1 - Commentary
Britain Investigates Azeri Banker’s Wife
For Multi-Million Dollar Shopping Spree
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- 17th Francophonie Summit Concludes in Armenia
3- Turkish court frees US pastor Andrew Brunson
4 - Trini-Canadian mother appeals to Trudeau for abducted son
5 - ABMDR walkathon in Glendale draws strong community support
6- Haigazian Hosts Cultural Evening with Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra
7- U.S., Turkey, France at Ends about Saudi Arabia, Journalist Khashoggi
8- Armenia Chief Foreign Policy Adviser Gasparyan
Is a cigar entrepreneur afoul with debts
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1 - Britain Investigates Azeri Banker’s Wife
For Multi-Million Dollar Shopping Spree
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Another Azerbaijan-related major corruption scandal is brewing in
Europe. The country’s crooked officials have swindled billions of
petrodollars for their personal benefit while the majority of the
Azeri people live in abject poverty.
The latest example is on the front pages of most British newspapers.
Mrs. Zamira Hajiyeva, 55, the wife of an Azerbaijani banker, has spent
over $21 million by shopping at the Harrods luxury department store in
London between 2006 and 2016.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency alleged that stolen funds
were used to buy a $15 million, five-bedroom house in the exclusive
London neighborhood of Knightsbridge, 100 yards from the doors of
Harrods. The house is now worth $20 million. She is also accused of
spending almost $14 million to purchase a golf and country club in
Ascot, The Guardian newspaper reported. Incredibly, Mrs. Hajiyeva owns
two reserved parking spaces in Harrods at a cost of $500,000 a year.
She was given permission to live in the UK eight years ago under a
visa scheme for wealthy investors, without checking her source of
funds.
“Mrs. Hajiyeva is the wife of Jahangir Hajiyev, 57, the former
chairman of the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan. In 2016
he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for defrauding the bank out of $3
billion,” according to Rupert Neate of The Guardian.
Mrs. Hajiyeva’s lawyers in London had petitioned to keep her name, the
husband’s name, their nationality and his bank a secret. However, the
British court of appeal lifted the veil of secrecy at the request of
the media.
The National Crime Agency stated that Mrs. Hajiyeva used 35 American
Express, Mastercard, and Visa credit cards issued by her husband’s
bank to fund her spending spree. On one trip to Harrods, she spent
$200,000 on Boucheron, a luxury jewelry, perfume and watches brand. On
another trip, she bought $132,000 of Cartier jewelry. She also
purchased a $42 million Gulfstream G550 jet. Her wine cellar is
stocked with some of the world’s most expensive bottles, The Guardian
reported. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hajiyeva’s daughter from a previous
marriage, who was a student in London, had shares worth $20 million
paying dividends of $1.3 million a year. Mrs. Hajiyeva also has two
sons from her current husband, ages 17 and 20, who were also educated
in private British schools.
Mrs. Hajiyeva’s husband gave her $1.3 million to invest in British
government bonds, and received $26,000 monthly expense allowance.
However, after her husband’s arrest, she fled Azerbaijan and began
selling her family’s silver at Christie’s auction house.
The Azerbaijani authorities are interested in questioning Mrs.
Hajiyeva in connection with her husband’s banking case, accusing her
and other family members of serving as conduits for Mr. Hajiyev’s
scheme to take money out of the country.
Mrs. Hajiyeva is the first person in the UK’s new anti-corruption law
– “Unexplained Wealth Order” – designed to target suspected corrupt
foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money. Justice
Supperstone demanded that she explain the source of the funds for her
lavish purchases. If she is unable to do so, her properties could be
seized. The Judge agreed that “this evidence is significant in the
light of the reports of Mr. Hajiyev’s trial allegations made against
him included abuse of his position at the Bank by issuing credit cards
in the names of family members, through which large debts were run up
against the Bank.”
