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Once Part-time English Teacher Lilith Makunts now Armenian Ambassador to the USA

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By Serob Marutyan

Lilit Makunts, the Ambassador of Armenia to the USA, seems to have woken up from her sleep and made 3 Facebook posts at once.

one “unique” from the other. During the last month and a half, the embassy’s page was exclusively busy with the most important mission of sharing this or that news on its page. Also, suddenly three posts are made on the embassy’s page at once.

First, the embassy’s website reports that the ambassador met with a senator’s adviser. This is actually an absurd meeting since ambassadors usually meet with senators themselves, not their staff. This is a disrespectful attitude of the senator toward the ambassador of Armenia, if the senator sends his employee to the meeting, instead of meeting with the foreign ambassador himself. And our ambassador was obliged to understand this and send his deputy or another employee to the meeting. Imagine if the assistant of the deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia meets with the US ambassador, and the page of the embassy makes a note about that “glorious” meeting.

The next post is about a cooking competition in which an American Armenian participated, and it is not at all clear what the embassy has to do with this competition and why it is writing about this on the official page, especially if the participating chef did not come first. It gives the impression that the ambassador is imitating his work in order to justify his appointment to that position, and is spreading posts that have nothing to do with the embassy for his own purposes. The next post is the most interesting. Makunts usually boycott the Armenian Apostolic Church, avoid visiting any Armenian church operating in Washington, does not participate in large community gatherings. And suddenly he participates in the annual meeting of the Armenian Evangelical Association of America and gives a speech in front of 50-60 people gathered there. According to our community sources,

The American-Armenian community is offended that Lilit Makunts avoids the events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and Artsakh and continues to boycott a strong mass of the community, which expresses itself against and criticizes the authorities of Armenia. By the way, the Facebook page of the Armenian Embassy in the USA is one of those exclusive pages where the possibility to leave comments is closed. At every step, the authorities of Armenia declare that they are democratic, but the basic rule of democracy, the right to free speech, is restricted on the website of the RA Embassy, ​​and critics of Nikol Pashinyan are banned from entering Armenia.
The American Armenian community considers the evaluations of the RA authorities that Lilit Makunts is the best ambassador of Armenia to be ridiculous, and they ask by what criteria they give such an assessment to one of the worst ambassadors of Armenia who worked in the USA.

Serob Marutyan

Pashinyan want to sign peace to blackmail the Armenian people into that he is a peacemaker and the others are warmongers

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Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said he would like the peace agreement to be signed before the end of the year.

His remarks came at the government hour in the Armenian National Assembly on Wednesday.

“How realistic is it? The government and I will make every effort to make it a reality. We hope the delimitation work will be completed before the signing of the peace treaty.

How realistic is it, given that we reached an agreement in Prague that it would happen on the basis of the 1991 borders? It can become a reality because the borders are known,” Pashinyan said.

According to him, an internationally visible dialogue should be initiated between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

“This is a very important circumstance and there should be certain mechanisms to protect the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. It will be very good, I will be very satisfied if we can do it,” the Armenian PM added.

Banning Zatulin’s entry is an act of political dictatorship: Modest Kolerov

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Susan Simonyan,

Modest Kolerov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian information platform “Regnum”, believes that by banning Konstantin Zatulin, the chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs,

Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots of the Russian State Duma, from entering Armenia, Pashinyan’s regime shows that it no longer needs Russia, it does not need free people. discussions. “We have been following Pashinyan’s evolution for a long time, and now we can already record that he has reached a logical point when Russia no longer needs him,” says the political scientist.

Let’s remind that the newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak” belonging to Prime Minister Pashinyan’s family published sensational information today: Konstantin Zatulin, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, has been banned from entering the Republic of Armenia.

The reason given is that in his public interviews, Zatulin blamed the RA government for the defeat of the 44-day war and “invading the internal political life of Armenia” said that Pashinyan should leave, and in an interview with “Yerkir Media” he accused the Prime Minister of the RA to sign a “corridor” through sovereign territory.

