When Alen Simonyan says in Moscow that we have other security solutions,

he actually says that we have guarantees from the West, that Turkey is no longer a threat to us, and you can not protect us from Turkey. He says: we are changing the places of enemy and friend, Turkey is now our friend and ally, and Russia is a threat and enemy. But, as we said, it is not only Armenia that decides where to be and whom it considers a friend or a threat. Ukraine also decided to change its geopolitical orientation and become a member of NATO. Russia did not agree to it, the consequences of which we see in the form of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Is Armenia ready for this, because the probability of this is not so small?

By Erin B. Logan

Earlier this week, The Times published an audio recording where the then-City Council President made racist remarks during an October 2021 meeting about redistricting. The conversation between Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera and Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo has shocked much of the city and led to calls for their resignations. Mayor Eric Garcetti, California Sen. Alex Padilla, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and mayoral candidates Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and billionaire developer Rick Caruso have all said the council members should resign. On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Joe Biden said that the president agrees.

This week, we are going to look west and chat with City Hall reporter Julia Wick about what’s happened and the potential consequences for upcoming elections.

Erin Logan: Julia, what’s going on at City Hall?

Julia Wick: A leaked recording reported on Sunday morning by The Timeshas had explosive reverberations in the city. The roughly year-old conversation largely focused on the city’s once-every-decade redistricting process.

Much of the naked racism on the tape came from then-City Council President Nury Martinez describing a white councilmember’s young Black son as a “changuito,” or little monkey, and suggested the boy deserved a “beat down.” That horrified Angelenos. Martinez’s openly anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racist remarks occurred while other participants —Councilmen Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera — laughed and occasionally chimed in. It feels like an open wound in the city right now. People are shocked by how our leaders speak behind closed doors, and are deeply, deeply upset.

EL: What have the repercussions looked like so far?

JW: Martinez stepped down as council president Monday morning. On Tuesday morning, she announced that she was taking a leave of absence, but she remains on the council as of Tuesday afternoon. Calls for all three councilmembers to resign have grown deafening, with many of their closest political allies demanding that they step down. The council had their first meeting since the leak on Tuesday morning, where anger boiled over and dozens of people lined up to ask Cedillo, De León and Martinez to resign.

Councilmember Mike Bonin, whose young Black son was derided by Martinez, gave an emotional speech at the beginning of the meeting where he said, the words “cut and they stung.”

As a white father, Bonin said, “I can never really know or comprehend or feel the weight of the daily relentless racism, anti-Black racism that my son is gonna face.

“But man, I know the fire you feel when someone tries to destroy Black boy joy. Man, it’s a rage.”

There is no precedent in recent L.A. political history for such upheaval.

EL: Julia, can you talk about the reaction from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor? Why were they even in the room to begin with?

JW: The Fed has an enormous amount of political power in Los Angeles. They are very closely aligned with a number of politicians and they pour big money into city races. This has been like a bomb going off at City Hall and I think it’s had similar repercussions both in the labor community and at the federation, which is the umbrella organization for a large group of unions. I think people have been really, really shaken by what’s on the tape. Ron Herrera, president of the Federation, which is a very influential position in Los Angeles, resigned last night. It’s not yet clear who will replace him.

EL: In an earlier version of the first story we published about the recording, it seemed as if the federation was trying to stop The Times from publishing the story.

JW: Yes, so anytime we publish a story, we would go out to the parties involved and ask for comment. And with this story, we went out to everyone who was on that tape, including Ron. We got a letter back from the federation’s lawyer, saying the conversation was “recorded in violation of California and privacy and recording laws on Los Angeles County Federation property.” And basically, saying that if we publish the information, it would be condoning this illegal conduct.

California is a two-party consent state, which means that it’s illegal to record a conversation unless everyone consents. That’s not the case in a lot of states, but it is in California. The thing is though, on the journalist side, that doesn’t really matter. There’s a large body of legal precedent that says that journalists can move forward with the publication of newsworthy leaked audio, even if it was secretly recorded.

EL: Do we know who recorded the audio? How do we know the location where the conversation took place? Why it took one year to leak?

JW: That’s a great question. This is an area where I’m sorry to say we still have a lot more questions than answers.

