Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Even in Baku people scoff at statement of Azerbaijani Ministry of
Defense on 77-year-old ”Armenian saboteur”

16:59 01/02/2014 >> SOCIETY

The statement of the Azerbaijani Minister of Defense on the detention
of 77-year-old “Armenian saboteur” on 28th of January, 2014 causes
laughter and disbelief even in Baku. Note that the citizen of Armenia,
Mamikon Khojoyan on that day crossed the state border and ended up in
the area controlled by Azerbaijan.

The article published in Azerbaijani News portal Haqqin.az titled
“Saboteur-77-year-old madman Mamikon” accompanied with the photos of
the detainee says, “The Azerbaijani Media circulates the photos of
Armenian saboteur who appears to be older than 65! It’s time already
for the Azerbaijani News Agencies really to learn how to work without
such blunders. Now look at that saboteur! One doesn’t know whether to
laugh or cry! What can I say? There is nothing to add; these photos
say everything.”

It’s noteworthy that earlier the Azerbaijani Media reported that the
Armenian citizen was detained by local residents who handed him over
the military. The Secretary of Azerbaijani State Commission on
prisoners of war, hostages and missing persons Shahin Sailov informed
the journalists that Khojoyan is a civilian. He was detained in
Alibeili village of Tovuz region of Azerbaijan and handed over to the
military.

Later, in the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense
77-year-old man turned out to be a “conductor of subversive group” and
he was no longer detained by the civilians, the residents of the
border village but by the Azerbaijani military. Furthermore in initial
reports of Azerbaijani Media there was no word about the fact that
Khojoyan was wounded, whereas the latest statement of the Ministry of
Defense claims that the detained man is wounded.

Famous Azerbaijani political observer Rauf Mirkadirov in his article
“Very funny situation amid local engagements and human losses”
published on the website of Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo brings
forward the words of Vagif Dyargakhli, the head of the Press service
of the Ministry of Defense that the detained 77-year-old Mamikon
Khojoyan “is a saboteur and is well aware of the topography.”

Mirkadirov quotes Kamo Chobanyan, the headman of Verin Karmiraghbyur
village of Tavush region of Armenia who stated that the detainee
77-year-old Mamikon Khojoyan is a resident of the village who suffers
from mental illness and is registered at the specialized clinic.

“At noon the villagers saw him carrying a bucket. They asked him where
he was going and he answered “to pick grapes.” How there can be grapes
in the winter? The gardens are situated eight km far from the village,
thus he went down and accidently crossed the border,” Chobanyan said
that he himself learnt about what happened from the Azerbaijani Media
when saw the photos of his fellow villager.

Mirkadirov therefore calls for the respect for Azerbaijani servicemen,
who are claimed to have a “victory” over “old-man saboteur.”

“Don’t you think that the Armenians could have found a younger scout-
saboteur who would have been familiar with the topography? This is not
serious: 77-year-old half dead man. Secondly, it turns out that the
Armenians don’t respect our army at all as they send 77-year-old men
to fight against us. Gentlemen, we should respect our own army! I
don’t think that our soldiers there at the forefront every day risk
their lives for the reports of similar kind like their victory over
old man saboteur…Besides, the old man was noticed, detained and headed
over by the similar villagers but from our side. This is not a tragedy
but a very funny situation…” Mirkadirov sums up.

On its turn, political scientist of Baku, Zardusht Alizadeh in an
interview with the Azerbaijani service of British Broadcasting
Corporation BBC said: “the Azerbaijanis present the poor Armenian as a
saboteur but this doesn’t mean that it is the truth.”

Alizadeh noted that this kind of cases when the detained Armenian
citizens were accused of espionage as well happened before. “But there
was no evidence,” the Azerbaijani political scientist added.

Conclusions should be drawn from Arab and Ukraine developments –
Armenia Security Council

February 01, 2014 | 13:27

YEREVAN. – Appropriate conclusions should be drawn from the
developments taking place in the Arab World and in Ukraine.