Modest Kolerov views this as “an act of political censorship”. “This is an act of political censorship, moreover, this is an act of political dictatorship, because the opinion that Pashinyan should go is a common opinion, there is nothing unusual there. Every person has the right to think so. Secondly, it is necessary to understand very well that Zatulin is one of the most important experts and lobbyists on Armenia in Russia, and this means that Pashinyan’s regime no longer needs a friendly Russia, that Pashinyan’s regime has already made its choice, made it in a demonstrative, rude way.”

Pashinyan-run Government wife-run media if you speak against them You are banned from entering Armenia, Russian Zatulin has been banned

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According to the information of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily newspaper belonging to the Prime Minister’s family, Konstantin Zatulin, the chairman of the CIS Affairs,

Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Committee of the Russian State Duma, has been banned from entering Armenia. Zatulin is no longer considered an undesirable person in Armenia. The site reminds that in public interviews, Zatulin repeatedly blamed the RA authorities for the defeat of the 44-day war. “Furthermore, invading the internal political life of Armenia, Zatulin has more than once voiced that Nikol Pashinyan should leave. Zatulin even managed to accuse the RA authorities of driving a wedge into Armenian-Russian relations. And during the interview given to “Yerkir Media” during his last visit to Armenia, he accused the prime minister of signing a “corridor” through the sovereign territory of Armenia,” writes “Haykakan Chamnak”.

Statement on Azerbaijani Aggression International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board

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Statement on Azerbaijan Aggression Against the Republic of Armenia and the Indigenous Armenians of the South Caucasus

The International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s invasion of the Republic of Armenia and the ongoing aggression against the Armenian people in the Republic and in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and expresses concern about the risk of genocide against the Armenian population of that entity.

On 13 September 2022, Azerbaijan launched an attack on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. Using heavy artillery as well as multiple rocket launchers and attack drones, the Azerbaijani forces shelled the cities and towns of Vardenis, Goris, Ishkanasar, Kapan, Sotk, Artanish, and Jermuk and the surrounding villages in the Republic of Armenia. This attack resulted in over 210 confirmed deaths of Armenian soldiers and numerous civilian deaths and injuries. While a tenuous ceasefire still holds, Azerbaijan’s violence continues, including allegations of executions of Armenian prisoners of war. Over 7,000 civilians have been displaced, and civilian homes and local infrastructure destroyed in an attempt to ethnically cleanse Armenians from a large portion of the Republic of Armenia.

Significant genocide risk factors exist in the Nagorno-Karabakh situation concerning the Armenian population. Noting in particular that this violence occurs in the context of a prior genocide against ethnic Armenians in 1915 – 1923 by the Ottoman Empire (which became Turkey), and the continued relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan. In 1920, Turkey sought to disarm the Armenians and arm the Azerbaijanis, resulting in conflict, Armenian exodus, and atrocities against Armenians in an Azerbaijani offensive. Turkey continues to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict (including through the provision of drones and mercenaries). Turkish President Erdoğan has referred to the Armenians as ‘occupiers’, despite centuries of history of Urartians and their descendents, the Armenians, in the region.

The current violence is part of a lengthy, related process of violence by the Azerbaijani regime against the indigenous Armenian population of the South Caucasus. There have been several armed conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno- Karabakh territory, in the 1980s-1990s, with the most recent beginning in September 2020 and continuing into 2022, despite supposed ceasefires. The current conflict has included the use of indiscriminate weapons, and civilian deaths and displacement.

Azerbaijani authorities have been openly delivering hate speech against Armenians. Acts of incitement or hate propaganda have targeted Armenians. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has specifically noted that the following acts are risk factors for genocide:

‘Systematic and widespread use and acceptance of speech or propaganda promoting hatred and/or inciting violence against minority groups, particularly in the media’; and

‘Grave statements by political leaders/prominent people that express support for affirmation of superiority of a race or an ethnic group,

dehumanize and demonize minorities, or condone or justify violence against a minority.’

