Originally posted by Cthulhu
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What about web sites? There are a lot of anti-Armenian web sites that spread their lies over the internet.Leave a comment:
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Source: http://letsibeledmondsspeak.blogspot.com/
Sibel Edmonds Case: Richard Perle continues criminal enterprise, MSM still silent
In 1989, the Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Perle and Douglas Feith had set up a lobbying company called International Advisors Inc [IAI] to lobby for “appropriation of U.S. military and economic assistance’ to Turkey."” When news of the $600,000 per annum contract got too hot to handle, Perle and Feith folded IAI and helped establish the American Turkish Council (ATC) to accomplish the same goals, but with a more respectable veneer.
Now, nineteen years later, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Richard Perle is “exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan” with a “consortium founded by Turkish company AK Group International... Potential backers include two Turkish companies as well as Kazakhstan.”
Richard Perle issued a strange-sounding denial to the Wall Street Journal that he is involved with these latest oil projects, although he also issued a similarly "bizarre" denial to the 1989 WSJ article which reported on his consulting company IAI.
The WSJ continues:
"AK's chief executive is Aydan Kodaloglu, who, like Mr. Perle, has been involved with the American Turkish Council, an advocacy group in Washington."
In fact, according to her bio on the AK Group website, Kodaloglu "serves as a Board Member of the American Turkish Council." The ATC, established by Perle et al as a "sister organization" to AIPAC, was often caught on wiretaps heard by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds. She described the ATC as a "front for criminal activity.”
The ATC has been under surveillance by both the FBI and the CIA since at least 1996, inpart because of suspected involvement in drug trafficking, public corruption and involvement in a nuclear black market procurement ring, but more importantly because of involvement in the 'great game' of the vast energy fields in Central Asia including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Investigative journalist John Stanton has written extensively about the connections between Central Asia and many of the 'associations' in the US, including the ATC, and others such as the American Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and the US Kazakhstan Business Association (UKBA). Stanton argues that:
"While the ATC is an Association in name and in charter, the reality is that it and other affiliated Associations are the US government." (emphasis in original)
Perle's partner in this enterprise, the AK Group is an "international consulting" group whose two other directors are Murat Akay who works "Turkish companies interested in establishing joint ventures with U.S. and Israeli enterprises" and Fehmi Sait Hurol who is "involved in various cultural activities and exchange programs between Turkey and the U.S."
Interestingly, Sibel Edmonds has previously referred to "organization(s) supposed to be promoting the cultural affairs of a certain country within another country" as front groups for organized crime networks. Given the connections here, it would not be surprising if Mr Hurol and the AK Group are one such front group.
In my recent article "The Central Asia Islamization xxxxtail: Mosques, Madrassas, Heroin & Terrorism" I quoted former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds describing the use of Turkish operatives and front groups to gain "control of Central Asia, particularly the oil and gas wealth, as well as the strategic value of the region." Sibel said:
"This started more than a decade-long illegal, covert operation in Central Asia by a small group in the US intent on furthering the oil industry and the Military Industrial Complex, using Turkish operatives, Saudi partners and Pakistani allies, furthering this objective in the name of Islam.
This is why I have been saying repeatedly that these illegal covert operations by the Turks and certain US persons dates back to 1996, and involves terrorist activities, narcotics, weapons smuggling and money laundering, converging around the same operations and involving the same actors.
And I want to emphasize that this is "illegal" because most, if not all, of the funding for these operations is not congressionally approved funding, but it comes from illegal activities.
And one last thing, take a look at the people in the State Secrets Privilege Gallery on my website and you will see how these individuals can be traced to the following; Turkey, Central Asia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - and the activities involving these countries."
Richard Perle is listed in Sibel's State Secrets Privilege Gallery, and now we see him attempting to profit from his ATC connections by entering into an oil deal in Kazakhstan and Iraq, two decades after the WSJ first reported on the early phases of this criminal enterprise.
Meanwhile, the US media is mostly silent on the key issues again. Despite even the most mainstream WSJ reporting on Perle's recent dealings, including the importance of Turkey and the American Turkish Council, the rest of the media is asleep at the wheel, completely ignoring, or whitewashing, these important elements of the story.
