Author: Markos Nalchajian

Middle East Forum
By Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute
December 3, 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden's increasingly hypocritical policy on NATO's
increasingly difficult ally, Turkey, is badly zig-zagging between the
U.S. leader's self-declared advocacy for universal democratic values
and criticism of Turkey's democratic deficit in public on the one hand
and his appeasement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan behind
closed doors on the other.
In a December 2019 interview, then-presidential candidate Biden said
that Erdoğan should be ousted from power through a democratic process
and that support for the opposition was crucial. Turkey's human rights
record has gone downhill from there. The Council of Europe has said
that if Turkish courts keep ignoring rulings from the European Court
of Human Rights, it would start infringement proceedings against
Turkey at the end of November.
All the same, on October 31, Biden and Erdoğan apparently had a
70-minute meeting in a "very positive atmosphere" on the sidelines of
the G20 summit in Rome. They reportedly agreed to form a joint
mechanism to improve ties. "During the meeting," an Erdoğan aide told
this author, "Biden's lecture on human rights did not exceed two
minutes." It seems that a U.S. delegation will soon arrive in Ankara
to work on that joint mechanism.
Since the summer, everything on the Washington-Ankara axis seems to
have gone wrong. During a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
hearing in July, Republican and Democrat Senators criticized Turkish
government policies and demanded more action from the Biden
administration. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey and
other Senators expressed concern over the Turkish government's efforts
to ban the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). "That's like
if President Biden banned the Republican party from participating,"
Menendez said.
The Turkish Democracy Project (TDP) in September called on three U.S.
companies and one German one to cut ties with Baykar Makina, whose TB2
armed drones have become a weapon of choice for repressive regimes
worldwide. According to Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, CEO of TDP:
"In refusing to cut ties with Turkey in the face of direct evidence of
the crimes the Erdoğan regime is committing using their products,
these companies are demonstrating that they do not take seriously the
moral or legal implications of their actions. Lawmakers must take this
into account in determining how these companies ought to be dealt
with."
Before that, a coalition of 27 U.S. Congress members had signed a
letter saying that technology transfers such as the ones these
companies show that Turkey continues to clearly violate the terms of
the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)
sanctions.
In October, U.S. lawmakers proposed legislation that would require the
State Department to investigate whether a Turkish ultra-nationalist
group with links to the Turkish government, the Gray Wolves, should be
designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The Grey Wolves are
closely affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party, Erdoğan's
staunchest political ally.
In late October, Erdoğan ordered 10 ambassadors in Ankara, including
those from the U.S., Germany and France, be declared personae non
gratae. The order followed a statement from the envoys calling for the
urgent release of activist Osman Kavala, who has been in prison for
more than four years while supposedly under investigation for
participating in protests and a coup attempt, although he has never
been convicted.
Erdoğan stepped back only after the U.S. Embassy in Ankara stated, "In
response to questions regarding the Statement of October 18, the
United States notes that it maintains compliance with Article 41 of
the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations." Article 41 stipulates
that the internal affairs of other states should not be interfered
with.
When bilateral ties seemed to be moving from one low point to another,
Erdoğan shocked the world by saying that the U.S. administration
proposed to sell Turkey a batch of 40 F-16 Block 70 fighter jets -- a
claim that quickly turned into a puzzle. On October 23, the day after
Erdoğan's claim, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated that
the U.S. had not made any financing offers on Turkey's request to
purchase F-16 warplanes. On November 15, however, a senior U.S.
diplomat told this author that all of the State Department, the
Pentagon and White House were "in agreement to encourage the F-16 sale
to Turkey, but could not guarantee Congress's approval."
Two days after that, on November 17, Turkey's Ministry of Defense said
in a statement that a high-level meeting between military delegations,
held in Washington, was "positive and constructive." Apparently, the
F-16 talks will continue on, with Biden ignoring the Congress.
Both Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers urged Biden's
administration not to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and said they
were confident Congress would block any such exports. In an October 25
letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 11 members of
the House of Representatives cited "a profound sense of concern" about
recent reports that Turkey might purchase 40 new Lockheed Martin F-16s
and 80 F-16 modernization kits.
