The California Courier Online, July 25, 2019
1 – European Union and United States
Punish Turkey for 2 Separate Violations
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Armenian woman tortured, stoned to death by jihadist rebels in Syria
3 – Turkey: Nuclear weapon material worth $72M seized in car
4- Sarkissian Awards Bob Dole with Order of Honor
5- Turkey: Jail terms for murderers of Armenian journalist Dink
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1 – European Union and United States
Punish Turkey for 2 Separate Violations
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
After months of uncertainty and controversy, both the European Union
(EU) and the United States decided to punish Turkey in the same week
for two different violations.
The Associated Press reported on July 16 that the EU foreign ministers
“approved sanctions against Turkey over its drilling for gas in waters
where EU member Cyprus has exclusive economic rights. They said they
were suspending talks on an air transport agreement, as well as
high-level Turkey-EU dialogues, and would call on the European
Investment Bank to review its lending” to Turkey.
The EU Foreign Ministers deplored that “despite the European Union’s
repeated calls to cease its illegal activities in the eastern
Mediterranean, Turkey continued its drilling operations west of Cyprus
and launched a second drilling operation northeast of Cyprus within
Cypriot territorial waters.”
In typical Turkish arrogance, the Ankara government called the EU
decision “worthless.” Furthermore, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu announced: “We have three ships in the eastern
Mediterranean, we will send a fourth.”
The EU Foreign Ministers warned that additional sanctions will be
applied against Turkey if it does not back down from its illegal
drilling operations around Cyprus.
Meanwhile, after months of indecisiveness, Pres. Trump finally decided
to prohibit Turkey from purchasing U.S. advanced stealth F-35 fighter
jets, even though Turkey had already paid a billion dollars for the
116 jets it planned to buy and had participated in the program to
manufacture parts of the aircraft which after cancellation would
result in the loss of around $10 billion for Turkey’s defense
industry.
On several occasions, Pres. Trump made excuses for Turkey’s purchase
of S-400 Russian missiles by wrongly blaming the Obama administration
for refusing to sell U.S. Patriot missiles to Turkey. In reality,
Turkey was the one that did not accept the terms of the U.S. proposed
sale.
On the other hand, Pres. Trump was full of effusive praise for
Turkey’s President Rejep Tayyip Erdogan at a time when NATO leaders
and the U.S. Congress and security officials were warning Trump that
selling the F-35’s to Turkey would compromise the jets’ secrets and
violate the inter-operability of the Russian missiles with NATO’s
military systems.
Given the obvious dangers to U.S. national security posed by Turkey’s
purchase of the Russian missiles, Pres. Trump had no choice but to
cancel the agreement to sell the F-35 jets to Turkey. Otherwise, Pres.
Trump would have been caught in the ridiculous situation of putting
“Turkey First” rather than his favorite slogan, “America First.”
The White House announced on July 17: “The F-35 cannot coexist with a
Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn
about its advanced capabilities.” It said that Turkey’s decision to
purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system renders its continued
involvement in the F-35 joint strike fighter program impossible.
Ellen Lord, U.S. Undersecretary of defense for acquisition and
sustainment, stated: “The U.S. and other F-35 partners are aligned in
this decision to suspend Turkey from the program and initiate the
process to formally remove Turkey from the program.”
In his usual arrogant fashion, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu warned the United States that if it places sanctions on
Turkey, his country would retaliate with its own set of sanctions
against the United States. Besides making big-mouth pronouncements,
let us see if Turkey will actually carry out its threats. Clearly,
U.S. economic sanctions would cause the complete collapse of Turkey’s
fragile economy.
Pres. Trump, who often ignores U.S. national interests at the expense
of profitable business arrangements, claimed that Turkey was willing
to purchase billions of dollars’ worth of F-35 fighter jets. As usual,
Pres. Trump exaggerated the figures. The reality is that Turkey was
planning on spending one billion dollars on the purchase of F-35 jets,
not billions. Furthermore, several countries, including The
Netherlands, Israel, and an unnamed Gulf country, have already
indicated that they will make up for the jets not purchased by Turkey,
by buying additional jets.
