Last week, I was asked by Alpha News TV to comment on the U.S. Senate’s decision, by a unanimous vote of 100 to 0, to suspend for two years Pres. Joe Biden’s authority to waive Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act which prohibits providing assistance to Azerbaijan. Should the House of Representatives also approve this bill, it would then go to the President for his signature which would make it a law. Since 1992, all U.S. presidents, including Pres. Biden in the last two years, have waived Section 907, thus providing tens of millions of dollars of aid to Azerbaijan.
The Senate’s decision angered Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry which described it as a blow to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and cancelled its participation in the planned Washington talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries on Nov. 20.
During my interview with Alpha News, I stated that not a single U.S. Senator objected to the anti-Azerbaijan bill, despite Azerbaijan hiring multiple large lobbying firms to defend its interests in Washington. This means that Azerbaijan has wasted tens of millions of dollars in the last two decades paying for these useless lobbying firms. I would like to add that the person directly responsible for overseeing the work of these lobbying firms is Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Washington, Khazar Ibrahim. Therefore, any government that becomes aware of the waste of such large amounts of money would immediately fire its Ambassador. If Pres. Aliyev does not dismiss Amb. Ibrahim, then he himself would be just as responsible for the waste of millions of dollars on worthless lobbying firms which have not been able to convince a single Senator out of 100 to vote in favor of Azerbaijan’s interests.
Within days of my interview with Alpha News, Azerbaijan’s first English language newspaper, AzerNews, published a lengthy article titled, “Bribing congressmen, Armenian lobby poses threat to future of Yerevan,” attacking me personally for saying that Azerbaijan has wasted millions of dollars on lobbying. This is what shameless people do when they accuse others of doing things they are guilty of.
The whole world knows about Azerbaijan’s notorious Caviar Diplomacy and Azerbaijani Laundromat, bribing politicians throughout Europe with billions of dollars to cast votes in favor of Azerbaijan in order to whitewash Azerbaijan’s severe human rights violations and its fraudulent presidential elections.
Shamelessly, AzerNews falsely states that “Armenia’s lobby organizations abroad, pour millions or perhaps billions into the pockets of congressmen, of course, baseless and biased opinions against Azerbaijan will be voiced from the West.”
There are several grave errors in the above sentence. First of all, the Armenian government has not hired a single U.S. lobbying firm simply because it does not have the huge amount of petrodollars that Azerbaijan has which it wastes on lobbying firms in Washington, instead of taking care of its poor people at home. Secondly, Armenian-American organizations do not have millions, let alone billions of dollars to “pour into the pockets of congressmen.” Armenian-Americans do not need to bribe anyone. When your cause is just, you do not need to pay bribes to convince anyone of the truth. Only when you commit massive crimes, as Azerbaijan and Turkey repeatedly do, you need to spend millions and billions of dollars to cover up your crimes.
AzerNews went on to incriminate Azerbaijan, saying that Baku “is not only interested in participating in this auction of finding partnerships that Armenia is lavishly doing now.” Even though the sentence is not grammatically correct, the Azeri writer seems to admit that Azerbaijan is eager to bribe foreign officials. This is a useless statement since Azerbaijan has been bribing foreign officials for years.
Azerbaijan should be the last country in the world to cast aspersions on Armenia or any other country, since Baku is led by a dictator who jails journalists and human rights activists, and his soldiers commit the ugliest war crimes, such as rapes and beheadings. Azerbaijan invaded Artsakh and committed genocide against its Armenian population. Furthermore, Ramil Safarov, an Azeri soldier, during a NATO-sponsored training seminar in Hungary, chopped the head of a sleeping Armenian soldier with an axe. After Pres. Aliyev bribed the Hungarian government to release him from prison, he pardoned him and recognized him as a national hero.
I commend AzerNews for tracking all the way from Baku my interview in Glendale, California, and writing a baseless and false response. The writer of the article, Elnur Enveroglu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AzerNews, went to great lengths to find not only my TV interview, but also to translate it from Armenian into English.
There are many justified complaints about Russia’s shameful role in the loss of Artsakh and inaction in coming to the defense of Armenia’s borders. However, there is also a lot to complain about the indifference by the international community, including the United States, about Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh and Armenia.
For 30 years, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, composed of the United States, France and Russia, the mediators in the Artsakh conflict, issued repeated statements about the unacceptability of the use of force, urging the settlement of the dispute through peaceful negotiations.
However, contrary to such well-intentioned words, when Azerbaijan repeatedly attacked Artsakh and Armenia with frequent shootings at the border for three decades, the OSCE Minsk Group simply issued meaningless statements, urging both sides not to engage in violence. The OSCE, however, never bothered to point a finger at the guilty party — Azerbaijan — thus equating the victimizer with the victim.