Perhaps investigative reporter Joe Lauria said it best last week.
"Centrism is the philosophy of the American media - and that essentially backs the status quo, when you're a centrist, and this game of objectivity that they play is really limited by parameters that you're allowed to ask questions and to investigate and in a sense then you're transmitting these assumptions, and reinforcing every day that the US is really a functioning democracy, not even a representative democracy. And as we know of course there are oligarchic interests that buy off Congress, that puts the person in the Whitehouse that they need..."Leave a comment:
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Commentary
November Election: Time to Reward
Friends and Punish Foes in Congress
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Last October, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Armenian
Genocide resolution by a vote of 27-21, Armenians were naturally elated. They
had just defeated the combined forces of the Bush Administration, the Turkish
government and its highly paid Washington lobbyists.
While Armenian-Americans should be commended for this important achievement,
they seem to have overlooked that 21 members of Congress had gone on record
siding with the denialist regime in Ankara, opposing a resolution on the
Armenian Genocide.
Just imagine what would have happened if that resolution had been about the
Holocaust and even a single member of Congress had voted against it!
Justifiably, there would have been nationwide condemnation of that legislator, who would
have been either pressured to resign or defeated during the next election! It
is simply amazing that 21 members of Congress would vote against the Armenian
Genocide and not a whimper is heard from the Armenian community and no action
is taken against them.
Nevertheless, Armenian-Americans can still act against these legislators by
contributing funds and voting for candidates challenging them in the November 4
election. Here are the names of the House Foreign Affairs Committee members
who voted against the Armenian Genocide Resolution on October 10, 2007: Gresham
Barrett (R-SC), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Boozman (R-AR), Dan Burton (R-IN),
Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Ruben Hinojosa
(D-TX), Bob Inglis (R-SC), Connie Mack (R-FL), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Brad
Miller (D-NC), Mike Pence (R-IN), Ted Poe (R-TX), Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL),
David Scott (D-GA), Adam Smith (D-WA), John Tanner (D-TN), and Robert Wexler
(D-FL). Luis Fortuno (R-PR) and Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) are not running for
re-election.
Another group of House Members whose re-election should be opposed consists
of those who initially sponsored the Armenian Genocide resolution and then,
under pressure from the Bush Administration and pro-Turkish lobbyists, withdrew
their names from the list of co-sponsors: Marion Berry (D-AR), Sanford Bishop,
Jr. (D-GA), Dan Boren (D-OK), Allen Boyd (D-FL), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Henry
Cuellar (D-TX), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Phil English
(R-PA), Wally Herger (R-CA), Tim Holden (D-PA), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.
(D-GA), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (R-NY), Doug Lamborn
(R-CO), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Mike
Ross (D-AR), David Scott (D-GA), and John Shimkus (R-IL). There are three others
who are not running for re-election. Another member of this group, Roger
Wicker (R-MS), was appointed to the Senate and should be opposed as a Senatorial
candidate.
The third group that should be opposed in the upcoming election consists of
five House Members who went out of their way to counter the congressional
resolution on the Armenian Genocide. They gave a joint press conference last
October asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to bring this measure to the House floor for
a vote. They are: Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha
(D-PA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), John Tanner (D-TN), Robert Wexler, D-FL), and
Steve Cohen (D-TN). The ANCA is actively working to defeat Cong. Cohen in the
August 7 primary election and help elect his Democratic challenger Nikki Tinker,
a supporter of Armenian issues. Cong. Cohen recently bragged that one of his
"biggest accomplishments" in Congress was opposing the Armenian Genocide
resolution. If Cong. Cohen loses on August 7, this would send a powerful message to
all other House members that they too could be targeted for defeat, should
they oppose the Armenian resolution!
The ANC-PAC has contributed $5,000 to Tinker's campaign and another $23,000
was raised on-line by more than 300 Armenian-Americans. There are only a few
days left before the August 7 primary. To contribute to Tinker's campaign,
please go to: www.actblue.com/page/armeniansfornikki.
