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If approved, the 49-year-old federal appeals court judge will reinstate conservative majority.U.S. President Donald Trump has announced 49-year-old appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch as his selection to fill a Supreme Court seat that has been vacant for almost a year — a move that would reinstate the court’s conservative majority.
More to come.
Trump’s ban targets seven predominantly Muslim countries – Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen – whose citizens have so far not been involved in mass killings in the US. On the contrary, all major terrorist groups that have attacked the United States and other Western countries over the past couple of decades – from al Qaeda to the Taliban to the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) – can trace their roots back to Sunni-led countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Qatar. But conspicuously these countries didn’t make the list.
Not only that, in a telephone call on Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Trump reiterated his administration’s support to Riyadh. A White House statement said the two leaders discussed Trump’s role “to lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future, economically and socially,” for Saudi Arabia and the region.
While Saudi nationals were involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the recent killings on US soil – the Orlando and San Bernardino shootings – were perpetrated by people of Afghan and Pakistani origin. Why did President Trump exempt these countries from the executive order?
It is too early and very difficult to evaluate President Trump’s strategy. Although the US media is claiming that Trump spared these countries because he has business ties with them, this may only be true for Saudi Arabia. He has no investments in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
US President Trump and Russian President Putin have agreed to develop relations “as equals” in their first phone call since Trump took office. The conversation focused on “mutually beneficial trade and economic ties.”
Describing the phone call as a “positive” exchange, the Kremlin said the two leaders discussed a number of subjects, including the peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians and the conflict in Ukraine. Other issues reportedly included the Iranian nuclear deal and ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement that the two sides had expressed “a willingness to work actively together to stabilize and develop Russian-American cooperation on a constructive basis, as equals, and to mutual benefit,” adding that their top priority would be the fight against international terrorism.
The Kremlin further said that US President Donald Trump was hoping to organize a meeting with Putin soon.
To sanction or not to sanction
The US and Russian leaders had spoken for the first time on the phone in November 2016, just after Donald Trump’s election victory. At the time, they agreed to “normalize” relations between Moscow and Washington following tensions during the previous US administration of former President Barack Obama over the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.
Relations between the US and Russia had plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War after Washington, alongside the European Union, imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. The subject of those sanctions was not reportedly raised in the most recent conversation between Putin and Trump, according to statements made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov to the Interfax news agency.
Trump had said a day earlier that it was “too early” to speak about easing the sanctions.
“We’ll see what happens. As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that,” Trump explained on January 28. The White House has not made any new comments since the phone call between the two leaders occurred.
Staunch opposition
Two Republican senators – Arizona’s John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Ohio’s Rob Portman, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee – cautioned the White House about the prospect of easing the sanctions on Moscow, warning that they would work to turn the sanction into law if Trump were to signal a departure from the current policy:
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered Minister of Defence James Mattis to begin search of new partners for the coalition in the fight against Islamic State, RBC reported quoting the White House.
In particular, the Pentagon chief was ordered to prepare preliminary draft to defeat ISIS within 30 days. In turn, the plan should include the search for new partners for the coalition in fight against this terrorist organization and policy on support of partners in the coalition in fight against ISIL and the related groups.
Earlier, the White House said that Trump’s administration would like to work with any country interested in extermination of fighters of ISIL.
It is an irony that the Gülen network with their schools, charity and trade organizations was able to settle not only in Turkey but in many other countries in Africa and around the world with the help of the same Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government when Erdoğan-led governments and the Gülen network were in a symbiotic relationship from 2002 to 2013. The relations broke down after the launch of a major graft probe in December 2013 in which Erdoğan’s ministers, officials and even family members were alleged to be involved; Erdoğan immediately denounced it as a coup attempt against him by the Gülenists.
Gülenists had poured in donations and established close relations with the Democratic administration over the years anyway. They have nearly 250 schools in the U.S., even universities; North American University in Texas, for example, recently appointed a well-known Gülenist, Ali Şerif Tekalan, as its rector. Tekalan is a former rector at Turkey’s Fatih University but is currently the subject of an arrest warrant.