Mr. Jahangir Hajiyev, as chairman of the IBA bank between 2001 and
2008, had an official salary of $71,000 a year. However, Werner
Capital, which manages property investment for wealthy people,
produced a report in 2011 disclosing that Mr. Hajiyev was worth $73
million, The Guardian reported. The prosecutor, Jonathan Hall, who
represented the National Crime Agency, announced: “As a state employee
between 1993 and 2015, it is very unlikely that such a position would
have generated sufficient income to fund the acquisition of the
property.”
In court, Mrs. Hajiyeva stated that she had no knowledge of the source
of funds for her purchases, claiming that her husband was responsible
for the payments. She described Mr. Hajiyev as “a man of substantial
means.” She has hired a team of highly paid British lawyers to defend
her in court.
For the time being Mrs. Hajiyeva’s expensive London mansion and the
golf and country club remain frozen and cannot be sold.
It remains to be seen if the British government would seize Mrs.
Hajiyeva’s properties in London. There are many more such cases which
will come before the courts in the coming months, exposing the
widespread corruption of Azeri officials who have stolen billions of
dollars from their country’s oil wealth, investing them for their
personal benefit in many countries around the world.
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2- 17th Francophonie Summit Concludes in Armenia
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—The 17th Summit of the International
Organization of the Francophonie concluded on Friday, October 12 in
Yerevan.
Representatives from 84 countries and leaders of 34 nations had
converged on the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex on Thursday, October
11 to commence the much-anticipated Francophonie, where Armenia
assumed the presidency of the organization for the next two years. The
summit marks the largest international gathering to be hosted by
Armenia. Armenia and Moldova are the only former Soviet republics
among the Francophonie’s 54 full members. The three Baltic states,
Georgia and Ukraine have an observer status in the organization
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his wife, Anna Hakopyan; as well as
President Armen Sarkissian and first lady, Nune Sarkissian; and
General-Secretary of the Francophonie, Michaëlle Jean, greeted and
received the delegates and leaders, among them French President
Emanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Lebanese
President Michel Aoun.
At the conclusion of the official welcoming ceremony, Pashinyan was
joined by Macron to dedicate a commemorative stamp in Aznavour’s
memory.
“He was a huge talent of singing, who sang about our happiness,
misfortunes, our light approaches toward life. He sang with a unique
sadness, which is unique to people living in wandering. We all know
that he is Armenian, he was singing and preserving Armenianness, was
encouraging courage. By fully acknowledging the great crime, the
Genocide, a victim of which was also he, I want to voice the name of
this great man, Charles Aznavour,” said Macron.
Pashinyan addressed the opening of the summit in French, paying a
special tribute to Aznavour, which was met with thunderous applause
and standing ovation by the participants. “I and all Armenian people
are happy to host in Yerevan the 17th summit of the heads of
Francophone states and governments. Welcome to Armenia!” said
Pashinyan. “Armenia is a young member of the Francophonie … and yet
there is no need to prove its commitment to promoting cultural and
linguistic diversity and fundamental values of the French language and
the Francophonie.”
Pashinyan said it is imperative to redouble the efforts to prevent the
emergence of new genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity—and
to maintain a firm commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts
within the framework of internationally recognized negotiating
formats.
“This is the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, negotiated in the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group with its three co-chairs—France, the
United States and Russia; a conflict that has been going on for
several decades now and that has caused so much suffering; a conflict
that opposes Nagorno-Karabakh, which for more than 25 years has
exercised its right to self-determination, and Azerbaijan, which
refuses any dialogue with the elected representatives of
Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Pashinyan. “We are convinced that
Nagorno-Karabakh should have a decisive voice in the peace process and
that its future status must be determined taking into account the
_expression_ of the legally-binding will of the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh. The issue of security has existential significance
for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The latter has so often been
subject to violations of its rights, discrimination and atrocities
that the rejection of dialogue and the renewed attempts to use force
against it endanger the physical existence of the population of
Nagorno-Karabagh.”
Trudeau, in turn, noted that Canada is for the continued peace
dialogue: “We hope the matter will be solved peacefully for all sides.
