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In Facing Its Adversaries, America’s Got a Hidden Lever: Armenia

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BY DANIEL GAYNOR
From The Truman Project

Most Americans wouldn’t be shocked to learn that the largest American embassy in the world is in Baghdad, Iraq. But the second-largest is in a surprising place: Armenia. It begs the question: why?

The best explanation is a real estate mantra: location, location, location. Armenia, a landlocked country with just three million people, might be in the roughest neighborhood in the world. But in America’s eyes, it might be in the most important position of any US ally to advance President Obama’s foreign policy agenda.

What it lacks in natural resources–it has little oil, gas or jewels–it makes up for in geography. Few countries are in better position to shape US foreign policy than Armenia.

Armenia borders Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran. As a part of the former Soviet Union, it relies on nearby Russia extensively for trade and military backing. The US has a significant stake in all five countries, and Armenia is now coming into view as a potentially potent lever to advance American aims.

That is, if the Armenians can be won over.

As the US tries to woo Armenia to become a stronger ally in the region, the term “geostrategic” has never been more apt. Armenia is literally at the center of a number of countries that Washington considers among its top priorities. As President Obama tries to accomplish key foreign policy objectives–like preventing Iran from attaining nuclear bombs or seeing democracy flourish in Russia–he’s got to encourage Armenia to play along.

To Armenia’s south, one such issue is unfolding in Iran’s nuclear centrifuges. Last  week, a media skirmish between the US and Israel boiled over when Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated publicly that America had no “moral right” to say whether or not Israel could bomb Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. President Obama reportedly called Netanyahu at 3AM to quell tensions.

America is racing to develop every diplomatic pressure point it can on Iran, lest Israel launch a preemptive attack and embroil America in a third Middle East war in ten years. One of those pressure points goes straight through Armenia.

While the US has cut off formal relations with Iran–Washington talks through Switzerland’s embassy there–it’s no secret that it employs a variety of foreign policy crowbars to influence and destabilize Iran’s ruling regime. Some, like President Obama’s latest round of economic sanctions, are well known. Partnering with Armenia is not, but could have a major impact. Through economic and diplomatic incentives, the US is actively trying to shape Armenia into an ally. As President Obama seeks to economically isolate Iran–his sanctions have cut the value of Iran currency in half–he is trying to regionally isolate the regime, as well. Armenia is key to that strategy.

For Armenia, the game is far less simple. Partnering with the US–with whom it has a good, but not great, relationship–could alienate the few friends Armenia has left in the South Caucasus region. It wants military cooperation with Russia, but economic access to the west.

While it has tried to deepen relations with the European Union and the US, Armenia’s two best friends at the moment are arguably the US’s most challenging adversaries: Russia and Iran. That’s not necessarily because of shared ideologies, or even shared interests; it’s because Armenia doesn’t have many friends to pick from.

Of its four neighbors, two–Turkey and Azerbaijan– have have closed off their borders to Armenia. To go on a road trip, every Armenian must pass through either Tbilisi, Georgia or Tehran, Iran.

Why the frosty reception? Turkey, which the New York Times recently called “the historic nemesis of the Armenians,” is still steaming mad over the negative PR associated with Armenian Genocide. The Turks claim rogue military elements are responsible; Armenians believe the Turkish government is reluctant to take the blame.

In either interpretation, the facts are stark: about 1.5 million Armenians perished in a war with Turkey between 1915 and 1918. The Turks closed off its border in 1993, and with it, a significant chunk of Armenia’s economy disappeared. In the decades since, Armenia has pressed for international recognition of the genocide–and rightfully so–but that has only stoked the fire with the Turks.

But, while one would think that the genocide rift is what led Turkey to close off its border, it’s not. Instead, Turkey is standing in solidarity with another neighbor over a contested territory.

Azerbaijan, another fromer Soviet republic, shut its borders with Armenia after the two battled over an Armenian-populated enclave in Azerbaijan, called Nagorno-Karabakh, in the 1990′s. Today, the territory remains a “semi-autonomous” area; meaning that the Azeris want it back, the Armenians believe they control it, and the Karabakhtis has declared independence (which no country has formally recognized).

Meanwhile, the relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan is sliding downhill. Last week, Azerbaijan made a deal with Hungary to extradite a convicted Azeri murderer. (The man, eight years ago, nearly decapitated a sleeping Armenian serviceman with an axe at a NATO-sponsored English class.) He was returned under the condition that he would serve at least 25 more years in jail.

Instead, as the New York Times put it, he received “a new apartment, eight years of back pay, a promotion to the rank of major and the status of a national hero.” Uproar in Armenia ensued. Armenia’s President released a statement warning, “The Armenians must not be underestimated. We don’t want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win.”

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is enjoying the windfall from oil exports. Israel, in particular, has strengthened relations with the Azeris, purchasing 30 percent of their oil from them, as well as selling them over $1.5 billion in military supplies. The US is also a buyer of Azeri oil. As the New York Times points out, Azerbaijan invested more money in its military than Armenia’s entire state budget last year. Hardly the sign of harmonious relations to come.