The good news for Erdoğan is that the Trump administration might indeed take some steps to curb the Gülen network, at least its operations from the U.S. But it may not be in the form Turkey wants; he might take legal action against the Gülen network like other Islamist networks operating in and from the U.S.
And then comes the possible bad news. Trump and his camp might take legal action against Gülen not because the Gülen network attempted a bloody coup in Turkey but because he is running an Islamist network and because many heavyweights in Trump’s team are openly anti-Muslims terrorism,
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn thinks Islamophobia is rational. CIA Director Michael Pompeo thinks the Iranian government is “about as democratic as that of Erdoğan — both are totalitarian Islamist dictatorships.” Frank Gaffrey, who was a key person in Trump’s transition team, is the one who has been labeling Obama as a “stealth Muslim,” and he is not against “radical Islam” – he is considered anti-Islam in American politics.
US President Trump’s Cabinet is worth a combined $14 billion, and they are catching flak in recent weeks for confessing an inability to keep track of their vast sums of wealth.
But private bankers who work with the ultra rich say that if they had a dollar for every time a client forgot about a million, they would be, well, almost as rich as their clients, the Daily Mail reports.
“We see it all the time,” with new clients, said Chris Walters of GenSpring Family Offices, SunTrust Bank Inc’s branch for clients with more than $50 million in assets. “It’s not that they are surprised they own the asset. They just omitted it in the inventory.”
Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc partner who is Trump’s pick to lead the US Treasury Department, was grilled by members of the Senate last week for inadvertently failing to disclose more than $100 million in real estate.
On Tuesday, the nominee for head of the budget office, Mick Mulvaney, said he did not realize he needed to pay $15,000 in federal taxes for a nanny until scrutinizing his finances more closely for confirmation proceedings.
Although the deal had not been approved by Congress, the decision to withdraw the American signature at the start of President Trump’s administration is a signal that he plans to follow through on promises to take a more aggressive stance against foreign competitors.
WASHINGTON — President Trump planned to formally abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, pulling away from Asia and scrapping his predecessor’s most significant trade deal on his first full weekday in office, administration officials said.
Mr. Trump sharply criticized the partnership agreement during last year’s campaign, calling it a bad deal for American workers. Although the deal had not been approved by Congress, the decision to withdraw the American signature at the start of Mr. Trump’s administration is a signal that he plans to follow through on promises to take a more aggressive stance against foreign competitors.
He may also talk about renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and is scheduling meetings with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, the two main partners in that pact, first negotiated by the elder President George Bush and pushed through Congress by President Bill Clinton. Nafta has been a major driver of American trade for nearly two decades, but it has long been divisive, with critics blaming it for lost jobs and lower wages.
President Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonestly reporting the size of the crowd at his inauguration, the BBC reports.
He said the crowd had reached the Washington monument as he spoke at the US Capitol, despite photographic evidence to the contrary.
Later, his White House press secretary said it had been “the largest audience to ever see an inauguration, period”.
On Saturday, millions in the US and around the world protested against Mr Trump’s new administration.
The aim was mainly to highlight women’s rights, which activists believe to be under threat from the new administration.
Mr Trump did not mention the protests during a bridge-building visit to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on Saturday but instead turned on the press.
He accused the media of inventing a feud between him and the intelligence community and he called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on earth”.
Mr Trump said TV footage and photos of his inauguration had painted an inaccurate picture.
“It looked like a million and a half people” there on Friday, he said, rubbishing media reports that there were as few as 250,000 people.
He also said the crowd extended all the way back to the Washington Monument, although this claim is contradicted by aerial shots from the day.
Later, White House press secretary Sean Spicer berated reporters at a news conference over photographs that had shown large, empty spaces during the ceremony.
“This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period. Both in person and around the globe,” he said in a fiery statement.
“These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm about the inauguration are shameful and wrong.”