Turkey's Ambassador to the U.S., Murat Mercan, an extremely skillful
diplomat, said in an October 27 speech: "Turkey's increased
contributions to the transatlantic community's efforts opens a window
of opportunity for a newly defined alliance relationship between
Turkey and the United States that can still operate under extreme
duress, no matter what the diverging opinions are."
There is something wrong about this Biden riddle. Is Biden the
champion of human rights and universal democratic values that he
claims he is? Or is he an unpleasant cheat with a disappointing fake
democratic agenda?
**
Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based political analyst and a fellow at the
Middle East Forum.
 

                                        Monday, 
Armenia Also Imposes Omicron Travel Ban
        • Robert Zargarian
Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed stock graph and words 
"Omicron SARS-CoV-2" in this illustration taken, November 27, 2021.
Armenia will temporarily bar entry of residents of South Africa and seven other 
regional states in a bid to protect its population against the new coronavirus 
variant Omicron, Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said on Monday.
The heavily mutated variant first detected in South Africa earlier this month is 
believed to be highly transmissible and potentially resistant to coronavirus 
vaccines. It now seems to be spreading around the world, leading many countries 
to impose travel restrictions.
Avanesian said the Armenian government will take similar measures affecting 
citizens of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Mozambique, 
Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
“The entry of people from these countries to the Republic of Armenia will be 
temporarily restricted,” she told a news conference.
The minister echoed concerns about Omicron’s possible ability to evade existing 
vaccines protecting people against COVID-19. Still, she made clear that the 
government will continue to encourage Armenians to get inoculated.
According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, only about 436,400 people in the 
country of about 3 million have been fully vaccinated to date.
Avanesian announced that after weeks of deliberations the government has decided 
to introduce on January 1 a mandatory health pass for entry to cultural and 
leisure venues. Only those people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or 
have had a recent negative test will be allowed to visit bars, restaurants and 
other public venues, she said.
The daily number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in Armenia 
began declining about two weeks ago after several months of steady increase that 
overwhelmed the national healthcare system. The Ministry of Health recorded 189 
cases and 21 deaths on Sunday, the lowest figures reported in weeks.
Court Extends Arrest Of Former Armenian Defense Minister
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan at a news conference in 
Yerevan, April 9, 2019.
A court in Yerevan has extended the pretrial detention of Davit Tonoyan, a 
former defense minister facing corruption charges strongly denied by him.
Tonoyan, two generals and an arms dealer were arrested by the National Security 
Service (NSS) two months ago in a criminal investigation into supplies of 
allegedly outdated rockets to Armenia’s armed forces. The NSS charged them with 
fraud and embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams ($4.7 
million). All four suspects deny any wrongdoing.
Tonoyan’s lawyers again dismissed the accusations as baseless on Monday in 
response to a weekend court ruling allowing NSS investigators to hold Tonoyan in 
pretrial detention for two more months. In a statement, they claimed that the 
investigators lack “professional knowledge” of weaponry and ammunition and are 
simply keen to discredit the former defense minister.
“We again want to bring the political leadership’s attention to the 
non-objective investigation conducted with regard to Davit Tonoyan,” they said.
The NSS said in September that a private intermediary delivered the rockets to 
Armenia in 2011 and that the Defense Ministry refused to buy them after 
discovering that they are unusable.
Seyran Ohanian, Armenia’s defense minister from 2008 to 2016, confirmed 
afterwards that they were not accepted by the military during his tenure. 
Ohanian, who is now a senior opposition lawmaker, said the rebuff forced the 
supplier to store them at a Defense Ministry arms depot.
Citing the secrecy of the ongoing probe, the NSS has declined to publicly 
specify the date of the supply contract subsequently signed by the Defense 
Ministry or give other details.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian appointed Tonoyan as defense minister just days 
after coming to power in May 2018. Tonoyan was sacked in November 2020 less than 
two weeks after a Russian-brokered agreement stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Some senior pro-Pashinian parliamentarians blamed him for Armenia’s defeat in 
the six-week war. The prime minister faced angry opposition demonstrations at 
the time.