Such unjust statements encouraged Azerbaijan to brazenly continue its attacks, culminating in the unleashing of a massive war against Artsakh in 2020, followed by incursions into the territory of Armenia. Last month, Azerbaijan violated the agreement it signed in 2020 to allow Russian peacekeepers to protect the remnants of Artsakh’s population until 2025. Pres. Ilham Aliyev, knowing full well that no foreign country would intervene to stop his attacks, ethnically cleansed the 120,000 inhabitants of Artsakh and drove them out of their historical homeland.
On Sept. 14, 2023, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “We will not tolerate any military action. We will not tolerate any attack on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.” Days later, Azerbaijan attacked and occupied Artsakh confident that the U.S. government was bluffing.
Naturally, no one expected the United States or another major power to send troops to defend Artsakh and Armenia, but merely urging Azerbaijan not to block the Lachin Corridor or refrain from the use of force is an exercise in futility. The international community did not even impose sanctions on Azerbaijan because its gas and oil was more valuable than Armenian blood.
To make matters worse, after ignoring Azerbaijan’s repeated attacks on Artsakh and Armenia since the 2020 war, Samantha Power, the Administrator of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), finally arrived in Armenia last week, bringing along a letter from Pres. Joe Biden which contained a lot of sweet words for Armenians, but once again, no action.
Even more shocking, Power offered the pitiful amount of $11.5 million in humanitarian aid to the 120,000 destitute Artsakh refugees. That’s almost $96 for each refugee, deprived of housing, food, medicines and other basic necessities. This is a shameful amount of money compared to the USAID’s annual budget of $50 billion. Her visit was too late and accomplished too little.
Several other countries and international agencies also pledged assistance to the Artsakh Armenians: France ($7.4 million), Germany ($5.3 million), the European Union ($5.3 million), Sweden ($1.3 million), Canada ($1.85 million), Denmark ($140,000), United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR (amount unspecified), Japan (amount unspecified), Spain (amount unspecified). Armenia committed $25 million, plus $125 for rent and utilities per month for six months for each refugee. The government of Cyprus invited the Artsakh refugees to resettle in Cyprus. However, it is not a good idea to take these displaced Armenians out of Armenia.
In addition, dozens of Armenian organizations throughout the Diaspora are raising funds to help the Artsakh refugees. There are also many charitable organizations and businesses in Armenia that are helping the Artsakh Armenians with funds, supplies or services. Armenia’s Ministry of Finance opened a bank account to receive donations from the public. There is also an office set up by the Armenian government to coordinate the distribution of the offered assistance.
Just in case someone thinks that the pledged assistance is a lot of money, it is in fact a negligible amount compared to the vast needs of the refugees for the months and years to come. Ukraine, on the other hand, has received so far $80 billion from the United States for its military, financial and humanitarian needs. In addition, 41 other countries have contributed tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine.
The lack of concrete action by the Biden Administration, aside from pledging $11.5 million to the Artsakh refugees, has highly disappointed many Armenian-Americans. It is surprising that Pres. Biden, an experienced politician and candidate for reelection next year, who has one of the lowest ratings in the history of the United States for an incumbent president, has not made more of an effort to win over Armenian-American voters. Even if Pres. Biden does not care about Armenia and Artsakh, he should have at least cared about his own self-interest, which is getting votes for his own re-election.
April 18, 2023 President Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20500
Re: President Biden disregarded four articles of the U.S. constitution by describing the 1915 events as genocide
Dear Mr. President,
We are writing this letter as the representatives of the Turkish American community, to express our disappointment and dismay concerning your one-sided declaration on April 24, 2022, that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide on its Armenian subjects in 1915. A claim which was never proven legally or through historical research.
Mr. President, we are aware and proud of the fact that you are a graduate of Syracuse Law School and that you were the Chairman or Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for 16 years. We know how knowledgeable, respectful, and sensitive you are about the rule of law. Furthermore, you did solemnly swear as the president-elect on that glorious inauguration day that you would “preserve, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.” Yet, we are very astonished, Mr. President, that you disregarded at least four articles and amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
We believe that your April 24 statement is in conflict with basic principles of fairness in the U.S. Constitution. The first and second issues are related to the fundamental fairness principles, while the third and fourth issues specifically pertain to the “Due Process Rights” of Turkish Americans.
