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German Television Exposes Azerbaijan’s Massive Bribery of European Officials

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By Harut Sassounian

This is not the first time that autocratic Azerbaijan has come under scrutiny for handing out billions of dollars in bribes to Western officials to ignore its massive violations of the human rights of its own population and Artsakh Armenians.

The term ‘Caviar diplomacy’ was coined to describe specifically the corrupt practices of Azerbaijan in European institutions. Regrettably, some equally corrupt European officials were happy to pocket the millions of dollars offered to them by Azerbaijan.

“Bringing this intricate web of influence and manipulation to light is a groundbreaking film by German broadcaster ARD, ‘Am Abgrund’ (on the precipice). Though the film is fiction, it is based on a series of investigations dubbed ‘Azerbaijani Laundromat,’ exposing how the Azerbaijani government bribed the Council of Europe politicians. The investigations published in 2017 discovered how the government of Azerbaijan was the driving force behind a $2.9 billion secret slush fund that may have helped it pay off European politicians,” Lamiya Adilgizi wrote on the globalvoices.org website.

“Baku has cleverly navigated the corridors of power in Europe, winning over politicians with a mix of luxurious trips and direct cash payments. The aim? To ensure these influential voices speak up for Azerbaijan’s interests, particularly within the halls of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and even Germany’s own Bundestag,” wrote Adilgizi.

The film, directed by investigative reporter Daniel Harrich, premiered at an event organized by the German Parliament on February 20. A follow-up documentary is planned to further reveal Azerbaijan’s corrupt lobbying efforts in Europe.

The film exposes both the bribe-giving Azeris and bribe-taking European officials. “At the heart of this tale is both Azerbaijan, a country rich in energy resources and scrutinized over its ruling government’s authoritarian practices, but also European countries, known as champions of democracy, rule of law, and human rights, who have long been mentors to the emerging nations from the Soviet era. But here’s the twist — instead of spreading these cherished values, it seems they, too, are vulnerable to corruption….”

The movie starts with Azerbaijan’s efforts to silence its domestic opponents who are thrown in jail for bravely exposing the regime’s human rights violations. It features “dramatic scenes that replicate footage from hidden cameras planted in the bedroom of renowned journalist Khadija Ismayilova in 2012, exposing her private life. Ismayilova penned a series of investigations into government corruption linked to the ruling family of Aliyevs. The leaked footage aimed to tarnish the journalist’s reputation. Ismayilova was later jailed on bogus charges and spent two years behind bars as a result.”

The film follows “Gerd Meineke, a fictional member of the German Bundestag who also serves in the Council of Europe. Meineke discovers that the latter institution created back in 1949 to foster democracy and the rule of law has been compromised and that German Members of Parliament have been swayed by Azerbaijan’s regime, trading their votes in the Council of Europe for money, gold, prostitutes, and other bribes, betraying the principles of democracy and human rights.”

Meineke’s attempt to pass a resolution condemning Azerbaijan for its numerous political prisoners is defeated by other members after receiving bribes from Azerbaijan.

During the discussion following the screening of the film, director Harrich said: “The issue extended beyond the government of Azerbaijan and implicated Western politicians and societies in the corrupt practices fueled by Azerbaijan’s natural resources. Among the guests to the screening was the German Member of Parliament Frank Schwabe who has recently become known for his loud criticism of the Azerbaijani government. It was Schwabe who challenged the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE during the Assembly’s opening winter session in January 2024.”

Schwab told Global Voices that his attempt to tell the truth about Azerbaijan “aligns with the mission of the Council of Europe. If a member of this organization doesn’t respect its principles, then action is necessary.” After boycotting Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine, Europe started buying gas from Azerbaijan which is partly imported from Russia. However, “it’s crucial that we don’t overlook human rights violations for the sake of trade relationships,” Schwab said.

After PACE’s refusal to ratify the credentials of Azerbaijan’s delegation in January 2024, “‘the timing [for the film’s launch] couldn’t be better,’ said Gerald Knaus, the chairman of the European Stability Initiative, a think tank, and a vocal critic of the Azerbaijani government, in an interview with Global Voices. His think tank coined the term ‘caviar diplomacy’ in 2012 and was the first to document Azerbaijan’s influence at the Council of Europe.”

