Category: 2020

Jerusalem Post
By Seth J. Frantzman
When US President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, many Kurds had
high hopes for his presidency. The year 2016 was crucial: Kurdish
dissidents in Iran were chafing under the regime, and Kurds in Turkey
were under curfew as Ankara fought a war with Kurdish militants.
But across the border in Syria, a partnership with US Special Forces
was paying off in the battle against ISIS. In Iraq, the autonomous
Kurdistan region was under economic pressure but holding the line
against ISIS and thriving.
Kurdish hopes, however, have been dashed. The American president,
according to former national security adviser John Bolton, is actually
anti-Kurdish and dislikes a minority group in the Middle East that has
been consistently pro-American and sought to work with the US. Instead
of liking the values of the Kurdish regions, including diversity and
tolerance and being a safe haven for Christian and Yazidi minorities,
it seems some around Trump prefer the sectarian intolerance and
authoritarianism of Turkey’s extreme nationalist regime and other
groups that target Kurds.
In early 2017 these glimmering hopes that a new president in
Washington would change decades of US ambivalence on Kurdish
civil-rights issues were riding high. Kurds had been brutally
suppressed and betrayed during the 20th century. Systematically killed
by Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the secular nationalist government in
Turkey had denied their existence. In Syria, many lacked citizenship
and were subjected to forced Arabization and assimilation by the
Ba’athist regime. Iran hunted down Kurdish dissidents, murdering them
in Europe, and kept tight control of its Kurdish region.
Things had changed for Kurds in the 21st century. The Turkish
government under new leadership of the AK Party initially sought to
ameliorate government policy and enable Kurdish media and limited
cultural rights. In Iraq, the Kurdistan region was autonomous and
replete with splendid new airports and office buildings, fueled by
Turkish and Gulf investment and oil trade. Even Iran seemed to be
relaxing previous suppression.
Then came the war on ISIS. The Kurdish regions stood against ISIS,
sacrificing thousands of Kurdish lives. ISIS members were able to be
fueled by supporters residing in areas of the Syrian regime. At the
same time, increasingly extremist Syrian rebels and foreign volunteers
were traveling through Turkey, there was opposition to the
sectarianism of Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, and the Kurdish regions
aided the US-led Coalition fighting ISIS. Kurdish fighters saved
Yazidis from suffering more genocide.
However, the White House was cold toward a Kurdistan independence
referendum in Iraq. Oddly, the US would later target Iranian-backed
militias in Iraq, the same militias Kurds complained about in 2017.
But back in 2017, the US worked with Baghdad against the Iraqi Kurdish
referendum.
In a bizarre series of events, Iranian-backed militias were given an
open door to attack Kirkuk, which had been held by Kurdish forces, and
150,000 Kurds fled. Since then, Iran has increased its role in their
former Kurdish-administered areas, and the result has been an increase
in instability and in more ISIS cells.
While the US had worked in September and October 2017 to isolate the
Kurds who sought an independence referendum in Iraq, Trump slammed
them. “I don’t like Kurds,” he said. “They ran from the Iraqis.” It
was hard for the Kurds in Kirkuk because their airports and their
borders were closed, and they were facing US-supplied Abrams tanks
being driven by Baghdad. Inevitably they withdrew.
WHAT WAS it about the Kurdish referendum that bothered Washington?
Scotland has had an independence referendum. Quebec, South Sudan and
many other places have also had them. The US used to believe in the
right to self-determination. Instead, the US backed Iranian groups in
October 2017 by not helping to negotiate between Erbil and Baghdad,
ensuring the weakening of a US partner and the emboldening Iran.
Oddly, within two years, the US would be bombing those same Iranian
militias and killing Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qasem Soleimani,
architects of the fall of Kirkuk.
In Syria, Trump always wanted to leave the successful anti-ISIS
conflict. Kurds were the main partners, but Trump hinted in 2017 that
he would leave and then in 2018 made it policy.
