turkish prime minister. Both have been previously convicted—Gülen in absentia—of seditious behavior. Governor Corbett, now commander-in-chief of the hastily formed Pennsylvania Kombat Kommand (PKK), announced that he is fully aware of the conspiracy between the current Turkish government and what has been labeled the “Hey Pennsylvania” movement. “Gülen and Erdoğan are cut from the cloth,” said Corbett and elaborated in the following statement:
“Together they have conspired to destroy Turkish democracy. They have used the most disgusting, criminal methods in their treason. And I am ashamed to say that America’s CIA aided and abetted their crimes. Regardless of what others may think or say, the people of Pennsylvania have no place for these ‘religious’ two-faced criminals. An undercover gang in Pennsylvania will be quickly uprooted and brought to justice. And that’s the reason for the raid by the PKK.”
The Pennsylvania Kombat Kommand (PKK) is another quickly assembled strike team consisting of a highly-trained special weapons contingent of state policewomen, Pittsburgh Penguin hockey players and the starting lineup of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. All three groups are skilled in insertions, extractions and evacuations.
Jimmy Rollins
The raid of Gülen’s hideout at 1857 Mt. Eaton Road in Saylorsburg, often referred to as “Feto’s Farm,” was a complete success. Silence prevailed as the Kombat Kommand encircled the premises. Guards at the front gate were neutralized by Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies shortstop, who leveled his bat at the two gatekeepers. One of them, a Turk named Imdat Aptal, volunteered immediately to act as an interpreter. In appreciation, Rollins generously autographed Aptal’s copy of Pearls of Wisdom, by F. Gülen.
Thus having secured the entrance, a barrier of interlocking hockey sticks was implaced by the defensemen of the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Note: Being summer, the Penguins wore roller skates in this operation.)
“No one can pass!” ordered Rollins.
“Kimse geçemez!” echoed Aptal.
Immediately thereafter an impenetrable defensive perimeter was established by Rollins baseball teammates and the Penguins.
Meanwhile great wailing and lamentation came from the main house. Beddua this and beddua that, here a beddua, there a beddua, and every so often the word “parallel” was heard .
“What’s all this yelling about beddua?” asked A.J. Burnett, the Phillies big right-handed starting pitcher.
“The boss is angry again,” said Aptal. “He’s bedduaing, I mean, cursing and talking to Allah.”
“Yeah? Well you come with me and tell him that he better watch his mouth and that he’s being busted in the name of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
“Of course,” said Aptal.
Behind the mansion a backhoe was digging huge holes in a green field. Inside the mansion, sobs were gushing from the main office, as smiling police women searched Gülen and his premises. The air was electric. The full horror story of religious intrigue, espionage, prostitution, forgery, blackmail, narcotics trafficking, judicial corruption and treason might soon be revealed.
It was. The bookcases in the main office were not bookcases at all. Officer Mary Jane Stonebreaker leaned against a copy of Love and Tolerance, also by F. Gülen. and—wow!—the bookshelves suddenly swung open to reveal a vast storage vault. Endless ranks and rows of boxes filled the space. A warehouse of shoeboxes!
“Who lives here, Imelda Marcos?” asked the astonished police officer. “What the heck is this place? A shoe factory or something?”
Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard, his 36-ounce Louisville Slugger bat acting as her backup weapon, opened one of the boxes, this one labeled T. Erdog.
“This is a money factory, Officer Stonebreaker.”
“Gee, I only touched the book,” said the policewomen with an ironic laugh. “What would have happen if I read it?”
“Yeah,” agreed Howard, “I make 25 million dollars a year with the Phillies. These guys make that much in a day. We’re both in the wrong business.”
“But at least we’re honest,” said Officer Stonebreaker.
“Yeah,” said the big first baseman, “Let’s find this creep so you can bust him.”
Meanwhile the results of the outside excavation and the inside investigation were being displayed in the lobby. In addition to firearms and enough explosive devices to launch Pennsylvania into the afterlife, evidence of the long-term, continuing connection of the subversive relationship between the Gülen movement and the Erdoğan government abounded, to wit:
A box of counterfeit Marmara University graduation diplomas.
30 years of handwritten correspondence, birthday cards, thank-you notes and travel post cards between Gülen and Erdoğan. The latest from Erdoğan, dated July 4, 2014 and encoded in Turkic-English as follows:
DEER ESTEAMED FRIEND FETO, WE SHURE FOOLING THEM NOW. ALL THINK PARRRALLLELLL STATES IS TROO. HA HA HA. TANKS A LOT FOR STASH FOR KASH. I WILL BE A PRECEDENT OF TURKEY SOON NOW FOR SHURE. YOU BETCHA IN VON MINIT OR TOO. PLEEZE GIVE RIGARDS TO LOAF OF BREAD FRIENDZ AT AGENTSY. HEH HEH HEH. MEANS CIA. RTE
Scores of video cassettes revealed the auditioning of Deniz Baykal body-doubles. Outtakes show Fethullah Gülen sitting in a director’s chair wearing a beret and smoking a cigar. Every time he yells “CUT!” he takes a drag on his stogie, blows smoke, then curses frantically.