Knaus warned of the possible expulsion of Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe if it does not release its political prisoners by April 2024, the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe.

There are over 200 political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan Public Television, commonly known as H1 pushing into the Los Angeles Market

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Armenian Public Television, commonly known as H1, has taken a noteworthy step this week by inaugurating an office in Los Angeles,

marking its expansion into one of the largest Armenian communities beyond the country’s borders. Its Los Angeles operation will be called First Channel America. Operated and financially supported by the present Armenian government, Armenian Public Television’s expansion into Los Angeles can be interpreted as a deliberate effort to enhance its influence within the diaspora. Armenian Public Television’s undeniably close ties with the current government have further fueled skepticism and distrust among the citizens of Armenia, many of whom label the station as a mouthpiece for government propaganda.

Following the 2020 War in Artsakh, in 2021 the Armenian government decided to allocate significant funds to the Public Broadcaster’s Council, amounting to nearly a million US dollars (427.7 million drams). This raised concerns about the station’s independence and impartiality. Moreover, even before the 2020 War in Artsakh, in February 2020, the government approved the legislative initiative of the government regarding the draft of the RA law “On Amendments and Additions to the RA Law On Television and Radio,” giving the right to broadcast advertisements to the Public Television Company. Government funding and entering the advertising market with government backing gave Armenian Public Television substantial competitive advantages, pushing competitors like opposition media out of the market. Meanwhile, the Armenian government continues to periodically crack down on media outlets that are critical of the government’s recent decisions to warm relations with neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan. Just yesterday, Armenian Public Television published a news segment based on a survey stating that Nikol Pashinyan is the most trustworthy politician in the country.

On New Year’s Eve, as the country and Armenians worldwide prepared to welcome the new year, Armenian Public Television omitted the yearly address of the Catholicos, the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, from its programming. This tradition was instated and had continued since Armenia’s independence in 1991. This omission was seen as a deliberate snub towards the religious leader and further strained the already tense relationship between the current government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. The leadership of the Armenian Public Television includes Hovhanes Movsisyan, who currently serves as Executive Director.

Movsisyan, who studied documentary filmmaking in Turkey and was a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, strongly voiced his support for the “Velvet Revolution.” Following the revolution, he quickly rose in influence within Armenia’s media landscape and was assigned by the then newly appointed Prime Minister Pashinyan to the Prime Minister’s Public Affair and Information Center. Following the 2020 War in Artsakh, which ended in a capitulation on November 9, 2020, Movsisyan was again promoted. On November 11, 2020, only two days after the Government’s capitulation of the vast majority of Artsakh, Movsisyan was again promoted, this time to his current role as Executive Director of Armenia’s state-owned public television.

Hollywood Proposed to Make Propaganda Films on Aliyev and Erdogan for a Price.

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By Harut Sassounian

A team of investigative journalists from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that a Hollywood producer planned to make propaganda films that would glorify several authoritarian leaders for a payment of millions of dollars.

Igor Lopatonok, a native of Ukraine who is now a US citizen, in collaboration with Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone, initially produced two documentaries on Ukraine, which were described as “pro-Kremlin propaganda” and a highly flattering eight-part mini-series on Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In addition, Lopatonok planned to make several propaganda documentaries casting a positive light on the autocratic leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey, among others. However, it is not clear if Stone would have been involved in any of these proposed projects. None of these documentaries were made.

OCCRP stated that Aliyev, Putin and Lukashenko “have all been accused of horrific crimes against the citizens of the countries they rule…. But where the world sees brutal dictators, Igor Lopatonok sees opportunity [to make money].” Since these authoritarian leaders were to pay for their propaganda documentaries, no mention would have been made of their brutal rule.

“One of Lopatonok’s glossy pitches, ‘Untitled Oliver Stone Documentary’ or ‘About Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijan’, promises that Stone would ‘sit face to face’ with the Azerbaijani strongman [Aliyev] and cover not only ‘emerging of leader to the head of state rank, but all questions of colorful and fascinating history of Azerbaijan,’” OCCRP reported.

