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Pashinyan did what no Turkish government could do for a hundred years. Alienated Diaspora from Armenia was the dream of the Turks

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Naira Vanyan

Nikol Pashinyan’s government has given and continues to give many opportunities to make Azerbaijanis and Turks happy. The first was to keep the soldiers behind the bars and torture them, who became the terror of the Azeris during the Artsakh war. Manvel Grigoryan’s death, a witness.

For decades, the Armenian diaspora with its various political and social structures has been a big problem for our neighboring Turks. It has been raising the issue of genocide recognition since the 1915 uprising. The ASALA organization of avengers was formed and operated in the diaspora. The diaspora has always been and is behind Armenia, the clear proof of which was the various financial and moral support during the 44-day war. Diaspora Armenians raised a great noise all over the world against Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression and today’s genocide. In short, the diaspora has always stood like a piercing thorn in Turkey’s throat. The country that genocided the Armenians could not in any way silence or weaken the Armenian Diaspora, at least weaken its ties with Armenia. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan came to their aid in this matter.

Various large-scale events supporting Armenia-Diaspora relations were organized during the time of former RA presidents. Those events were quite well organized. structures related to the diaspora, the most diverse political direction, were invited, and they were large-scale. Such visits of our Diaspora Armenian compatriots were expected and took place in a warm atmosphere. People came to the homeland in families, groups, and communicated with people. The whole of Yerevan felt the breath of the Diaspora, there were no restrictions in communication with them, both for ordinary citizens and journalists. And when they left Armenia, they went with the hope and plan of a new return.

The Pashinyans decided to turn upside down and change these traditions as well. Of course, it is not easy for Pashinyan. When he or his wife enter any country, especially after the war, the representatives of the local community appear on their way and show their attitude towards them with “traitor” or other dishonorable exclamations. No leader of RA has ever received this kind of treatment, except perhaps Serzh Sargsyan, who during his football diplomacy toured Armenian settlements and met with strong resistance.

Pashinyan now feels that he is an “unwanted person” not only in Armenia but also in the diaspora. Of course, the diaspora is not homogeneous, there are people of different political orientation and orientations. There are still a small number of groups that still believe in and support Pashinyan, but not because these people are traitors and landlords, but because they are sure that “the former put this defeat in the pocket of the poor harif”. With this small number of people, Pashinyan could not initiate a large-scale event in order to form an imitation of close relations with the diaspora. The miserable event, which received the influential and resounding name “World Armenian Summit”, which started unnoticed and ended unnoticed, was taking place in a half-empty hall. The main speakers of the events were people who have never left a stone unturned in this country, and destroyed what was there. but with a serious expression on their faces, they gave lessons to our compatriots and taught them how to love the motherland. And Zareh Sinanyan accused them that Diaspora Armenians want positions in Armenia. Maybe Sinanyan was afraid that other Diaspora Armenians might take his seat. “Hraparak” referred to the composition of the diaspora at the “summit”. most of them live in Armenia or have recently returned from abroad.

And those who did arrive from the diaspora, mostly left Armenia disappointed. It became clear to everyone that Pashinyan managed to alienate the Diaspora from Armenia, driving a wedge between his own and non-own Diaspora Armenians. And Turkey certainly sees this and gets great satisfaction. Pashinyan did what no Turkish government could do for a hundred years.

Statement on Azerbaijani Aggression International Association of Genocide Scholars Executive Board

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Harut Sassounian,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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OPINION:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Double Trouble: Dr. Mehmet Oz and Turkey

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Op-Ed by David Boyajian

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

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

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

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

Oz and Turkish Terrorism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Erdogan is Oz’s “Leader”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Doctor and Mass Murder

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

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

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

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

The Oz–Turkish Love Affair

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nice Guys Finish Last

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

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

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

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

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

Human Rights Watch Verifies War Crimes Committed by Azerbaijan

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The human rights organization confirmed, through an expert analysis of a video released online, that Azerbaijani troops unlawfully executed Armenian prisoners of war.

Image: Reuters.

by Mark Episkopos,

The alleged execution of seven Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) last month by Azerbaijani forces is a war crime, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

A video, published on Telegram in early October, allegedly depicted Azerbaijani troops shooting a group of unarmed Armenian POWs. Human Rights Watch said it “verified the forty-second video through a variety of techniques, including by consulting with weapons and medical experts, analyzing the language heard in the video, and using reverse search image engines to establish if the video had been posted online before mid-September.”

“These soldiers had been captured and laid down their arms. Their captors had an obligation to treat them humanely, and instead it appears that Azerbaijani forces shot them in cold blood. Now they need to be held accountable,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan announced earlier this month that it launched an investigation into the alleged extrajudicial executions of Armenian POWs at the hands of Azerbaijani troops. “Azerbaijani authorities should ensure that the investigation opened by their prosecutor’s office is effective and leads to accountability for the soldiers and commanders responsible,” wrote Human Rights Watch.

Armenia’s human rights ombudsman Kristinne Grigoryan said her office confirmed the authenticity of the video, which was allegedly filmed on September 13 during an Azerbaijani assault on Armenian territory. “The fact is confirmed by the study of the terrain, comparison with similar videos available in our and other databases, as well as the complex combination of weather conditions, uniforms of servicemen, the conversation of Azerbaijani servicemen and other parameters,” Grigoryan said.