We call to continue the international process, the Minsk Group
process, to settle the conflict considering the interests of peoples
of the region,” Trudeau stressed.
“We do not have the same skin color, our gods do not bear the same
names and some of us do not believe in God,” said Macron in his
remarks at the opening of the Summit. “We also live in very different
climate zones and our songs are not similar. Our histories do not
originate from the same sources and there have been many wounds
between us which are only now starting to heal. Yet strangely enough,
this diverse family is united around a single language…That language
does not belong to anyone, it belongs to all of us.”
Macron also addressed Pashinyan. “I would also like to congratulate
you on organizing this summit at its best. You know what kind of a
high place your country has in the hearts of the French people. In
Paris, Marseille, Lyon, or elsewhere, the word Armenia causes very
delicate and emotional emotions in the souls of the French people,”
said Macron.
Macron announced Thursday that France will declare a national day of
remembrance for the Armenian Genocide April 24 as he honored the
victims of the Genocide first at Dzidzernagapert Memorial Complex and
later Charles Aznavour Cultural Center, where he attended a dedication
ceremony.
Macron visited the Dzidzernagapert and laid a wreath in memory of the
victims. He and his wife also planted a tree in the Memory Garden and
visited the Armenian Genocide Museum where they signed the Memory
Book.
“We are here today with difficult emotions and feelings. On behalf of
France, I pay homage to all those who fell with ‘the sun in their
eyes,’ those who ‘just wanted to live.’ France denounced the genocide
back in 1915 by its scholars. And it accepted the children and
families who were fleeing the genocide, who enriched our nation even
more,” Macron said in his note in the Memory Book. “France will never
forget and will fight for truth and recognition. We bow to those, who
fell for present and future generations.”
Thursday’s Francophonie events concluded with a jubilant concert at
Republic Square, attended by summit participants and open to the
public.
Pashinyan hosted the leaders at this residence for a welcoming dinner
reception where, a video posted on social media depicts Macron,
Trudeau and other leaders dancing to Armenian music. During the dinner
Pashinyan gave the photo taken during the visit of Trudeau’s father,
Pierre Trudeau to Armenia, as a present. The photo was taken from the
Archives of National Security Service.
Trudeau visited Armenia with his father, Pierre Trudeau during Soviet
times back in 1984. His father had also served as Canadian Prime
Minister however he was already retired during his visit to Armenia.
Trudeau does not appear in the photo, because he was a child and
therefore not surveilled.
The Francophonie Summit brought a celebratory atmosphere to Yerevan,
where international leaders, including Macron and Trudeau strolled the
streets of the capital meeting its residents and, at times, stopping
to take selfies—even with the prime minister and his wife. Anna
Hakobyan, Brigitte Macron and spouses of other heads of state and
government of OIF member countries visited several museums in Yerevan,
including the Yervand Kochar Museum, then the Cascade Complex, where
they viewed the Fernando Botero sculptures. Later, they visited the
Cafesjian Center for the Arts.
The summit consists of presentations by guests and discussions on
important issues for participating countries.
One of the highlights of the summit was the election of the new head
of the Francophonie. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo
replaced Canadian Michaelle Jean as the organization’s secretary
general. “I am an African, but I am also a citizen of the world. I
will try to do everything possible so that young people can express
themselves and their talents, especially in Africa,” she said.
Tunisia was also approved as the venue for the next Francophonie summit.
Created in 1970, the Francophonie is a large international
organization which unites French-speaking countries. It has 58
members. Entrance into the organization is not governed by a country’s
public knowledge of French, but rather the level of cultural
connections and cooperation between the country and France. Armenia
joined in 2004. France is home to some 500,000 ethnic Armenians, and
sizable Armenian communities also live in Belgium, Switzerland,
Canada, and other Francophone countries.
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3 - Turkish court frees US pastor Andrew Brunson
A Turkish court has freed U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson two years after
he was detained, charged with helping to plot a coup against President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The case had soured relations between Turkey and the United States,
heightened by President Donald Trump’s defense of Brunson as his
administration elevated religious freedom as a cause.
