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Erdogan Dictator or Sultan?

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It is amazing how all dictators claim rebellion is by a “fringe group” or by “radicals” and not be the majority of the people. Isn’t this exactly what the recent group of Dictetor-or-Sultan-1Sultan-or-Dictatordeposed dictators said before they were overthrown by the people? And, of course Social Media is the enemy, because it can not be controlled as in the case of radio, t.v. and print mediar. When a ruler calls the shots on what the media can publish then an invisible line has been crossed – well that line has been crossed. Erdogan is an autocratic ruler, howbeit one elected by the people. Time for a change.

US Names New Destroyer After Armenian Navy Secretary

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WASHINGTON—The Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced last month that the next Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG) will be named USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye.

Paul-Ignatius“As secretary of the Navy it is my privilege to name these ships to honor a respected naval leader and a true American hero.” Mabus said. “For decades to come, the future USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will represent the United States and enable the building of partnerships and projection of power around the world.”

The future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) honors Paul Ignatius who served as secretary of the Navy 1967–1969 and as assistant secretary of defense under President Lyndon Johnson. The future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) is named to honor former Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II and later became a U.S. senator. USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will be the first naval ships to bear these names.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. They are capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare.

Ankara displeased with Pope’s statement on Armenian Genocide

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June 8, 2013 – 12:11614549 AMT

Turkey’s foreign ministry has lodged a formal protest with the Vatican after Pope Francis referred to the mass murder of Armenians as “the first genocide of the 20th century,” Catholic World News reported.

The Pope alluded briefly to the Armenian Genocide during a June 3 meeting with Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni of Cilicia. Several years earlier, while serving as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio described the killing and forced deportation of millions of Armenians as “the gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey against the Armenian people and all of humanity.”

Samantha Power to be Named US UN Ambassador

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WASHINGTON — A White House official said President Barack Obama will name former aide Samantha Power as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, reported the Associated Press.

16powe600_1Power will replace Susan Rice, who will take over as Obama’s national security adviser. The official says Obama will announce both appointments from the White House Wednesday afternoon, according to AP.

Power is a longtime Obama adviser who worked on his 2008 presidential campaign and ran the human rights office in the White House. She left the administration in February but was considered the favorite to replace Rice at the U.N.

Power played an instrumental role in getting Sen. Obama to issue a strongly-worded statement on the Armenian Genocide and Armenian issues in general. She also made a video in which she recounted Sen. Obama’s outstanding record on issues of special concern to Armenian Americans, including his “very forthright statement on the Armenian Genocide; his support for the Senate Resolution acknowledging the Genocide; his willingness as President to commemorate it and call a ’spade a spade’; and to speak the truth about it.”

A video plea to the Armenian-American community during the 2008 Obama campaign became a rallying tool for Armenians to support the then senator from Illinois. However, Power failed to deliver—just as the Obama Administration—on her pledge to get US recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In 2003, the Pulitzer Prize in literature for the best general non-fiction book was awarded to Samantha Power for her book “A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide.”

Power’s book revisited the Armenian Genocide–the Holocaust–Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge–Iraqi attacks on Kurdish populations–Rwanda–and Bosnian ethnic cleansing. Power makes a compelling argument that US intervention in all these instances of genocide has been inadequate.

Neo-Ottoman delusions is backfiring! Turkeys Coming Home to Roost?

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BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

The parallels seem deliciously endless in number and category. A week’s worth of unrest in Turkey, spreading from Constantinople (Bolis) to other cities, could go to unpredictable places, both good and bad.

51ae720f94ed2_preview-620Already, I’ve heard that the AKP’s (ruling party) youth wing is tussling with others. What does this suggest? Is it an indicator that the party feels threatened and is unleashing its thugs? Contradicting this is the reality that Erdogan left the country for a couple of days. This is an indication of confidence, although it could just be another manifestation of his renowned arrogance.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard about these goings-on is “are the Islamists (Gulenjees, perhaps) and the secularists (Ataturkjees) butting heads in what could be the beginning of something big?” This was reinforced by the opinion I read that the situation could devolve into civil war.

Imagine, something that started as simply as a protest to save Gezi Park (evidently the only remaining green space in Bolis), could spark huge changes. Here, we have a parallel with the successful struggle to save Yerevan’s Mashdotz Park. This also speaks to how fundamentally important environmental issues are to life. The police overreacted, using water cannons and tear gas— and here we have the parallel to the Egyptian government’s overreaction to the demonstrations in Cairo during the “Arab Spring” just over two years ago.

Ultimately, the government stood down, and I saw pictures of the demonstrators cleaning up the mess, not the authorities! And here’s another parallel, to the “occupy” movement that establish self-governing mini-communities throughout the U.S. In fact, I even saw “Occupy Gezi Park” thrown out as a term/name.

Various “man on the street” interviews portrayed this outpouring as a reaction to Prime Minister Erdogan’s increasingly repressive government. Interestingly, he attributed this outpouring to the political opposition and “foreign” ties. The latter accusation is particularly ironic given Turkey’s involvement in “promoting” the Arab Spring actions as part of its grand, neo-Ottoman delusions, er, excuse me, designs, on the Middle East. Turkey meddled in Libya, and is the main conduit for supplies going to the rebel forces fighting the Syrian government. Given this history, it would be no surprise if other countries have decided to “return the favor” by stirring the pot in Turkey. The three most likely countries are Syria, Iran, and Russia, all of whom have every reason to desire revenge against Turkey for its international shenanigans, particularly the murderous outcome we’re seeing in Syria. It is also a way for these countries (and perhaps others, too) to tell the U.S. and Europe to “back off” after the mess they’ve created in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

Finally, what is very intriguing is a hit piece on Turkey that already appeared in a Jewish publication (The Tablet). This struck me as odd since it seemed to me relations between Turkey and Israel were on the mend. Perhaps there’s more going on in the background in this relationship. Otherwise, it’s just plain weird that such a strongly anti-Turkey piece should appear so soon after the protests in Turkey started.