He empowered a foreign-policy team that was the most pro-Turkey in US
history, and this in turn empowered Turkey to begin taking over
Kurdish areas of Syria. Kurds were depopulated from Afrin in January,
adding 167,000 Kurdish refugees to the 150,000 or so who had fled
Kirkuk.
Then came the US demand that Kurds, who were busy fighting ISIS
sleeper cells, dismantle what Turkey claimed were “threats” along the
border of Syria. The “threats” were some bunkers and trenches near Tel
Abyad. What Turkey did not tell the US was that it was planning an
invasion and wanted the US to pave the way.
Ankara gave its friends in the State Department a map of the area it
would take over. The Kurds would be expelled and Syrian Arab refugees
settled in their areas. This is called ethnic cleansing, and some US
officials warned about it.
Instead of warning the Kurdish partner forces in eastern Syria about
Turkey’s intentions, the US had tried to appease Ankara. US State
Department officials argued that the US must give Turkey Patriot
missiles to go along with the Russian S-400s it was buying. The US put
a bounty on the heads of Kurdish militants from the Kurdistan Workers
Party, which Turkey was fighting.
The US has long supported this war on the PKK, viewing the group as
terrorists. But no matter how much the US gave Turkey, Ankara’s
overall demand was to remove US forces from Syria. Ankara claimed that
America’s partners in Syria were “terrorists,” even though there were
no attacks from Syria.
The US told the Syrian Kurds two things. First, US Central Command
(CENTCOM) under secretary of defense Jim Mattis and generals Joseph
Votel and Joseph Dunford indicated the US would stay for years and
stabilize eastern Syria. The State Department worked to undermine
Kurdish gains, sidelining them in the Geneva process and making sure
they had no say in the future of Syria.
Second, US diplomat James Jeffrey said the US was conducting a
tactical, temporary and transactional relationship in eastern Syria.
When Turkey said it would invade and drive over US troop positions if
necessary, Trump pulled out of an area on the border in October 2019.
This meant 200,000 people fled, including Kurds, Christians and
Yazidis. That made the total tally for the Trump administration some
517,000 people forced into exile from previously Kurdish-administered
areas that had been stable and peaceful.
TRUMP’S VIEW, according to Bolton, was that the Kurds “ran from the
Turks. The only time they don’t run is when we’re bombing all around
them with F-18s.” This was an interesting comment, considering US
history has generally been full of examples of the US helping people
who flee, not disliking them for being persecuted.
The US, with a sometimes mixed record, used to help Cubans, Haitians,
Somalis, Hmong, Kurds, Jews and many others who have fled. In the
Balkans, the US helped to stop persecutions of groups in the 1990s.
The new policy, according to Bolton’s book, appears to be to side with
the aggressor, not those fleeing.
For Kurds, this has been an unmitigated disaster. Today, Turkey and
Iran work together to suppress Kurdish dissidents. Hundreds of Kurdish
activists, journalists and politicians have been jailed in Turkey. In
Iraq, Kurds face threats in areas such as Kirkuk or Sinjar.
Minority Christians and Yazidis have also faced threats. In Syria, a
successful campaign to liberate eastern Syria from ISIS has been
turned upside-down to the point that the White House seems to see
success as a problem to be jettisoned.
Iran, Russia and Turkey, authoritarian regimes, are all seeking to
divide the spoils when the US leaves. In Iraq, the Kurdistan region is
once again threatened economically, and a joint Turkish-Iran invasion
threatens stability.
Across Afrin, the remaining Kurds are being hunted down, and women are
kidnapped and taken to secret prisons by Turkish-backed extremists.
The gains of recent years have been eroded, and some 500,000 people
have become displaced persons under the current US administration.
In general, these are people who supported the US and looked to
America with hope. People even did things like name their restaurants
after Trump. Bolton’s book reveals a White House that has some support
for Kurds, but the most anti-Kurdish voices appear to have risen to
the top.