So far, Armenia’s walked a diplomatic tightrope with skill. As my Lonely Planet travel book explains, “Despite its limited resources, Armenia has become a master at geopolitics. What other country in the world can say it maintains good relations with the US, Russia and Iran?”

Given the cards they’re dealt, Armenia has been a remarkable success story. If America hopes to engender greater cooperation, it’s got to sweeten the deal–through trade agreements, offering economic reforms and encouraging private sector development in Armenia.

Armenia became independent in 1991. Two decades later, it’s still trying to find its footing in the region. It may not have gold, oil, gas or jewels to give to the US. But, instead, it may have something more useful: a strategic position in the most critical—and potentially most dangerous—region in the world.

Daniel Gaynor is Truman’s Writer and Digital Strategist. He can be followed on Twitter @DannyGaynor

Exclusive samples of Armenian printed book to be exhibited in Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris

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11:34, 26 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS: On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Armenian typography an exceptional exhibition will take place in Bibliotheque Mazarine in Paris on October 26-30, which will be organized with the assistance of the Bibliotheque universitaire des Langues et civilisations (BULAC – Languages and Civilisations University Library). In the framework of the exhibition rare and precious Armenian books unknown to the public will be exhibited, mainly collected from the authoritative libraries and monasteries. This was reported to Armenpress by the responsible for the exhibition Michael Nshanyan.

“The exhibition presents the wide geography of the Armenian typography – Venice, Rome, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Marseilles and Madras. It highlights the intellectual, technical and trade exchanges between Europe and the East beginning from the Renaissance up to the Illuminators Epoch”, – stated Michael Nshanyan, adding that this exhibition was a great opportunity to present the public the exclusive samples of the Armenian book.

On October 26, parallel to the exhibition, a symposium will take place, organized by the Bibliotheque universitaire des Langues et civilizations (BULAC). On that day lectures will be reported, devoted to the 500th anniversary of the typography of the Armenian book.

Azeri, Turkish-American groups denigrate U.S.-Armenian CEO

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September 26, 2012 – 13:01 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Four Azeri and Turkish-American organizations launched a coordinated anti-Armenian campaign last week, attacking the integrity of Mark Hoplamazian, Chief Executive Officer of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, in order to intimidate him and other Armenian-American executives, Harut Sassounian, Publisher of The California Courier writes in the editorial titled “Azeri and Turkish-American Groups Denigrate U.S.-Armenian Executive.”

The article further reads:

“In a letter to Thomas Pritzker, Executive Chairman of Hyatt Board of Directors, leaders of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC), Federation of Turkish-American Associations (FTAA), and Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) accused Hoplamazian of involvement in “ethnic propaganda campaigns.”

The Azeri and Turkish groups attacked Hoplamazian for speaking at the Sept. 22 banquet of “the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), an Armenian-American lobbying group, as a Hyatt executive.” They also expressed their unhappiness that he “serves on the Advisory Board of ‘Facing History and Ourselves,’ a non-profit group that ‘teaches about the Armenian genocide.’”

The four Turkic organizations claimed that “Mr. Hoplamazian’s engagement with ethnic special interest groups that spread antagonisms against Turkey and Azerbaijan may be in violation of the Conflicts of Interest clause of Hyatt’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.” However, a review of the hotel chain’s Code, posted on its website, does not provide the slightest hint that the Hyatt executive violated any of its provisions.

In their letter, the Azeri and Turkish groups made a series of malicious statements by referring to the Armenian Genocide as an “allegation” and “World War I-era inter-communal atrocities.” They falsely alleged that these “atrocities” were “never tried in any tribunal and no intent to exterminate Armenians was ever established. No sentences or court verdicts were issued in terms of the 1948 United Nations Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.”

By making such ridiculous claims, the leaders of these Turkic organizations simply exposed their ignorance of the basic facts of the Armenian Genocide. They conveniently forgot about the Turkish Military Tribunals of 1919 that sentenced the Turkish ringleaders of the Armenian Genocide to death. U.S., Swiss, and Argentinean Federal Courts have also reaffirmed the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. Furthermore, the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted in 1985 a report classifying the Armenian Genocide as an example of genocide.

The Azeri and Turkish groups also claimed that they represent “over half million Americans of Turkic descent.” This cannot be true simply because there aren’t that many Turkic people living in the United States, according to the latest US census. Even if there were half a million Turkic Americans, it is highly doubtful if all of them would have given their consent to be represented by these organizations for such absurd misadventures. Most probably, these four groups altogether have a tiny fraction of the constituencies they claim!

Clearly, the faulty statements and silly accusations of these Turkic groups are intended to intimidate Hoplamazian and force him to disengage from any involvement in Armenian or genocide-related issues. More ominously, by targeting and making an example of the Hyatt CEO, Azeri and Turkish groups hope to discourage other Armenian-American executives from pursuing similar activities.

In their joint letter, the Azeri and Turkish groups have indirectly threatened Hyatt’s corporate interests by indicating that the company “currently runs a total of four successful hotels in Istanbul, Turkey, and Baku, Azerbaijan.” One wonders if the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey have authorized these two-bit groups to speak on their behalf. Moreover, do these organizations realize that they are undermining the business interests of their native countries by foolishly threatening a global corporation like Hyatt?