In addition, I would like to single out the following congressional races
that merit special attention:
Cong. Jane Harman (D-CA) is a unique case. While keeping her name on the list
of co-sponsors of the Armenian Genocide resolution, she deviously wrote a
secret letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asking her not to schedule the measure for
a vote. Armenian-Americans should do everything possible to prevent the
re-election of this dishonest legislator. Another House member who should be
targeted for defeat is Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), a genocide denialist and a
leading pro-Turkish voice in the House of Representatives, who constantly refers to
her Turkish son-in-law, Mustafa Ozdemir, in her remarks.
In Ohio, Independent candidate David Krikorian is trying to unseat Republican
incumbent Jean Schmidt who has been supported by Turkish-Americans nationwide
for her opposition to the Armenian Genocide resolution. Let's kill two birds
with one stone: Help elect a young and energetic Armenian-American to
Congress, while defeating an incumbent genocide denialist. To contribute, please go
to: www.KrikorianforCongress.com. Should Krikorian get elected, he would be
joining two other Armenian Americans House Members: Cong. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and
Jackie Speier (D-CA) who fully deserve the support of all Armenian-Americans in
their re-election campaign.
Cong. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for
Armenian Issues, has been a staunch supporter of the Armenian community for the
past 16 years. He is targeted for defeat by the Democratic Party. We should do
everything in our power to save his seat. Cong. Knollenberg will be coming to
Los Angeles at the end of August to raise much-needed funds for his
re-election. I suggest that as many Armenians as possible, regardless of party
affiliation, attend the fundraiser and contribute to his campaign. Armenian-Americans
should also support the other co-chair of the Armenian Caucus, Cong. Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) as well as the main sponsors of the Armenian Genocide resolution:
Adam Schiff (D CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Thaddeus
McCotter (R-MI). Armenians and their friends should give their strong backing
to Speaker Pelosi (D-CA), the main driving force behind the Genocide
resolution.
In order to take concrete action against those Members of Congress who have
opposed the Armenian Genocide resolution, Armenian-Americans should demonstrate
in front of their offices, hold protests at their fundraisers and press
conferences, write critical articles, place negative ads, and support their
opponents in the upcoming election.
Realizing that incumbents have a high likelihood of getting re-elected,
should the Armenian-American community succeed in defeating even a single
anti-Armenian member of Congress, the message will go out loud and clear throughout
the halls of Congress that deniers of the Armenian Genocide risk losing their
jobs. We need to make an example of at least one of these political scoundrels,
so others will not dare to deny the Genocide, knowing that they would be
paying a heavy price.Leave a comment:
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A very insightful editorial:
FPIF Commentary
Why Are Neocons Attacking Turkey?
Avni Dogru | July 24, 2008
Editor: John Feffer
Some neoconservatives in Washington are obsessed with attacking Iran before President Bush leaves office at the end of this year. Hence, they have been pushing the Bush administration for increased economic and political isolation of Iran in order to weaken its current regime. Crucial to this plan is the support of Turkey, a traditional U.S. ally and an increasingly critical player in the region.
But to the enormous frustration of the neoconservatives, such an attack does not align with Turkey's interests given its newly enhanced regional ties, maturing democracy, and new foreign policy. Instead, Turkey plays the negotiator role and favors diplomacy and direct talks to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
With neoconservatives pressing for an attack on Iran and Turkey maneuvering to play a mediating role, which way will U.S. policy swing?
Turkey’s Transformation
Much has changed in Turkey’s approach to foreign policy in recent years. When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, it quickly broke the old patterns of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey’s role evolved from an introverted peripheral country to a significant country with a regional and global influence.
According to this new policy, Turkey aims to play a more active and constructive role in developing relations with its neighboring regions and beyond. “As a major country with a historical and strategic depth in the midst of the Afro-Eurasia landmass, Turkey is a central country with multiple regional identities that cannot be reduced to one unified category. In terms of its sphere of influence, Turkey is a Middle Eastern, Balkan, Caucasian, Central Asian, Caspian, Mediterranean, Gulf and Black Sea country all at the same time,” said Ahmet Davutoglu, the intellectual architect of the new multi-dimensional foreign policy, during an interview on CNN-Turk on January 2, 2008.