Feto Inc. Listening Device
Listening devices.
15 automatic signature machines.
37 cash counting machines.
Barrels of dice. Cartons of playing cards. Cases of poker chips.
236 new copies of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Treason, Blackmail, Falsification of Evidence and Embezzlement.
7,698 copies of How to Fool All the People All the Time.
11 copies of The Joys of Montage, Subterfuge and Sabotage.
4,789 copies of How to Plant Evidence and Ruin People’s Lives.
A truckload of hypodermic syringes.
The search continues. “It is astonishing how these religious hypocrites use crime in the name of God,” said Governor Corbett. “We will continue to press the attack at home. And we are pleased to hear from Colonel Balboa that the Turks are with us. Pennsylvania Kombat Kommand! Your immediate objectives are Ankara, the parliament and the prime minister! Forward!”
All Gülen Gang personnel were booked at the Saylorsburg police station. Under the terms and provisions of the Patriot Act of 2001 and the Espionage Act of 1917, the accused gang members were remanded to the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Stroudsburg pending completion of the investigation.
The former employee at US National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden, has revealed that the British and American intelligence and the Mossad worked together to create the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Snowden said intelligence services of three countries created a terrorist organisation that is able to attract all extremists of the world to one place, using a strategy called “the hornet’s nest”.
NSA documents refer to recent implementation of the hornet’s nest to protect the Zionist entity by creating religious and Islamic slogans.
According to documents released by Snowden, “The only solution for the protection of the Jewish state “is to create an enemy near its borders”.
Leaks revealed that ISIS leader and cleric Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi took intensive military training for a whole year in the hands of Mossad, besides courses in theology and the art of speech.
Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes will be one of the new topics on offer if the draft A-level is accredited
The rise of Islam and pre-colonial African kingdoms are among topics on offer in a draft new history A-level, due to be introduced next year.
The course, from exam board OCR, will also include options on Alfred the Great and Genghis Khan.
The aim is to give greater breadth to the fifth most popular A-level subject.
OCR’s head of history, Mike Goddard said the subject had been criticised “for being too repetitive and having a 20th Century Western focus”.
Hitler and the Henrys
Mr Goddard said these criticisms were sometimes unfair but added that: “Hitler and the Henrys can dominate.
“Universities tell us they want incoming students to have greater breadth of knowledge.
New history topics
Alfred and the Making of England: 871 – 1016
The Early Anglo Saxons: 400 – 800
Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes: 1167 – 1405
Japan: 1853 – 1937
African Kingdoms: 1400 – 1800
The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India: 1526 – 1739
The Rise of Islam: 550 – 750
The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire: 1453 – 1606
China and its rulers: 1839 – 1989
The Middle East, Ottomans to Arab Spring: 1908 -2011
“It’s vital that schools and colleges have an opportunity to deliver, for example, the history of pre-colonial, non-Western civilisations, alongside British history.”
The board says the course will continue to include familiar subjects such as the Tudors and Stuarts, Victorian social reform and the rise of Hitler but the aim is to broaden the subject “in time and space”.
Some of the 10 new topics will appear in an A-level syllabus for the first time.
Mr Goddard said the African Kingdoms topic, developed with university experts would “give students, for the first time, the chance to discover the economic and political power of four pre-colonial kingdoms which had far-reaching global trade and diplomatic connections”.
Altogether there will be 58 topics divided into three groups:
world history
British history
historical themes
King Henry VIII is a staple of the A-level history syllabus
Sixth-formers are asked to choose three topics – one from each group.
New subject criteria from Ofqual requires that from 2015 students should take options from across a 200-year range and include the study of more than one state.
‘Under-explored’
OCR says its specification ranges over nearly 1,700 years and includes dozens of states.
The board hopes it might be appealing for teachers to get out of their comfort zones and teach topics that are new to them, using a range of new online resources and support facilities.
Prof Peter Mandler, president of the Royal Historical Society, said the principle of broadening school history was an approach favoured by academics.
“History tells us not so much about who we are as about who we have been and what we might yet be,” he said.
“We welcome efforts by the examination boards to bring recent academic research on hitherto under-explored histories within reach of school pupils.
“It is particularly important not to tell the history of the non-Western world solely through its contact with the West.”
The new course will be submitted for accreditation by the exam regulator Ofqual next month.
If approved it will be taught in schools from September 2015.
via BBC News – Less Hitler and Henrys in new history A-level.