It would be highly regrettable if the unwise Azeri and Turkish campaign against prominent Armenian-American executives would start an undesirable chain of events that could lead the Armenian community to take counter-actions against successful Turkish-American businessmen, such as Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola Company.

The Azeri-Turkish letter is highly unlikely to bring any tangible benefits to these groups, as Hyatt’s Board of Directors would most probably dismiss their baseless allegations. More importantly, such a racist assault on the integrity of an exemplary Armenian-American executive would energize Armenians on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Genocide to pursue more vigorously their just demands from both Turkey and Azerbaijan!

Lastly, it is outrageous that these Azeri and Turkish groupings kept totally silent when an Azeri officer axed to death a sleeping Armenian in Budapest, but are now alarmed when an Armenian- American CEO exercises his right to free speech in Beverly Hills!”

Powerful blast rocks eastern Turkish city, seven reportedly killed

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A powerful explosion has rocked the eastern Turkish city of Tunceli, killing seven people, media report.

The blast targeted a military vehicle carrying security personnel.

The city is near the country’s Kurdish area and suspicion will automatically fall upon Kurdish rebel group the PKK, says the BBC’s Istanbul correspondent James Reynolds.

Fighting between Turkish troops and the PKK – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – has escalated in recent months.

Turkish TV stations showed pictures of workers trying to put out fires in two burnt-out vehicles.

Reports said a vehicle carrying explosives was remotely detonated as an armoured vehicle carrying security forces passed by, sending a huge plume of dark smoke over the city.

Several ambulances and fire engines were reported speeding to the site in the Ataturk neighbourhood.

One report, in Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News, said security forces arriving on the scene clashed with suspected PKK militants, with one militant killed.

No-one has yet said they carried out the attack, but Kurdish rebels are active in the city, which is the capital of the province of Tunceli.

‘Hundreds dead’

This incident comes amid a surge in fighting in the three-decade conflict between the military and the PKK which in total has killed more than 40,000 people.

In mid-September, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 500 Kurdish rebels had been “rendered ineffective” by Turkish forces in the space of a month.

Many have died in Turkish aerial campaigns against suspected PKK hideouts in the south-east of the country.

PKK fighters killed 17 Turkish soldiers and injured scores over three days in Bingol province last week.

Earlier this month, one soldier and three Kurdish militants were killed when insurgents attacked army outposts in Tunceli.

This has become the most violent period in fighting with the Kurds since the capture of the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in 1999, our correspondent says.

Dozens of Kurdish journalists face terrorism charges in Turkey

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Human rights groups say country’s biggest ever media trial is attempt to intimidate press

The biggest media trial in Turkey‘s history has begun in what human rights groups say is an attempt by the government to intimidate the press and punish pro-Kurdish activists.

A total of 44 Kurdish journalists appeared in court in Istanbul on various terrorism charges, including accusations that they have supported the KCK, an illegal pan-Kurdish movement that includes the PKK, the armed Kurdistan Workers’ party. Of those, 36 have been in pre-trial detention since December.

The hearing was delayed after the defendants made an attempt to defend themselves in Kurdish, their mother language, a request denied by the judge. Twelve of the defendants are said to have led a terrorist organisation and 32 are accused of being members of a terrorist organisation. Prosecutors have demanded prison sentences ranging from seven and a half to 22 and a half years.

The contentious case comes amid an escalation of Turkey’s 28-year-old Kurdish insurgency, with renewed clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces. Over the past 14 months, the country has seen its worst violence since the PKK’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured and jailed in 1999. Since June 2011, at least 708 people have been killed, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. The victims include 405 PKK fighters, 209 soldiers and police, and 84 civilians, it said.

Meanwhile, a peaceful initiative by Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) to improve Kurdish rights has fizzled out. Instead, thousands of non-violent Kurdish politicians and sympathisers have been arrested and charged with terrorism offences. The journalists are the latest group to go on trial, activists say.

“This is bad for Turkey’s international image,” said Hüseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University’s international relations department. Bagci described Erdoğan’s Kurdish political initiative – unpopular with many Turks – as dead, but said the government remained divided over how to deal with the worsening insurgency, with no clear strategy.

Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the Turkish government for the prosecution of pro-Kurdish politicians, activists and journalists who exercise their right to freedom of expression.

Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher of Amnesty International, said: “[This] prosecution forms a pattern where critical writing, political speeches and participation at peaceful demonstrations are used as evidence of terrorism offences.”

More than 100 journalists are currently in jail in Turkey, more than in Iran or China. Many of them work for Kurdish media outlets. About 800 more face charges and many journalists have been fired or have quit their jobs because of direct or indirect pressure from the Turkish government.

In a recent speech, the interior minister, Idris Naim Sahin, compared writers and journalists to PKK fighters, saying that there was “no difference between the bullets fired in [the Kurdish south-east] and the articles written in Ankara”.