Armenian National Security Council (NSC) Secretary Arthur Baghdasaryan
told the aforesaid to reporters on Saturday.

In Baghdasaryan’s words, however, drastic and definite assessments
should not be given to the ongoing incidents.

“Many attempts are made to compare the events in Ukraine, or in the
Arab countries, or elsewhere, with Armenia. They are attempting to
find parallels, to imagine what the Armenian society would decide, or
initiate, in a situation.

“I can say that the degree of public confidence in Ukraine is quite
disturbing, now,” the NSC chief stated.

Arthur Baghdasaryan added that the conclusions–whether “a positive
outburst, or an adverse shock”–need to be drawn from any process.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIENS DE SYRIE
La communauté arménienne de Syrie vit une grave crise selon la
spécialiste Araxe Pachayan

La communauté arménienne de Syrie vit une grave crise qui touche sa
sécurité et son existence même selon les propos de la spécialiste des
questions arabes, Araxe Pachayan lors d’une conférence de presse à
Erévan le 27 janvier. >
continua Araxe Pachayan. Selon Araxe Pachayan la communauté arménienne
de Syrie compte plus de 100 morts et disparus depuis le début des
révoltes armées.

ARMENIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION REFLECTS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITH SILENT SIT-IN

Daily Nexus, Univ. of California in Santa Barabara
Jan 31 2014

Posted by Wyatt Smith on January 31, 2014 at 5:00 am

The Armenian Student Association hosted a silent sit-in outside Storke
Tower yesterday in remembrance of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Mouths sealed shut with duct tape, the 16 student participants were
part of a statewide effort among Armenian student groups at various
University of California, California State University and private
college campuses to bring attention to this ethnic cleansing genocide
that took place at the start of the 20th Century. Resulting in over
a million deaths, the incident is a point of contention between
the Armenian population and Turkey, who currently denies the ethnic
cleansing by the Ottoman Empire occurred.

Second-year economics major Simon Elmoyan, a first-generation Armenian
American, said he takes great pride in his heritage and took part in
the event because of the effects the genocide had on his family.

“I’ve had relatives as well that had their whole families wiped out;
some of my great grandparents had their entire families destroyed,”
Elmoyan said. “A powerhouse country like the United States should not
be ignoring such an important human rights issue simply because they
have some economic ties to Turkey.”

According to fourth-year sociology major and Armenian Student
Association Vice President Lusine Davtyan, the ASA hopes to promote
recognition year-round.

“I think we did get our message across,” Davtyan said. “We had students
come by, take pictures, read the posters — it’s not like we were
completely ignored and people just walked by. They did notice us.

Hopefully it got them thinking.”

ASA usually protests the Armenian Genocide on April 24 but decided
to hold an additional sit-in yesterday in order to give more people
a chance to become aware and active about the issue.

“It’s important for the public to know that this did exist,”
Davtyan said. “I know many states have acknowledged it but … we
want Congress, as a nation, to acknowledge it — to say, ‘Yes, there
was a genocide that took place.'”

Armenian Student Association President Nick Ohanian, a fourth-year
biology major, said ASA’s protest aims to encourage international
attention to an issue that has deeply effected many Armenian students
at the UC and worldwide.

“I think it’s important to understand we’re not trying to recognize
soil that was stolen from Armenia; we’re not trying to recognize that
our land was taken away,” Ohanian said. “We’re trying to recognize that
1.5 million people were massacred, inhumanely murdered to annihilate
the race, and that’s all we want the government to do.”

The Armenian Student Association has around 40 members from
various Armenian ethnic groups, including Lebanese-Armenians and
Syrian-Armenians, among others.

In remembrance of the genocide’s 99th anniversary, Davtyan said the
ASA is planning a larger awareness effort called Genocide Commemoration
Week in April during the week of the 24th.

Assistant News Editor Peter Mounteer contributed to this report.

This story is a Daily Nexus online exclusive.

RUSSIA URGES AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO MAKE PEACE

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 31 2014

31 January 2014 – 10:58am

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concerns over the recent
escalation of tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line. The
ministry urged the sides to stabilize the situation, warning that
further escalation could have repercussions for the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process and realization of the deals signed in Vienna on November
19, 2013.