 

                                        Friday, 
Italy Also Sends Medical Team To Armenia
Italy -- Italian medics pose for a photograph before their departure to 
coronavirus-hit Armenia, . (Photo by the Italian Civil Protection 
Department)
A team of eleven Italian healthcare workers arrived in Armenia on Friday to 
assist their Armenian colleagues in dealing with the continuing spread of the 
coronavirus.
The Italian Embassy in Yerevan said they will stay in the country for three 
weeks to “help our brothers and sisters in the fight against COVID-19.”
“The operation, which falls within the scope of the European Civil Protection 
Mechanism, was ordered by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte following a request for 
international assistance made by Armenia to the European Commission,” read a 
statement released by Italy’s Civil Protection Department earlier in the day.
The statement said that the medics come from Piedmont, Lombardy and Tuscany, the 
three Italian provinces that have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
Similar medical teams have also been sent to Armenia by France, Russia and 
Lithuania over the past 10 days. They have been deployed to local hospitals 
treating COVID-19 patients.
Italy has reported about 240,000 coronavirus cases and over 34,700 deaths to 
date. A three-month lockdown has helped the health authorities there to contain 
the pandemic.
In Armenia, the coronavirus crisis is continuing unabated, with 23,247 cases and 
at least 410 deaths recorded as of Friday morning. The South Caucasus country’s 
number of confirmed cases per million people is almost twice higher than Italy’s.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian acknowledged on Friday that Armenia now has one 
of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world. “This is a big problem for 
all us,” he said.
Pashinian again complained that many Armenians still do not realize the 
seriousness of the situation. He said that his government is therefore planning 
a further toughening of sanctions against people who do not practice physical 
distancing, wear face masks in public or follow other sanitary rules.
Opposition Party Appeals To Constitutional Court
        • Astghik Bedevian
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- The Constitutional Court building in Yerevan, December 27, 2019.
In an appeal dismissed by the government as null and void, the opposition 
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) on Friday asked the Constitutional Court to 
invalidate constitutional changes mandating the immediate removal of three of 
its nine judges.
Under Armenian law, such appeals have to be signed by at least one-third of the 
132 members of the National Assembly. The BHK, which controls 25 seats, 
submitted 26 signatures in support of its court challenge against the legality 
of controversial amendments passed by the parliament earlier this week.
Government officials and lawmaker representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
My Step bloc insisted that the BHK needed at least 27 signatures. Bright Armenia 
(LHK), the second parliamentary opposition party, agreed, saying that the 
Constitutional Court cannot consider the appeal.
The LHK refused to join the BHK initiative despite opposing the constitutional 
changes engineered by Pashinian.
“The legal community is divided over this issue,” Naira Zohrabian, a senior BHK 
member, said after handing the appeal to court officials in the morning.
“The Constitutional Court will decide whether or not to accept it,” Zohrabian 
told reporters. “I will not comment on the issue anymore.”
The opposition politician also said that the court will announce that decision 
within the next two weeks.
Armenia -- Gagik Tsarukian and other deputies from his Prosperous Armenia Party 
attend a parliament session in Yerevan, July 9, 2019.
The BHK move came just hours after the entry into force of the amendments that 
bar current and future Constitutional Court judges from serving more than 12 
years.
The 12-year term limit was already included in the constitution when it was 
previously amended in April 2018. But it did not apply to the judges already 
serving.
A clause in the amended constitution allowed these judges to retain their 
positions until reaching retirement age. The latest amendments scrapped the 
clause, requiring the immediate resignation of three of the nine members of the 
high court. They also stipulate that Hrayr Tovmasian must quit as court chairman 
but remain a judge.
Tovmasian and the three affected judges refused to step down, however. In a 
joint statement issued on Thursday, they argued that the authorities have not 
made similar changes to a separate law on the Constitutional Court which also 
exempts them from the 12-year term limit.