A fundamental principle of the new approach is a “zero problems with the neighbors” rule, which has improved diplomatic relations with all of Turkey’s neighbors -- most notably Syria, Georgia, and Bulgaria – and boosted trade volumes as well. The share of Turkey’s trade volume with neighboring nations increased from 6% of the total foreign trade volume in 2000 to 35% in 2007.
In addition, a significant Turkish-Iranian rapprochement has taken place, not only because of Iran’s policy against the Kurdish separatists (PKK), but also because of Turkey’s growing energy needs. Trade volume with Iran alone increased from $1 billion in 2000 to over $8 billion in 2007. And in July 2007, the Turkish government signed an agreement with Iran to transport Iranian natural gas to Turkey and Europe and to develop the Iranian natural gas industry by investing $3.5 billion in its South Pars gas field. This figure reaches approximately $10 billion when other contracts, such as for electricity generation, are factored in.
Although Turkey’s enhanced ties with Iran and Syria have caused concern in certain quarters of Washington, this change – stemming from a transparent diversification of the Turkish policy – has not distanced Turkey from the West and Israel. However, Turkey’s clear lack of interest in isolating Iran has prompted neoconservative hardliners, led by former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle, to undertake a smear campaign against the ruling AKP.
Neocon Attack
Frank Gaffney, Daniel Pipes, and Michael Rubin, three leading neo-con writers, have published pieces equating Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with far-right ultra-nationalist politicians such as France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen, Austria’s Joerg Haider, and even Osama bin Laden. They have accused the AKP and Erdogan not only of having a hidden agenda to turn Turkey into an Islamic state, but also of paving the way for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution by Fethullah Gülen, a prominent religious leader known for his moderate and progressive views. Moreover, Rubin defended both the case to shut down the ruling AKP and the coup launched by the Turkish military last year as democratic. These accusations and assertions against the AKP government were harsher even than those made by the government’s own critics. Rubin’s arguments went largely ignored in Washington, since they are in clear conflict with U.S. foreign policy. However, they were more than enough to rally his friends in the Turkish military.
In addition to attacking the Erdogan government, Rubin claimed that Massoud Barzani, the president of the Regional Kurdish Government in Iraq, of selling U.S. arms to the Kurdish separatist group PKK. Rubin even went as far as to boldly suggest that Turkey should capture and imprison Barzani next to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in the Turkish island prison of İmrali in order to stop the PKK terror. Once again, although not taken seriously in Washington, Rubin’s arguments were applauded in Turkey by the hawkish wing of the military general staff. His surreal arguments were reflected as “American expert opinion from Washington” in Turkey’s anti-AKP media outlets to create an illusion of international support for their cause.
The neoconservative campaign has had two main goals. The first has been to team up with non-democratic powers within Turkey, primarily some circles within the military as well as the state and the political system, to oust the democratically elected government. A less democratic Turkey with a more dominant and politically active military would be more susceptible to neocon pressure to support a U.S. attack on Iran. The second goal has been to strengthen the Israeli-Turkish alliance by boosting the influence of the more Israel-friendly military circles within the Turkish politics. Not surprisingly, in order to strengthen the position of the military in Turkish society, the neoconservatives have not hesitated to support something the Bush administration has been desperate to avoid: opening another front in the Iraq War by supporting a possible Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to hunt down PKK terrorists..
Neoconservatives have had a deep and continuing interest in Turkey. In the past, Richard Perle has been involved in some lucrative consulting deals and has made some very high-level friends in Turkey. In 1986, he became the co-chair, along with the Turkish general staff, of the U.S.-Turkish consultative defense group. From 1989 to 1994, he worked as an adviser for the International Advisors Inc. (IAI), a lobbying firm started by Douglas Feith and registered as Turkey’s foreign agent with the Justice Department. Perle is also known as the key architect of the Israeli-Turkish alliance of the late 1990s. This alliance has resulted in close military cooperation between the two countries, and Turkey has been an important customer of Israel’s defense industry.