Vyacheslav Kovalenko, Director of Regional Programs of the Institute
for Caspian Cooperation, says that Russia is taking all the necessary
measures to prevent detonation of the situation. He notes that any
military acts would cause casualties, although such high-scale conflict
is unlikely at the moment, both sides of the conflict are interested
in peace. The expert adds that the Armed Forces are balanced.

Andrey Petrov, an analyst of the MSU Center for Information and
Analysis, says that one of the problems for Nagorno-Karabakh on the
global scale is lack of international sources of true information.

Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairman,
had made no official declarations ten days before the provocations
started. The expert believes that it is time for other international
mediators besides Russia to speak out against tensions between
Azerbaijan and Armenia and urge them to take a peaceful path.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan
plan another meeting the following month to continue the constructive
process started in November 2013.

ZEMAN ACCEPTS HIS COUNTERPART’S INVITATION TO VISIT ARMENIA

Prague Daily Monitor, Czech Rep.

Jan 31 2014

Ä~LTK |
31 January 2014

Prague, Jan 30 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman can see untapped
potential in Czech-Armenian economic cooperation, which is why he
accepted the invitation to visit Armenia his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sargsyan extended to him in Prague yesterday, he told the media.

He said he will go to Armenia together with a strong delegation of
Czech entrepreneurs.

The Zeman-Sargsyan meeting was attended by ministers of the new Czech
cabinet that Zeman appointed on Wednesday.

Bilateral agreements were signed on the occasion of Sargsyan’s visit
yesterday, including a customs cooperation memorandum.

Invited by Zeman, Sargsyan is visiting the Czech Republic from
Wednesday to Friday.

He and Zeman will have a joint dinner at Prague Castle tonight.

Former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09), too,
said on a visit to Armenia a year ago that it is necessary to enhance
bilateral trade.

RUSSIA IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE SITUATION IN THE ZONE OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 30 2014

30 January 2014 – 8:34pm

Russia urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to take additional measures to
stabilize the situation in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“We are concerned about the situation in the zone of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As a result of the frequent cases of
ceasefire violations there are victims among the military. There is
also information about wounded among the civilians”, ITAR-TASS quotes
the commentary of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The diplomats stress that an escalation of violence would inevitably
cause “a negative effect on the process of the Karabakh conflict
regulation. It would be complicated to implement the agreements of the
Azerbaijani-Armenian summit in Vienna on November 19, 2013”. Moscow
urges the sides to take measures to stabilize the situation, including
the mechanisms stipulated by the 1995 ceasefire agreement.

WHY IS TURKISH WRITER SEVAN NISANYAN IN JAIL?

Al-Monitor
Jan 30 2014

Author: Orhan Kemal Cengiz
Posted January 30, 2014

Sevan Nisanyan, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origin born in 1956,
is without doubt one of the most colorful personalities in Turkish
intellectual life. In the book Wrong Republic, he wrote about
questioning the “Ataturk taboo” in Turkey, arousing the anger of
secular-nationalist Turks. He outraged religious circles with his
criticism of Muslim beliefs, has infuriated feminists and leftists
and never hesitates to speak bluntly about the Armenian genocide.

Nisanyan is now in the first month of a two-year prison term in
Torbali, Izmir province. Ostensibly, Nisanyan is in prison not
for his contrarian views or identity, but because of “construction
infractions.” Is this really the case? Why did only Nisanyan end up in
jail for building in an enviroment of rampant illegal construction? Is
his jail term really to punish his contrarian views?

This all began in 1995, when Nisanyan moved to the village of Sirince,
near the Selcuk township, in Izmir province. It was a small village
no one had heard of before Nisanyan moved in and began to fix the
roads, restore the crumbling houses and open small, charming bed
and breakfasts.