Armenian and Western observers have accused Azerbaijan of committing a slew of war crimes during clashes last month near the Armenian border. A video published on September 16 allegedly appeared to show the stripped and mutilated body of a female Armenian soldier being taunted by Azerbaijani troops.

Deadly border clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September as the two sides traded blame over violating the terms of a fragile Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Genocide Watch issued a “genocide warning” against Azerbaijan last month, citing the country’s “unprovoked military attacks against Armenia.” The organization called on the West to halt all weapons sales to Baku and to impose sanctions on Azerbaijani energy exports if the purported attacks continue.

French president Emmanuel Macron accused Azerbaijan of launching “a terrible war, with many deaths, atrocious scenes,” according to France 24. “Azerbaijan has launched several offensives along the border (with Armenia). We have condemned them. We will not abandon Armenians,” he said this week. On Friday, Baku denounced Macron’s remarks as “unacceptable and biased,” adding that “Azerbaijan is forced to reconsider France’s efforts in mediating” Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.

Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/human-rights-watch-verifies-war-crimes-committed-azerbaijan-205392

Breaking News: Erdogan demanded that Pashinyan renounce international recognition of the #ArmenianGenocide and open the “Zangezur corridor.”

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Armenian Turkish relations are supposed to be unconditional yet Turkish media reports details of Erdogan and Pashinyan meeting

Turkish portal Al-Monitor reported details of the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Prague.

According to the source, Pashinyan asked Erdogan for support regarding the release of Armenian prisoners of war and the demarcation of borders.

According to Al Monitor, Erdogan, for his part, demanded that Pashinyan renounce international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and open the “Zangezur corridor.”

Why won’t Dr. Mehmet Oz publicly acknowledge the Armenian genocide? -opinion Jerusalem Post

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By SHMULEY BOTEACH,

Could you imagine the Jewish community tolerating a candidate with dual German citizenship who equivocated on whether or not the Holocaust occurred?

Next month’s Senate race in Pennsylvania will mark the first-ever campaign by a candidate with dual citizenship. Will Dr. Mehmet Oz, a citizen of Turkey with reported ties to Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan, clearly state that the Armenian Genocide occurred? The question is more than reasonable. It is essential in understanding the values he would bring to Congress.

Last week, the Oz campaign canceled a fundraiser in his home state of New Jersey amid demands for clarity on his position. The agitators in New Jersey’s Jewish and Armenian communities were clear; anything less than a full acknowledgment of the grave atrocities visited by Turkey upon their Armenian victims is an affront against history and conscience.

Could you imagine the Jewish community tolerating a candidate with dual German citizenship who equivocated on whether or not the Holocaust occurred? Such a scenario, of course, is hard to imagine. Unlike Turkey’s approach to the Armenian Genocide, Germany has wrestled with its past.

The Senate unanimously voted in 2019 to recognize that genocide was undertaken against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian people in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. Would Dr. Oz have stood with the senators he wishes to join? It is not a question of semantics.

For the one million-strong Armenian community of the United States, the genocide is a lived reality. The majority of Armenians living in the United States are direct descendants of its survivors.

Genocide denial has very real consequences

The failure of the international community to prevent and adequately respond to the Ottoman Empire’s systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians – that continued through the birth of the nascent Turkish Republic – inspired other genocidal despots to do the same.

The Armenian Genocide was in many ways the blueprint for the Holocaust, which saw the murder of six million Jews including 1.5 million children. On the eve of the Nazi invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler infamously said, “Who, after all, speaks today of the Armenians?”

It was this impunity the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide were afforded that led Jewish jurist Rafael Lemkin to coin the word “genocide.” The word described the industrialized eradication of a people; no existing term of law could quite capture the unparalleled atrocity.

Lemkin would later face the horrors of genocide himself. The Nazis murdered his entire family for the crime of being Jewish.

To deny genocide is to do more than just refute historic facts. It is to actively abet the erasure of history and memory, to whitewash the horrors of the past and undermine our resolve to confront the horrors of the present. Holocaust survivor and advocate for Armenian Genocide recognition Elie Wiesel once described the denial of genocide as a “double killing.”

Genocide denial in Turkey

In Turkey, the consequences of this denialism have been profound. Turkey today continues to engage in the destruction and desecration of its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian cultural heritage sites.

Turkey’s minorities – particularly its dwindling, embattled Christian communities – continue to face routine harassment, discrimination and threats emanating from the highest political offices.

Erdogan – with whom Oz has appeared publicly on multiple occasions – has publicly praised the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide and referred to their victims as “remnants of the sword.”

To this day, Turkey continues to sell weapons to Azerbaijan, which last week launched a brutal unprovoked assault on the sovereign territory of Armenia, targeting civilian populations and displacing several thousand people.

Genocide remains as great a threat to humanity today as it did a century ago. From the persecution of the Uighurs in China, the Rohingya in Myanmar and the Tigray in Ethiopia, genocidal despots across the world continue to challenge international norms and laws, not to mention the values we hold dear as Americans.

To date, the Oz campaign has issued only nebulous affirmations against genocide in principle, without specifically acknowledging or affirming his position on the Armenian Genocide.

It is not too late for him to be on the record.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the executive director of the World Values Network. Aram Suren Hamparian is the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.