Shifting Geopolitics
Despite speculation that Turkey’s importance to the United States would decrease after the Cold War, Turkey remains pivotal to U.S. security interests. The United States depends on Turkey in an unstable region that intersects the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus as well as Central Asia. Turkey has continued its close cooperation with the United States through both NATO and the UN. It cooperated in the missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan and has participated as well in several key peacekeeping missions such as Sudan and Lebanon. It hosts the Incirlik Air Base, which provides logistical support missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Seventy percent of U.S. air cargo bound for to U.S. troops in Iraq goes through Incirlik.
But Turkey is no longer dependent entirely on the United States for its geopolitical position. It has demonstrated a willingness to position itself as a regional and global power. In addition to economic and military power, the appeal of Turkey’s soft power has increased thanks to its political and economic domestic reforms and its new perceived image in the neighboring regions as a good example of the coexistence of Islam with democracy and modernity.
Turkey has been playing a key mediating role in several conflicts, including those between Syria and Israel, between Palestine and Israel, and in Lebanon. Syria and Israel just had their third round of indirect talks under Turkey’s mediation in Istanbul. Similarly, the Ankara Forum had several meetings so far and brought the private sectors of Israel and Palestine together to work on possible rapprochement. The Ankara Forum also hosted a meeting between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres before the Annapolis summit in November 2007. After the 2006 Lebanon war, the AKP government decided to send 1,000 troops – one of the largest contributions – to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon despite harsh domestic opposition. Also, during the recent Lebanon crisis in May 2008, Turkey played the mediator role between the Shia opposition and the Sunni establishment thanks to its good relations with both parties. Its balanced policy toward each group also secured Turkey an active role in bridging the Sunni-Shia divide in Iraq in 2007. It has similarly worked behind the scenes in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on peace-building efforts. In fact, Turkey is now the only country that enjoys good relations with every country in the Middle East.
Turkey’s willingness to engage hasn’t just been limited to its immediate region. As a result of Turkey’s opening to Africa in 2005, the African Union declared Turkey a strategic partner after China, India, and Japan in January 2008. More importantly, Turkey is now a UN Security Council candidate for 2009-2010; this is an important position where Turkey can use its current experience as a promoter of stability and democracy on a broader level, especially in bridging the divide between East and West.
Turkey’s good-neighbor policy doesn’t extend in every direction. Cross-border operations in Iraq, the Cyprus issue -- despite a significant rapprochement with Greece -- and the historical dispute with Armenia still pose major potential setbacks.
Moreover, the transformation in foreign policy depends in part on continuity in domestic reforms. The biggest challenge is the high court’s recent attempt to shut down the governing AKP. The groups manipulating the high court to shut down the AKP are the same ones that favor an insulated and more autocratic Turkey. They see both the United States and the European Union as major threats to Turkey’s unity, and have very rigid positions on the Kurdish, Cypriot, and Armenian issues. Therefore, if the AKP is shut down, all of the aforementioned achievements and policy changes will be overturned. Put simply, if these pro-military and anti-AKP forces are successful, they will mark the end of an era of unprecedented reform in Turkish politics, second only to the period of the country’s modern leader, Kemal Ataturk.
Future of U.S. Policy
The teaming up of U.S. neoconservatives with pro-military and anti-AKP circles in Turkey in an effort to topple the Erdogan government is self-destructive and has little chance of success, given popular support for a stronger and more pluralistic democracy in Turkey. Moreover, such neoconservative manipulations taint the image of the United States in Turkey, even at a time now when the Bush administration is distancing itself from many neoconservative positions.
The Bush-Erdogan summit in Washington in November 2007 marked the beginning of a new era in U.S.-Turkish relations. The Bush administration put pressure on Congress to squelch a resolution calling on Ankara to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and Turkey got a more sympathetic audience for its security concerns related to the PKK in northern Iraq. Both sides now keep communication channels open in order to avoid the kind of dips in relations that have taken place in the past.