What we know is that the audio was recorded at the Fed last October. We have a pretty good sense of the date because of [them] referring to Councilmember Mark Ridley Thomas’ arraignment being on Wednesday. So we know it was within a week of that. And they’re talking about things in the redistricting process that we know happen on certain days. There was a point in the conversation where then-Council President Nury Martinez appears to answer her phone and say something like, ‘I’m at the Fed.’ The federation’s lawyers’ letters to us confirmed the conversation took place on their property.

What we don’t know is whether anyone else was in the room with them and who recorded the tape. It appears to be part of a larger set of leaks that happened at the Fed.

EL: Larger leaks? Can you talk more about that?

JW: Yes, all the leaks came from a Reddit user who had their account suspended. It has since been restored. But they had a couple of other postings that were also leaks. Those are much harder to hear, but they appear to be conversations that took place at the Fed. It’s possible that these council members were not at all the target of this. But the timing is pretty pivotal with elections in about a month. Talk about an October surprise.

EL: Ah, yes. The election. Could this leak influence down-ballot races?

I think this will play into down-ballot races but it’s too soon to say exactly how. The Fed has endorsed a number of candidates and put quite a bit of money into races of this election cycle. But they’re such a staple in the Los Angeles political ecosystem and I don’t think that suddenly people are going to be backing away from Federation-endorsed candidates.

EL: Could this influence the mayor’s race?

JW: It’s really hard to say. This is a massive, massive scandal and we’re still at the tip of the iceberg of how this is going to unfold. I feel certain that it will have an impact on the mayor’s race. But I don’t yet know what that impact will look like.

EL: Could it look like either voters backing candidate Karen Bass, who is Black, to show solidarity with her and their distaste for the racist remarks? Or could voters want to get rid of the current L.A. political power structure, which Bass is part of, and back candidate Rick Caruso, who has recently emerged on the political scene?

JW: Yes, that could be the main way it could cut. But politics are rarely binary. It’s very possible it will play both of those ways and also six other ways that I can’t yet imagine because it will be in reaction to things that haven’t happened yet.

Source:

The location where a group of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) was tortured by Azerbaijani soldiers has been determined. lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of the Armenian detainees’ interests at the European Court of Human Rights, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Azerbaijani side had shared another video on Telegram about the torturing of Armenian POWs.

“The location has been studied and confirmed. The incident took place in the bunker of the Verin Shorzha [village combat] position [in Gegharkunik Province of Armenia]. This is a video of the September events. All three [Armenian] servicemen have been identified. They are not among the confirmed detainees, they were shot to death, their bodies were transferred to the Armenian side as the bodies of those who died on the battlefield,” said Sahakyan.

She noted that the faces of the Azerbaijani soldiers are covered in that video,.

“In the video, their faces were covered with a special black color. They are detachments with special training, and they have a certain apprehension regarding criminal prosecutions in the future; that’s why they have covered [the faces],” the lawyer added.

According to the latest data, the number of Armenian dead and missing in the Azerbaijani military attack in September has reached 207. On September 17, the Azerbaijani side handed over the bodies of 32 fallen Armenian soldiers to the Armenian side, on September 20—95, and on September 23—another 6 bodies. In addition, 20 Armenian soldiers were captured. On October 4, the Azerbaijani side returned, with the mediation of the US, 17 Armenian POWs to the Armenian side.

News from the Middle East Forum October 11, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – October 11, 2022 – Middle East Forum Writing Fellow Abdullah Bozkurt, an expatriate critic of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkish regime, is in danger after a regime-linked newspaper published photos of him, and his home address in Sweden, on its front page.

Regime authorities have boasted of their desire to harm Bozkurt. Mesut Hakkı Caşın, a member of the Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Board, told CNN last year that: “Turkish national intelligence will find [Bozkurt], I’ll tell you that … I don’t know whether [it] will feed him to the fish or the sharks, but traitors always get their punishment.”

Bozkurt has written extensively on the regime’s internal crackdown; corruption; ties to Iran, Hizbullah, al-Qaeda and ISIS; attacks in Iraq and Syria; and export of Islamism. Just yesterday, he revealed the regime’s plans to provoke fellow NATO member Greece using clandestine operations. (For a list of his writings, please click here.)

