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Marine Captain Matt Manoukian among those killed by Afghan policeman

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August 11, 2012 – 14:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net –  A Camp Pendleton-based special operations captain was one of three Marines fatally shot before dawn Friday, August 10 in Helmand province by an Afghan police officer who had just shared a meal with them, UT San Diego said.

It was the third attack on coalition forces by their Afghan counterparts in a week.

Capt. Matt Manoukian, 29, of Los Altos Hills was killed along with two other yet-to-be-identified special operations troops after an Afghan police commander invited them to a meeting to discuss security issues. The meeting followed the meal, which took place early because of daytime fasting restrictions during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The “green-on-blue” attack occurred in the volatile Sangin district of Helmand province, said U.S. military spokeswoman Maj. Lori Hodge. Sangin was a Taliban stronghold for years and has one of the highest concentrations of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.

Authorities are searching for the gunman, who fled after the shooting. Sangin’s district chief and the Taliban both identified the assailant as a member of the Afghan National Police who was helping Marines train the Afghan local police.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said by telephone that the attacker joined the insurgency after his attack Friday. “Now, he is with us,” Ahmadi said.

Last month, during an interview with U-T San Diego in Afghanistan, Manoukian said he trusted Afghan forces as his partners in a joint mission of “security, governance and development. It’s a full-spectrum operation.”

In 25 attacks this year, 31 U.S. coalition service members have died at the hands of Afghan forces or insurgents disguised in Afghan uniforms, according to NATO. There were 11 such attacks and 20 deaths last year, according to an Associated Press count. Each of the previous two years saw five such attacks.

The assaults have cast a shadow of fear and mistrust over U.S. efforts to train Afghan soldiers and police more than 10 years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban’s hardline Islamist regime for sheltering al-Qaeda’s leadership. They also raise further doubts about the quality of the Afghan forces taking over in many areas before most international troops leave the country in 2014.

Manoukian, the son of two judges, joined the Marine Corps about seven years ago. He was on his fourth combat deployment — including his second in Afghanistan.

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund opens donation accounts to help Syrian-Armenians

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August 10, 2012 | 11:30

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund opened up donation accounts to render direct assistance to Syrian-Armenians.

Due to difficult situation in Syria, mass fundraising campaigns are held in many states but the collected funds may disappear, the fund said in a statement. To avoid such an outcome, all our compatriots wishing to help Armenian community of Syria can make donations into the following AMD and foreign currency accounts:

HSBC Bank Armenia

9, V. Sargsyan Str. Yerevan Armenia

SWIFT: MIDLAM22

ACC NO 001-002195-102 (USD)

ACC NO 001-002195-104 (EUR)

ACC NO 001-002195-001 (AMD):

Reported By; News.am

DNA Study Busts Myth that One Million Appalachians are of Turkish Descent.

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BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

For decades, Turkish pseudo-historians and propagandists have made bizarre claims about Turks being the ancestors of various ethnic groups around the world, including Native Americans, African-Americans, and the strangest of all — Melungeons — a little-known group of dark-skinned residents of Appalachia.

To counter Armenian political activities in Washington, the Turkish government regularly reaches out to anyone who could be co-opted with all-expense paid trips, special gifts, and other financial inducements, including funding studies and conferences on the alleged Turkish origin of Melungeons. Even though these one million Appalachians do not carry much political clout in Congress, Ankara is interested in claiming them to be of Turkish descent, hoping to strengthen its political and economic clout in the United States. [Read more…]

New York Times’ Exposé: Imam Gulen’s Charter Schools

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Report By: boilingfrogspost.com/tag/fethullah-gulen/Is the Media Catching Up with the Turkish Imam’s US Operations?

For the last two years I have been pounding on Imam Fethullah Gulen’s web of organizations and his charter schools empire in the US. For years I have been marveling about the consistent media blackout on the Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen’s past and present nefarious activities and highly suspicious partnerships with various US government agencies and elected officials. And of course for almost two years I have been writing and discussing Gulen with you over here at Boiling Frogs Post. Now the New York Times appears to be catching up; at least with a fraction of this notorious Imam’s multi billion dollar network of organizations and businesses. Yesterday, the Times ran a fairly detailed and long exposé on Gulen’s dubious and highly secretive penetration of US school systems via his rapidly growing charter school operations; let’s start with the attention grabbing intro:

TDM Contracting was only a month old when it won its first job, an $8.2 million contract to build the Harmony School of Innovation, a publicly financed charter school that opened last fall in San Antonio. It was one of six big charter school contracts TDM and another upstart company have shared since January 2009, a total of $50 million in construction business. Other companies scrambling for work in a poor economy wondered: How had they qualified for such big jobs so fast?

The secret lay in the meteoric rise and financial clout of the Cosmos Foundation, a charter school operator founded a decade ago by a group of professors and businessmen from Turkey. Operating under the name Harmony Schools, Cosmos has moved quickly to become the largest charter school operator in Texas, with 33 schools receiving more than $100 million a year in taxpayer funds. …

Some of the schools’ operators and founders, and many of their suppliers, are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic Turkish preacher of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name. Gulen followers have been involved in starting similar schools around the country — there are about 120 in all, mostly in urban centers in 25 states, one of the largest collections of charter schools in America. …

And this is what the paper says it is attempting to examine:
But an examination by The New York Times of the Harmony Schools in Texas casts light on a different area: the way they spend public money. And it raises questions about whether, ultimately, the schools are using taxpayer dollars to benefit the Gulen movement — by giving business to Gulen followers, or through financial arrangements with local foundations that promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture.

I suggest you visit the site and read the entire article. It is definitely worth reading. You may also want to read a few select pieces from BFP on Gulen:

Did You Know: The King of Madrasas Now Operates over 100 Charter Schools in US?

Turkish Intel Chief Exposes CIA Operations via Islamic Group in Central Asia

Additional Omitted Points in CIA-Gulen Coverage & A Note From ‘The Insider’

http://turkishinvitations.weebly.com/gulenist-non-profits.html

The Sanitized Gulen Coverage Continues
Read More:
http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/06/07/new-york-times%e2%80%99-expose-imam-gulen%e2%80%99s-charter-schools/#more-3859

BBC shoots film uncovering Azerbaijan’s dirty secrets [Video]

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Reporter Paul Kenyon finds out how the contest has been used as a tool of intimidation: viewers have been interrogated for voting for the nation’s long-term enemy,

Armenia; a protest singer has been told to flee before Eurovision or he will be thrown in jail; and dozens have had their homes bulldozed to make way for the Eurovision event itself.
The US embassy in Baku has compared the ruling family to the Mafia. The regime has held onto power through a combination of rigged elections, jailing opponents, and by irregular control of the country’s vast oil wealth. So, why did the organisers of the world’s best well-loved music event agree to host it in Azerbaijan?

 

“Vive La France” Armenian Various Artists [Video]

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The music is composed by Armen Martirosyan, the lyrics are by Bishop Bagrat Galstian, the song is performed by Armenian pop stars, Inga and Anush Arshakyans, Nune Yesayan, Avo Khalatyan, Forsh, Hasmik Karapetyan, Andre, Zaruhi Babayan, Alla Levonyan, Arthur Ispiryan, Arthur (Mister X), Narine Dovlatyan, Emmy, Emma Asatryan. Directed by Hrant Yeritskinyan.

AGHET – German filmmaker Eric Friedler “Armenian Genocide”

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AGHET [produced by NDR (German public television)], a new award-winning documentary made by German filmmaker Eric Friedler compellingly proves the truth of the genocide of the Armenian people. Using the actual words of 23 German, American and other nationals who witnessed the events, and armed with archival materials, AGHET expertly takes on the challenge that PM Erdogan hurled at the world by stating: »Prove it.« AGHET incorporates never-before-seen footage and documents – making it one of the best researched and presented documentaries on the Armenian Genocide. More than just a historic retelling of the Genocide, the film also delves into the ongoing campaign of denial that the Turkish government has mounted since these events occurred in World War I.

AGHET was debuted on NDR in April, 2010. Friedler has assembled an impeccable cast, who bring to life the original texts of German and U.S. diplomatic dispatches and eyewitness accounts, interspersed with never-before-seen footage of the Genocide and its political aftermath. The film, applauded by Nobel Prize laureate Gunter Grass, has sparked renewed debate throughout Europe and has won several international awards. It is now being showcased around the world on television, in major film festivals and has been seen by members of the U.S. Congress. [Read more…]