It is in the U.S. interest for Turkey to play an expanded peacemaking role in the region. But for Turkey to do so, it must continue on its current path of democratic reform. By supporting the military’s return in Turkey and a more hardline approach to Iran, U.S. neoconservatives want to turn the clock back on Turkish reform and plunge the entire region into even greater chaos.Leave a comment:
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Ex-House Speaker Hastert Finds New Home
Former House Majority Leader Will Now Work for DC Lobbying Firm
By JUSTIN ROOD
June 3, 2008
Former House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert settled in yesterday to new digs in the Washington, D.C. offices of xxxxstein Shapiro, a law/lobby firm.
Republican Rep. Hastert gives his last speech from the House floor podium.
Hastert was said to have been the longest-serving Republican House Majority Leader in history, holding the post from January 1999 to November 2006, when Democrats wrested control of the House away from the GOP in the midterm elections.
Hastert's time as a leader on Capitol Hill was brushed by multiple scandals. Perhaps the most damaging came from Hastert's reported failure to act on knowledge of inappropriate contacts between then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and teenaged former House pages, as confirmed by the House ethics committee's report on the matter. Hastert disputed the report's conclusion.
A 2003 letter Hastert wrote aiding certain Indian tribes threatened to draw him into the Abramoff scandal; Hastert denied wrongdoing. ABC News reported in May 2006 that Hastert had come under investigation in connection with the Abramoff probe. Justice Department officials initially denied he was under investigation, but later said he was "in the mix." No charges were brought.
In 2006, reporters and good government groups made hay over Hastert's involvement in funding a highway project, which helped him make $2 million when he sold land he owned nearby. Hastert's lawyer said there was no connection between the highway project and the land deal.
A 2005 Vanity Fair article alleged Turkish groups and individuals at the Turkish Consulate in Washington, D.C. had discussed funneling tens of thousands of dollars to Hastert in exchange for political favors; his spokesman at the time denied Hastert had any knowledge of Turkish groups and had done no favors.
Hastert's new firm has done work for the government of Turkey and Turkish companies, a spokesperson confirmed Monday. She could not say whether or not Hastert would be working on projects involving that country.Leave a comment:
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In a published letter to the economist. "Dr." Norman Stone, states that the bulk of specialist of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 deny there was ever a genocide.
Turkish-Armenian relations
SIR – It is very good to read (“A Caucasian cheese circle”, May 24th) that Turkish and Armenian businessmen are trying, across their closed border, to get something going, even if just a symbolic joint cheese (it is a species of Gruyère, apparently introduced in tsarist Russian times, and not bad).
They need each other. North-eastern Turkey has been doing better in the past few years because of the Baku pipeline and the proposed Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway line, but would do better still if trade could be properly opened up. On its side, Armenia is a landlocked little country with a GDP per head one-quarter that of Estonia and which has seen a precipitous decline in population since independence (some of it through migration to Istanbul). Co-operation makes obvious sense.
However, the Armenian diaspora has poisoned the relationship by its endless insistence on having this or that foreign legislative body, from Congress to Cardiff city council, “recognise” as “genocide” the tragic events of 1915. But the great bulk of specialists in the time and region, starting with Bernard Lewis at Princeton, are sceptical as to whether “genocide” is the right word for a tragedy in some degree provoked by the Armenian nationalists of the time. The most succinct statement of the problem comes in “The Chatham House Version” by the late Elie Kedourie of the London School of Economics. This is, as the Turkish government says, an historical matter that should now be left to historians. I am certain that Armenian businessmen, desperately anxious for better relations with Turkey, entirely agree.
Norman Stone
OxfordLeave a comment:
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Hastert...it was only a matter of time.
Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet www.anca.org
PRESS RELEASE
June 4, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
HASTERT JOINS LOBBY FIRM REPRESENTING TURKEY
-- Speaker is Latest in Long Line of Former U.S. House Members
Joining Firms Representing Turkey's Interests
WASHINGTON, DC - Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) became the latest House member to join the army of Washington, DC public
relations firms working to cover up Turkey's crimes, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
xxxxstein Shapiro, LLP announced that the former Speaker joined their
team in a press release last week. The firm, which represents a broad
range of entities including General Motors, Kraft Foods and Pfizer,
also represents the Government of Turkey "in connection with the
development and financing by private sponsors of the Baku-Ceyhan oil
pipeline and TransCaspian gas pipeline spanning from the Caspian Sea
to the Mediterranean."