The investigative journalist was forced to flee Turkey after the alleged coup attempt in 2016, when Today’s Zaman, where he used to work, was shut down. Bozkurt moved to his current address after he was brutally attacked and injured by three unidentified men outside his former home in Stockholm in September 2020.

Countless other Turkish journalists and dissidents have fled Turkey since 2016. Many have been forced back to Turkey against their will; others have been subject to assassination plots.

“This is part of an intimidation campaign to send a chilling message, not just to me but to all journalists: ‘Shut up or else,'” said Mr. Bozkurt. “Erdoğan’s intrusive spying has compromised my security and put my family’s safety at risk. But I refuse to be intimidated, and I will continue my work.”

“Such barbaric behavior is par for the course for Erdoğan’s regime,” said Forum founder and president Daniel Pipes. “It threatens Greece, blackmails Sweden and Finland, invades Syria, bombs Kurds, and exports radical Islam globally. Let Turkey go to Russia and China. It’s time for a NATO 2.0 without it.”

---

The Middle East Forum promotes American interests in the region and protects Western civilization from Islamism. It does so through a combination of original ideas, focused activism, and the funding of allies.

Source: https://www.meforum.org/63689/mef-fellow-doxxed-threatened-by-turkish-regime

(Los Angeles, California) – The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region (ANCA-WR) is appalled by the racist and unacceptable remarks made by LA City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Leon, and LA County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. 
The statements made by the individuals in question not only betray their mission to serve all people, regardless of their identity, but explicitly demonstrate that they hold no regard for the diverse communities of Los Angeles. As victims of genocide, and targets of systemic racism and persecution for generations based on our ethnic and religious identity (including an ongoing Armenophobia campaign sponsored by Azerbaijan), the Armenian-American community is all too familiar with the unspeakable damage caused by continued animosity against any ethnic or racial group. Los Angeles is home to a rich and diverse population of communities from across the globe who came to Los Angeles seeking safety, opportunities, and a place of belonging in a city which strives to include all people. Such comments have no place in our city, and as Angelenos, we stand alongside all communities in their ongoing fight against hate, and we must relentlessly oppose any holder of public office who fails to join this fight with their words and actions.

Racist remarks directed at individuals and groups in Los Angeles are completely unacceptable, and reflect a dramatic and egregious failure on the part of the individuals involved to uplift, protect, and elevate all people of Los Angeles irrespective of their identities. Despite the fact that an investigation is needed to determine the manner in which the recording of this damaging conversation was made and disseminated, there can be no doubt that the comments made in the recording demonstrate that public servants must be held to a higher standard with respect to their statements and conduct both in public and in private. Public servants must look inward at themselves, and take these upsetting events as a lesson that Los Angeles will stand united against hate in all its forms, no matter how powerful the perpetrator, and no matter the context of their actions. As a city, we must recommit ourselves ever further to the vehement and unequivocal commitment to combat hate everywhere. Indeed, we must all live by the credo that hate directed at any of us is an assault on all of us.

Furthermore, the evident content of the conversation between the individuals in question places serious concern about the integrity of the redistricting process which was legally meant to operate for citizens, by citizens. It is our sincere hope that the consequences of the disclosure of these recordings warrant appropriate investigation if claims of gerrymandering are founded in reputable cause. The ANCA-WR had worked tirelessly with community members across Los Angeles to advocate for the unity and integrity of our community alongside the many diverse and valued communities of Los Angeles. It is our hope that the process was not compromised, and that The LA Citizens Redistricting Commission diligently served all people of Los Angeles equally and without discrimination for their racial, ethnic, or any other identity they hold, and this process is one that should not be tarnished by the illegal intervention of policymakers in back-door meetings held outside of the public sphere afforded to citizens. The ANCA-WR stands with all communities in calling for the immediate resignation of all those involved in the recorded conversation because healing can only begin when Los Angeles takes a stand that it will never provide a safe-haven for racism in any form.

PRESS RELEASE:

Deripaska’s Property Manager Arrested in the U.K. for Funding U.S. Properties for Deripaska’s Benefit and Attempting to Expatriate Deripaska’s Artwork from the U.S. through Deception

A U.K. national was arrested today for conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions imposed on Russian Oligarch Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska and wire fraud in connection with funding U.S. properties purchased by Deripaska and efforts to expatriate Deripaska’s artwork in the United States through misrepresentations. The U.S. government will seek his extradition to the United States. Deripaska was previously charged with U.S. sanctions violations in an indictment unsealed on Sept. 29.

In 2014, the President issued Executive Order 13660, which declared a national emergency with respect to the situation in Ukraine. To address this national emergency, the President blocked all property of individuals determined by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to be responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that threatened the security, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine, or who materially assist, sponsor or provide support for individuals or entities engaging in such activities. Executive Order 13660 and regulations issued pursuant to it prohibit making or receiving any funds, goods or services by, to, from or for the benefit of any person designated by the U.S. Treasury.

On April 6, 2018, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Deripaska as a Specially Designated National (SDN), in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy (the OFAC Sanctions). According to the U.S. Treasury, Deripaska was sanctioned for having acted or purported to act on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation, and for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy.

According to court documents, Graham Bonham-Carter, 62, of the United Kingdom, worked for entities controlled by Deripaska from July 2003 through the present. Among other things, Bonham-Carter managed Deripaska’s residential properties located in the United Kingdom and Europe, including a house in Belgravia Square, London. Even after OFAC designated Deripaska, Bonham-Carter continued to work for Deripaska and refer to Deripaska as his “boss.” For example, in an email dated on or about June 18, 2018, Bonham-Carter wrote: “Times a bit tough for my boss as sanctions have hit him from the USA so not an ideal time.” In an email dated on or about Oct. 13, 2021, Bonham-Carter wrote: “It[’]s all good apart from banks keep shutting me down because of my affiliation to my boss Oleg Deripaska…. I have even been advised not to go to the USA where Oleg still has personal sanctions as the authorities will undoubtedly pull me to one side and the questioning could be hours or even days!!”

As alleged in the indictment, after Deripaska’s designation, Bonham-Carter engaged in over $1 million of illicit transactions to fund real estate properties in the United States for Deripaska’s benefit. Between in or about 2005 and in or about 2008, Deripaska purchased three residential properties in the United States, two in New York City and one in Washington, D.C. (the U.S. Properties). The properties were managed by a company named Gracetown Inc. After OFAC imposed sanctions on Deripaska on or about April 6, 2018, Gracetown Inc. continued to manage the properties Deripaska’s benefit. Shortly after Deripaska’s designation, Deripaska instructed Bonham-Carter to set up a new company for managing Deripaska’s properties. On or about May 25, 2018, Bonham-Carter wrote in an email that “OVD [i.e., Deripaska] wants me to set up my own company to run the [Belgravia Square] house and to possibly include Japan, Italy, China and more.” Less than two months later, on or about July 17, 2018, Bonham-Carter incorporated GBCM Limited. 

Between in or about March 2021 and in or about December 2021, while in Deripaska’s employ, Bonham-Carter transmitted payments for the upkeep of the U.S. Properties. Bonham-Carter wired payments totaling $1,043,964.30 from a bank account in Russia held in the name of GBCM Limited, to bank accounts held by Gracetown Inc. in New York City. Gracetown Inc. used the funds from GBCM Limited to pay for various expenses associated with the U.S. Properties, including staff salaries, property taxes and other services, and to maintain and keep up the U.S. Properties.

As alleged, Bonham-Carter also attempted to unlawfully transfer artwork purchased by Deripaska from an auction house in New York City to London through misrepresentations concealing Deripaska’s ownership of the artwork. In May 2021, when advised by the auction house that it had reason to believe that the artwork belonged to Deripaska, Bonham-Carter falsely stated that the artwork and a payment of $12,146 that Bonham-Carter had made to ship the Artwork do not belong to Deripaska. In fact, as Bonham-Carter knew, Deripaska had purchased the artwork, it remained his property, and the funds used to pay for shipping would be billed to Deripaska.

Bonham-Carter is charged in a three-count indictment with one count of conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), one count of violating IEEPA and one count wire fraud, each of which counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Task Force KleptoCapture Director Andrew C. Adams, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division made the announcement.

The FBI New York Field Office and Counterintelligence Division are investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the Justice Department’s National Security Division Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom provided substantial assistance.

The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2 and run out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anden Chow and Vladislav Vainberg for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.