Azerbaijan’s state policy includes anti-Armenian discourse and propaganda, including through government speeches and the media. For example, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has made statements such as: “Armenia as a country is of no value. It is actually a colony, an outpost run from abroad, a territory artificially created on ancient Azerbaijani lands.” Aliyev does not recognize the internationally recognized territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia: “We have perhaps a hundred times more grounds not to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia than they have not to recognize our territorial integrity. Because everyone already knows this, and so does the world community, that in November 1920 our historical lands of Zangazur [Syunik], as well as Goycha [Sevan], were severed from us and annexed to Armenia. The city of Yerevan was ceded to Armenia on 29 May 1918. So, there are many factors for us, as they say, not to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia.” Alyev also uses dehumanizing language, such as: “We chased them out of our lands like dogs. I said that we would chase them, that we would chase them like dogs, and we chased them, we chased them like dogs.” Such statements indicate a systematic campaign to end the presence of Armenians in their historic and present-day homeland. These and other statements demonstrate the existence of a risk of genocide, and may amount to incitement to genocide and possibly other international crimes.

There is also a history of cultural destruction in the conflict, leading to a significant fear from Armenians that after the peace deal, which saw the return of Armenian-held land to Azerbaijan, Armenian sites will be neglected, desecrated or destroyed. Some Armenian monuments and churches are hundreds of years old, such as the Saint Nishan church, Dadivank monastery complex and khatchkars in cemeteries, dating as far back as the 9th Century and earlier. It is common for Azerbaijan to present ‘alternative’ histories for Armenian churches, claiming they are ‘Caucasian Albanian’ and were ‘Armenianised’ only in the 19th Century. Such claims have all been debunked outside of Azerbaijan. Rewriting of history and cultural destruction are key hallmarks of genocide. The goal of génocidaires is to destroy, in whole or in part, the targeted group, and one way the perpetrators carry out this destruction is through cultural destruction: eliminating the very essence of the group’s identity, and any trace that they existed in that location.

The Executive Board notes that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has recognised the seriousness of the hate speech and cultural destruction by Azerbaijan towards Armenians and Armenian culture. In its Provisional Measures order of 7 December 2021, the ICJ considered Armenia’s claims of violations of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) plausible, and expressed concern that such violations ‘may have serious damaging effects’ on the protected group. In the interim before deciding on the merits of the case, the ICJ has ordered Azerbaijan, inter alia, to:

‘take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions, targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin; and take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and discretion affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of workship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.’

Source: https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/IAGS-EB-Statement-Armenia-Azerbaijan-Oct-2022.pdf

‘Global Armenian Summit’ Divides Armenians, while Pretending to Unify Them

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By Harut Sassounian,

In a few days, we will witness once again an unfortunate manifestation of Armenia’s leadership dividing the Armenian nation, while claiming to unify it.

The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Zareh Sinanyan, has organized what he arrogantly calls a ‘Global Armenian Summit,’ to take place in Yerevan, Oct. 28-31.

This is yet another example of the Armenian government’s inability to properly promote Armenia’s national interests. On the contrary, the Armenian government is undermining Armenian interests through divisive and ill-conceived schemes.

Ever since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power, he has spoken more harshly against his domestic opponents than against Armenia’s enemies — Azerbaijan and Turkey. He has frequently talked about blacks vs. whites — the good guys (his supporters) vs. the bad guys (his political opponents). Shockingly, Pashinyan waved a hammer in the air during his campaign speeches, threatening to bash the heads of his opponents, squash them on the asphalt and slam them to the wall! He has pitted Armenia’s population against Artsakh and alienated Diasporans from Armenia. Yet, those of us who criticize his divisive actions are lectured by his supporters not to divide the nation!

Prime Minister Pashinyan abolished the Ministry of Diaspora and replaced it in 2019 with Sinanyan, the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs. Judging by Pashinyan’s many other appointments, the sole reason he appointed Sinanyan was that he backed the ‘velvet revolution.’ Competence does not seem to be an important criteria for Pashinyan, blind support is!