The government maintains that none of the journalists on trial have been arrested for their work as members of the press. However, the 800-page indictment includes charges for “denigrating the state” against one journalist who wrote about sexual harassment at Turkish Airlines. Özlem Agus, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Tigris News Agency (DIHA), was singled out for bringing to light sexual abuse of minors in the Pozanti prison in Adana. Other offending articles include interviews with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy party (BDP) leader Sebahattin Demirtas, and reports on casualties in the fights between the PKK and Turkish armed forces.

“All of the defendants are on trial for doing their jobs,” the defence lawyer Meral Danis Bektas said. “A free press and freedom of expression are cornerstones of democracy. Without them, democratic political participation becomes impossible. Erdoğan now openly threatens journalists or dictates [what to write]. This attitude creates a terrible climate for press freedom.”

A report by the International Crisis Group to be published on Tuesday blames both sides for the worsening situation. It says the government needs to “reform oppressive laws that jail legitimate Kurdish politicians” and to “make amends” for the excessive behaviour of its security forces. But it adds: “The Kurdish movement, including PKK leaders, must abjure terrorist attacks and publicly commit to realistic political goals. Above all, politicians on all sides must legalise the rights most of Turkey’s Kurds seek, including mother-language education, an end to discriminatory laws, fair political representation and more decentralisation.”

The report also claims Ankara has “zigzagged” on its commitments to Kurds’ rights. At times it has given “positive signals” including scheduling optional Kurdish lesson in schools. “At others, they appear intent on crushing the PKK militarily, minimise the true extent of fighting, fail to sympathise with Kurdish civilian casualties, openly show their deep distrust of the Kurdish movement, do nothing to stop the arrest of thousands of non-violent activists and generally remain complacent as international partners mute their criticism at a time of Middle East turmoil.”

Since 2009, 8,000 pro-Kurdish politicians, lawyers, academics, writers and members of the media have been arrested on terrorism charges.

The new media trial “is clearly political,” said the investigative journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu, who faced terrorism charges, dropped last December, for interviewing the KCK’s leader Murat Karayilan, who operates from a base in northern Iraq.

Mavioglu said: “The government wants to set an example, it wants to intimidate. Journalists are being told: ‘There are limits on what you are allowed to say.'”

• This article was amended on 11 September to correct the English translation of the BDP’s name, from the Freedom and Democracy party to the Peace and Democracy party

Turkish Organized Crime (narcotics trafficking)

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Ioannis Michaletos
Athens, Greece
November 12, 2007

Turkey’s strategic location as a gateway from Asia into Europe, and its proximity to opium producing areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, have long made it an important locus for narcotics trafficking, predominantly heroin.

Turkey itself has long been an opium producer. In the early 1970’s, international pressure—mainly from the Nixon administration in the United States—obliged Turkey to enforce stricter rules for opium production in 1974, strictly limiting it to amounts required for pharmaceutical purposes. Up until then heroin was produced in Turkey as an opium derivative and quantities were sold to the West with the assistance of the Sicilian and Corsican mafias.

The heroin to be sold was transported by ship to Sicily, and then to Marseilles, where the Corsicans had created labs for the production of commercial product. From there it was transferred to New York and other American ports where the Italian-American mafia would organize its distribution. The United States administration at that time declared a war against narcotics and obliged the Turks to seek other sources of opium. Soon enough Turkish operational production bases were established in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The conflict in Afghanistan during the 1980’s, as well as the resurgence of a Kurdish insurgency in southeast Turkey after 1984 and the Iraq-Iran war of the same period; created a convergence of political, criminal, and military operations along the heroin supply chain from Afghanistan to Turkey.

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Moreover, the effective destruction of Beirut in the 1980’s reduced that city’s suitability as a prime port for the narcotics trade and this role was then taken on by Istanbul. Thus, the situation after the end of the Cold War in 1989 found Turkish organized crime groups involved in heroin trafficking much stronger financially from their trade in the previous decades and ready to pursue stronger ties with the supplier countries of Central Asia.

Furthermore, the rise of Albanian organized crime and militant groups in the 1990’s, and the civil wars in former Yugoslavia, provided ample human resources in the Balkans eager to get involved in the drug trade so as to survive financially or gain capital to achieve their political aims. Europe now already hosted considerable Turkish minorities—especially Germany—and some individuals from those Turkish communities were used to act as local retail agents for heroin distribution in Europe.

Trafficking Operations

Key Points

  • Turkish organized crime groups retain tight control over heroin trafficking into Europe.
  • Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria are utilized by Turkish organized crime for heroin warehousing.
  • Synthetic drugs are increasingly being shipped back along the Balkan route from the Netherlands to markets in Turkey.

Turkish organized crime groups function primarily as coordinators, financiers, and facilitators in the drug trade. Their experience in areas such as transportation, company formation, and facilitation management is used for organized crime activities in illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings. Turkey is an important transit country for illegal immigration to the European Union from, for example, China. Turkish organized crime groups are known to be involved in an array of legal businesses that are likely to be a method of laundering proceeds from heroin trafficking. Restaurants, bars, fast-food franchises, real estate agencies, travel agencies, and vehicle repair shops are examples of such businesses.

A large number of heroin shipments enter Turkey each month. They are then delivered, mainly through the Balkan route, to destination countries throughout Europe. In 2004, Turkish law enforcement agencies seized more than 6.5 tons of heroin and 4.5 tons of morphine base, in addition to over 100,000 liters of acetic anhydride, the principle chemical for heroin synthesis.

