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U.S. Indicts Turkish-American Businessman Arrested In Armenia For 2013 Congress Trip

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U.S. authorities have unsealed an indictment against a Turkish-American businessman charged with lying to congressional investigators regarding a trip by U.S. lawmakers to Azerbaijan five years ago.

The indictment, which was handed down in April, was released on September 24, about three weeks after the businessman, Kemal Oksuz, was arrested in Armenia on a U.S. warrant.

Oksuz, a Houston-based businessman who used to run two organizations — Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan — was charged by the grand jury with lying on congressional disclosure forms regarding the 2013 all-expenses-paid visit to Azerbaijan made by 10 members and 32 staffers of Congress.

According to the five-count indictment, the trip was funded with the help by Azerbaijan’s state-run SOCAR oil company, which provided $750,000 toward the effort.

Armenian police announced last month that Oksuz had been detained in the country, and they later released a video of his police interrogation. In the video, Oksuz said that SOCAR covered the travel expenses of the U.S. officials and gave them expensive gifts in 2013.

“That may have been corruption, I don’t know,” he said.

It was not immediately clear when Oksuz fled to Armenia, or why; Armenia has long had strained with both Azerbaijan and Turkey.

As of September 26, Oksuz remained in police custody in Armenia.

After U.S. news reports in 2015 raised questions about the funding of the trip, several of the U.S. lawmakers returned some of the gifts that they had received as part of the trip.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Armenian and Azerbaijani services

U.S., Iraq at odds over handshake deal that got Muslim nation off travel ban list

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By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times,

Iraq was the first country to earn its way off President Trump’s travel ban last year, after the administration said it wanted to thank the Muslim nation for agreeing to start taking back its deportees whom the U.S. was trying to oust.

But evidence has emerged suggesting that either Iraq has backslid or the deal was never what the administration said it was in the first place.

Iraq has told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it will not take back any deportees who don’t volunteer to go back.

For a war-torn country such as Iraq, that turns out to be a huge portion of those the U.S. is trying to oust. It also puts a kink in the Trump administration’s plans to deport hundreds of Iraqis who have been stuck in legal limbo for decades.

ICE has registered its protests, including in a June letter to the Iraqi Embassy in Washington with an “urgent request” to clear a half-dozen deportees whom the Middle Eastern nation had been slow-walking.

Russian TV Mockingly Prepares for War With U.S., Instructing Citizens to Buy Water and Gas Masks

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Updated | Claiming that some Americans are preparing for a coming war with Moscow, Russian state-owned television explained to the country’s residents how to stock their bunkers with water and basic foodstuffs in case a war breaks out.

Warning that the potential conflict between the two superpowers would be “catastrophic,” an anchor for Russia’s Vesti 24 showed off shelves of food, recommending that people buy salt, oatmeal and other products that can last a long time on the shelves if they plan to hide in a bunker. Powdered milk lasts five years, while sugar and rice can last up to eight years, the newscaster explained before showing videos of pasta cooking in a bomb shelter.

The beginning of the program had a mocking tone about war fears, as pictures of nuclear explosions played in the background. A newscaster said the “real panic isn’t here but across the ocean,” suggesting that Americans are terrified of a war with Russia.

Nonetheless, the channel’s newscasters also displayed charts explaining how much water people need to store for drinking, washing their face and hands and preparing food every day—and how that amount changes depending on the temperature of a person’s bomb shelter. The program also recommended that people stock up on gas masks and read guides on how to survive war. The instructions are for “people who succumb to panic and decide to spend all their savings,” the anchor said.

The program aired just one day after sources told Newsweek that “there is a major war scare” in Moscow as President Donald Trump prepares to strike Syria in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons against civilians over the weekend. The Trump administration has said that it believes Syria’s Russian-backed president, Bashar al-Assad, was responsible for the attacks and that it plans to ensure that Assad pays the price. Russian military forces have responded by saying that Moscow would meet fire with fire and said that it will shoot down any U.S. missiles.

“If there is a strike by the Americans, then the missiles will be downed and even the sources from which the missiles were fired,” warned Alexander Zasypkin, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, during an interview on Tuesday with a television station linked to Hezbollah.

Process of exporting Armenian goods to U.S. getting easier

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Armenian, goods to U.S

The United States will provide preferential conditions to Armenian producers for the export of certain goods, the Voice of America reveals.

According to the report, the issue was discussed at the first Council Meeting of 2018 organized in the framework of the U.S. – Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.

According to the head of the Armenian delegation, deputy minister of economic development Hovhannes Azizyan, the sides discussed the issue of facilitating the documentation process for small and medium-sized exporters.

“The meeting in Washington showed that both Armenia and the United States are interested in deepening economic cooperation,” the deputy minister said.

“The expansion refers not only to the activation of trade turnover or the investment framework, but also their diversification.”

Also, the Armenian side has assured that its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will by no means hinder the development of economic cooperation with the U.S.

Related links:

Аmerikayidzayn.com. Հայաստանից ԱՄՆ ապրանք արտահանելը կհեշտանա

Newspaper: Armenia to appear under sanctions?

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YEREVAN. – The US has notified the Republic of Armenia (RA) government about the risk of becoming a target of sanctions, in case of signing “substantial deals” with Russian military industry companies, according to Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times) newspaper.

“Embassy of the United States of America in Yerevan informed about this, in response to Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper’s inquiry.

‘“There was a notification to the governments and private companies of other countries that in case of substantial deals sealed with the Russian companies that are on the list, sanctions may be applied. We do not discuss our sanctions in advance. We announce these sanctions whenever there is, and if any,’ the embassy press service noted in response to the question as to whether Armenia could appear on the target of those sanctions, and whether discussions on the topic are underway with the RA authorities,” wrote Haykakan Zhamanak.