In the last three years, Sinanyan toured the world, at Armenia’s taxpayers’ expense, accomplishing very little, but causing more internal dissension in the Diaspora. Rather than trying to unify Armenians, he has played partisan politics siding with Pashinyan’s political party. Sinanyan does not seem to understand that he is getting a salary, not to be the Chief Propagandist for Pashinyan’s political party, but to pursue the best interests of all Diaspora Armenians regardless of their differing persuasions.

I have described in previous columns my criticisms of Sinanyan’s misguided and false statements. He has announced many plans that have remained unfulfilled, such as his questionable idea to appoint partisan representatives in various Diaspora communities. Another one of Sinanyan’s half-baked ideas is encouraging Arabs to immigrate to Armenia. He is not aware that his duties are to deal exclusively with Diaspora Armenians, not foreign immigrants.

Sinanyan should not be blamed as much as Prime Minister Pashinyan who appointed him. In any normal country, apparatchiks like Sinanyan would have been fired long ago, but not in Pashinyan’s administration, where incompetence and blind loyalty are prerequisites for appointments.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Sinanyan, with the blessing of his boss, announced a “Global Armenian Summit,” to be attended by supporters of the regime. Not surprisingly, Sinanyan has not invited some of the major Armenian Diaspora organizations, just because they oppose the regime.

In an astounding blow, both leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, announced that they will boycott Sinanyan’s poorly organized partisan “Summit.’ A spokesman for Karekin II said that the ‘Summit’ “could cause new sensitivities and tensions in our national life and will not be effective.” Given the strained relations between the Church and Armenia’s government, the Primate of the Diocese of Shirak, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, bluntly asked: “why should we [the Church] participate in their [the government’s] PR action?”

To make matters worse, Hetq, the website of investigative journalists in Armenia, reported that the Armenian government is paying $768,000 to an outfit named Factory Production LLC, to organize the ‘Summit.’ I read the contract which indicates that it was signed on Oct. 21, 2022, just one week before the ‘Summit.’

The lack of seriousness of the organizers of the ‘Summit’ is indicated by the fact that in four days of meetings only one hour is devoted to Artsakh, with the participation of representatives of the Artsakh government along with Armenia’s Foreign Ministry and Security Council. This does not do justice to a critical issue which is of utmost importance for all Armenians, but sadly, not the government of Armenia.

Two ‘panel discussions’ are planned for the ‘Summit’: “How Diaspora communities organize for local and national-level representation within their countries” and “Diaspora representation within the Republic of Armenia’s governing structures: Models to consider.” Both of these topics require serious discussions with the participation of major Armenian organizations and knowledgeable individuals who were not invited. I presented to Prime Minister Pashinyan, during my visit to Armenia in 2019, a concrete plan for the formation of a Diaspora Armenian Parliament which Pashinyan enthusiastically welcomed. Regrettably, along with many others, I have not received an invitation to present this important plan to the ‘Summit.’

There are also three simultaneous ‘Breakout Sessions’: 1) “Appointing Republic of Armenia state representatives in Diaspora communities,” 2) “Models for Diaspora representation in Parliament,” and 3) “Models for Diaspora participation in governance and within the executive.”

Hopefully, a future Armenian government, which is less inclined to divide the nation, will reconvene a proper “Diaspora-Armenia-Artsakh Conference” with the participation of all Armenian organizations and influential individuals, regardless of their affiliation, to deal with the existential challenges facing Armenia and Artsakh.

At a time when Armenia and Artsakh stand at the edge of the precipice, there is no need to play self-defeating partisan politics and divide the nation further. Recently, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mavlut Cavusoglu complained once again about the Diaspora’s anti-Azerbaijan and anti-Turkey activism. The last thing Armenians need is having the Armenian government help Azerbaijan and Turkey to weaken and neutralize the Diaspora. No wonder I did not see on the agenda of the ‘Summit’ the topic: how to counter Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s anti-Armenian activities.