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian dismissed their objections, saying that the 
constitution takes precedence over the law cited by them. For his part, Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian announced shortly after midnight Tovmasian is not the 
court’s chairman and the three other judges -- Alvina Gyulumian, Felix Tokhian 
and Hrant Nazarian -- its members anymore.
Nevertheless, Gyulumian reported for work in the morning. She insisted that she 
remains a Constitutional Court judge.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan 
(second from left) and Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian (left) 
attend a Christmas mass at St. Gregory the Illuminator's Cathedral in Yerevan, 
January 6, 2020.
It also emerged that Tovmasian decided to formally go on vacation late on 
Thursday, just hours before the amendments came into force. Gyulumian said that 
she will head the court in his absence.
Meanwhile, another high court justice, Vahe Grigorian, who was appointed by the 
current Armenian parliament a year ago, hailed the constitutional changes as 
“historic.” “This is a solution to the Constitutional Court crisis,” he said.
In a written opinion made public on June 22, the Venice Commission of the 
Council of Europe largely backed the proposed changes. But it said it “regrets” 
the Armenian authorities’ refusal to introduce a transitional period that would 
“allow for a gradual change in the composition of the court in order to avoid 
any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this 
institution.”
The Strasbourg-based commission also said that the authorities should not rush 
to have Tovmasian replaced by another Constitutional Court chairman.
Tovmasian, Gyulumian and five other judges have been under strong government 
pressure to step down over the past year. Pashinian has accused them of 
maintaining close ties to the country’s former government and impeding his 
judicial reforms.
Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed Pashinian’s claims and in turn 
accused the prime minister of seeking to take control of the Constitutional 
Court.
WHO Alarmed By COVID-19 Upsurge In Armenia
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- A hospital worker (C) wearing a protective face mask and outfit, 
speaks with two ambulance doctors wearing yellow protective suits at the Grigor 
Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan, May 27, 2020
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over a “very 
significant” increase in coronavirus infections in Armenia and 10 other 
countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union.
“For weeks I have spoken about the risk of resurgence as countries adjust 
measures,” said Hans Henri Kluge, a WHO regional director. “In several countries 
across [wider] Europe, this risk has now become a reality – 30 countries have 
seen increases in new cumulative cases over the past two weeks.”
“In 11 of these countries, accelerated transmission has led to very significant 
resurgence that if left unchecked will push health systems to the brink once 
again in Europe,” Kluge told a virtual news conference in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The WHO said afterwards that those countries include Armenia, Sweden, Moldova, 
North Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 
Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Kosovo.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported 759 new COVID-19 infections on Friday 
morning, bringing the total number of cases in the South Caucasus country of 
about 3 million to 23,247.
The ministry also said that 13 more people died from the respiratory disease in 
the past day. The official death toll from the epidemic thus rose to 410.
The figure does not include the deaths of 131 other people infected with the 
virus. Those deaths were caused by other, pre-existing conditions, according to 
the health authorities in Yerevan.
Kluge praised European Union member states such as Poland, Germany and Spain for 
reacting to dangerous local outbreaks with “rapid and targeted interventions.” 
He did not say whether he believes the 11 other countries mentioned by him 
should re-impose lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
Another senior WHO official, Michel Thieren, visited Yerevan and met with Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian earlier this week. Pashinian’s office quoted Thieren as 
saying that people in Armenia and other countries “should get used to living” 
with the coronavirus and following safety rules set by the authorities.
The Armenian government issued stay-at-home orders and shut down schools, 
universities and most nonessential businesses in late March shortly after 
recording the first COVID-19 cases. But it began easing those restrictions 
already in mid-April and all but lifted the lockdown by the beginning of May. 
The number of coronavirus cases has risen substantially since then.
Pashinian has repeatedly indicated that his government has no plans to impose 
another lockdown and will continue instead to put the emphasis on getting more 
Armenians to practice social distancing and wear face masks in public.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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