Keep a very close eye on this. Perhaps this is indeed a “Turkish Spring” in the making. If so, we should strive to also make it an Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, and Kurdish Spring, simultaneously.

Istanbul protests spread to Baku: police disperses protests supporting demonstrations in Turkey

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On Monday at 4:00pm, Baku police prevented a group of young people trying to hold a rally of solidarity with the protesters in Istanbul, the Azerbaijani information agency Turan reports.

g_image22It says that about 50 people gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Baku, calling to meet the demands of demonstrators in Istanbul. They called on the Turkish government to stop pressure on the protesters, and to abandon plans for the restructuring of Taksim Square, according to correspondents from the scene.

The police, however, pushed the crowd away from the embassy. Young people told reporters they continue to hold solidarity actions in other locations in central Baku, without naming specific addresses.

Street protests continue to be held in several cities in Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Izmir and Konya) from the end of May. Demonstrators protest against the government’s plans to build a shopping and entertainment complex in the park of Gezi in Istanbul. Opponents of the construction of the shopping center claim that Gezi Park is one of the few green areas in the center of Istanbul. The protests began as a protest of local environmentalists. But the action quickly grew into a demonstration of dissatisfaction on the policy of the Turkish prime minister and the ruling party. Turkish police used violence to disperse the protesters.

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, mentioned about the “disproportionate use of force by the police.” Peaceful demonstrations “are part of manifestations of democracy”, and the long-term stability in Turkey can only be ensured by provision of “fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and unification,” said USA White House spokesperson Laura Lucas.

Russia Stations Advanced Missiles in Armenia

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YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Russia has deployed in Armenia state-of-the-art ballistic missiles capable of striking targets more than 400 kilometers away, according to a source in the Armenian Defense Ministry.

AF101233-235D-4AD5-ADDE-48E304625387_mw1024_n_sSpeaking on the condition anonymity, the source told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) over the weekend that several Iskander-M systems are currently stationed at undisclosed locations in the country. The source declined to clarify whether they were delivered to the Armenian armed forces or the Russian military base headquartered in Gyumri.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan did not officially confirm or refute the information as of Monday.

Citing an unnamed Russian military source, the Russian news agency Regnum reported on May 15 that Moscow is likely to deploy the advanced surface-to-surface missiles as part of the ongoing modernization of its base in Armenia.

Designated by NATO as SS-26 Stone, Iskander-M is regarded by military analysts as one of the most advanced missile systems of its kind in the world. The system known for its precision was developed in the 1990s and adopted by the Russian army in 2006. With an operational range of at least 400 kilometers, its 7.3-meter-long missiles can overcome existing missile-defense systems, according to Russian military officials and experts.

Russian-Armenian military ties appear to have deepened further in the last few months, with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Valery Gerasimov, visiting Armenia early this year. Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian held follow-up talks with Shoygu a mid-April trip to Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian also discussed defense cooperation when they met near Moscow on March 12. Sarkisian reportedly thanked Putin for “good progress” in bilateral military ties made since their previous meeting in December.

A Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 commits Moscow to helping Yerevan obtain “modern and compatible weaponry and special military hardware.” Russian assistance is vital for the implementation of a five-year plan to modernize the Armenian army that was adopted by the Sarkisian administration later in 2010. The plan puts the emphasis on the acquisition of long-range precision-guided weapons.

The Armenian military has been equipped until now with only Scud-B and Tochka-U ballistic missiles that have firing ranges of 300 kilometers and 120 kilometers respectively. The Soviet-era systems are less advanced than Iskander-M. The military makes no secret of its readiness to use them against Azerbaijan’s oil and gas installations in case of a renewed war for Nagorno-Karabakh.

Iranian presidential candidate: Azerbaijan has become a threat to Iran’s security

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Iran should not show indifference to Azerbaijan’s threats, Hassan Rohani, Iranian presidential candidate, representative of the Iran’s Supreme Leader in the Supreme National Security g_image34Council (SNSC), told Irdiplomacy.ir in an interview.

The Iranian presidential candidate spoke of Iran’s foreign policy problems and challenges of relations with some neighboring countries. “After the collapse of the USSR, new states were established in the Caspian Sea region and Azerbaijan is among them. It is not an exaggeration to say that Azerbaijan has become a threat to Iran’s security. The actions taken by some Azerbaijani officials pose threat to Iran’s territorial integrity. Therefore, Iran’s responsible officials should not show indifference to Azerbaijan’s threats.”

Senate of Louisiana adopts resolution to support independence of Nagorno-Karabakh

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May 31, 2013 | 18:04

The Senate of Louisiana adopted resolution supporting independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and calling on the Congress and U.S. President to support “the self- determination and de156038mocratic independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”

The document introduced by Senator Edwin Murray says “the Legislature of Louisiana hereby encourages and supports the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s continuing efforts to develop as a free and independent nation in order to guarantee its citizens those rights inherent in a free and independent society.”

“The President and Congress of the United States of America are hereby urged to support the self-determination and democratic independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and its constructive involvement with the international community’s efforts to reach a just and lasting solution to security issues in that strategically important region,” the resolution reads.