Today, however, according to figures provided by Nisanyan’s ex-wife,
Mujde Tonbekici, Sirince has become a major destination, attracting
some 600,000 to 800,000 foreign and local tourists a year. Shortly
after settling in Sirince, Nisanyan won the hearts of the local
population with his contributions to the village. But all the
construction and restoration work encountered serious bureaucratic
barriers, and in 2001, he was sentenced to 10 months in jail for
construction-related infractions.

According to officials, their investigations of Nisanyan’s
construction activities were legally justified. Sirince is subject to
government-imposed construction restrictions, but for some reason,
the “transition-period construction regulations” issued for areas
subject to such restrictions were never presented for Sirince.

As a result, Nisanyan has been sentenced to a two-year prison term for
installing a small, 40-square-meter shed on his own land. Dozens of
cases have been brought against Nisanyan for unpermitted maintenance,
repair and construction. If all of these cases end in prison terms,
Nisanyan could well spend the rest of his life in jail.

Nisanyan’s former wife spoke about the process that led to Nisanyan
being in prison: “Sirince is a restricted construction zone. That is
why you can’t build what you want. This is fine. But in the law, there
is a clause that says the government has to issue transition-period
construction regulations until the final construction-zoning plan is
made. This is to allow you to do construction legally. But look, it
has been thirty years, and we still don’t have the transition-period
guidelines or the final construction plan. We ran into big problems
because of that. We couldn’t carry out our construction. We visited
the government agency in charge 50 times, but couldn’t get the
permits. Sevan, being a man who can’t sit idle, went after them
persistently, but at the end declared, ‘That’s it,’ and started
to build.”

Nisanyan thinks the real targets of his prison sentence are his
identity and opinions. He was bitter and angry before he went to
prison. He expressed his sentiments to Turkish journalist Hasan Cemal:
“All my life — with my books, with my work in the village — I tried
to do something good for the people. What did I get in return? From
the state, I always got suspicion, enmity and despotism. I always had
to deal with ethnic and political prejudices, with disrespect and
contempt. Five governments, eight sub-governors — [I] don’t know
how many ministers and governors changed. Every once in a while,
we get a couple of decent people and high hopes. But in the end,
nothing changes.”

Nisanyan was more blunt in an earlier interview with Agos, expressing
his views about the true motivation behind his prison sentence: “It is
obvious that the fact that I am Armenian plays a role in this process.

In Turkey, anyone who goes out of the box is punished, even if your
last name is [that of a] ‘true Turk.’ If you do something out of
the box, you get punished. On top of that, if you are Armenian,
your punishment is magnified.”

There are many who think that Nisanyan was sentenced to prison not
because of construction infractions, but because of his views that
defy a number of taboos in Turkey. A local and international petition
campaign for his release states the following:

Sevan Nisanyan is being punished for doing illegal construction on
his own land in Turkey, which is a haven for illegal construction, and
is now incarcerated at Izmir-Torbali prison, since Jan. 2. Moreover,
instead of being awarded a Nobel Prize for architecture for what
he created in Sirince, he faces about 50 years of prison terms for
17 cases brought against him. In fact, everybody knows that the
case against Sevan Nisanyan has nothing to do with construction
infractions. He is being punished for his history and literary work
challenging the official ideology.

Another petition campaign asserts that the real reason for Nisanyan’s
prison term are his views on Islam:

We denounce the injustice of … years of prison terms slapped on Sevan
Nisanyan for a village tenement he built on his own land. The sentence
given to Sevan Nisanyan, who turned Sirince into a paradise of culture
and tourism in our country, which is a nirvana for illegal construction
and crooked urbanization, is unjust and disgraceful. We don’t believe
that the heavy and unjust imprisonment of Nisan Sevanyan is because
of construction regulations, when another trial has been going on
for 13 and a half months’ imprisonment for saying that satirical
and denigrating expressions about Islam in a country with a Muslim
majority can’t be a hate crime. The sentence handed to Nisanyan is a
disgrace that should rattle our conscience and cast shadows on hopes
for freedom of thought.

In short, there is a sizeable group in Turkey that thinks Nisanyan’s
going to prison has nothing to do with infractions of construction
regulations.