“Lopatonok seemed to have hit upon a promising formula. He had assembled a small team of screenwriters and producers who churned out film ideas to pitch to dictators, making an enticing offer: copious screen time with a world-famous director [Oliver Stone]. The key to ‘monetizing’ the process was simple, said an insider who worked on the team, and agreed to speak with reporters on condition of anonymity. Lopatonok had figured out how to offer powerful people something they couldn’t resist: Legitimacy on the world stage,” OCCRP wrote.

“In his pitch to Aliyev for the ‘Oliver Stone documentary,’ Lopatonok underscores that the planned film would ‘have a unique positive impact on publicity of the president and Azerbaijan.’ Although it’s unclear if Aliyev ever engaged with the pitch, an expert on Eurasia said it would be in line with the strongman’s previous efforts to present his regime as a dynamic, modernizing influence in the region. ‘I do see it as in line with all of these potential vectors of image washing — culture, sports, those are the big ones, and global events, global conferences,’ said Alexander Cooley, a political science professor at New York’s Barnard College and an expert on Eurasian transnational networks.”

It is obvious that a documentary made by Hollywood filmmakers touting the greatness of Aliyev would have much more credibility than the cheap propaganda produced in Azerbaijan.

“When authoritarian leaders get a Hollywood glow-up, it often comes at the expense of the people they rule over, said Casey Michel, head of the Human Rights Foundation’s Combating Kleptocracy Program. The foundation has spent years campaigning for Hollywood stars to stop working with dictatorial regimes. ‘I can’t imagine how dispiriting it must be for citizens in places like Kazakhstan … to watch this American director come and turn into a propaganda mouthpiece for their dictators,’ Michel said. These people know how horrific these regimes truly are — and then they watch this American parachute in, and gobble up all of the dictators’ talking points, without even bothering to push back,” OCCRP stated.

The funding to produce these documentaries is to be provided by the dictators “or people close to them.” In 2019, when Stone and Lopatonok produced the documentary “Qazaq: History of the Golden Man,” about Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, a charitable foundation controlled by him paid the duo at least $5 million,” OCCRP reported.

Documents obtained by OCCRP reporters revealed that Lopatonok’s “team prepared synopses of potential films about at least six other authoritarian governments, including China, the United Arab Emirates, and the Russian republic of Tatarstan, alongside the pitches to Aliyev and Lukashenko, promising that Stone would interview their leaders and help tell their ‘true story.’”

Lopatonok’s team proposed that during his interview with Aliyev, Stone discuss “the country’s ‘success’ under the ‘dynastic rule’ of the Aliyev family, and its ongoing conflict with ‘an Armenia that is losing its stability and teetering on the edge of an abyss.’ A summary of the proposed film makes clear the tenor of Lopatonok’s approach: It describes Aliyev as a ‘true successor’ to his father, the previous president, who had taught him to be a ‘wise leader.’” The pitch asked: “Can you really call the existing state system in Azerbaijan a ‘Cult of Personality’? Or is it just a tribute of people’s respect to a leader who was able to turn the country from poverty into one of the developed, prosperous countries?” The film about Aliyev would cost $15 million, according to OCCRP.

Lopatonok told the Azeri media during his visit to Baku in 2021: “This country [Azerbaijan] has a very rich and colorful culture. When I was here in 2012-2013, I learned to distinguish the Karabakh carpets from all others, identifying [them] by their ornament. I would make a good film about Azerbaijan.”

There was another synopsis for a film on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “offering him a chance to tout his defense of Turkish interests.” Here is what the synopsis said: “Erdogan is a Turk and hardly needs to be basing his actions on the interests of other countries. But what interests does he have? Can he restore the Great Silk Road? And does he really have expansionist plans? What is Erdogan trying to achieve? He should answer these questions himself. And only himself. We should not try to divine [Erdogan’s plans] from coffee grounds, even if it is magnificent Turkish coffee that they know how to make only in Istanbul.”

“In a 2018 interview, Ibrahim Kalin, then the spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, confirmed that they had received a pitch for a documentary about Erdogan around the same time Stone was in Turkey. ‘We are looking at it, we are evaluating it,’ he said,” OCCRP reported.

Turkey’s Dictator, like Armenia’s Dictator, Bans Entry of Foreigners Who Criticize President Erdogan

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By Harut Sassounian,

The Turkish government, led by the autocratic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has banned the entry of over 100,000 foreigners from 150 countries, including journalists and academics, just because they have expressed views critical of the government.

This violates the most fundamental principle of democracy — freedom of expression. This is also a violation of the criteria for Turkey’s membership in NATO and the Council of Europe which is based on “shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”

Yet, neither NATO nor the Council of Europe criticizes Turkey for its multiple and long-standing violations of their lofty principles. Even when the European Court of Human Rights, a part of the Council of Europe, rules that Turkey is guilty of violating such rights, the government of Turkey simply ignores the Court’s judgment and refuses to pay the ordered financial penalty, even though abiding by its verdict is mandatory for all members.

Abdullah Bozkurt, the Sweden-based Turkish investigative journalist, exposed the Turkish ban in a Nordic Monitor article titled, “Turkey’s Secret Blacklist Targets Foreign Critics with Entry Bans and Deportations.”

The Turkish government’s secret database designates the banned foreigners with the code G followed by two-digit numbers, describing the specific reasons for restricting their entry to the country.

“The G-87 restriction code is perhaps the most frequently used designation for foreigners, signifying that an individual labeled with this code is deemed to pose a threat to general public safety. The alleged evidence justifying such classification often originates from intelligence sources or the assessment made by the risk group responsible for screening incoming passengers at airports or at border crossing points,” Bozkurt revealed.

The unsuspecting foreigners become aware of their ban only after they arrive at a Turkish airport. Some of them are refused entry, while others are arrested. The reason for their ban could be as innocent as posting or liking a message on social media. The restrictive measures are not only a violation of the rights of these individuals, but also a violation of the Turkish constitution, as no laws have been passed authorizing such bans.

The information on the foreigners are collected either by the Security General Directorate (Emniyet) and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) or diplomats at Turkish Embassies overseas who monitor those who make critical comments about Erdogan’s government. To make matters worse, some of these foreigners are described as terrorists, without any evidence, simply for criticizing Turkey.

In 2019, former Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu publicly warned: “In Europe, especially in Germany, there are people who attend meetings of terrorist organizations and then come to [the resort cities of] Antalya, Bodrum and Mugla for vacation. We have taken precautions now. …Let them come, see if they can enter the [country] easily. It’s not so simple. We will detain them and send them back.”

Ironically, the Erdogan government has facilitated the entry into Turkey of real terrorists belonging to ISIS. Bozkurt mentioned that “in 2012, Erdogan personally assisted a one-time al-Qaeda financier to enter Turkey, despite a ban on him imposed by a UN Security Council designation, and secretly met with him in Istanbul and Ankara several times.”

Sometimes, the Turkish government detains a completely innocent foreign visitor for the purpose of extorting from another country political favors or the exchange of prisoners. An example of such Turkish blackmail took place when Pres. Erdogan ordered the arrest of American pastor Andrew Brunson and offered to exchange him with Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who had escaped to the United States from Turkey after being falsely accused of plotting a coup against Erdogan. Pres. Trump refused to exchange Gulen for Brunson and imposed sanctions on Turkey. After serving two years in jail, pastor Brunson was finally released and allowed to return to the United States.

The extensive list of individuals on the Turkish government’s blacklist has given rise to a lucrative business for certain law firms who specialize in defending the rights of those banned from entry into the country. Sometimes even after the courts have ordered the government to remove the name of an individual from the black list, the Turkish government has refused to comply, claiming that its evidence cannot be presented in court because it is considered a state secret.

Bozkurt concluded his article: “The blacklist serves as a tool in the Erdogan government’s toolbox to perpetuate an intimidation campaign against critics, particularly foreign journalists, activists and human rights defenders. Denying entry or enforcing abrupt deportations, the government has used the blacklist to restrict the reporting activities of foreign journalists on the ground. Over the last decade, numerous foreign journalists have been affected by this practice, facing the repercussions of having their names added to the list. It appears that the blacklist will continue to be maintained by the Erdogan government’s repressive rule for the foreseeable future.”

A simple solution to this problem is for foreigners not to travel to Turkey, thus protecting themselves from harassment, deportation or arrest. The refusal to go to Turkey would deliver a major blow to the country, as millions of tourists visit Turkey each year, injecting tens of billions of dollars into the bankrupt Turkish economy.

Will the American populace elect a president who speaks truthfully? Video

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RFK Jr: The CIA is a sock puppet for the military-industrial complex, the Fed is a sock puppet for Wall Street, and the health agencies keep us sick to profit Big Pharma “The CIA’s function is to provide a steady pipeline of forever wars for Raytheon,

General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Lockheed. My uncle understood that in 1961 when he came into power. During the Bay of Pigs, he realized he’d been lied to by his agency and by the military brass. Publicly he took blame for it, but privately he said to his aides, ‘I want to take the CIA and shatter it into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds.’

But also, the Fed is a captive agency by the banking industry. Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink run the Fed. It’s not working for you and me. It’s working to flood the canyons of Wall Street with money, and that’s much more concerning to me than the agencies.

The agencies have too much power because they’re owned by the industry. The agencies didn’t have too much power when they were working for the American public. The health agencies are not working for public health. They’re working to keep us sick, because the group that controls them, the pharmaceutical industry, profits from chronic disease. It’s now $4.3 trillion we’re spending a year on chronic disease, and nobody’s even doing research on it at NIH. All of these agencies are controlled by an industry, and I think that is the biggest threat to American democracy.” From ETHDenver 2024

Edmond Maroukyan Finally resigned, as working with the Turkish Agent was impossible.

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Edmond Marukyan has appealed to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to be dismissed from the post of Armenia’s Ambassador-at-Large. He announced this on his Facebook page.

“I would like to inform you that I have applied to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to be dismissed from the post of Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of Armenia.

In a difficult period for our state and region, I undertook this mission with great responsibility and dedication.

However, recently, the differences in our views on several fundamental foreign policy issues have made my further participation in the foreign policy front impossible.

I assure you that I will continue to serve the state and the people and invest my knowledge and experience, as well as my international relations, in the defense of the national and state interests of the Republic of Armenia.

God save the Republic of Armenia,” Marukyan wrote.

Confronting A Ruthless Dictator,

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A heated conversation between Pashinyan and Papazyan

On Wednesday, February 21, on the occasion of the reburial of Misak Manushyan and his wife in the French pantheon, taking advantage of the fact that Nikol Pashinyan was in France, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron initiated the contact between Nikol Pashinyan and the co-chairs of CCAF (Coordinating Council of French Armenian Organizations), Murad Papazyan and Ara Toranyan. : The conversation took place in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, at the end of the dinner organized at the Elysée Palace.

President Macron opened the conversation by clarifying the need for contacts between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the representatives of the Armenian community in France, even if differences can separate them. President Macron highly appreciated the work done by Murad Papazyan and Ara Toranyan for Armenia. He emphasized their determination to protect Armenia and their ability to unite the Armenian community in France, the French government and all political actors.

After the words of the French President, Murad Papazyan welcomed this initiative. Addressing Nikol Pashinyan, the CCAF co-chairman condemned the fact that he was banned from entering Armenia for 19 months, which was finally lifted by the Armenian justice system. Murad Papazyan criticized Nikol Pashinyan for making this deeply undemocratic and divisive decision.

Murad Papazyan emphasized the disagreements that Nikol Pashinyan might have with him, while insisting on his right to express them publicly within the framework of a free and democratic debate. Nikol Pashinyan, clearly irritated by this lesson in democracy, got angry and criticized Murad Papazyan for discussing this topic in front of the French president.

Murad Papazyan reminded that the French president is the author of that initiative and that, probably, the French president is the only person who could organize this dialogue.