New York Post: Dr. Oz accused of violating foreign agent law with work for Turkish Airlines

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By Steven Nelson,

An advocacy group is urging the Justice Department to investigate Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz for doing work for Turkish Airlines without registering as a foreign agent — but Oz says he just made a couple of videos.

The celebrity doctor is featured in promotional videos shown to passengers of the airline, which is 49.12 percent owned by the Turkish government, according to a 2015 FARA filing by public relations firm Golin/Harris.

“Dr. Oz clearly serves as a foreign agent on behalf of the foreign principal Turkish Airlines,” Armenian National Committee of America executive director Aram Hamparian wrote in a letter Tuesday demanding that assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen launch an inquiry.

“These campaigns constituted informational materials disseminated in interstate commerce by the foreign agent on behalf of the foreign principal but did not include the conspicuous statement labeling them accordingly as is required by the statute,” Hamparian wrote.

A former Justice Department official who oversaw enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act told The Post that the charge may have merit.

In 2017, Oz “collaborated with Turkish Airlines on its ‘Fly Good Feel Good’ project, which was designed to provide an even more comfortable and healthy travel experience to its passengers’,” Hamparian wrote. “More recently, Dr. Oz appeared in an advertising campaign for Turkish Airlines including in a four-minute informational video offering a medical seal of approval to the airline’s COVID-19 safety procedures.”

The letter argues that Oz may be eligible for up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Hamparian told The Post that the Justice Department must act to protect “our nation’s national security interests,” but a person close to Oz said he served as a celebrity spokesman and nothing more.

“Like many other well-known people, Dr. Oz was in promotional videos for the airline,” Oz campaign communications director Brittany Yanick added in a statement.

“Other spokespeople for Turkish Airlines included Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck. Like Dr. Oz, they were not required to register under FARA,” she said. “This political hit is ridiculous. Individuals and firms working to advance the bona fide commercial interests of a foreign business are not subject to FARA and not required to register. DOJ has repeatedly recognized this longstanding exemption under the law including in several recent advisory opinions.”

But David Laufman, who oversaw the Justice Department’s FARA enforcement from 2014 to 2018, told The Post he would not immediately dismiss the complaint.

“I think it would be appropriate for [the Justice Department] to undertake logical, analytical and investigative steps to determine whether Dr. Oz acted as a public relations counsel or publicity agent in the United States on behalf of Turkish Airlines,” Laufman said. “If he did, he likely would have an obligation to register unless he qualified for an exemption.”

The most obvious exemption would be a “commercial” exemption. However, that doesn’t apply if the work directly promotes the non-commercial interests of a foreign government, Laufman said.

“In my experience, a foreign government ownership interest as high as 49.12 percent would contribute to a conclusion by the Justice Department that otherwise registrable work on behalf of that entity in the United States — such as public relations work — likely would not qualify for the [commercial] exemption because the activities would directly promote the public or political interests of the foreign government,” Laufman said.

Laufman, who now advises private clients on how to navigate FARA issues, oversaw an increase in cases relating to the law while chief of the counterintelligence and export control section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

“There are some timing considerations, with respect to the upcoming election in Pennsylvania, that might bear upon when [the Justice Department] might initiate such an investigation…. But I don’t think the department is precluded from undertaking non-public investigative steps,” Laufman said.

“The main purpose of the department’s enforcement effort with regard to FARA is to bring about compliance through registration and disclosure,” he added. “Only if the department determined someone willfully violated the statute – for example, they knew they had an obligation to register, and didn’t – would criminal prosecution be warranted.”

Some people “view it as stigmatizing to register” and therefore choose not to do so, Laufman said, though motives for non-registration vary.

“If an investigation yielded communications where the party under investigation acknowledged the need to register under FARA, but an intention not to do so, that would be a red flag of willfulness and grounds for potential criminal prosecution,” he said.