The corruption investigations launched against the government (that are
not going anywhere because of heavy pressure) have revealed illegally
issued construction permits amounting to millions of dollars in
Istanbul, making it a tragicomedy that an Armenian who built a small
shed on his own land ends up in prison. It is a reality that one must
think hard about to understand Turkey.

Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE January 29, 2014
Contact: Haig Baghdassarian
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: (415) 596-6163

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CURRICULUM BILL PASSED UNANIMOUSLY BY CALIFORNIA STATE
ASSEMBLY

SACRAMENTO, CA — Despite heavy opposition by pro-Turkey lobbying groups,
the California State Assembly voted unanimously, today, to pass
Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian’s bill, AB 659, encouraging schools to use
oral histories when teaching about the Armenian Genocide. AB 659 will now
move on to State Senate for consideration.

“The unanimous passage of AB 659 sends a strong message that California
officials cannot be bought or bullied into denying truth and justice. The
ANCA WR commends Assemblymembers Nazarian and Achadjian for spearheading
through this important genocide education legislation and looks forward to
working with them in garnering similar support in the State Senate,” stated
Elen Asatryan, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR.

“AB 659 has enjoyed overwhelming support from my colleagues in the
Assembly,” commented Assemblymember Nazarian, following the vote. “I look
forward to continuing to work with the ANCA-WR to garner support from our
counterparts in the Senate. The personal testimonies of Genocide survivors
will give educators a powerful tool to engage students in the subject
matter in ways they have never been taught before. If we expect to stop the
genocides of the future, it is important that we strengthen the teaching
mechanisms on past genocides,” he continued.

Joining Nazarian as co-authors AB 659 were State Senator Mark Wyland (R)
and Assemblymembers Katcho Achadjian (R), Steve Fox (D), Mike Gatto (D),
Scott Wilk (R), and Cheryl Brown (D). Other members of the State Assembly
who spoke in support of the measure during the floor session today were
Assemblymembers Tim Donnelly (R) and Diane Harkey (R).

Assemblymember Achadjian, principal co-author on AB 659, worked closely
with his Republican colleagues to secure broad bipartisan support for the
measure, noted, “I am proud to be a principal co-author of AB 659. Part of
ensuring a better world for our children includes educating them about the
past. We must take the initiative to recognize such tragic acts of
violence in order to prevent such events from happening again. It
encourages teachers to educate our students on the Armenian Genocide.”

Earlier this month, AB 659 was unanimously adopted by the State Assembly
Education and Appropriations Committees. Education Committee Chairwoman
Joan Buchanan explained, “It is important for California students to
understand and learn from the lessons of history, including the atrocities
of genocide around the world. I am proud to support AB 659, which
encourages schools to include the Armenian genocide in our history courses.”

In the weeks leading up to State Assembly consideration of the measure, the
ANCA Western Region worked closely with legislators to ensure they learned
of the Armenian American community’s enthusiastic support for the measure.
“Grassroots efforts are critical for the success of such legislation,
particularly in light of the increasingly aggressive lobbying campaigns
which are being mounted by Turkey and Azerbaijan. In these times, it is
especially important to activate our grassroots, because while we may be
outspent by our adversaries, active participation by our community makes a
difference,” added Asatryan.

Once adopted by the State Senate and signed into law by the Governor, AB
659 would encourage the incorporation of oral testimony and teacher
training, such that the Genocide may be more comprehensively taught in
California’s public schools.

The Genocide Education Project (GenEd), a non-profit organization based in
San Francisco which has developed model resources for high school teachers
regarding the Armenian Genocides, hailed the measure. “With the proper
materials and training, teachers can incorporate the Armenian Genocide into
their social studies curriculum in a meaningful way,” said Roxanne
Makasdjian of The Genocide Education Project. “This resolution reminds
education administrators across the state of California’s commitment to the
inclusion of the Armenian Genocide as an essential part of its courses on
world history, genocide, and human rights.”