The court on Friday, October 12 sentenced Brunson to three years and
one month in prison, but chose to release him based on his time
already served, as well as his manner during the proceedings, his
lawyer said. Prosecutors were seeking a 10-year jail term.
Trump tweeted after the verdict: “My thoughts and prayers are with
Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!”
Trump said on Saturday, October 13, Brunson’s release was a
“tremendous step” toward improved relations with Turkey, but he denied
cutting a deal with Ankara. “The only deal, if you could call it a
deal, is a psychological one. We feel much differently about Turkey
today than we did yesterday, and I think we have a chance of really
becoming much closer to Turkey,” Trump told reporters during
Saturday’s Oval Office meeting with Brunson. The pastor’s release
could signal a thaw in relations between the two NATO allies, which
worsened in August after a deal to free Brunson fell apart and Trump
authorized a doubling of duties on aluminum and steel imported from
Turkey, helping drive the lira currency down against the dollar.
Trump, who met with Brunson at the White House on Saturday, did not
pledge to lift the sanctions but said he welcomed an end to the “harsh
relationship” the countries had over the past two months.
In front of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump’s national
security adviser John Bolton, U.S. lawmakers and Brunson’s family, the
pastor knelt beside Trump on the floor of the Oval Office, placed a
hand on his shoulder, and prayed for God to give him “supernatural
wisdom.”
Trump also thanked Erdogan at Saturday’s meeting for helping secure
Brunson’s release, despite a curt Twitter post from the Turkish leader
earlier on Saturday repeating that Brunson’s release was a court’s
decision to make, not his.
“Dear Mr. President, as I always pointed out, the Turkish judiciary
reached its decision independently,” Erdogan wrote on his Twitter
account. “I hope that the United States and Turkey will continue their
cooperation as the allies that they are, and fight together against
terrorist groups.”
Turkey detained Brunson in October 2016 in the aftermath of a failed
military coup. Brunson, a native of North Carolina, worked as an
evangelical Presbyterian pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church.
He had lived in Turkey for more than 23 years with his wife and three children.
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4 - Trini-Canadian mother appeals to Trudeau for abducted son
TRINIDAD AND TOBEGO (Loop News)—A Trinidadian-Canadian mother pleaded
to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help her recover her son,
who was taken by his father to Armenia.
According to a report by the Toronto Sun, Chan, who is originally from
Trinidad and Tobago but has since moved to Canada, has a
three-year-old son with ex-husband Armen Avansi, who was originally
from Armenia.
She said in April 2018, Avansi took the child to Armenia without her
permission and despite a court order which gives her custody of her
son.
Chan said Avansi took Alex and told her it was for vacation, but he
never brought the child back home.
However, because Armenia is not a signatory to the Hague Convention,
which allows for the return of children who were removed unlawfully,
national security officials could not take action.
Chan, desperate for assistance, has decided to reach out to Trudeau
who was said to be in Armenia this week for the Francophonie summit.
Chan told the Toronto Sun she is pleading for her son to be returned home.
“I’m pleading with him to help me return my son to his rightful home
in Canada. I need Canada to step in and get Alex and me back home.”
The court also heard that Avansi warned Chan not to contact anyone
about the situation as it ‘might make it dangerous’.
Chan said at the end of May she flew to Armenia and was able to see
Alex for a short two-hour visit. The child was then taken from her
again.
“Alex became very sad and started to cry out for mommy. Armen quickly
hailed a cab, jumped in and took off with Alex crying for me. I begged
Armen every day to see Alex, but he would not allow me to see him,”
she said. Chan has since taken leave from her job and returned to
Armenia to try to have the Canadian court order recognized in
Armenia.She said she eventually won visitation rights via Armenian
courts, however as there is no enforcement, she only sees her son
briefly under the watchful eyes of her ex-husband and his parents.
She is pleading to Trudeau that her son can soon be returned home.