Historically, the Balkan route is the main overland connection between Asia and Europe. Every year, this route is taken by around 1.5 million trucks, 250,000 coaches, and 4 million cars .The most common way to transport heroin is to hide a relatively small quantity of 20 to 50 kilograms in a truck. Considering the scale of legitimate commercial trade on the Balkan route, combined with the fact that it takes  many hours to a whole day to search a truck, explains why it is virtually impossible to counteract these activities. In 1998, Tim Boekhout van Solinge estimated that 75 percent of the heroin smuggled into Europe is transported along the Balkan route.

Germany is a central redistribution point within Europe. Once heroin reaches Germany, it is repackaged and shipped on from there to the other major European markets, especially Britain and Scandinavia. Moreover, some of the leaders of the Turkish syndicates resided in Germany in the 1990’s and the country became a center of gravity for Turkish organized crime, at least with regard to their European narcotics trafficking operations.

Collaboration

Turkish organized crime groups are usually hierarchical and homogeneous, but over the years they have formed some enduring partnerships with other organized crime groups in Europe. Many Turks involved in the drug trade the Europe are long-term residents within their host countries, which assists them in developing links with non-Turkish organized crime groups and in their move to other areas of crime. In this respect, collaboration between Turkish and Albanian groups in particular has proved beneficial in exploiting large segments of the European market, in many different fields of illegal business.

The alliance of Turkish and Albanian criminal groups is due in part to historical cultural, religious, and ethnic links, and to an Albanian tendency to join and serve larger ethnic groups with whom they feel some affinity. A similar relationship developed in the United States, and in particular in New York, where for decades Albanian crime groups tended to operate under the aegis and influence of the much stronger Sicilian-American mafia families. Albanian “procurement groups” mainly purchase heroin from Turkish wholesale traders who are increasingly using Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania to cache heroin that has passed down the supply chain.

Diversification

Over the past few years, trends have emerged concerning Turkish organized crime that suggest a diversification process is taking place. For instance, there is a firearm trafficking route to Western Europe that runs from Turkey through Serbia and Montenegro. Turkish small arms are increasingly finding their way through the black market into Western Europe via the Balkan route, the same route used to transport heroin and other narcotics. Furthermore, it seems that certain groups of Turkish origin residing permanently in Western Europe, and most importantly in the Netherlands, are increasingly involved in the distribution of synthetic drugs from that country into Germany and Turkey. In exchange, they are supplied with heroin or weapons. In essence, they are diversifying their criminal activities by engaging in the trafficking of both drugs and arms.

Turkish groups retain a tight control over the exploitation of the heroin market in Europe and in Britain in particular. According to the British National Criminal Intelligence Service (now replaced by the Serious Organized Crime Agency) spokesperson in 2006, “Turkish organized crime retains a tight control over the estimated 30 tons a year that feed into the U.K. On average, the authorities seize only two tons per year. The profits are made not by Afghan traffickers or the Taliban but by trafficking organizations in Turkey [and] U.K.-based, Turkish organized crime groups.”

The diversification of Turkish operations also has a geographical element, since over the past few years there has been an increased focus on setting up businesses in Hungary to facilitate drug shipments. Hungary is a new member of the European Union, located right in the center of Europe and close to the main markets of Germany, Italy, and Poland. Moreover, it has less well-developed organized crime monitoring and prevention structures than some of its neighbors, and has become something of a base for Turkish, Albanian, and Chinese groups. It is interesting to note that document forgery is another area of criminal activity that, according to Europol, is growing as an illegitimate source of income for Turkish organized crime.

Presence in the Netherlands

The presence of Turkish organized crime groups in the Netherlands has intensified in the past few years. Police authorities in Amsterdam have reported significantly increased activity by crime groups from the Balkans and Turkey. These groups specialize in smuggling immigrants, narcotics, and arms.

Showing some specialization (Turkish groups have focused on narcotics, Slavic groups on arms) the groups have fought over markets and territories in the city. Police raids have found grenade launchers, explosives, and “heavy weapons suitable for warfare,” believed to be in transit from origins in Eastern Europe to terrorist groups.

As mentioned above, Turkish organized crime has gradually become involved in the distribution of synthetic drugs. As a consequence, the trafficking of drugs such as ecstasy into Turkey has increased. Turkey was in a very good position regarding drug use rates before ecstasy availability increased, and statistics point to a sharp rise in the use of synthetic drugs among young Turks. Social and economic changes, drug prices, and tourism are blamed for a trend that has also altered traditional smuggling patterns in the mainly Muslim country. It is important to note that the dumping of synthetic drugs (at very low street prices) was made possible by the European-Turkish organized crime syndicates that are now finding their homeland to be a lucrative market.

Money Laundering

The increase in the activities of Turkish organized crime, over the past few years, can be illuminated by a review of money laundering activities that have expanded in the country. While the number of suspicious transaction reports submitted by Turkish financial institutions has “increased substantially,” the level of reporting “remains low” when the “size and nature” of Turkey’s financial sector is considered. That was one of the key findings of the Financial Action Task Force’s “Third Mutual Evaluation Report” on Turkey, which rated the country’s efforts to interdict money laundering and terrorist financing.