Even more enraged by that answer, Nikol Pashinyan said that he banned Murad Papazyan from entering Armenia because the latter organized a demonstration against him in Paris on June 1, 2021. This baseless claim has been spread many times by the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia and has always been denied by Murad Papazyan. However, during that conversation, Nikol Pashinyan repeated this accusation, and Murad Papazyan once again rejected it, at the same time being surprised that the security services of Armenia did not present this accusation to the court.

Murad Papazyan also clarified that the right to demonstration is not prohibited in a democratic country. He expressed surprise at Nikol Pashinyan’s weak argument and the poverty of his expressions.

At the end of the conversation, President Macron stood aside with the Prime Minister of Armenia, after which Pashinyan informed Murad Papazyan that the authorities will not appeal the decision to restore his right to return to Armenia.

ARF Paris office

Crescenta Valley Youth Center Presents “From Artsakh to Amenia and the Current Situation” by Gev Iskajyan, Dickran Khodanian & William Bairamian

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On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the Educational Committee of the Crescenta Valley Meher & Satig Der Ohanessian Youth Center will host a lecture on “From Artsakh to Armenia and the Current Situation” presented by Gev Iskajyan, Dickran Khodanian and William Bairamian. The presentation will begin at 7:30 pm Pacific Time at Crescenta Valley Youth Center located at 2633 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020.

This presentation will center around the political environment that’s taken place in Artsakh since 2020 including the blockade, war, and ethnic cleansing.

The assault on Artsakh went beyond conventional warfare, leading to widespread atrocities and the displacement of its indigenous population. Beyond the immediate military engagements, this presentation delves into the subsequent ethnic cleansing that shook the very foundations of the region. Key themes include the impact on civilian populations, the destruction of cultural heritage, and the broader geopolitical implications of the conflict.

The topic will also include a brief overview of the currently dismal political atmosphere in Armenia with a retrospective of how we arrived here. Ultimately, it is impossible to understand how today’s tragic circumstances came about and how to prevent it in the future without understanding the causes.

Gev Iskajyan is a native of Los Angles who was residing in Artsakh and serving as the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Artsakh. He had been living in Artsakh for two years, encompassing the entire duration of the blockade and Azerbaijan’s genocide campaign in October 2023.

Dickran Khodanian is a researcher and journalist who holds a Master’s Degree in History from Boston University and a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Armenian Studies from California State University, Northridge. He has previously served as the Communications Director of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) and as the Assistant Editor of the Armenian Weekly. He divides his time between Armenia and the US.

William Bairamian is the founder and editor of the Armenian periodical, The Armenite. He has B.A. degree from UCLA in international relation and MS degree from Columbia University in international and public affairs.

The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. Please reserve the date and time by attending the meeting.

Below is the YouTube video presentation on “CULTURAL GENOCIDE, The History and the Future of Armenian Heritage Sites in Artsakh” presented by Dr. Marco Brambilla at the Crescenta Valley Youth Center in Montrose, California on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

https://youtu.be/VGqY9bkz4SE

Despite His Denials, Aliyev is Upset By International Criticism of Azerbaijan

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By Harut Sassounian,

Pres. Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan repeatedly states that he ignores all international criticisms regarding his violations of the human rights of his own citizens, war crimes by his soldiers, and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians. Aliyev tries to cover up these violations and crimes through ‘Caviar diplomacy,’ by providing billions of dollars in bribes to various European officials.

Anytime Azerbaijan has a problem with a foreign country, Europeans institutions or international courts, he puts on a brave face and acts like nothing has happened. He repeatedly says, “I don’t care who says what, I will do what I want.”

I would like to cite a recent example of Aliyev being so bothered by such issues that, rather than ignoring them, has gone to unusual lengths to resolve them.

This example has to do with France. In recent months, Aliyev has been quite outspoken with his harsh criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron for supporting Armenia. Aliyev has refused to meet with Pres. Macron and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to discuss the Artsakh conflict. Aliyev also complained about France selling a number of armored personnel carriers to Armenia. While spending billions of dollars to arm Azerbaijan with the latest Israeli and Turkish drones and missiles, Aliyev dares to complain about Armenia procuring a limited number of arms to defend itself.