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest
and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and
affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

####

Armenian Assembly of America News
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Plight of Christians, Armenians in Syria Focus of Heritage Foundation
Panel Discussion

January 29, 2014
By Taniel Koushakjian

This week, the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. held a panel
discussion entitled “Marked for Destruction: the Plight of Syria’s
Christians with Syrian Christian Leaders.” The panel featured Reverend Adib
Awad, General Secretary of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and
Lebanon, H.E. Bishop Elias Toumeh, The Orthodox Bishop of Pyrgou-Syria,
Reverend Dr. Riad Jarjour, Presbyterian clergyman from Homs, Syria and the
former General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches
(1994-2003), H.E. Bishop Dionysius Jean Kawak, Metropolitan of the Syrian
Orthodox Church, and His Grace Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the
Armenian Church of Damascus. The discussion was co-hosted by the
Westminister Institute and Barnabas Aid Fund, who was represented by
International Director Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo. Bishop Julian Dobbs of the
Anglican Church of North America made introductory remarks, while Becky
Norton Dunlop, Heritage Vice President of External Relations, opened and
closed the program.

To explain the current situation in Syria, the panelists provided a
historical context of centuries-long persecution and massacres of
Christians in the greater Middle East. Speaking first was Rev. Dr. Riad
Jarjour, who talked at length about the “indigenous Christians” of Syria.
He expressed the uncomfortable feeling registered among Christians,
especially since Ottoman times, directly citing “what happened to the
Armenians.” Jarjour went on to state that Christians in Syria today do not
feel safe “in the land they were born.” He then reflected on current
events, highlighting the kidnapping of priests and nuns, the confiscation
of churches, and the brutal beheading of Armenians all by Al-Qaeda/Al-Nusra
Front and other extremist groups. “At least 80 people have been used as
human shields in Homs,” said Jarjour, “they are not allowed to leave the
city.” In a plea to all Syrians, Jarjour warned of the consequences of a
“Syria without Christians,” sharing his view that not only will the
Christian community of Syria loose, but that Syria’s Muslims will also
loose a very significant segment of their society.

Bishop Dionysius Jean reflected on specific episodes of Christian
persecution in the Ottoman Empire. He mentioned the massacres of Christian
Armenians “since 1860 and 1895,” the latter a direct reference to the
Hamidian Massacres that served as a precursor to the Armenian Genocide.

Unafraid to share some of the most alarming reports of recent Islamic
extremism was Rev. Abid Awad. He called attention to “terrorists” in Syria
“from 83 countries” that he said were “armed, supported and funded by Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.” Rev. Awad talked about the recent beheading of
Armenians who reportedly were killed when they refused to convert to Islam.
According to Awad, their heads were sent to adjacent Christian villages, in
order to instill fear among Christian populations in Syria. “The priests
buried the bodies without their heads,” he exclaimed.

In an expression of solidarity, with all the various religious groups in
Syria, Bishop Nalbandian warned against heeding the calls of Islamaphobes.
Nalbandian explained the uniqueness of the Armenian situation. “After the
Armenian Genocide, Syrian Muslims accepted us, welcomed us,” Nalbandian
said. Nalbandian differentiated between secular Syrian Muslims who want
peace and the foreign extremists who are kidnapping and killing Christians.

Addressing the panel from the audience, Archbishop Vicken Aykazian,
Diocesan Legate of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) stated, “Three
close allies of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, are
supporting terrorist groups in Syria.” “What can America do to hold
countries like Turkey accountable for supporting extremists in Syria,” he
asked. The dignitaries tried to avoid delving into politics.

There are a number of steps that the U.S. can take, such as a drastic
reduction and/or full cessation in the transfer or sale of U.S. military
aid and equipment to such countries. It’s not about dismissing the
U.S.-Turkey relationship; it’s about putting the relationship on an honest
footing – be it Turkey’s inexplicable campaign to deny the Armenian
Genocide or its blatant support of Islamic extremists whose efforts run
counter to U.S. values. Friends don’t let friends support terrorists. It’s
time U.S. taxpayers stopped footing the bill, too.

Available online at: