2- Biden requests Armenia at Summit; Azerbaijan, Turkey not invited
3- AAF Delivers Almost $4 Million of Medicines to Armenia, Artsakh in last four months
4- Jack Youredjian Establishes Major Scholarship Fund for Rural
Youth in Armenia
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1- Comprehensive Report Reveals Turkey’s
Total Failure in Washington Lobbying
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Over the years, I have written countless articles describing the
activities of U.S. lobbying firms hired by Turkey and Azerbaijan for
millions of dollars. Fortunately, no matter how much money these
countries spend on lobbying, they are unable to whitewash their
expansionist and undemocratic actions. After the departure of
Erdogan’s bosom buddy Trump, the political landscape has become
bleaker in Washington for Turkey with Pres. Biden’s reaffirmation of
his commitment to uphold the sanctions against Turkey and his
acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide.
Ben Freeman and his team of researchers at the Washington-based Center
for International Policy published a comprehensive 30-page analysis
last month titled: “Turkey’s Lobby in the United States.” The report
showed that it is simply impossible for Turkey to be a trusted U.S.
partner, while cozying up to Russia, NATO’s rival. The reprehensible
behavior of authoritarian wannabe Sultan Erdogan has made him a
pariah, both at home and abroad!
The report revealed in great detail “the story of how Turkey’s agents
attempted—and largely failed—to shift U.S. stances” on several highly
controversial Turkish policies on foreign and domestic matters.”
The report’s Executive Summary stated that the researchers “analyzed
every Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) document filed by
organizations registered to work on behalf of Turkish clients in 2020.
From these documents, we recorded every single ‘political activity’
done for those clients, every campaign contribution mentioned in these
FARA filings, every piece of ‘informational material’ distributed on
Turkey’s behalf, and every dollar these organizations reported
receiving from their Turkish clients.”
Here are the key findings of the report:
“• 11 [U.S. lobbying] organizations [were paid $5 million to register]
under FARA to work on Turkey’s behalf in 2020;
• Those organizations reported making 2,319 contacts on behalf of
their Turkish clients;
• 568 [political] campaign contributions, totaling $526,177, were made
by those firms and their registered foreign agents;
• One Senator received a campaign contribution from a firm that had
contacted her office on Turkey’s behalf that same day.”
Among the five most active U.S. firms hired by Turkey were: Mercury
Public Affairs and Greenberg Traurig both of which ended their
contracts with Turkey in October 2020, as a result of pressure from
Armenian-Americans during last year’s attack on Artsakh by Azerbaijan
and Turkey. The other three firms are: Venable, LB International
Solutions, and Capital Counsel. The latter also terminated its
contract with the Turkish government in April 2021. Nevertheless, as
of September 2021, there are still 10 U.S. lobbying firms hired by
Turkey.
The report broke down the number of contacts made by these lobbying
firms in 2020: House of Representatives (1044); Senate (657); media
(377); think tanks (83); and businesses (37). They mostly contacted
the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services. The most
contacted members of Congress were: Cong. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio); Sen,
Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi); and Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana). Among
the most contacted media members were: The New York Times, Bloomberg,
The Washington Post, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. The public
relations professionals on Turkey’s payroll submitted to newspapers
pitches for stories, op-eds and letters to the editor. Four of the
think tanks contacted by Turkish agents received funding from the
Turkish government or Turkey-related non-governmental organizations:
the Brookings Institution and the German Marshall Fund of the United
States received funding from the Turkish Industry and Business
Association (TUSIAD); the Center for Strategic and International
Studies received at least $100,000 from the Turkish government in
2019; and the Center for American Progress received funding from the
Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS).
Despite intense lobbying efforts by Turkey, Congress imposed sanctions
on that country for purchasing the Russian S-400 air defense system,
blocked the sale of advance U.S. F-35 military jets, and placed a hold
on all major arms sales to Turkey. In addition, the United States
blocked Turkey’s planned sale of $1.5 billion worth of helicopters to
Pakistan.
In 2020, $156,000 out of $526,000 campaign contributions made by the
lobbying firms representing Turkey went to Political Campaigns
Committees, making it impossible to know which political candidate got
how much money. The top five recipients of some of the remaining
$370,000 were: $28,000 to Cong. Vern Buchanan (R-Florida); $10,600 to
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia); $9,500 to Cong. Kevin McCarthy
(R-California); $9,100 to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan); and $6,700 to
failed Senatorial Democratic candidate of Iowa Theresa Greenfield. The
report noted that many of the top recipients of contributions from
firms representing Turkey were also amongst the most contacted by
Turkey’s lobbyists.
The report also identified one example of “pay to play” politics: “In
at least one case, the contribution and contact on behalf of Turkey
occurred on exactly the same day. On March 3, 2020 Venable foreign
agent and former Member of Congress, Bart Stupak (D-Michigan), spoke
with Sen. Jean Shaheen’s (D-New Hampshire) scheduler to request a
meeting with the Senator. That same day Venable reported that one of
its foreign agents made a $1,000 contribution to Shaheen’s campaign.”
Importantly, the report concluded that “In 2020, the Turkey lobby in
America fought a number of major battles and, in nearly every
instance, lost. Turkey remains sanctioned as a result of the S-400
purchase. [Dissident Turkish cleric] Fethullah Gulen hasn’t been
extradited to Turkey and continues to reside in Pennsylvania. And, the
U.S. continues to support Kurdish fighters in Syria.” For the
foreseeable future, the Turkish government’s “influence in America
will likely remain marginal, at best.” Meanwhile, Turkey continues to
waste millions of dollars hiring useless lobbyists in Washington,
while millions of Turkish citizens are unemployed and on the verge of
starvation.