Areg Galstyan Phd.
By Areg Galstyan, Ph.D.,
This past week, a report on how Donald Trump’s administration should build a political dialogue with Turkey was published at the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The authors of this work are James F. Jeffrey, the former U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the presidency of George W. Bush (2008-2010), and Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Recommendations of the authors cover a wide range of geopolitical issues that the United States and Turkey should solve by joining their efforts.
It is noteworthy that Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Cagaptay mark the necessity for Trump’s administration to guarantee non-recognition of the Armenian Genocide as an important condition for restoration of trust between the U.S. and Turkey. In particular, the authors write: “Separately, the United States can quietly guarantee Turkey that the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress will not pass. This has always been critical in the relationship and most Turks care deeply about the issue.” There is no doubt that the authors aim not only to influence on the development of the foreign policy of the new administration for Turkey, but also to remind that the Armenian question can have a negative impact on bilateral relations.
Certainly, the representatives of the pro-Turkish lobby groups can develop their own recommendations for the foreign relations between Washington and Ankara. This is a normal practice of lobbying. However, the authors, speaking about the need to block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, make a number of serious mistakes. First, this question is an internal affair of the United States. We must not forget that the requirement to recognize the historical events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire comes from the millions of citizens of America and is purely humanitarian. American Armenians do not require official Washington to take any steps against Turkey.
On the other hand, the representatives of U.S.-Armenian relations have always stressed that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States and Turkey will be a good signal and will allow the establishment of Armenian-Turkish dialogue in the future. Unfortunately, the Turkish authorities turned the Armenian issue into an instrument of political blackmail and intimidation.
Secondly, it is an incorrect recommendation to the U.S. president to influence Congress to prevent the passage of the resolution on the Genocide. This is not just interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country, but also a call for the executive power to put pressure on the legislators, which cannot but arouse the indignation of American citizens.
Concerning the Armenian issue, I would like to give an alternative view to the next administration. During the Cold War, Turkey was considered one of the most important strategic allies in the bilateral format and in the framework of NATO. On the basis of pragmatic considerations, the White House and the leaders of both parties in Congress believed that an open discussion of the Armenian issue could cause a negative reaction from Turkey. The situation changed in 1974, when Turkey sent troops to the territory of Cyprus. In response to this act of aggression, Congress declared an arms embargo on Turkey. A series of further events led to a serious cooling of U.S.-Turkish relations. Then Washington did not prevent the adoption of Resolution No. 148 on the “Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Inhuman Crimes.” According to the adopted resolution, the 24th of April was officially proclaimed the day of remembrance of victims of the Armenian Genocide. Thus, the United States at that time became the only country in the world whose president officially addressed to the Armenian people on every 24th of April.
In 1978, the U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, used the term “genocide” for the first time in his statement to describe the events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire. Carter noted that, while preparing for the meeting with the Armenian community, he spent a lot of time in Roosevelt’s room and carefully studied the documents related to the Armenians’ history. The president said he was impressed by the force of will and talent of Armenian people and that as the U.S. citizens, Armenians made an enormous contribution to the development of the country. Carter said that not many people knew that a few years prior to 1915, a deliberate effort was taken to destroy the Armenian people. At the end of his speech, he stated that the Armenian Genocide was one of the greatest tragedies that ever befell any group of people, and no trial similar to Nuremberg was conducted over the criminals.
In the very first year of his presidency, Ronald Reagan demonstrated support for the Armenian-American community in the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In his proclamation No. 4838 on April 22 in 1981, Reagan remarked that the United States was aware of the fact and understood that the criminal government that had committed inhuman acts of genocide had to acknowledge its past and repent for it. Reagan said there was an eternal debt of all mankind toward those who had experienced these horrors. He urged the international community to remember that the lessons of the Holocaust, as well as of the Armenian Genocide, the ensuing genocide of the Cambodians, and numerous persecutions against other nations, could never be forgotten.