Oz, 61, gained fame as a regular medical guest on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show before launching his own program in 2009. His parents immigrated to the US from Turkey and he holds Turkish citizenship.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Oz, who if elected would be the nation’s first Muslim senator, last month ahead of the crowded May 17 Republican primary. Many former Trump aides work for businessman David McCormick and three other candidates have had double-digit support in recent primary polls.

Oz said in March that he would give up his Turkish citizenship if he is elected — after previously saying he would keep it and forego classified briefings.

Turkey is ruled by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who notoriously watched in 2017 as his guards attacked Kurdish-American and Armenian-American protesters in DC. Oz says he voted for Erdogan’s challenger in Turkey’s 2018 election.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is favored to win the Democratic primary for the open Senate seat.

Source: https://nypost.com/2022/05/04/dr-oz-accused-of-violating-foreign-agent-law-with-work-for-turkish-airlines/

Washington times: The Wizard of Oz: ‘Pay No Attention to the Dictator Behind the Senator’

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OPINION:

Longtime New Jersey resident – television’s Dr. Oz – is running for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania as a dual Turkish-U.S. citizen. That’s right: A citizen of a foreign country allied with an anti-America dictator,

That’s right: A citizen of a foreign country allied with an anti-America dictator, a carpetbagger to the Keystone State, and a veteran of the same foreign armed forces that occupy Cyprus, attack America’s Kurdish allies, persecute Christians, and abet Azerbaijan’s ethnic-cleansing of Armenians, is trying to convince Pennsylvania voters that he’s putting them first.

More distressing to Pennsylvania voters than Dr. Oz’s unprecedented dual-citizenship – which would be first for a Senator representing the state – are his close ties with Turkey’s anti-American dictator Recep Erdogan. Turkey is well known for running influence operations in the United States, lobbying, bullying, bribing, and even spying to get its way in Washington, DC. Questions about Dr. Oz’s loyalty to the Erdogan regime have raised concerns across the American policy-making landscape.

Benjamin Baird, writing in the December 23rd issue of The National Review (Behind Dr. Oz’s Curtain), raised alarms that “Oz’s links to Turkey’s authoritarian Justice and Development Party (AKP) extend to foreign agents and proxies accused of operating a secret lobby in the U.S. and spying on American citizens.” “These associations,” he stressed, “raise urgent questions about the Senate candidate’s loyalty to an illiberal, often antagonistic foreign government that finds itself increasingly at odds with American interests.”

Josh Rogin, in a February 16th Washington Post op/ed (Would Turkey’s president have leverage over ‘Senator Doctor Oz’?) noted Dr. Oz’s “myriad connections to Turkey and the world of its autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that are causing concern in Washington and beyond.” Rogin quoted NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom as saying: “People need to understand that Dr.Oz is in Erdogan’s pocket. And whatever Erdogan wants, that’s what Dr. Oz is going to do… So, if Dr. Oz gets into the Senate, it’s like Erdogan’s arm will be in the Senate.”

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has said that “Oz’s dual citizenship –  and his reluctance to renounce Turkish citizenship – will keep the FBI and security managers up at night,” adding that it’s “fair game to question Oz’s judgment embracing the most reactionary elements in Turkish society.” Among these reactionary characters is Turkey’s Justice Minister, Abdulhamit Gül, who stood arm-in-arm with Dr. Oz at a Turkish parade in Brooklyn, and was later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for human rights abuses. Dr. Oz is also a known associate of Murat Güzel, a businessman caught up in multiple FBI probes regarding Turkish attempts to interfere in U.S. politics. To add insult to injury, Dr. Oz has also acted as a spokesman for Turkish airlines, a state-controlled carrier that has been implicated in Turkey’s human trafficking and the deployment of foreign mercenaries.