The report cautioned, however, that it has covered only “one part of
Turkey’s influence in the U.S. This report, for example, does not
address the influence of the Turkish Heritage Organization, a
non-profit convener that regularly hosts events providing a platform
for Turkish officials in the U.S. Nor does it discuss illicit
influence operations, such as the work Michael Flynn did on Turkey’s
behalf. This analysis of just one part of Turkey’s influence in
America—their FARA registrants—is telling nonetheless.”
While Armenian-Americans do not have influential lobbying firms
working on their behalf in Washington, they have a large number of
voters and contributors in several key states that elected officials
pay more attention to rather than foreign agents hired by Turkey. No
amount of lobbying can whitewash a lie or exonerate the corrupt and
authoritarian Turkish regime.
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2- Biden requests Armenia at Summit; Azerbaijan, Turkey not invited
WASHINGTON (Armenpress)—U.S. President Joe Biden did not invite either
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev to his upcoming Summit for Democracy.
The list of invited governments has not been made public, although
POLITICO managed to obtain it.
The Republic of Armenia is among the invitees.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) called Biden’s
decision not to invite Erdogan and Aliyev “a sharp but unsurprising
rebuke to Azerbaijan’s petro-monarchy and Turkey’s neo-Ottoman
dictatorship.”
On December 9-10, 2021, Biden will host the first of two Summits for
Democracy, which will bring together leaders from government, civil
society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for
democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by
democracies today through collective action, the U.S. State Department
said.
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3- AAF Delivers Almost $4 Million of Medicines
To Armenia, Artsakh in last four months
GLENDALE—The Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF) delivered almost $4 million of
humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Artsakh during July to
September 2021, all of which was donated by Direct Relief.
The medicines, medical supplies and reading glasses donated during
this period were sent to the health ministries of Armenia and Artsakh
and National Hematology Center.
During the first 10 months of 2021 AAF delivered $25 million U.S.
Dollars worth of much needed medicines and medical supplies for
treatment of COVID-19 patients, as well as medicines and medical
supplies for oncology, cardio vascular and gastrointestinal patients
plus a full container of hygiene products and reading glasses.
In the past 32 years, including the shipments under its predecessor,
the United Armenian Fund, the AAF delivered to Armenia and Artsakh a
grand total of $942 million worth of relief supplies on board 158
airlifts and 2,512 sea containers.
“The Armenia Artsakh Fund is regularly offered free of charge millions
of dollars of life-saving medicines and medical supplies. All we have
to do is pay for the shipping expenses. We welcome your generous
donations to be able to continue delivering this valuable assistance
to all medical centers in Armenia and Artsakh,” stated Harut
Sassounian, the President of AAF.
[email protected].
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4- Jack Youredjian Establishes Major Scholarship Fund for Rural
Youth in Armenia
Philanthropist Jack (Hagop) Youredjian of Los Angeles has committed to
supporting thousands of rural youths living in village communities
supported by Children of Armenia Fund (COAF). Jack and his wife Zarig
Youredjian founded the Scholarship Fund for COAF after their most
recent trip to Armenia in 2019, realizing the pressing need to give
Armenia’s rural youth access to higher education. The sizable fund has
already awarded scholarships in its inaugural year to 102 students
from COAF beneficiary villages who are currently enrolled at
universities. The number of scholarship recipients will dramatically
increase each year due to the Youredjian family’s commitment to
continuously replenish their Scholarship Fund. Jack Youredjian was
born and raised in Jerusalem, where he graduated from Sts.
Tarkmanchatz Armenian School. He went on to study at the American
University of Beirut, earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the
University of Southern California, and founded Western Drug Medical
Supply in Los Angeles in 1977. Jack credits the Gulbenkian Foundation
for making it possible for him to pursue his education thanks to their
scholarships. He works closely with several nonprofit organizations,
and has served on numerous Boards of Directors, including COAF.
He and his wife Zarig received COAF’s 2019 Humanitarian Award in
recognition of their charitable work. The scholarship fund is only one
of several initiatives undertaken by the Youredjian family in
providing opportunities for underserved communities in Armenia and
worldwide.
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5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
Armenia is continuing the fight against COVID-19, as the country
continues promoting the vaccination phase.
The U.S. State Department on July 26 warned American citizens to
reconsider travel to Armenia due to the increase in cases of the
Covid-19.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a
Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Armenia due to COVID-19, indicating a
high level of COVID-19 in the country,” said the State Department.
The State Department also urged U.S. citizens not to travel to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region due to armed conflict.
“The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S.
citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh as U.S. government employees are
restricted from traveling there,” the State Department added.
WHO, with funding from the European Union, in September supplied X-ray
equipment to 7 COVID-19 frontline hospitals – 1 in the capital Yerevan
and in 6 other cities in Armenia.
A new law came into effect on October 1, which mandates that all
employees in Armenia have a COVID-19 vaccine. But the mandate has been
met with widespread criticism
As of early October, only 5 percent of the country’s population had
been vaccinated.
There were 31,677 active cases in Armenia as of November 8. Armenia
has recorded 321,243 coronavirus cases and 6,700 deaths; 282,866 have
recovered.
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