The first issue concerns Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which makes international treaties ratified by the Senate a part of U.S. domestic law. Here is a partial quote:
“…This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding…”
“Genocide”, an international crime, was coded by the “U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide,” approved and proposed for ratification in 1948 and entered into force in 1951. Türkiye became a party to this Convention in1950. This Convention regulates the crime of genocide in the domestic legal structure of the U.S. by being approved by the Senate on November 11, 1988, in accordance with Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. It became PUBLIC LAW 100-606 called the “Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987 (the Proxmire Act)”. You, Mr. President, yourself sponsored the resolution that paved the way to this law.
According to this 1948 Convention, adopted by 140 states around the world and has the character of “jus cojens” (the compelling, overriding, unchallengeable rule) in law, in order for an act to be considered genocide, a competent tribunal must prove the material and moral elements of the crime (actus reus and mens rea) and, in particular, the crime must be determined to have been committed with special intent (dolus specialis.) No such proceedings were instituted against the Ottoman Empire or its rulers, and no competent court ruled that the crime of genocide had been committed. In this case, your April 24 statement is clearly in conflict with both the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. domestic law, not to mention international law.
The second issue is the conflict with the “principle of legality” enshrined in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution.This section prohibits the adoption of “ex post facto laws” and their retroactive application. Here is a partial quote:
“…No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed….”
According to this article, an act that does not constitute a crime according to the law of the time it was committed does not constitute a crime by a subsequent law. “Genocide” did not exist in 1915 as a word or concept. It was first defined as a crime in the U.N. General Assembly document of December 11, 1946, and codified by the U.N. Genocide Convention adopted on December 9, 1948. The 1948 concept of genocide cannot be used retroactively to describe the events in 1915. Therefore, Mr. President, your April 24 statement is undoubtedly contrary to the letter and spirit of section 9 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution.
The third, and the most important, issue is the “Due Process Rights” of Turkish Americans, protected under the 5th and 14th Amendments in the U.S. Constitution – combining your third and fourth infringements.
The Constitution states only one command twice. The Fifth Amendment dictates to the federal government that no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, uses the very same words, called the Due Process Clause, to describe a legal obligation of all states. This means that the government must follow fair procedures and respect the legal rights of individuals before depriving them of their fundamental rights. Fourteenth Amendment applies this protection to the states and ensures that all individuals are entitled to due process of law, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or gender. In this case, we strongly believe, that the due process rights of Americans of Turkish origin were totally disregarded. We strongly disagree with your declaration as it is not based on historical facts and lacks any legal basis. We believe that your declaration was motivated solely to gain political popularity among the strong Armenian diaspora, while jeopardizing the safety and well-being of Turkish Americans in the United States.
We are deeply concerned that your declaration, claiming the events of 1915 as Armenian Genocide, could negatively affect the fairness and impartiality of legal proceedings involving American citizens of Turkish and Armenian descent. It is important to note that the growing Turkish American community has become increasingly vocal about the facts of the 1915 events and aims to educate the public about the Turkish perspective, which has long been overshadowed by the one-sided and often fabricated narrative presented by the Armenian side.
The growing visibility and public awareness of the true side of the History, as advanced by non-partisan scholars based on credible historical research, has unfortunately led to an increase in hate crimes and terrorism, victimizing Turkish Americans at the hands of Armenian radicals. Your declaration may inadvertently encourage the perpetrators of these hate crimes and negatively impact the fairness and impartiality of legal proceedings against such suspects. Encouraged by your April 24 statement, Armenian racists inclined to avenge the alleged Armenian Genocide, threatened Turkish Americans, inflicted physical harm on them, and destroyed their property. We are kindly asking, Mr. President, that you consider incidents of hate crimes and bullying against Turkish Americans, particularly in California, where a significant number of Armenians reside.
As a community that values justice, fairness, and the principles of due process, we, the people of Turkish American heritage, request that you reconsider your declaration and take steps to promote a more balanced and accurate understanding of the events of 1915. We believe that all individuals, regardless of their ethnicity or background, deserve fair and impartial treatment under the law.
Mr. President, you put forward the long-discredited political claim of Armenian genocide as an irrefutable fact, following up on your many similar statements during your 2020 election campaign. Your statement, unfairly and untruthfully, stigmatized Turkish Americans as evil people who deserve to be punished. What you have done with the April 24, 2022 statement is nothing less than “extrajudicial execution” in terms of the U.S. Constitution and domestic law.
Your April 24 statement, Mr. President, is pedagogically unsound, as there are multiple reasons for doubting the Armenian Genocide thesis, including the absence of a court verdict. In addition, hostility towards viewpoints that dispute the Armenian Genocide thesis stifles open and honest discussion, represents viewpoint discrimination, and constitutes a further problem with the First Amendment.
Mr. President, your April 24 statement will cause academic freedom to be curtailed as it erroneously presumes that genocide occurred. On the other hand, the work and research of many distinguished scholars have shown that these genocide claims are nothing more than fabrications and distortions of history. Among the many examples are the scholarly work and publications of professors Bernard Lewis of Princeton University, Gunter Lewy of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Justin McCarthy of the University of Louisville, which clearly demonstrated that such a crime did not occur. Dissenting views are educationally valuable, as they expose falsehoods, refine partial truths, and reinforce truths by battle-testing them. But when your April 24 statement stops all that, education and truth suffer, prejudices and perceptions will continue to dominate.
Mr. President, we would like to remind you your own words: “…America is an idea. An idea that is stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It gives hope to the most desperate people on earth, it guarantees that everyone is treated with dignity and gives hate no safe harbor…” We, the people of Turkish-American heritage, are not treated with dignity. Unfortunately, your April 24 statement does give a safe harbor to hate and does not help build peace as our children are already being bullied in K-12 schools.
Most importantly, we are kindly asking you, Mr. President, that you support the initiative by the republics of Türkiye and Armenia to establish a Joint Historical Commission, composed of historians and legal scholars to be selected by Ankara and Erivan. We hope you will contribute earnestly to the realization of this initiative.
For this to work, of course, all national archives must be fully open to research. While Ottoman and Turkish archives are fully open to international research since 1980s, Armenian archives remain closed to scholars critical of genocide claims.
This is the only way to end this ethno-religious bias and discrimination against Turkish-Americans by those influenced by crude stereotypes of genocide claims that are rooted, in large part, in the deliberate wartime propaganda efforts of the World War I Allies.
Mr. President, a Turkish-Armenian Joint Historical Commission to investigate the genocide claims may be the only frank, honest, ethical, logical, and effective way forward. We believe research and dialogue, not stereotyping and defamation, can build the way to peace, reconciliation, and closure.
Respectfully,
Mazlum Kosma President
Dr. Bulent Basol Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Americans of Turkish heritage are deeply disappointed with President Joe Biden’s characterization of the Events of 1915 as genocide. President Biden’s April 24 statement is misguided because it:
· Discriminates against and prejudices our community, by choosing to side with Armenian Americans, while passively denigrating Turkish Americans with the accusation of genocide and contributing to the enduring turcophobia that targets people of Turkish heritage;
· Denies the tragedy that befell Ottoman Muslims and Jews, during the Armenian insurrections that massacred and displaced over 1 million Ottoman Kurds, Turks, and Jews in eastern Ottoman Anatolia;
· Disrespects the rule of law, including the United Nations Genocide Convention which designates the International Court of Justice as the adjudicator of allegations of genocide; the Separation of Powers which does not authorize the Executive Branch to adjudicate; and last but not least, Due Process — Presumption of Innocence — Benefit of the Doubt — Equal Protection — all rights denied to our community;
· Disregards international legal precedent, including the 1921 Malta Tribunals which acquitted 144 Ottoman officials of war crimes, the United Nations which has thrice declared it does not consider the Armenian case a genocide, and the European Court of Human Rights which held that the Armenian case is an allegation and not a proven genocide.
In times when our nation is deeply divided, polarized with hatred and prejudice, and when hate crimes have become routine, including attacks against people of Turkish and Muslim heritage, we wish President Biden would have taken the lessons of April 24, 1915, to promote unifying reconciliation, rather than divisive accusations. President Biden’s unfortunate statement is more about America than Turkey or the world. President Biden should have addressed our own past injustices in America, before casting the stone at others for events more than 100 years ago, thousands of miles away.
· Ahiskan American Society of Massachusetts
· American Association of Crimean Turks
· American Karachai-Kafkas Benevolent Association
· American Turkish Association of Washington DC (ATADC)
· Amerika Ülkü Ocaklari New York
· Association of Turkish American Industrialists and Business
Owners (MUSIAD USA)
· Azerbaijan Association of New York
· Azerbaijani Community Center of Pennsylvania
· Balkan Turks of America
· Besiktas USA
· Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA)
· Fenerbahce USA
· Galatasaray USA
· Hasene America
· Long Island Turkish House
· New York Turkish American Center
· Samarkandian Forum of Philadelphia
· TURCA Los Angeles
· Turkish Ahsican American Association
· Turkish American Arts Society of America
· Turkish American Ahiska Association (DATUB)
· Turkish American Association of New York
· Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(TACCI)
· Turkish American Giresuns Association
· Turkish American Giresuns Organization of New York
· Turkish American Pharmacists Association
· Turkish American Restaurateurs Association
· Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC)
· Turkish Community Center of Hagerstown, New Jersey
· Turkish Cultural Association of Rhode Island
. Turkish Forum – Dunya Turkleri Birligi (TF-DTK )
· Turkish Hars Union and Community Cultural Alliance
· Turkish Society of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
· US Azeris Network (USAN)
· US Bulgarian Turks Cultural Association and Aid Society
· Western New England Turkish Association
. Southern New England Turkish American Association (SNE-TACA)
Prof. Dr. Hakkı Keskin, Retired Faculty Member, Political Scientist, Former Member of the German Parliament, and the European Parliamentary Assembly www.keskin.de [email protected]
25 February 2021
To the President of the USA Mr. Joe Biden and
To the USA Vice President Ms. Kamala Harris
An Open Letter to the Public
The President of the USA, Mr. Joe Biden,
The US Vice President Ms. Kamala Harris,
Congratulations on your role in ending the Trump period, the likes of which have never been seen in the history of the United States. His denial of the election results encouraged an attack on the U.S. Capitol by his brutal, racist, and extreme right supporters, which led to the death of five people. The elected senators and members of Congress had to flee. The USA witnessed a civil coup attempt, and the country that has tried to teach the world about democracy lost its image and prestige.
Like everyone else, I am very curious about what your administration will learn from Trump’s civilian coup attempt. I watched the speech you gave after the oath with great attention. You said, “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”
Democracy and its value are of paramount importance not only for the United States, but for all countries. Democracy and Universal Human Rights, Judicial Independence, Superiority of Law, Freedom of Press and Intellectual Property are universal values that should be defended and protected by all believers in democracy and by all countries of the world.
Does the USA, which is said to be the cradle and defender of democracy, defend these universal values for other countries?
Could it be an acceptable policy to destroy or suspend these values by civilian or military coups?
I see in myself the right to ask you for the answers of these two questions, which I believe to be true and right. We see that the USA took an active role in carrying out military or civilian coups in more than 50 countries after World War II, declaring war on some and making military interventions in some. We know that the USA caused that irreversible suffering and the death of millions of people by military interventions and disregarding international law and universal human rights. Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq are the most known countries in the world public opinion.
We also witness how the United States brought down the governments that came to power through democratic elections by giving direct or indirect support to military or civilian coups during this period. Let me share with you how the US Governments destroy democracy and universal values, by just four examples that have been proven to be true.
INDONESIA
Ahmed Sukarno, leader of Indonesian national independence and the National Party, was overthrown in a military coup in 1965. Ahmed Sukarna was the leader and first President of Indonesia, which had been a Dutch colony for 300 years. The independence war starting in the 1920s was led by Sukarno and it ended up in victory in 1945.
Sukarno, with its anti-independence and anti-colonial views and above-bloc policy, had become the target of the United States. In addition, Indonesia is a country rich in mineral reserves. USA ended the Ahmed Sukarno’s rule with the coup by supporting the Indonesian army and jihadist groups against the leader of Indonesia’s independence symbol.
Under the dictatorial regime of the coup leader General Suharto, a “holy war against the atheists” was declared, and more than 500 thousand opponents of the coup and members of the Indonesian Communist Party were murdered. According to the New York Times, “These attacks were one of the most brutal mass murders in modern history.” Suharto ruled the country with dictatorship for 31 years, ignoring all democratic rights and freedoms.
IRAN
The people of Iran appointed Mohammed Mosaddegh as prime minister in 1951 with their free will and democratic election. Prime Minister Mossadegh decided to expropriate the oil enterprises, which are the main source of income for his country. The oil business was previously given to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company by Shah Reza Pahlevi.
The USA and England carried out the coup by first organizing protests against Prime Minister Mossadegh and then putting the Army into action. On the 60th anniversary of the coup, documents in the US National Security Archive were opened, thus politically confirming that “the military coup was carried out under the CIA as part of US foreign policy”. Thus it is accepted that the USA played an important role in the 1953 military coup, which overthrew the democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran.
Shah Reza Pahlavi, who fled from his country after the military coup in 1953, returned to Iran and by pursuing a close ally policy to the USA, revoked the decision to nationalize Iranian oil. Members of the banned Mossadegh government were imprisoned and hundreds were killed.
The removal of Mohammed Mossadegh, who came to power by the free will of the Iranian people and democratically, from power by a US-assisted military coup led to the current Islamist administration in Iran to come to power in 1979.That’s why, the USA is in the position of real responsible for all the events in Iran that are incompatible with democracy for 42 years.
CHILE
Socialist-minded Salvador Allende became President in 1970 by winning elections held under the free will of the people and democratic conditions. In addition to the wide-ranging reforms he promised before the election, he nationalized the copper mine and industry held by US companies in 1971.
The US President Richard Nixon, who opposed the socialist Allende administration and especially the nationalization of the copper mines and industry, ordered the National Security Congress to “overthrow Allende”. The CIA report dated October 16, 1970 ordered to start working on a coup in Chile. On the one hand, US-supported economic boycotts were put into effect; on the other hand, a military coup was prepared with the Chilean army. In spite of economic difficulties, Allende increased his votes and won the 1973 elections.
On September 11, 1973, the CIA-backed armed forces led by General Pinochet, who was the Army commander, bombed the presidential palace and seized power. During the coup, President Allende committed suicide in order not to give in to the coup plotters. After the coup, Pinochet ruled Chile under a dictatorship until 1990.Tens of thousands of anti-coup and Allende supporters were murdered.
TURKEY
In Turkey, where I was born and completed my education, the first military coup by officers who identify themselves as Kemalist, was held in May 27, 1960 against the Democratic Party Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who came to power democratically, and against elected President Celal Bayar. The Bayar-Menderes administration, which won the elections in 1950, applied increasingly oppressive practices against the opposition, the press, the secularism principle of the constitution and university youth, ignoring the laws after the second election period.
The military coup junta of 1960 executed the prime Minister Menderes, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance at the end of a court where the independent judicial rules were violated.
Young officers who played an active role in the coup and retired General Cemal Gursel, whom they perceived as their leaders gave the assurance of leaving the administration to the civilian administration by elections putting into effect a modern and democratic constitution in the full sense of their purpose. Indeed, an extremely democratic Constitution was accepted and put into effect on July 9, 1961 by popular vote. The administration was left to the civil administration with the parliamentary elections held on 15 October 1961.
We see that the US administration did not take a stand in favor of democracy in the 1960 coup and recognized the coup government on the first day. However, we do not have any proven information that the US supports the formation process of this coup.
The September 1980 military coup led to the overthrown of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel, who was democratically elected and who came to power with the free will of the people. The leader of the junta, General Kenan Evren became the Head of State later.
The declassified documents of the US State Foreign Affairs Department regarding the September 12, 1980 junta coup clearly prove that the United States took an active role in this military coup. Paul Henze, who was Turkey’s Chief of the CIA in the 1970s, informed US President Jimmy Carter by this statement “The boys in Ankara did it” about the September 12, 1980 coup. After the army took the control of Turkey administration, US Ambassador in Ankara, James Spain wrote about “US-Turkey relations” and stated that “We know all existing military leaders well and we do not need to concern about especially Nato membership and mainly about Turkey’s security and that there may be changes in its foreign policy. As a matter of fact, in their first declaration, the putschists immediately declared their commitment to external forces who supported them, saying “we are loyal to all our alliances and commitments, including NATO”.
US documents summarizing the coup, right and left ideology fights were initiated in known ways “through our provocateurs in the preparation process for the military coup. So chaos first, layout next. It was not difficult to provoke the public for our provocateurs who were sent to the country. The people of the country were divided into right and left and started to clash. Clashes got to such a degree that fifty-sixty people started to get killed in street fights every day. The whole country was cringed under the fear of terror. People were not able to go out in the evenings. The day after the military coup, all right-left clashes were completely ended. The unfortunate people of the country perceived this supposed success as a result of the coup. Because terrorism was finally over, peace had come to the country. In fact, the task of the provocateurs was over, so, they had quitted the scene.”
The main purpose of this military coup, whose organization was supported by the United States, was to prevent the democratic freedoms provided by the 1961 Constitution, the rapidly developing union organization, and the development of left and socialist opposition. The fascist military junta closed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, abolished the 1961 constitutional practice. Leaders of all political parties were arrested; all political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations were banned. According to official figures, 650,000 people were detained, 230,000 people were tried by military courts, approximately 300 people died, 171 of whom were tortured in prisons, 50 people were executed, and 1,683,000 people were blacklisted.
An undemocratic Constitution, which is the source of many problems we face today, was established by the military junta. Accordance with the transitional clauses added in the Constitution, Junta leader Kenan Evren became Turkey’s president for a seven-year period. The Anavatan Party, headed by Turgut Özal, won the parliamentary election held on November 6, 1983 and formed the government as prime minister. By the way, this election was carried out only by the participation of political parties which were allowed to take part in the election by the junta.
Because of these crimes against humanity, surviving Junta leader Kenan Evren and General Tahsin Şahinkaya were tried by the court in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
A military coup attempt which was carried out by some officers on 15-16 July, 2016 in Turkey failed. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey was bombed by the commissioned officers attempting the coup. Turkish Armed Forces and Police officials prevented this coup attempt on July 16. As a result of the clashes, more than 300 people, 104 of whom were pro-coup soldiers, died and 1491 people were injured. 8036 soldiers of different ranks were detained on the grounds that they organized and helped the coup.
This military coup attempt was carried out by the supporters of the Fettullah Gülen Movement, which has been structured for decades on the principle of organizational secrecy in the army, in the police, in the judiciary and in all state institutions. 60 thousand people, who were said to be the supporters of this movement, were detained until April 2018, 50 thousand people were arrested, and 152 thousand public personnel were dismissed on the accusation of members of this organization. In the four years following the coup attempt, 289 cases were sued and a total of 4130 defendants were convicted in 275 cases resolved.
Adalet and Kalkınma Party (Justice and Development Party), which was founded under the chairmanship of Tayyip Erdogan on August 14, 2001, won the Parliamentary elections on November 3, 2002. Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over the duties of Prime Minister and then President. As a newly formed party, they did not have the necessary cadres. For this reason, the Erdogan government collaborated with Gülen Movement members in all areas until 2013.Thus, the Gülen Movement had the opportunity to be structured in all institutions of the state. Due to the separation with the government after 2013, the Gülen Movement tried to come to power through a military coup attempt.
It is known that Fethullah Gülen, who has been living in the USA since 1999, and his hundreds of inner circles who manage his private schools have very close relations with the USA and the CIA. The fact that former CIA director Graham Fuller and former US Ambassador of Ankara Morton Abramowitz became guarantors for Gülen’s stay in the United States shows this close relationship. In their confessions, some members of the Gülen military coup attempt, who are on trial, also stated the close ties of this movement with the USA and the CIA. In the Great Middle East Project of the United States, the calculation that the Gülen movement with Islamic religion elements will enable the neutralization of the resistance originating from religion in the region played an important role in this close relationship. Despite the Turkish government’s insistence, the failure to give Fethullah Gulen, the main responsible for the July 15 military terrorist attempt, back to Turkey to be tried also proves the US approach to this issue.
Mr. President Biden and Ms. Vice President Harris,
I have chosen only these four countries as an example from more than 50 US-backed military or civil coup attempts. Especially in these four countries, the administrations that won the elections democratically and with the free will of their people were overthrown by the USA-supported military coups, democracy and the rule of law were destroyed; hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, arrested and subjected to inhumane torture and practice.
The accuracy of what I have written is adequately documented in details in the US and CIA archives.
We all know that after 1945, millions of people were killed by the wars made in more than 50 countries by the USA. Some of these countries are China, Korea, Guatemala, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Argentina and the ones that we still bear witness today are Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya.
As soon as you came to power, you made decisions that were highly appreciated by the world public opinion. You have decided that the USA will re-join the World Health Organization and the World Climate Protection Decision that the Mexican wall will not be built, and the visit from Muslim countries to the USA will not be blocked. I congratulate you on these urgent decisions. I think you have done what suits a modern and democratic USA that wants to protect its reputation in the world.
However, the main reason of my letter to you, which is open to the World Public, is whether the USA will stop supporting military and civilian coups in other countries and from time-to-time terrorist groups. Will you adhere to Democracy and Universal Human Rights as a requirement of democracy, the rule of law, freedom of opinion and press in all countries, which you have emphasized in your oath speech? I believe that the World Public has the right to know this.
In this regard, your open assurance to all Peoples and Countries of the World will greatly increase the trust in the USA and the prestige of your country.
I wish you success at your work with these wishes.
After months of acrimonious debate and nasty disputes, the election is finally over. Trump supporters were 100% sure that he will be reelected. I advised everyone not to be so cocky about their predictions so that they would not be embarrassed if they turn out to be wrong.
Now comes the second chapter of the false prediction. Trump supporters, following the lead of the President, are refusing to acknowledge the results of the election. In the last few days, we have come across all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories questioning the outcome of the election. How can anyone be so gullible to believe such fraudulent claims? As expected, Trump is refusing to concede and leave his office gracefully. Trump is a sore loser. While it is true that the courts will determine the validity of these false claims, not a shred of credible evidence has been presented to question the results of the election. Just about every sensible person has acknowledged the victory of Joe Biden and the defeat of Pres. Donald Trump. Even former President George W. Bush, a Republican, congratulated President-elect Biden. Many leaders around the world have also congratulated Joe Biden.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was among the first to congratulate Biden. Here is Pashinyan’s important message:
“I am convinced that the wealth of experience and wisdom that you gained through your distinguished career in politics and legislature will guide you well, as you lead the United States and its people on the path toward continued progress and prosperity. Throughout your service, you have made great contributions to the strengthening of the U.S.-Armenia friendship and mutually beneficial relationship. The Armenian people appreciate your principled stance on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and your support for the pursuit of their fundamental rights. Bilateral relations between Armenia and the United States are built on shared democratic values. I am convinced that our cooperation will continue to flourish during your presidency, consistent with the level of the strategic dialogue that underlies the relationship between our two nations. That process, of course, benefits from the invaluable role that the Armenian American community plays, acting as a bridge between our countries. Armenia deeply values the role the United States plays in the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. As you are aware, for over a month now, Azerbaijan and Turkey with the use of foreign terrorists have been fighting a war of aggression against Armenia and Artsakh in defiance of all efforts of the Co-Chairs to establish ceasefire. As a candidate you have laid out a vision for the resolution of the conflict exclusively through peaceful means. I salute that vision. I am hopeful that your Administration will take active steps to stop the war and bring about a comprehensive settlement of the conflict based on safeguards providing for the security of the people of Artsakh through the exercise of its right to self-determination….”
Without raising any hopes of what Pres. Biden might or might not do for Armenians after taking office in January, one thing is clear: Trump had to go. He has been a nightmare for most Americans and the rest of the world. He has violated scores of laws promising his advisors to pardon them should they get charged. He has lied close to 25,000 times in four years — a record for anyone, let alone a President. He has said the most ignorant and childish things undermining the dignity of the Presidency and the reputation of the United States in the world. The reason he is fighting so hard to stay in office is because he knows he will be charged when he is no longer President.
In the 2016 elections, Trump got three million less votes than Hillary Clinton. The Electoral College saved him from defeat. In 2020, Trump received 4.5 million less votes than Biden. This time around Trump also lost the Electoral College.
In January, Pres. Biden’s first order of business on day one will be to reverse the dozens of Trump’s Executive Orders. Some were ruled illegal by the courts others will be reversed by Pres. Biden who will reinstate the Paris Climate Accords, rejoin the World Health Organization, and restore the international treaties that Pres. Trump undermined and violated.
On Armenian issues, Pres. Biden has pledged to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide in several campaign statements. That remains to be seen. One thing is clear, Biden has been highly outspoken against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has been a close friend of Pres. Trump. All one has to do is follow the Turkish press where there are multiple alarming articles about the Presidency of Biden which would end the love affair between Trump and Erdogan. Trump has acknowledged that he has a conflict of interest with Turkey because there are two buildings in Istanbul that bear his name and for which he receives millions of dollars of royalties every year.
In recent months a video a surfaced of Biden’s interview with The New York Times in which he used very strong language against Erdogan, angering the Turkish leadership. Here is what Biden said:
“I’ve spent a lot of time with him [Pres. Erdogan of Turkey]. He is an autocrat. He’s the president of Turkey and a lot more. What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to him now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership. Making it clear that we are in a position where we have a way which was working for a while to integrate the Kurdish population who wanted to participate in the process in their parliament, etc. Because we have to speak out about what we in fact think is wrong. He has to pay a price for whether or not we’re going to continue to sell certain weapons to him. In fact, if he has the [Russian] air defense system that they’re flying F-15s through to see how they can try to figure out how to do it.”
Biden went on: “So I’m very concerned about it. But I’m still of the view that if we were to engage more directly like I was doing with them, that we can support those elements of the Turkish leadership that still exist and get more from them and embolden them to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process. He got blown out. He got blown out in Istanbul [during the mayoral elections]. He got blown out in his party. So what do we do now? We just sit there, and yielded. And the last thing I would’ve done is yielded to him with regard to the Kurds. The absolute last thing!”
Biden concluded: “I had a couple of those meetings with him about the Kurds, and they did not clamp down at the time. We have to make it clear that if they’re looking to, because, at the end of the day, Turkey doesn’t want to have to rely on Russia. They’ve had a bite out of that apple a long time ago. But they got to understand that we’re not going to continue to play with them the way we have. So I am very concerned. I’m very concerned about our airfields [in Turkey] and access to them as well. And I think it takes an awful lot of work for us to be able to get together with our allies in the region and deal with how we isolate his actions in the region, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean in relating to oil and a whole range of other things which take too long to go into. But the answer is yes, I’m worried.”
Biden has made several similar statements against Erdogan and Turkey. We now need to ensure that he keeps his words.
It is important now to unify the people of the United States. Biden has pledged to be the President of all Americans including those who did not vote for him.
After this divisive election, the Armenian American community has to come together and help defend Armenia and Artsakh against Azerbaijan, Turkey and their mercenary terrorists in Artsakh!