Terrorist State of #Turkey say US needs to withdraw from #Syria’s Manbij region immediately: Turkish FM

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The United States needs to withdraw from northern Syria’s Manbij region immediately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 27.

President Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 26 had said Turkish forces would sweep Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia from the Syrian border and could push all the way east to the frontier with Iraq, including Manbij.

Speaking to reporters, Çavuşoğlu also said Turkey wanted to see concrete steps by the United States to end its support for the YPG militia.

“We want to see more concrete steps rather than words. The U.S. must cut ties with the terrorist organization,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters before a meeting in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Ankara said earlier it had been told by U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster that Washington would not provide the YPG with weapons anymore.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-needs-to-withdraw-from-syrias-manbij-region-immediately-turkish-fm-126385

U.S. urges Turkey not to take military action in Syria’s Afrin

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The U.S. State Department urged Turkey on Thursday not to take military action against Afrin region in Syria and called instead for Ankara to remain focused on fighting Islamic State militants in the region, Reuters reported.

Asked about signs that Turkey was preparing to strike a Kurdish militia in Afrin, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing: “We would call … on the Turks to not take any actions of that sort. … We don’t want them to engage in violence but we want them to keep focused on ISIS.”

Turkey sees the Syrian Kurdish forces as a terror group, which is one of the wings of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, Ermenihaber reported.

Earlier the Turkish media said the U.S. was intending to set up a Syrian Kurdish border force. In response, the top Turkish officials threatened to launch military operations in Kurdish-held areas in Syria.

#Erdogan publicly challenges the US

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Harsh words for the US today from president : Those who have soiled bottoms dare to threaten us over the border in …We’re shelling them [PYD/YPG] with artillery fire and continue to do so..US lies when it says battling against terror..”
#Erdogan publicly challenges the US, says the US set up 30K strong terror army in Syria along Turkish border, vows to crush them and have the US taste a humiliating defeat. referring to Kurdish YPJ.
#Erdogan asks the US to remove its flags and insignia from fighters in #Syria to avoid them being buried along with the dead, says Turkish military incursion into #Syria‘s Afrin & Manbij will start soon.
https://gagrule.net/us-to-use-30000-border-troops-for-security-in-syria-angers-turkey/

US to use 30,000 border troops for security in Syria, anger’s Turkey

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The US-led coalition is working with a Syrian Kurdish group to set up a new border force of 30,000 personnel, the coalition said on Jan. 14, a move that has added to Turkey’s anger over US support to the group in Syria.

A senior Turkish official told Reuters the US training of the new “Border Security Force” is the reason that the US charge d’affaires was summoned in Ankara on Jan 10. The official did not elaborate, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

The force, whose inaugural class is currently being trained, will be deployed at the borders of the area controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – made up mostly of People’s Protection Units (YPG)
militants.

In an almost immediate reaction to the American move, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said that Turkey has the right to defend itself against “terror groups” on its own terms and time, and that the U.S. stance on the issue is “unacceptable,” state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

“Turkey will continue to take all necessary precautions aligned with its national interest to preserve its national security,” Kalin added.

US support for the SDF has put enormous strain on ties with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as a terrorist group for its link with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

 

In an email to Reuters, the coalition’s Public Affairs Office confirmed details of the new force reported by The Defense Post. About half the force will be SDF veterans, and recruiting for the other half is underway, the coalition’s Public Affairs Office said.

The force will be deployed along the border with Turkey to the north, the Iraqi border to the southeast, and along the Euphrates River Valley, which broadly acts as the dividing line separating the U.S.-backed SDF and Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia.

The coalition said the BSF would operate under SDF command and around 230 individuals were currently undergoing training in its inaugural class.

United States, urging U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to Turkey “due to terrorism and arbitrary detentions.

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The U.S. cited two justifications for its strong travel warning on Turkey: The continued risk of terrorism and the arbitrary detention of individuals under the ongoing state of emergency.

It called on U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to any areas along the Turkey-Syria border, as well as the southeastern provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak, Diyarbakır, Van, Siirt, Muş, Mardin, Batman, Bingöl, Tunceli, Hakkari and Bitlis due to terrorism.

“Terrorist groups continue to plot possible attacks in Turkey. Terrorist organizations explicitly target Western tourists and expatriates,” it stated, stressing that tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas may be potential targets.

It also added that these areas have been vulnerable to terrorist activities as well as kinetic actions by the Turkish security forces, recalling that “large-scale terrorist attacks including suicide bombings, ambushes, car bomb detonations, improvised explosive devices, as well as kidnappings for ransom, shootings, roadblocks and violent demonstrations” have occurred in these areas.

‘Politically motivated detentions’

The note posted on the State’s Department’s website also referred to the ongoing implementation of the state of emergency in Turkey, saying “security forces have detained individuals suspected of affiliation with alleged terrorist organizations based on scant or secret evidence and grounds that appear to be politically motivated.”

U.S. citizens have also been subject to travel bans that prevent them from departing Turkey, it urged, warning that participation in gatherings, protests, and demonstrations not explicitly approved by the Turkish government can result in arrest.

“The Government of Turkey has detained and deported U.S. citizens without allowing access to lawyers or family members, and has not routinely granted consular access to detained U.S. citizens who also possess Turkish citizenship. U.S. government personnel in Turkey are subject to certain security restrictions. Family members cannot accompany U.S. government employees who work at the U.S. Consulate in Adana,” it stated.

Ties between Ankara and Washington have undergone severe turbulence in recent months. A local employee at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Metin Topuz, was arrested on terror charges in October 2017, just ahead of a trial of a former Turkish state banker at a New York court on charges that he was helping an Iranian-Turkish businessman evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.