Americans of Armenian and Greek heritage are especially troubled by Dr. Oz’s association with deniers of the Armenian Genocide, Ottoman Turkey’s attempted eradication of all Christians within its territories. Among these genocide-denying misanthropes is Gunay Evinch, a Turkish foreign agent, who co-hosted a 2019 event that featured remarks by the television doctor. Dr. Oz has actually fundraised for Armenian Genocide deniers, including the Turkish American National Steering Committee, and has championed the Diyanet Center of America: Erdogan’s state-controlled system of religious institutions.  As recently as April 19th, NBC News reported that Dr. Oz refused to answer a simple straightforward question about his recognition of the Armenian Genocide – a crime condemned by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate in 2019.

For Americans of Armenian heritage – having spent the better part of the past century working, successfully, to end U.S. cover-ups of Turkey’s genocidal crimes – it would represent a betrayal of the worst kind, a shameful rollback of America’s commitment to human rights, to send to the U.S. Senate an ally of Erdogan, the world’s foremost Armenian Genocide denier.

Source: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/6/wizard-oz-pay-no-attention-dictator-behind-senator/

Double Trouble: Dr. Mehmet Oz and Turkey

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Op-Ed by David Boyajian

TV personality Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Oz is the Republican candidate for U.S. senator in Pennsylvania.  He could become the first senator to hold dual citizenship, notably that of Turkey and America.

Which country does Oz owe his allegiance to?  That’s what journalists and others have justifiably been asking.

It’s an important question, particularly as Turkey remains a rogue NATO member and unapologetically repressive and corrupt.

Moreover, Ankara has long supported international terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

Oz and Turkish Terrorism

Ahmet S. Yayla was Turkey’s counterterrorism chief from 2010-2013.  He acknowledged in 2020 that “Turkey was a central hub for … over 50,000 ISIS foreign fighters, and the main source of ISIS logistical materials [including] IEDs [improvised explosive devices], making Turkey and ISIS practically allies.”

Terrorism expert/State Department adviser Dr. David L. Phillips directs Columbia University’s Peace-building and Human Rights Program.  In Turkey: A State Sponsor of Terrorism? (2021), Phillips showed that if a “non-NATO country behaved like Turkey, it would warrant designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.”

Has Oz ever forthrightly condemned his country’s terrorism, repression, or corruption?  Seemingly not.

Does Oz even care that Turkey sponsors ISIS and other terrorist organizations?  I find no evidence of that.

Take his January 10, 2022 Washington Examiner op-ed.  He expressed his “deep concerns about many of its [Turkey’s] authoritarian domestic policies and harmful foreign policies.”

Which “policies,” exactly?  He didn’t say.  I asked his campaign for examples.  It hasn’t replied.

Moreover, Oz’s alleged “concerns,” noted journalist Benjamin Baird, appeared only after the latter’s stinging, detailed, exposé of the doctor’s “many entanglements with Turkey’s government” (National Review, December 23, 2021).

Americans, said Baird in June, can rightly “question Oz’s loyalty and wonder why he wishes to prolong his allegiance to an oppressive authoritarian state.”

John Fetterman, Oz’s Democratic opponent, has failed to slam Oz on the above points, particularly his rival’s apparent indifference to Ankara’s support of terrorism.

Oz even claims he’s “never been politically involved in Turkey in any capacity” and doesn’t “really have a relationship with the leadership there [in Turkey].”  Oh, is that so?

President Erdogan is Oz’s “Leader”

In a Turkish TV interview, the doctor said this after meeting President Erdogan: “I met with our leader in Turkey [emphasis added].  There is the question of how I can help Turkey as a representative [emphasis added].”

Oz served two months in the Turkish army and has extensive real estate holdings in Turkey. They include a $2 million dormitory leased at no cost to the regime’s Education Ministry.

When Oz announced his candidacy in 2021, Turkey’s U.S. Ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan immediately telephoned his congratulations.

The mega-millionaire candidate, incidentally, switched his voting address from his New Jersey mansion to his in-laws’ Pennsylvania home only in 2020.