New Power Plant Inaugurated In Armenia
        • Emil Danielyan
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other officials attend the 
inauguration of a newly built power plant in Yrevan, .
A German-Italian consortium inaugurated on Monday a thermal power plant built by 
it in Yerevan as part of a $270 million project approved by the Armenian 
government.
The 254-megawatt facility is expected to enable Armenia to use less natural gas 
for electricity generation. It will also diversify foreign ownership in the 
country’s energy sector.
The ArmPower consortium consists of a subsidiary of Germany’s Siemens group and 
two Italian companies. One of them, Renco, is the main engineering, procurement 
and construction contractor in the project.
Renco had supposedly launched the project in March 2017 with a ground-breaking 
ceremony attended by then President Serzh Sarkisian.
Armenia’s current government froze, however, Renco’s contract with the Sarkisian 
administration shortly after taking office in May 2018. It said the deal is not 
beneficial for the Armenian side and must be renegotiated.
The two sides signed a revised deal in November 2018. Armenian officials said at 
the time that the Renco-led consortium agreed to cut its electricity tariff by 5 
percent. That, they said, will allow Armenia to save $160 million in energy 
expenses over the next 25 years.
Armenia -- The site of a new power plant built by a German-Italian consortium in 
Yerevan, July 12, 2019.
Work on the new power plant began in earnest in July 2019 four months after 
ArmPower secured more than $200 million in loans and loan guarantees from 
several international lenders, notably the Washington-based International 
Finance Corporation (IFC).
The plant was inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and 
Renco’s chief executive, Giovanni Rubini. An Armenian government statement on 
the ceremony said its electricity will be cheaper than power supplies coming 
from other gas-powered plants that currently meet roughly one-third of Armenia’s 
energy needs.
One of them was constructed in Yerevan in 2010 with a $247 million loan provided 
by Japan. The state-owned facility has a capacity of 242 megawatts.
Renco has done business in Armenia since the early 2000s. It was not involved in 
the local energy sector until its latest project, investing instead in luxury 
housing, hotels and office buildings. But the Italian company has built, 
installed or operated power generation and distribution facilities in other 
parts of the world.
Court Upholds Acquittal Of Kocharian
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian speaks at a news conference, 
Yerevan, October 4, 2021.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals has rejected prosecutors’ demands to overturn a lower 
court’s decision to throw out controversial coup charges that were brought 
against former President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian and three other former officials were prosecuted in connection with 
the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan. Anna Danibekian, a district court 
judge presiding over their trial, acquitted them in early April ten days after 
the Constitutional Court declared the charges unconstitutional.
The trial prosecutors appealed against the acquittal. They demanded that the 
Court of Appeals allow investigators to charge the defendants with abuse of 
power and order Danibekian to resume the coup trial.
The Court of Appeals rejected the prosecutors’ appeal in a ruling announced late 
on Friday. One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hovannes Khudoyan, welcomed the decision.
A spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that 
the law-enforcement agency will look into the ruling before deciding whether to 
appeal to the Court of Cassation, the country’s highest body of criminal justice.
Kocharian, his former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired army 
generals have said all along that the coup charges leveled against them are 
politically motivated. Lawyers representing them maintain that Danibekian’s 
decision to clear them of the alleged “overthrow of the constitutional order” 
stemmed from Armenian law.
The judge also ruled on April 6 that Kocharian and Gevorgian will continue to 
stand trial on separate bribery charges which they also strongly deny. Court 
hearings on that case resumed in July.
Kocharian, who is highly critical of Armenia’s current leadership, was first 
arrested in July 2018 shortly after the “velvet revolution” that brought Nikol 
Pashinian to power. He was set free on bail in June 2020.
The 67-year-old ex-president set up an opposition alliance in May this year. It 
finished second in parliamentary elections held in June.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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