The major sources of criminal proceeds in Turkey are drug trafficking, smuggling, fraud, bankruptcy, document forgery, pillage, highway robbery, kidnapping, and “serious crimes against the state,” according to the task force’s report. The primary tools for laundering are money transfers and other banking transactions, commercial transactions, accounting transactions, and real estate transactions, the report added.

Moreover, the annual Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development financial report for 2007 revealed the existence of the problem relating to money laundering from organized crime activities. According to the report, “The number of convictions for money laundering in Turkey is relatively low, and the new legislation has not yet been in place long enough to fully demonstrate its effectiveness. Confiscation measures, although complete, have also not yet produced substantial results. The Turkish FIU [Financial Intelligence Unit] is responsible for the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of STR [suspicious transaction report] information for investigation by law enforcement. The number of STRs received, however, is relatively low.”

A closer examination reveals an abundance of undeclared capital flowing into the country over the past five years that has its social and political ramifications as well. Between 2002 and 2003, the summary balance of payments for the net error and omission category—basically unexplained income—increased from $149 million to almost $4 billion.

It is believed that Turkish-based traffickers transfer money to pay narcotics suppliers in Pakistan and Afghanistan through alternative remittance systems. The funds are transferred to accounts in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries. The money is then paid to the Pakistani and Afghan traffickers.

The Turkish judicial system lacks sufficient training to combat organized crime by pursuing an anti-money laundering policy. Between 2003 and 2005, more than 2,100 money-laundering investigations were launched, but only eight resulted in convictions. One factor contributing to this low conviction rate is the fact that Turkey’s police, prosecutors, judges, and investigators need additional training in dealing with financial crimes. In addition, there is a lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies, and between the courts that prosecute the predicate offences and those that prosecute money-laundering cases. Most of the cases involve non-narcotics criminal actions or tax evasion; but a considerable 30 percent are narcotics-related.

Human Trafficking

In July 2007, Pakistan’s security agencies alerted its European counterparts to a massive human trafficking operation that it had detected. According to this information, organized crime groups were about to transfer 10,000 illegal immigrants from Pakistan to Europe via Turkey, and they were due to arrive—most probably in the Greek Aegean Sea—by early September. Greek security sources confirmed the report, and an operation was allegedly carried out by the Turkish police to locate the immigrants along with the criminal network responsible for their transfer. It has to be noted though that September witnessed a substantial increase of illegal immigration along Greek and Turkish border regions resulting in a special meeting between Greek political officials just a few weeks ago.

Turkish crime syndicates have exploited the strategic geopolitical placement of the country, as an Asian gateway to Europe, in order to expand their operations in illegal immigration and human trafficking.

This is a truly global criminal enterprise and the profits are immense. According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Britain, “Globally each year 500,000-700,000 people are trafficked, earning criminals $12-20 billion,” and that might be a very conservative estimation. Most groups that facilitate immigration crime prefer to work within their own ethnic and family backgrounds, and are mainly of British-South Asian, Chinese, Turkish, or Albanian ethnic origin. Criminals charge from 2,000 to 20,000 pounds to bring someone into Britain. Typically, repayment for the journey or for provided accommodations can involve long-term menial, low-paid labor, and in the case of women, forced prostitution. In 2004, it was noted that over one million illegal immigrants were “in transit” through Turkey. It was assumed a third of them would exit the country and head toward European cities.

Besides being a “transit country,” Turkey has gradually become a “target country” with more and more illegal immigrants entering Turkey by sea, air, and land from Asian and African countries.

Facing increasing human trafficking, Turkey introduced an action plan and launched a national task force in 2003 to cope with the issue. According to Turkish Police Director General Gokhan Aydiner, more than 500,000 illegal immigrants have been captured in the country over the past 10 years. In an interview with local private television station NTV, Aydiner said, “The transportation of 575,516 illegal immigrants via Turkey has been hindered and 6,113 human traffickers from 39 different countries have been captured since 1995.”

Countermeasures

The diversification and expansion of Turkish organized crime groups has prompted the Turkish state to initiate a series of bilateral and multilateral security agreements and meetings with neighboring countries, in an attempt to curb the phenomenon. The most important over the past five years have been:

  • An agreement between Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey on combating terrorism, organized crime, and other perilous types of crime (April 30, 2002).
  • A Greek-Turkish protocol on combating organized crime (June 21, 2002).
  • An agreement between Ukrainian and Turkish organs for fighting organized crime to broaden cooperation (March 5, 2003).
  • An agreement between the United Nations and Turkey to increase cooperation against drug trafficking and organized crime (Sept. 3, 2003).
  • A ministerial meeting between Greece, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey on organized crime (Dec. 17, 2005).

Outlook

The general outlook for Turkish organized crime groups is a continuation of their strong role in the contemporary European environment as well as in Turkey.

The heroin trade is mainly in the hands of second generation Turks residing in Germany who collaborate strongly with their Albanian counterparts in a variety of schemes. Interesting trends in the operation of these groups include their diversification into the synthetic narcotics market, with the Netherlands as an epicenter. Moreover, Hungary is becoming a regional hub for Turkish groups, as it has been for a number of other crime syndicates since the early 1990’s. Illegal immigration is a lucrative trade originating from the transfer of Asians to Europe via Turkey, a multibillion-dollar illegal commerce that further empowers Turkish criminal groups.

Money laundering poses a considerable threat for Turkey, and recent international reports indicate a substantial increase in the flow of informal capital into the country. This correlates with increasing organized crime activities originating from Turkish citizens over the past few years.

The Turkish authorities have progressed in forging regional agreements to combat the activities of organized crime groups, and have increased their effectiveness in confiscating narcotics shipments, resulting in numerous arrests. What is important to highlight though is the transnational aspect of the Turkish groups that calls for a coordinated pan-European response.

Finally, a weakness on the part of the Turkish authorities with regard to combating organized crime is the lack of the appropriate skills in dealing with capital laundering and the transfer of illegal funds that fuel support for organized crime groups and allow them to become more influential domestically and internationally.

Armenian delegation concludes several-day visit to Dead Sea Jordan

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Dead Sea, Sept. 22 (Petra)–Members of a government Armenian delegation who have just concluded a several-day tour to Jordan said they would come back again to the Kingdom but on private visits to bring their family members. Standing eastern bank of the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized, the officials from the foreign ministry of the former Soviet republic stressed that they would promote Jordan, the biblical land, to younger generation in their country to know more about the roots of Christianity. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion in the early years of the 4th century.

“This is my second time to Jordan but the first to the Baptism Site,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Manasaryan, who noted that it was hard for him to describe his feelings towards the spirituality of the place as he was walking out of the river.

“I will do my best to come back again soon but with my family,” he added.

For Manasaryan it is crucial for young Armenians to know more about the roots of Christianity and the religious site is the perfect place for this purpose.

According to the official, Armenians know that Jordan is a holy land for Christians, but he acknowledged that tourism traffic between Amman and Yerevan is still at low levels.

However, Manasaryan expressed optimism that tourists flow between the two countries would strengthen in the months to follow as the Armenian church at the Baptism Site is set to be open in the near future.

“Almost 90 per cent of the church construction is ready now,” he pointed out.

As the official delegation toured archaeological site at the holy place, they commended the level of services provided by Jordan.

It is so good to see that several churches have been built just next to the river and the pilgrims are visiting this place on daily basis to take a breath of peace,” a member of the Armenian delegation said while walking from the River site back to the main entrance.

“The remains found are proving the authenticity of the site and you can sense the peace and tranquillity during the walk,” Manasaryan to describe what he saw.

Among these sites is the place were Jesus was baptized, where the remains of five churches uniquely designed and built since the 5th century as memorials of Jesus baptism can be seen. Other important sites of the Baptism Site include Elijah’s Hill, Cave Church, the Pools, The Bethany Saphsaphas, The Church of Arch and John the Baptist Spring among others.

The site of John the Baptist’s settlement at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where Jesus was baptized, has long been known from the Bible (John 1:28 and 10:40) and from the Byzantine and medieval texts.

The site has now been identified on the east bank of the Jordan River, in Jordan, and is being systematically surveyed, excavated, restored, and prepared to receive pilgrims and visitors. Bethany Beyond the Jordan is located half an hour by car from Amman.

The Bethany area sites formed part of the early Christian pilgrimage route between Jerusalem, the Jordan River, and Mount Nebo.

The Armenian delegation had other archaeological attractions to see during a tour organised by the Jordan Tourism Board as they visited the Roman Amphitheatre in downtown Amman as well as the Citadel, which overlooks the capital.

“I expect hundreds of tourists from Armenia would be visiting Jordan next year to experience the spirituality of the holy land,” Manasaryan remarked.

//Petra// ON
22/9/2012 – 03:12:24 PM

Armenia celebrates 21st anniversary of independence, “Happy Birthday Armenia”

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September 21, 2012 – 13:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – With a unanimous national vote, the third Republic of Armenia was born on September 21, 1991, to give the Armenian nation the right to build their future, be the masters of their land and regain statehood.

Like in 1918, the new-born republic had to rebuild the state after the war. If the First Republic will be engraved on the national memory for the Sardarapat victory, so the origin of the Third Republic is certainly bound with the liberation of Artsakh.

Now, Armenia is struggling to build a democratic state, form a civil society, improve the lives of its people. We’re assured that this struggle, like a struggle for the freedom of Artsakh will end with our victory.

Happy Independence Day, Armenia!

Turkey should face the past. Yavuz Baydar

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20:18, 19 September, 2012

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS: Apology, in my opinion, is secondary. First and foremost, the emphasis should be on this society’s courage to face the sins of the past. We were deprived of it until today. This is a frightened society. I am not ashamed to say this: We were fed this fear, we were scared throughout all our lives. Our ruling system has been based on fear. We have to change that. The only way is to confront our past. As Armenpress reports citing Huffington Post, these are the words of İshak Alaton, a prominent octogenarian Turkish businessman of Jewish origin. After releasing his memoirs not so long ago, Alaton has become more and more vocal, calling endlessly for an end to the bloody Kurdish conflict as one of the “wise men” ready to be part of a dialogue on reconciliation, asking for the courage to face the crimes that were committed during the collapse of Ottoman rule and asking citizens to speak out. When a ship called the Struma was dragged to the port of Old İstanbul in 1941, Alaton was a 15-year-old witness to the agony onboard. The 60-year-old vessel was the last hope of 769 Romanian Jews fleeing the Nazis, but its engines had stopped at the Black Sea end of the Bosporus. The issue led to pressure on Ankara from Adolf Hitler’s regime, and after 72 days of despair, the Struma was sent by Turkish authorities back into the Black Sea, where it was torpedoed by the Soviet navy. Only one person survived. “Those responsible for this in Ankara are, to my mind, murderers. This society, of which I am a part, has a problem with hiding from its past. We pretend that if we lock them away the problems will be gone. But the corpses that rot in there poison the air that we breathe. Is any serenity possible without confrontation? Let us do it, so that we can make peace with the past.” The Struma disaster, a hidden episode in the republic’s history, is the subject of a new book written by Halit Kakınç, and its preface is written by, yes, Alaton himself. It is not for nothing the subject of “genies out of the bottle.” is to persist on the agenda of Turkey, opened up in a sort of “Turkish perestroika” by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the past decade.  And, only days after the release of the Struma book, another hit the shelves — a potential intellectual bombshell. “1915: Armenian Genocide” is its title and, not only due to its cover but also its groundbreaking content, it overwhelms many others on the subject that have been published. What makes the book outstanding and unique is that it was written by Hasan Cemal, an internationally renowned editor and columnist who is the grandson of Cemal Pasha. This kinship is key to understanding the book’s historic significance: Cemal Pasha was a member of the triumvirate, whose other parts were Talat and Enver Pasha, responsible for the Great Armenian Tragedy, which started with a mass deportation of Ottoman Armenians from their homelands and ended with their annihilation between 1915 through 1916. In his account, Hasan Cemal concludes it was genocide. He does not intend, or pretend, to argue his case like a historian would. His is a painful intellectual journey that takes us through his own evolution, a rather ruthless self-scrutiny of his intellectual past that amounts to an invaluable piece of private archeology. He has done this before. In other books, he questioned his “militarist revolutionary” past, confronting boldly his own mistakes his deep disbelief in democracy, plotting coups, his experience as newspaper editor, etc. But this one is even more personal. “It was the pain of Hrant Dink which made me write this book,” he told the press. Dink was a dear Turkish-Armenian colleague to many of us, as he was to Cemal. He was assassinated in broad daylight on a street of Istanbul by a lone gunman in January 2007, sending shockwaves around the world. “Look at my age; it’s been years and years that I have defended the freedom of expression. But should I keep secret some of my opinions, only for myself? Should I still have some taboos of my own? Should I still remain unliberated? Is it not a shame on me, Hasan Cemal?” In the preface, he writes: “We cannot remain silent before the bitter truths of the past. We cannot let the past hold the present captive. Also, the pain of 1915 does not belong to the past, it is an issue of today. We can only make peace with history, but not an ‘invented’ or ‘distorted’ history like ours, and reach liberty.” The pain of Dink’s memory,  which scarred many of us so eternally may have been a crucial point for it, but by turning a “personal taboo-breaking” into a public one, Cemal opened a huge hole in the wall of denial of the state. It broke another mental dam. This bold exercise in freedom of speech will, in time, pave the way for the correct path. It is up to the individuals of Turkey to do the same, and bow before their consciences. Perhaps this is why there has been such silence over this book in the days since its publication. It is also very difficult to find in bookstores. There are rumors that some chains are refusing to sell it. This may be true, but it cannot now be unpublished. The genie is out of the bottle but the ghosts of the past are also very much alive. The “silent treatment” is proof of that. If anything, it shows how frightened people are. Not only does the state owe an apology for the past, but an even bigger apology is necessary for enforcing, decade after decade, a mass internalization of denialism in this country

Genocide Recognition Precondition to Turkey’s EU Bid, Says Euro-Parliament President Martin Shultz

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BERLIN—The President of the European Parliament Martin Shultz announced Monday that Turkey’s integration into Europe is preconditioned by the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, reiterating the body’s 1987 decision.

“Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide and it would be considered as a precondition to enter the European Union,” said Shultz whose remarks were posted on the official Web site of his Left Party of Germany, which also welcomed the position. Shultz said that Turkey must face its history.

The European Parliament leader made the statement during a meeting with Turkey’s European Integration Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, who during a press conference later refused to answer questions pertaining to the announcement and comments he made earlier this year in Switzerland, effectively denying the Armenian Genocide.

The President of the European Parliament Martin Shultz stated about it at the meeting with the Turkish State Minister and the Minister for the EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis. They talked about the official role of Turkey in Syria, visa issues and Turkey’s possible membership in the European Union.

Instead Bagis told reporters that Switzerland was not an EU member and “I will not spend a single second to speak about issues, which do not concern the European Union.”