Oz claims to maintain his Turkish citizenship only because his mother lives in Istanbul and has Alzheimer’s disease.  Yet exiled Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt points out that Oz could easily acquire a Turkish “Blue Card,” which confers most citizenship privileges.

In March, Oz stated that as a dual citizen senator he would forego asking for certain American security clearances.  Now, though, he swears he’ll drop his Turkish citizenship — but only if elected.

Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s Secretary of State, has questioned why Oz had “the time and energy to vote in a [2018] Turkish election” but not in New Jersey’s 2018 primary.  The candidate, added Pompeo, must detail the “scope and depth” of his relationship to Turkey because they raise “national security concerns.”  He hasn’t done so.

Unfortunately, probably because Trump is absurdly pro-Turkish, he endorsed Oz.

The Doctor and Mass Murder

In 2019, U.S. Senate Resolution 150 passed 100–0.  It recognized the genocides of “Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians … and other Christians” committed by Ottoman and post-Ottoman Turkey from 1915–1923.

Queried about the Armenian Genocide, Oz’s campaign shot back with this disingenuous generalization: Our candidate “opposes genocide and the murder of innocent people in all forms … the evils of World War I should be commemorated.”

Of course, few people publicly favor genocide, murder, and evil.  Oz’s evasive non-answer places him again on Turkey side and at odds with the U.S. Senate.

The true intensity of the Oz–Turkish love affair is known to few Pennsylvania voters.

The Oz–Turkish Love Affair

Oz has been a consultant and publicist for Turkish Airlines, 49% owned by the Turkish government.

He was once elected to the High Advisory Council of the Istanbul-based World Turkish Business Council (DTiK).  The latter is affiliated with Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEiK), an arm of President Erdogan’s regime.

Oz spoke at DTiK’s 2019 conference in NY City.  It was co-hosted by Gunay Evinch.

Ankara hired Evinch’s law firm, Saltzman & Evinch, to collect intel on certain of Turkey’s critics in America.

Evinch co-chairs the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) with Halil Mutlu, Erdogan’s cousin.  In America, Mutlu represents Erdogan’s Islamist AKP party.

During a TASC fundraiser in 2019, Oz sat beside Murat Guzel, the event’s host and the subject of FBI financial investigations.

At a 2019 Turkish parade in Brooklyn, NY, Oz and Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul embraced each other.  In 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department penalized Gul for Ankara’s unjust detention of Andrew Brunson, an American Christian pastor.

Oz offers lifestyle programming on the BiP communications platform.  BiP is owned by the Turkish Wealth Fund, headed by Erdogan himself.

In 2022, Enes Kanter Freedom, the NBA basketball star, former Turkish citizen, and Erdogan critic, tweeted:

“People in Pennsylvania needs [sic] to understand that [Dr. Oz] is a Foreign Agent and he works for Dictator [Erdogan].  Ask yourself, why would a Turkish citizen, who lives in Jersey and works in New York City would want to be the Senator from Pennsylvania [emphases added].”

Nice Guys Finish Last

In May’s GOP primary, Oz beat David McCormick by just 951 votes out of 1.3 million.

Had McCormick used the points above (some of which I gave to his campaign and another GOP contender, Kathy Barnette) to hammer Oz, he would have won.

If John Fetterman lacks the stomach to expose the entire Oz –Turkish love affair, particularly Ankara’s support of ISIS, he may lose too — and will deserve it.

David Boyajian’s main foreign policy focus is the Caucasus. 

Source: https://www.activistpost.com/2022/10/double-trouble-dr-mehmet-oz-and-turkey.html

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

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The rebuilding of the 1st floor of the entrance building’s left side at the University Hospital have been completed. The necessity of improving the building conditions arose after the 44-day War due to the increase in the number of wounded being treated at the Soldier’s Home. On the 1st floor, where rehabilitation treatment is planned, the soldiers will have the opportunity to undergo physiotherapy and other kinds of treatment. Benefactor Mikayel Vardanyan donated 120 million AMD for the renovation of the new department.   report: Tert.am