However, banning the Turkish purchase of F-35 jets is not the only
punishment that could be applied against Turkey. Pres. Trump signed in
2017 the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
(CAATSA). He is obligated by this law to implement sanctions on Turkey
for purchasing missiles from Russia. Such a decision is not up to
Pres. Trump. However, Wall Street Journal reported on July 21 that
Pres. Trump is opposed to placing sanctions on Turkey. The President
is scheduled to meet with a group of Senators this week to discuss
possible sanctions against Turkey as pressure mounts from lawmakers to
punish Ankara. Pres. Trump has three options: 1) avoid placing any
sanctions; 2) delay the sanctions; and 3) place a milder version of
sanctions. Most probably, the U.S. Congress will impose sanctions
against Turkey if the President fails to do so!
Even without sanctions, Turkey has already suffered millions of
dollars’ worth of negative publicity. Several major U.S. publications
wrote editorials last week questioning Turkey’s membership in NATO.
The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board wrote: “The U.S. and NATO
don’t have much choice now other than to rethink whether Turkey still
belongs in the alliance.”
Bloomberg published an editorial, headlined: “Turkey Has Abandoned the
West. Good Riddance.”
Jed Babbin wrote an opinion column in the Washington Times, titled:
“Throw Turkey out of NATO.”
With each passing day, Turkey is distancing itself more and more from
NATO, in favor of Russia. The combination of EU and U.S. sanctions
would be the death knell for Turkey’s economy and its membership in
NATO.
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2- Armenian woman tortured, stoned to death by jihadist rebels in Syria
BEIRUT—An Armenian woman was repeatedly tortured and then executed by
jihadist rebels in the Jisr Al-Shughour District of the Idlib
Governorate.
The death of the Armenian woman, Suzanne Der Karkour, was first
reported by the humanitarian organization SOS Chretiens d’Orient on
July 13.
There are over 20,000 Al-Qaeda terrorists in Idlib, Syria. The
terrorists have commonly targeted Christian towns. Der Karkour, a
Christian, was repeatedly raped and then killed by Idlib terrorists.
According to the humanitarian group, Der Karkour went missing on July
9 inside her hometown of Al-Yaqoubiyeh, which is located just north of
the jihadist stronghold of Jisr Al-Shughour.
A local priest sent parishioners to search for Der Karkour on July 9;
they found the Armenian woman dead in a field.
Citing locals from Al-Yaqoubiyeh, the humanitarian group said an
autopsy was done on Der Karkour’s body and it was found that she was
tortured for at least nine hours before she was stoned to death.
Der Karkour, who was 60 at the time of her death, was one of the few
Christians still living in the jihadist-held areas in northern Syria.
The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)
confirmed the report about Der Karkour and said she was killed by
unknown assailants; however, the locals in Al-Yaqoubiyeh and SOS
Chretiens d’Orient said the local jihadists were behind her brutal
murder.
Al-Yaqoubiyeh is one of several Christian towns that surround Jisr
Al-Shughour. At least 18 women remained in Al-Yaqoubiyeh after the
jihadists captured the town. Many of their relatives escaped to the
Syrian government-held areas prior to its capture by the Free Syrian
Army (FSA) and Jabhat Al-Nusra.
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3 – NASA awards its highest honor to Yervant Terzian
HOUSTON (Cornell Chronicle)—NASA has announced it will award the
Distinguished Public Service Medal, its highest honor, to astronomer
Yervant Terzian, the Tisch Distinguished Professor Emeritus. The medal
will be presented by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at the NASA
Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 2. The ceremony will be
broadcast live at noon EDT on NASA TV.
“Dr. Yervant Terzian has dedicated his life to education, public
service and scientific research,” according to NASA in its award
citation. “He has used his enthusiasm for space exploration and
education to bring inspirational experiences to students and the
general public across the country.”
The award citation additionally highlighted the great influence
Terzian’s work has had on the younger generation.
“Dr. Yervant Terzian has made an indelible impact on education and
inspiring young minds … He has evoked comprehension and wonder in his
students and in his public audiences. These accomplishments and his
eminent humanity prove Dr. Terzian worthy of this Distinguished Public
Service Medal,” according to the award citation.