On the 11th of April in 1985, the Republican majority leader – Senator Robert Dole – introduced Resolution No. 247 on the “Day of Memory of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire” to Congress. The hearing in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives was successful, and Speaker Tip O’Neill put the resolution on a general vote. Turkey threatened that in case of adoption, it would refuse to buy eleven U.S. Boeing aircraft for the benefit of aircraft of the European consortium Airbus Industries. Moreover, Turkey claimed that it would cease to prolong the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement.
President Reagan assured Turkey’s Prime Minister Ozal that the administration was committed to maintaining a high level of appropriations for Turkey. The U.S. president was referring to the majority in Congress held by Democrats, whom he could not influence. Regardless of quite logical explanations given by the White House, the Turkish side did not conceal its irritation. Ankara stated again that it would prepare for the revision of the U.S.-Turkish agreement on military and economic cooperation. America, which at that time was going through a period of difficult relations with Greece, was close to losing access to its military bases in Turkey. It was for that reason that the U.S.’s Secretary of State Schulz arrived to the negotiations on the extension of the agreement in Ankara.
Trying to prevent the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the pro-Turkish lobbies were interfering in the electoral process. Thus, Ankara and its lobbyists campaigned against Mike Dukakis – an ethnic Greek who was the candidate of the Democratic Party in the presidential elections of 1988. They also opposed George Deukmejian, an ethnic Armenian and the governor of California, who was considered by George Bush, Sr. for the post of the U.S. vice president. During their election campaigns, presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama talked about the need to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide at the highest level. However, being in the Oval Office, they broke their promises for fear of spoiling relations with Turkey. These examples from history show that the Turkish authorities and the pro-Turkish lobbyists have always used intimidation tactics when it comes to the Armenian issue. Donald Trump poses himself as a leader who will protect the interests of America and Americans. In this case, the new president and his administration should not allow Turkey to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States.
Moreover, Turkey’s statements that adoption of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide may harm relations with the U.S. are greatly exaggerated. Nowadays, the laws on the Armenian Genocide have been adopted in more than twenty countries around the world, including Russia, France, and Germany. Did Russia’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide have an impact on its bilateral relations with Turkey? No. Official Ankara has traditionally protested and threatened with deterioration in relations. However, in reality, we are witnessing active development of Russian-Turkish ties in the political, economic, trade, tourism, and energy sectors. There was a similar scenario regarding Turkish-French relations after Paris officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. By the way, France and Germany, being Turkey’s NATO allies, take their own domestic political decisions without fear of Ankara’s threats.
In this regard, the new administration should clearly express its position on the Armenian issue and should not be afraid of threats from Turkey and its lobbyists. Anyway, President Trump has two ways to solve this issue. He can continue the policy of denying the Armenian Genocide (as Bush and Obama did), or he can choose a different path and become the president who had enough courage to restore historical justice. I hope Trump will choose the path of Ronald Reagan instead of the one of Barack Obama.
Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/01/why_trump_should_recognize_the_armenian_genocide.html
In marking the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) congratulated President Donald Trump and Vice-President Pence, urging the new President to bring “new ideas and energy to U.S. policy on Armenian issues, further strengthening the robust U.S.-Armenia relationship, and reinforcing the enduring bonds of friendship that have long connected our two peoples.”
In a statement issued on Friday,January 20, the ANCA outlined three key policy areas including:
— Properly commemorating the Armenian Genocide as a clear case of genocide, challenging Turkey’s obstruction of justice for this still unpunished crime, and, more broadly, rejecting Turkey’s efforts to control U.S. policy on Armenian issues, and
— Advancing a durable and democratic peace in the Caucasus by recognizing and supporting the independent Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), and;
— Growing the U.S.-Armenia economic, military, and political partnership and supporting a secure, prosperous, and democratic Armenia.
An ANCA grassroots write-in campaign was launched in conjunction with the statement – anca.org/Trump – calling on supporters of Armenia to share their views with the new President.
A similar effort was launched in 2008, with the election of then President Barack Obama.