According to an ABC News story, "Ex-House Speaker Hastert Finds New
Home" by Justin Rood, a xxxxstein Shapiro representative "could not
say whether or not Hastert would be working on projects involving that
country." To read the complete ABC News story and to offer your
comment on this coverage, visit:
No stranger to Turkish American issues, as Speaker, Hastert led
efforts to block Armenian Genocide legislation from passage dating
back to October of 2000, when he withdrew H.Res.596, introduced by
Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), from the Congressional docket just five
minutes prior to its consideration. Speaker Hastert cited a letter
from President Bill Clinton expressing concerns about the national
security implications of the resolution. In his subsequent terms as
Speaker, Hastert blocked a series of Armenian Genocide resolutions
from reaching the House floor, despite widespread Congressional
support and grassroots calls for legislative action. In 2004, when
the House adopted an amendment to the foreign aid bill blocking
Turkey's use of U.S. funds for lobbying efforts to deny the Armenian
Genocide, Hastert's response was swift, joining with Majority Leader
Blunt and Majority Whip Tom DeLay in sharply criticizing the measure:
"Turkey has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades, and
the deep foundation upon which our mutual economic and security
relationship rests should not be disrupted by this amendment."
In 2005, Armenian Americans joined with System of a Down band members
Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan in a rally in front of the Speaker
Hastert's Batavia, IL office urging him to allow passage of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution. That effort was part of an eight- year
ANCA national grassroots campaign urging then Speaker Hastert to allow
Congress to have an up or down vote on the Armenian Genocide.
Vanity Fair Cites Hastert Ties with Turkish Government
An expose printed in the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair revealed
possible ties between Speaker Hastert and Turkish nationals geared to
scuttle the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The magazine published a
10-page story on FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who was fired after
"she accused a colleague of covering up illicit activity involving
Turkish nationals." According to the article by contributing editor
David Rose, Edmonds claims FBI wiretaps revealed that the Turkish
government and its allies boasted of bribing - with as much as
$500,000 - the Speaker of the House of Representatives as part of an
alleged deal to stop consideration of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution.
The article cited accounts by Edmonds regarding FBI wiretaps of the
Turkish Embassy and Turkish groups such as the American Turkish
Council (ATC) and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations
(ATAA), including, "repeated references to Hastert's flip-flop in the
fall of 2000, over an issue which remains of intense concern to the
Turkish government, the continuing campaign to have Congress designate
the killings of Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 a genocide."
Rose is careful to point out that "there is no evidence that any
payment was ever made to Hastert or his campaign." According to the
article, "Hastert's spokesman says the Congressman withdrew the
genocide resolution only because of the approach from [President]
Clinton, 'and to insinuate anything else just doesn't make any sense.'
He adds that Hastert has no affiliation with the ATC or other groups
reportedly mentioned in the wiretaps.'"
In 2007, the ANCA joined a broad cross-section of civil liberties,
public policy and human rights groups in calling on the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in Congress to hold
public hearings on the case of FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. No
hearings have been held to date.
Former House Members Line Up to Support Turkey
Ex-Speaker Hastert is the latest in a long line of former House
Members who have joined firms on the Turkish government's payroll.
Former House Minority Leader xxxx Gephardt (D-MO) and former House
Majority Leader xxxx Armey (R-TX) at DLA Piper led efforts to block
full House consideration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution
(H.Res.106 / S.res.106) for an annual fee of $1.2 million. Former
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston of the
Livingston Firm LLC, has, over the years, received over $12 million
from the Turkish Government. He was recently let go by Turkey, and
took on an even more lucrative agreement working for Libya.
Turkey's efforts to buy influence in Washington DC and in U.S.
academic circles was recently outlined in a powerful editorial and
expose by David Holthouse in the Southern Policy Law Center (SPLC)
Intelligence Report. To read the SPLC analysis visit:
SPLC Intelligence Report: State of Denial
SPLC Intelligence Report Editorial: Lying About History
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