Late last year, the Azerbaijan-France confrontation got more heated when Azerbaijan expelled two French embassy officials from Baku and in return France expelled two Azeri embassy officials from Paris.

The Intelligence Online website reported that, according to its confidential sources, Azerbaijan’s intelligence services asked Mossad, Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, to intervene with France to resolve their outstanding conflicts.

According to confidential Mossad sources, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Intelligence Service (XKX), led by General Orkhan Sultanov, asked his counterpart in Israel to intervene with the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE) of France to deescalate the tension between Baku and Paris. Azerbaijan indicated that it would not want to worsen the existing dispute.

However, the Azeri effort failed, as Mossad did not transmit the Azeri request to France, according to Intelligence Online sources. This was a delicate issue for Israel as it wanted on one hand to preserve its good relations with Azerbaijan, while on the other hand Israel’s intelligence agency did not want to attempt such mediation at a time when it was preoccupied with the conflict in Gaza and other Middle Eastern hot spots.

Intelligence Online reported that Mossad enjoys a high degree of influence over Baku, since Israel uses the Azeri territory for its operations in Iran. When Mossad stole Iran’s nuclear documents from Tehran in 2018, Israel’s agents used Azerbaijan’s border to flee from Iran. In return, Mossad greatly facilitated Azerbaijan’s acquisition of sophisticated weapons from Israel, which aided Baku, the second largest buyer of Israeli arms, to score victories in 2020 and 2023 in Artsakh. Just before the attack on Artsakh in September 2023, Azerbaijan’s security services informed the experts of Mossad and Unit 8200 (Aman) of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate of their plans and sought their advice.

According to Intelligence Online, Mossad has in recent years brought its cooperation with the French External Security Directorate to a higher operational level, notably on Iran. The French Agency has also been mobilized over the situation in Gaza.

The new director of French Intelligence Agency, Nicolas Lerner, met with David Barnea, the director of Mossad when the latter came to Paris in the last week of January. Attending the closed-door meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian issue were Abbas Kamel, head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (Mukhabarat el-amma); Ronen Bar, head of Shin Bet, Israel’s Internal Security Agency; William Barnes, head of the CIA; and Qatari officials.

Intelligence Online importantly reported that the CIA let Baku know that it was not pleased with Azerbaijan’s conflict with French Intelligence, while France is trying to hinder Moscow in the Caucasus and needs Azerbaijan’s platform.

Having exposed Aliyev’s deception about ignoring international pressure on Azerbaijan, my advice to the international community is to continue pressuring Aliyev to stop his unacceptable behavior. Otherwise, he will go on with his multitude of ever-increasing violations and crimes, causing great harm to Azeris and Armenians alike.

Next week, I will expose another one of Aliyev’s efforts to counter international pressures on Azerbaijan, despite his denials of not paying any attention to them.

Gagik Tsarukyan Attends ‘Anti-West’ Forum in Moscow

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Gagik Tsarukyan, who heads the Prosperous Armenia party, recently attended a “For Freedom of Nations” forum in Moscow organized by Russia’s governing United Russia party.

Tsarukyan, an Armenian businessman with pro-Russian leanings, in a Facebook post today writes that he attended the conference to improve relations between Yerevan and Moscow that have soured of late.

“Everyone is concerned today. Everyone understands that today’s Armenians are broken. They don’t have their former pride, and this is not a favorable situation for our people,” Tsarukyan writes.

Delegates from more than fifty countries attended the forum that discussed “countering interference in the sovereign affairs of states and countering destructive neo-colonial practices.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement welcoming forum participants, wrote that Russia has “done a great deal to dismantle the foundations of the colonial system and support national liberation movements.”

Putin accused the West of aggressively interfering in the internal matters of independent states, including Russia, to “preserve its stranglehold and domination at any cost, to economically subjugate other countries, to deprive them of sovereignty and to impose alien values and cultural traditions upon them.”

The top photo shows Tsarukyan (left) talking with Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev who now chairs the United Russia party.

Source: https://hetq.am/en/article/164400