Terry Herter, chair and professor of astronomy, agrees.
“Dr. Terzian has been a relentless, eloquent ambassador for the
sciences over his entire career, reaching and influencing
undergraduates, graduate students, colleagues and the general public.
This is a very well-deserved award,” Herter said.
Terzian has served on eight NASA committees, including the Hubble
Space Telescope Fellowship Committee, NASA’s Diversity in Science
Education and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Radio Astronomy
Evaluation Committee. For 20 years, Terzian directed the NASA New York
Space Grant Consortium, comprising 19 universities and five industries
and science centers. In 2012, the 52 state NASA Space Grant directors
elected Terzian chairman.
“The Space Grant has been very successful in implementing space
programs for the brightest students across New York state to provide
them with opportunities to develop their interest in space,” Terzian
said. “This is what will keep the United States as the leader.”
For 12 years, Terzian served as a visiting lecturer in astronomy for
the American Astronomical Society, traveling across the U.S. enhancing
college communities’ scientific understanding of the universe. He has
also contributed to dozens of radio and television programs for public
listeners, on topics such as life in the universe, NASA and the space
program, the U.S. space shuttle program, and the state of astronomy.
Terzian said he has been inspired throughout his life by the ancient
Greeks and their deductive method of science.
“When I was very young and asked my father why there were stars, I was
not satisfied with the answers, and I started reading everything I
could from the American Library in Cairo,” he explained. “The
description of nature through our science, through our scientific
methods, is still young, and we should expect major discoveries in the
future. From the work humans have achieved so far, we can deduce that
we are not alone in the universe, and the day will come that we will
find life in other planets.”
Terzian is known for his studies of stellar evolution and the
discovery of regions of hydrogen gas between distant galaxies — a
finding that indicated the presence of unseen matter in intergalactic
space. His research using national radio astronomy observatories has
been supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. He is the
author or co-author of more than 235 scientific publications and the
editor of seven books, including “Carl Sagan’s Universe.”
A member of the faculty since 1965, Terzian served as chair of
Cornell’s Department of Astronomy from 1979 to 1999. He initiated the
National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates
program at Cornell, which offers summer research for students,
particularly women and members of underrepresented groups.
Among Terzian’s many honors are NASA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and
the Republic of Armenia’s Gold Medal, its highest honor for scientific
achievement. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science in 2001.
At Cornell, Terzian has been recognized for the excellence of his
teaching with the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award in 1984 and the
Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowship Award in 2001.
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4- Sarkissian Awards Bob Dole with Order of Honor
On July 12, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree
awarding retired American Senator Bob Dole with the Order of Honor,
for his contribution to the development and strengthening of
Armenian-American friendly relations.
The Armenian President signed the respective decree based on a
proposal by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Senator Dole is a retired
American politician, statesman and attorney who represented Kansas in
the U.S House of Representatives from 1961 to 1969 and in the U.S.
Senate from 1969 to 1996, serving as the Republican Leader of the
United States Senate from 1985 until 1996.
He was the Republican presidential nominee in the 1996 presidential
election and the party’s vice presidential nominee in the 1976
presidential election.
Senator Dole became a friend of Armenian-Americans at a young age,
when he returned from World War II with injuries that had left his
right arm frozen and about to be amputated, Dr Hampar Kelikian (born
in Hadjin), a pioneer in the restoration of damaged limbs fixed the
Senator’s shattered shoulder and allowed him to regain some use of his
arm. Dr Kelikian refused to accept any fees for performing that
surgery.
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5- Turkey: Jail terms for murderers of Armenian journalist Dink
By Mustafa Hatipoglu
ISTANBUL (Anadolu Agency)—An Istanbul court on Wednesday, July 17,
sentenced three people in connection with the 2007 killing of a Hrant
Dink.
Erhan Tuncel, 99.5 years; Ogun Samast 2.5 years; and Yasin Hayal 7.5
years in prison over the murder of Hrant Dink.
Dink was killed in front of his office in Istanbul in January 2007. He
was one of the founders of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper
Agos.
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