As the Burbank Public Library’s annual Burbank Reads program draws to a close, the final event focuses on a screening of the documentary feature What Will Become of Us, an examination of life and purpose as an Armenian-American in contemporary times, along with a discussion following the film on Thursday evening, October 27.

Co-Director and Producer Stephanie Ayanian and Co-Director and Director of Photography Joseph Myers will participate in a live panel discussion, along with local Armenian scholar, Dr. Shushan Karapetian of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies.

“The theme of this year’s Burbank Reads is ‘community and belonging,’” commented Librarian Hubert Kozak. “The documentary What Will Become of Us looks at issues about tradition and identity that are being discussed within the Armenian-American community today.”

“This is an event that we hope will be of interest to not only the local Armenian community, but one that will give others here in Burbank an opportunity to gain a better understanding of their neighbors,” he added.

“We created What Will Become of Us to share the stories of what Armenians have become in America 100 years after the Armenian Genocide of 1915,” explained Producer/Co-Director Stephanie Ayanian. “As a granddaughter of Genocide survivors, I wanted to share a new perspective.”

“While the Genocide serves as the foundation for why many of us are in America, it is not all that defines us. In our film, Professor Khatchig Mouradian says, ‘Genocide always casts a long shadow. The greatest challenge for any community that has gone through a genocide is to be able to come out of that shadow.’”

“While Armenians have emerged from the shadow and woven themselves into the fabric of communities across the United States, the highest concentrations of Armenians in America are in Southern California, including Burbank,” she also said.

“We look forward to screening What Will Become of Us at the Buena Vista Branch of the Burbank Library to share these stories and also open a community dialogue with our panelists. While the title poses the question of ‘what will become of us,’ the answer in America is positive—Armenians have tremendous opportunities here.”

“However, every Armenian questions the future of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh as they continue to face war against Azerbaijan, losing thousands of lives and land, including their homes, towns, and cultural sites,” Ayanian continued. “Join us as we talk about the making of the film, Armenian communities in America, and the current state of affairs in the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh.”

“I’m not Armenian. I’m a Jewish American.  What struck me in making this film is the extraordinary passion that Armenians in America have for their culture. Without exception, their passion drew me in – and always made me feel welcome,” commented Myers. “Their dedication to a bright future for Armenians everywhere is impressive. Equally impressive is their immigrant story, their American story, and their contributions to this country. It was an honor to be able to work on this project.”

In the film What Will Become of Us,  the characters navigate the U.S. in the context of their identities and the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide through a collection of interwoven stories.

“This is a story relatable to all immigrant communities who have faced past horrors. How can a culture pay respect to its past without being limited by it? How can a culture give individuals the freedom to define their own identities and collectively forge a hopeful future?” according to the film’s producers. “This is not a film about genocide, but about how to thrive despite it.”

The annual Burbank Public Library program Burbank Reads promotes the idea “that the shared act of reading can bring a community together.”

The screening and discussion will be held at the Buena Vista Branch of the Burbank Public Library from 7:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, October 27, 2022.

For more information on the event, visit the Burbank Public Library event page.

The Buena Vista Branch of Burbank Public Library is located at is located at 300 N. Buena Vista Street. Plentiful free parking is available on site.

In which country will Nikol Pashinyan find refuge? Opinions are divided on this issue. Turkey, Canada, the USA, France, and even Azerbaijan are mentioned.

And I will tell you: Nikol Pashinyan will settle in the Russian Federation after the fall of power. If I let my imagination run a little harder, I can even mention the city, Nizhny Novgorod. Why were Nikol Pashinyan and his wife taken to Nizhny Novgorod as part of his first and for now last state visit to Russia? From that part of the Pashinyans’ visit, we were shown only footage of the meeting with a prayer, but we don’t know anything about what meetings took place in connection with the state visit. Therefore, we cannot rule out that the Pashinyans were shown the local nature and the private house where they can live until old age.

Could I be wrong? It’s possible: However, the course of events so far shows that this is exactly what the matter is going to be – asylum in Russia. I know, the Armenian Western-speaking community can get mad about it, and wall themselves off, but there are things in this world that happen even independently of the will and wishes of the Western-speaking people. Let’s take the most recent case as an example: Konstantin Zatulin, the chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Russian State Duma, was declared an undesirable person in RA. Yea, you say, what better demarche against Russia than that, Maladets, Nikol, give it a shot, swallow Putin… My friend from Gyumret would say: calm down, Oghul, what can I say to your political scientist… Nikol’s newspaper was the first to write about that, right? , Nikoli’s newspaper also gave the justification, didn’t it? So be sure something is wrong

In a conversation with “Hraparak”, Tiko Khzmalyan boasted that Pashinyan himself suggested the idea of ​​blocking Zatulin. Moreover, he also talked about imprisoning Margarita Simonyan for life, and immediately after that, Margarita Simonyan wrote on the social network that she also met Zatulin’s fate, that is, she was declared an undesirable person in Armenia. One can wonder what great things are being done during the meetings between Nikol Pashinyan and the extra-parliamentary forces, in which Tiko Khzmalyan and other westerners participate. But thinking that way, we will go to the wrong place and will end up in the propaganda network of Nikoli’s newspaper.

I can’t say who did the math on this Zatulin story, but it’s clear that, at least for the domestic audience, a serious timing error was made. Before the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan tripartite meeting in Sochi, Nikol had the guts to do something like this and be the first to spread it in his newspaper. The Armenian audience, no matter how much Khzmalyan Tiko scolded herself, could not digest the news of this “neverayatn”. Of course, there were announcements that Nikol is finally turning away from Russia, going to the West, Turkey, etc. But that’s exactly what the producers of this show want to show. I suggest you take a look at the West, Erdogan, Aliyev. What does their silence suggest, why don’t they welcome this bold anti-Russian demarche of Nikol, who is turning towards them?

It seems that the Russians did not accept this “unpleasant” news related to an important State Duma official. Only analytics frameworks responded. And so, what is going on, why is Russia in particular so reticent? Did you hear the thunderclap that burst Nicole and her newspaper bubble? Did the Russians blow it? Yes. Through whom? of the RA authorities. Why? Let’s try to understand.

The family newspaper, referring to a “reliable source”, declared Russia the trigger of the 44-day war. Only Macron ate the coot. Not long after that, Nicoll announced that the plates had been removed from the rockets with the terrible names, without specifying whether they were brought without plates or were removed here.

Let’s not forget that during that time, a truck cleared for customs in Armenia “managed” to explode on the Crimean bridge. The balloon was already visibly inflated when we heard the news of banning Zatulin’s entry into Armenia. The question arises: why do the Russians need all this, why exactly Zatulin, the prominent pro-Armenian figure, the author of the law of the State Duma condemning the Armenian Genocide? And here you can already see the desperate faces of Erdogan and Aliyev, who, after the statements made by the Iranian Foreign Minister in Armenia, ask Putin to exert his influence on Pashinyan, so that the latter signs the peace agreement. Putin cannot reject Erdogan and Aliyev. The never-ending war in Ukraine does not allow it to go against NATO member Turkey, with which it maintains certain relations. But, on the other hand, cannot give up the spheres of influence inherited from the Russian tsars. And here, before the Putin-Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting in Sochi, the “Zatulin” operation is staged as a message to the West, Erdogan and Aliyev: what do you want from me, how can I influence Nikol, if he is already in our deputies? persona non grata”, accusing me of inciting the 44-day war. In short, Turkey and Azerbaijan are clearly told to negotiate with Nikol themselves. Well, what is being said is said to Nicole separately. Great example: Dear Nikol, don’t be afraid, this is the guarantee of your safety: Nizhny Novgorod, the air is clean, the forest is nearby, the birds are chirping in the morning, the rivers are full of fish… What else do you need to live happily for the rest of your life? for: And here, before the Putin-Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting in Sochi, the “Zatulin” operation is staged as a message to the West, Erdogan and Aliyev: what do you want from me, how can I influence Nikol, if he is already in our deputies? persona non grata”, accusing me of inciting the 44-day war. In short, Turkey and Azerbaijan are clearly told to negotiate with Nikol themselves. Well, what is being said is said to Nicole separately. Great example: Dear Nikol, don’t be afraid, this is the guarantee of your safety: Nizhny Novgorod, the air is clean, the forest is nearby, the birds are chirping in the morning, the rivers are full of fish… What else do you need to live happily for the rest of your life? for: And here, before the Putin-Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting in Sochi, the “Zatulin” operation is staged as a message to the West, Erdogan and Aliyev: what do you want from me, how can I influence Nikol, if he is already in our deputies? persona non grata”, accusing me of inciting the 44-day war. In short, Turkey and Azerbaijan are clearly told to negotiate with Nikol themselves. Well, what is being said is said to Nicole separately. Great example: Dear Nikol, don’t be afraid, this is the guarantee of your safety: Nizhny Novgorod, the air is clean, the forest is nearby, the birds are chirping in the morning, the rivers are full of fish… What else do you need to live happily for the rest of your life? for: if he already declares our deputies “persona non grata”, accuses me of provoking a 44-day war. In short, Turkey and Azerbaijan are clearly told to negotiate with Nikol themselves. Well, what is being said is said to Nicole separately. Great example: Dear Nikol, don’t be afraid, this is the guarantee of your safety: Nizhny Novgorod, the air is clean, the forest is nearby, the birds are chirping in the morning, the rivers are full of fish… What else do you need to live happily for the rest of your life? for: if he already declares our deputies “persona non grata”, accuses me of provoking a 44-day war. In short, Turkey and Azerbaijan are clearly told to negotiate with Nikol themselves. Well, what is being said is said to Nicole separately. Great example: Dear Nikol, don’t be afraid, this is the guarantee of your safety: Nizhny Novgorod, the air is clean, the forest is nearby, the birds are chirping in the morning, the rivers are full of fish… What else do you need to live happily for the rest of your life? for:

Ամբողջական հոդվածը կարող եք կարդալ այս հասցեով՝ : https://hraparak-am.translate.goog/post/80865d1b42c8c6ec89385fa45f0e1f3e?_x_tr_sl=hy&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

© 2008 – 2021 «Հրապարակ օրաթերթ»

Vakhtang Siradeghyan,

On the next October 27, Artsakh is still Armenian, although it is not known how long it will remain so. If, of course, Nikol Pashinyan remains in the post of Prime Minister and signs the capitulation peace agreement with Aliyev Ilham.

Anyway, Artsakh still speaks Armenian, but it has been almost two years since it is no longer the master of its own head. The people of Artsakh are no longer the proud people they were in the times of Vazgen Sargsyan and other heroes and statesmen. The main culprit was, of course, the one who declared the national ideology a false category and initiated the losing policy in terms of Artsakh. About which his godchild used to say that “whatever Grandpa does, it turns out right”. And he himself came to power so that the idea of ​​handing over Artsakh to the enemy (witness: the interview given to the Russian newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” in September 1992) would come to life. and that would also be considered correct. Although several years after the defeat of March 1, 2008, he fought against the once “infallible grandfather” in his newspaper, but he adopted the respectability of the latter in the matter of Artsakh, for the sake of the good life of the “Sergojans”. And, unfortunately for Armenia, it successfully brings it to an end.

Considering the issue of Artsakh as resolved, the person holding the position of the RA Prime Minister speaks about the need to protect the border of the 29,800 sq. km area with border guards. And about having a professional army with one or two dozen thousand soldiers. It seems that we do not live on the slopes of Ararat, but in Central Europe. And we are not surrounded by enemy Turkish states, but by civilized Czechs, Swiss and Austrians. In terms of the border guards, the idea is, first of all, an unrealizable idea in the foreseeable future, because it was during the reign of Nikol Pashinyan and thanks to him that catastrophic border changes took place, the fixing of which (even if he remains in the position of prime minister) is a matter of years.

It is a matter of years, because the hostile aggression of September 13 showed that Azerbaijan will not be satisfied with the former Soviet administrative borders. And that is what Nikol was hoping for, even though he had already “tasted” the post-war Azerbaijani “taste of peace” in 2021. May 13 Syunik Black Lake aggression. Second: I don’t think that the issue of handing over one village of Vayots Dzor and seven villages of Tavush to the enemy has left the Azerbaijani agenda. This is already the umpteenth time they officially announce it in Baku. if I’m not mistaken, the last time this was done was in May of this year, by one of the deputy foreign ministers of that country. And Nikol Pashinyan, as we know, after the shameful defeat in the 44-day war by his own responsibility and his own fault, has made it a habit to be guided by the mediation of a third country in the Armenia-Azerbaijan dialogue, not by Armenian, with a different Azeri agenda. Including signing his dream peace treaty.

The fact that Nikol’s once “educated and constructive partner” will not be satisfied with the former Soviet administrative borders is evidenced by the official message itself. Foreign Minister Mirzoyan Ararat, who is in the Vatican, complained in a meeting with the State Secretary of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, that “the main obstacle to establishing peace in the region is Azerbaijan’s fanatical ambitions and aspirations to solve problems through the use of force or the threat of force.”

In other words, Pashinyan’s unshakable pursuit of peace is opposed to the idealistic aspirations of Illham. But that, unfortunately for Armenia, does not mean that the person occupying the position of the Prime Minister of Armenia will stop the losing peace process, focusing all his efforts on the material and psychological rehabilitation of the armed forces of Armenia. It just means that like a beaten puppy, it will rub against its owner’s feet instead of biting the hand that is hitting it.

The evidence of this was the reference of one of the unpatriotic and basic ungrateful members of the Communist Party of Ukraine to the opposition MPs’ statements aimed at overcoming the dire situation of Armenia during the announcements in the RA National Assembly on Tuesday: “… similar content, empty, false and politically bankrupt texts”. In fact, just as the national ideology was a false category for the once “infallible grandfather”, so for the members of his once soulful team, the expression of concern for the tragic fate of the “false and politically bankrupt” homeland. Which means that the very concept of “homeland” is empty for the members of that tribe. That is what the ordinary Armenian should know about the persons brought to power by him.

Ամբողջական հոդվածը կարող եք կարդալ այս հասցեով՝ : https://hraparak-am.translate.goog/post/0da27d3ab5d1f4b8f71e08e4c902ff7f?_x_tr_sl=hy&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

© 2008 – 2021 «Հրապարակ օրաթերթ»

Moscow was perplexed by the information about the ban for Konstantin Zatulin and Margarita Simonyan to enter Armenia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“As for their motivation, I mean those who banned Konstantin Zatulin and, incidentally, Margarita Simonyan from entering Armenia according to her own statement, with this please to the relevant country. We were perplexed by such statements or reports. Let me remind you that we are talking about the deputy of the Russian State Duma and the editor-in-chief of the Russian media. We immediately applied to the Armenian side through diplomatic channels for official confirmation and explanation. We proceed from the premise that this kind of information, if confirmed, is difficult to qualify as a friendly step consistent with the allied nature of our relations. When we receive an official response from Yerevan, then we will decide our further actions, reactions and so on,” Zakharova said, recalling that both Zatulin and Simonyan advocate all-round strengthening of Armenian-Russian allied ties, contacts between people. “I don’t think there should be any doubt here. I have not heard any statements of a different nature from them. I would not like to see any artificial reasons in the current situation when the West intentionally tries to rock the situation in South Caucasus and to drive a wedge into the relations between Moscow and Yerevan,” Zakharova said.

Azerbaijan clarified its position on the proposal of the Armenian side to open several checkpoints.

Yerevan stated its intention to open three checkpoints on the border with Azerbaijan. After prolonged silence, Baku responded to this generous proposal.

“Armenia’s proposals to create three checkpoints on the border with Azerbaijan is an imitation of implementing the provisions of the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020,” Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said.

According to him, the roads emanating from the points proposed by Yerevan are not suitable in terms of topography and climatic conditions for transport communication with Nakhchivan and international transit traffic for most of the year.

“In addition, the checkpoints should be opened by agreement of the parties, symmetrically. However, Armenia has not conducted any coordination with Azerbaijan,” the Azerbaijani official said.

In Mustafayev’s view, Armenia’s proposal is formal to evade the Nov. 10, 2020 agreement to establish communications between western Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In violation of Point 9 of the trilateral statement, Armenia has never presented the best option for transport communication between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, Mustafayev said.

Meanwhile, the appeals to “coordination of the parties” look very strange, taking into account that a couple of months ago, it was Azerbaijan itself without any coordination – at least the public knows nothing about them – that demanded and achieved to change the route of Berdzor-Lachin corridor. Even more interesting is the reference to point 9 of the statement. “In violation of point 9 of the trilateral statement, Armenia has never presented the best option for transport communication between the western regions of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan,” Mustafayev states. In fact, the paragraph reads as follows: “All economic and transport connections in the region are unblocked. The Republic of Armenia guarantees the security of transport communication between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to organize the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and cargoes in both directions. The transport communication is controlled by the border service bodies of the Federal Security Service of Russia”. The Azerbaijani official “slightly adjusted” the document, changing the word “freely” into “optimally,” with an obvious allusion to the notorious “Zangezur corridor.” There is no mention of the “corridor” or the “optimal” route in the document.

The attack hit the Shah Cheragh Shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, with at least two children killed.

At least 15 people have been killed and 40 others injured in an attack on a Shia religious shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, according to the country’s state media agency, IRNA.

The report said that the attack, which took place at the Shah Cheragh Shrine early on Wednesday evening, was carried out by three armed men who entered the shrine.

ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on their telegram channel.

Nour news, a media outlet affiliated with the Iranian state, had earlier reported that the attackers were not Iranian nationals.

The Fars News Agency said that one woman and two children were among those killed in Shiraz.

“We were preparing for prayers and then we heard the gunshots, we tried to escape from the other side and then I realized I was bleeding,” a witness and survivor of the attack told Al Jazeera.

“I could not see who was shooting … It started from the street and then they came towards the shrine and they shot whoever they saw. I saw some injured and killed, but I did not see the attackers,” he said.

Fouad Izadi, an associate professor in the Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran, said the aim of the shooting was to “attack worshippers”.

“This is an ISIS trademark – they attack mosques, they attack shrines,” Izadi said.

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Tehran, said that the shrine was an important site for religious pilgrims.

Shiraz is a popular destination for pilgrimages and tourism, and the last such attack to take place in the city was in April 2008, when a bomb planted in a mosque killed 14 people.

“This is a very rare incident to be taking place at a very important time in Iran, when security is at high alert given the number of protests that have been taking place across the country,” Jabbari said.

The country’s finance minister says some of it was legitimate cash from holidaying Russians.

By Huileng Tan,

A record $28 billion of money from unclear origins has flown into Turkey between January and August this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Turkey’s finance minister, however, has played down these concerns.

Turkish finance minister Nureddin Nebati told the FT that he believed that “unaccounted-for tourism revenues” were a key part of such net inflows, which are categorized as “net errors and omissions” by the Turkish central bank under the Balance of Payments accounts, the FT reported.

Some of the money came from Russian tourists who had to use cash, as they were unable to access international financial payments systems due to sanctions, he told the media outlet.

Nebati told the FT Turkey and Russia’s relationship is just “good neighborly relations.” 

Russians have been Turkey’s second-largest group of foreign visitors so far, accounting for about 13% of total visitors, according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Germans have been the largest group of foreign travelers to Turkey in the first eight months of the year.

Nebati also attributed some of the uncategorized inflows to Turkish companies and individuals who were repatriating money — sometimes in cash — back to their home country, per the FT.

He added to the FT all the inflows was legitimate, adding that Turkey “acts very carefully within the international financial system. It’s not a country that behaves in ways that will cause breaches of the international financial system”

Turkey’s central bank did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for information about the breakdown of the inflows from “net errors and omissions.”

The mystery inflows into Turkey are not new, but they are coming under increasing scrutiny as Ankara and Moscow become cosier. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his country will be working with Russia to create a “natural-gas hub,” Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-received-28-billion-dollars-unclear-origins-first-8-months-2022-10

t is impossible to ignore the dangerous impulses and trends that have gained great momentum in Armenia in recent months. Today, various forces are openly pushing Armenia to renounce Russia and to make a step towards historical self-destruction, a statement released by the head of the Association of Armenian Entrepreneurs, businessman Samvel Karapetyan stated.

“It is important right now to prevent such decisions, which may inevitably lead to grave consequences for both Artsakh and Armenia. In this regard, as before, I believe that the only guarantee of security for the future of Artsakh and a peaceful life for its residents in this very difficult historical period is the mediation of Russia in the issue of signing a peace treaty.

The Armenian authorities need to demonstrate a balanced approach, which will give firm security guarantees and prevent the loss of Artsakh. We cannot ignore the fact that the Russian Federation is currently Armenia’s largest economic partner, the Russian peacekeepers are the guarantor of security in Artsakh, and our countries are linked by the centuries-old partnership, and cultural and spiritual ties.

By Athens Bureau,

Taking aim at the US and India, Turkey secretly helped Pakistan in setting up a cyber army to shape public opinion and influence the views of Muslims in Southeast Asia, Nordic Monitor has learned.

The proposal to establish such a unit was first put on the table during private talks between visiting Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and his host, Shehryar Khan Afridi, the then-minister of state for interior, on December 17, 2018.

The matter was discussed at the senior level and kept confidential from most of the staff at Islamabad’s interior ministry.

The plan was also green-lighted by Imran Khan, the then-prime minister who simultaneously held the position of interior minister, during a meeting with Soylu the same day.

The first public admission of this clandestine operation was made by Soylu during an interview on October 13, 2022 with a local TV station in Kahramanmaraş.

He did not name the country but made clear he was in fact talking about Pakistan when he referred to a country that was a five or six-hour direct flight from Turkey.

Commenting on a recently approved controversial social media law that effectively criminalizes and stipulates prison sentences for criticism on social media in Turkey, Soylu recalled his talks during the visit to Islamabad.

He said a Pakistani minister pulled him into a private room after talks between the delegations and asked his help with the establishment of a cyber system.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and his delegation met with Shehryar Khan Afridi, the then-minister of state for interior, and his delegation on December 17, 2018 in Islamabad.

Afridi told the Turkish minister that the United States was trying to create a negative perception of Pakistan using social media and that he needed professionals who could launch a cyber army to fight off such attempts by the US and others.

Soylu said he noticed that the Pakistani minister had deliberately shied away from raising this request during the bilateral talks in front of the Turkish and Pakistani delegations, instead preferring to convey it privately in a back-room meeting.

Turkey responded positively to this request, Soylu revealed, sending five police chiefs from various departments in the Security General Directorate (Emniyet).

The team worked for months in Pakistan to get the project off the ground and finally completed it. The cooperation has since continued under successive governments, with some 6,000 Pakistani police officers trained by Turkey for this and other projects.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu (R) met with Shehryar Khan Afridi, the then-minister of state for interior, on December 17, 2018 in Islamabad.

The secret work was camouflaged under the bilateral agreement on cooperation against cybercrime when in fact it was against perceived influence operations pursued by the US, India and other foreign powers, according to sources familiar with the project.

Soylu is no ordinary Turkish interior minister. Unlike his predecessors, Soylu has gained notoriety in running troll and bot armies in cyberspace on behalf of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and had worked on similar covert operations even before he became interior minister in September 2016.

The AKP set up teams to dominate social media in influence operations and attacks on critics.

When he was deputy chairman of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2014 with a research and development portfolio, Soylu secretly set up a large Twitter team to insult and target with offensive language prominent social and political figures who did not embrace the AKP’s ideals.

According to the parliamentary record, he controlled a 6,000-strong troll army at the time.

Since traditional outlets in print and broadcast media are almost entirely controlled by Erdoğan’s party due to unlawful seizures and the arbitrary closure of nearly 200 media outlets by the government, social media, especially YouTube and Twitter, remain the only outlets for Turks to obtain real information.

Erdoğan specifically wanted to dominate the Twitter space, the last sanctuary for freedom of expression, with this troll army.

A smear campaign launched by Soylu’s Twitter army attacked Erdoğan’s critics and opponents who did not toe the line with Erdoğan. The funding of the operation was discreetly provided by local governments that were run by Erdoğan’s party.

Soylu expanded his cyber army when he became interior minister and transferred many operatives he had previously employed in the private sector to the police department’s cybercrime unit even though they had no law enforcement background and no training in investigating cyber-related crimes.

That was not an issue for Soylu since he wanted to turn the cyber unit into a political tool for going after opponents and critics.

Beşir Atalay, the then-deputy chair of the ruling AKP, is seen visiting a troll army unit in Istanbul that employed 200, in 2015.

There has always been civilian personnel such as programmers and software developers employed in the Cyber Crime Directorate of the Security General Directorate, but their numbers were not high.

Most personnel came from a law enforcement background, and the department preferred to train and educate its own police officers to handle IT-related assignments because of the confidentiality of the investigations.

Soylu broke that tradition, purged many veteran officers from the cyber unit and employed 350 new civilian personnel to staff cybercrime, which now has only 130 police officers.

What is more, in a violation of regulations and the law, he provided the cyber unit with access to sensitive intelligence collected by police intelligence, which was unprecedented.

In other words 350 civilians, former trolls, gained the right to take a peek at intelligence that includes private information about tens of thousands of people including prominent figures, journalists, artists and lawmakers.

In the end, using intelligence and information as a weapon, the newly revamped cyber police department was turned into machinery to undermine in public view the opposition and smear critics and dissenters within the ruling party.

Instead of investigating real crime on the internet, the teams at the cyber unit are busy hacking opponents’ emails and social media accounts, collecting private data from cell phones and computers they gained access to and using the hacked material to intimidate and at times blackmail dissidents.

The unit was blatantly abused by Soylu to launch frivolous criminal cases against social media users who express legitimate criticism of the government or journalists who publish and distribute their content on social media platforms.

Many reports prepared by the cybercrime units were submitted to prosecutors in order to build sham cases against those who simply exercised their right to freedom of expression.

Now the same setup is being referred to Pakistan with a view to not only using it for domestic political goals but also for attacking foreign countries in the West as well as India, the arch enemy of Pakistan.