“It’s been six months now and I’ve been fighting every day. It’s just
been emotionally draining and exhausting. The only thing that has kept
me going is hope, hope that I will get him back and return to Canada,”
she said.
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5- ABMDR walkathon in Glendale draws strong community support
LOS ANGELES—The 13th annual Walk of Life, held on October 6 in
Glendale, drew strong community support, particularly from youth.
Close to 300 people participated in the event to walk and raise funds
for the life-saving mission of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
(ABMDR), in a festive atmosphere that featured music and food.
Walkathon participants included state and local elected officials and
community leaders, and numerous teams representing schools,
universities, community organizations, and individual supporters.
Walk of Life’s opening ceremony took place at the plaza of the
Glendale City building. “It’s due to fundraisers like this that we are
able to move forward with the ABMDR mission to find donors for
patients in need of a bone marrow transplant. To date, this
organization, which is run entirely by volunteers, has registered over
29,000 donors from 29 countries, and facilitated 31 transplants. As
importantly, ABMDR has established and operates a world-class
tissue-typing laboratory and a state-of-the-art stem cell harvesting
center in Yerevan. All of these achievements are made possible by you,
our supporters,” said Walkathon Committee Chair Dr. Christina Ashjian.
Ashjian acknowledged attending dignitaries and Walk of Life’s honorary
chairs, including Father Vazken Atmajian of the Western Prelacy;
Father Hovsep Hagopian of the Western Diocese; California State
Senator Anthony Portantino; Talin Mangioglu, District Director for
Senator Portantino; Mary Hovagimian, representing US Congressman Adam
Schiff; California State Assembly member Laura Friedman; Glendale
Mayor Zareh Sinanyan; Glendale Unified School District Board of
Education members Dr. Armina Gharpetian and Shant Sahakian; and Areg
Boyamyan, Senior Vice President of Foundation Laboratory and an
executive with the Viazoi company.
“October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I’m very happy that our
walkathon today is also dedicated to all our patients, as a source of
hope in their struggle to regain their health,” said ABMDR founder and
president Dr. Frieda Jordan. “When someone is diagnosed with cancer,
there are two critically important elements for the path toward
recovery. One is hope; and the other is the knowledge that there are
people who care for them and give them the encouragement they need in
their fight to get well again. I thank you all for participating in
our walkathons for the past 13 years, and for spreading the word and
spirit of our work throughout our community.”
“I’ve been attending Walk of Life for many years, and it’s wonderful
to see it grow. This is a truly extraordinary event, organized by a
truly extraordinary organization, through which you can literally save
a life, if you’re lucky enough to be a match for a patient in need of
a transplant. This is a very personal event for me because I’m a
cancer survivor. We will be walking today for all the Armenian and
non-Armenian patients who might find a bone marrow match because of
your efforts, because of your donations of time and money,” said State
Assembly member Laura Friedman, who presented Dr. Jordan with a
Certificate of Recognition, issued by the California State Assembly in
honor of Walk of Life.
“For almost 20 years now, it’s been our honor to support ABMDR through
Foundation Laboratory—and, this year, through Viazoi,” said Areg
Boyamyan on behalf of Foundation Laboratory and the Viazoi company.
“Today, Dr. Frieda Jordan’s vision has become a truly global
phenomenon, and I’d like to congratulate the organization’s tireless
leadership and volunteers, and our community here in Los Angeles and
across the world, for your wonderful dedication to this cause.”
“Seven years ago, I received a phone call that changed my life,” she
said. “I was identified as a bone marrow match for a three-year-old
child who had been given three-to-six months to live. With the bone
marrow stem cells I was able to donate, she received a transplant, and
today she’s ten years old and cancer-free. It’s thanks to
organizations like ABMDR that such life-saving procedures are made
possible, and I encourage every one of you to support the Registry’s
mission, so that you, too, might experience the deeply rewarding
opportunity to help save someone’s life,” said Arpine Zohrabyan.
State Senator Anthony Portantino presented Dr. Jordan with a
Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, in honor
of the walkathon.
The 5-K walk-run looped through central Glendale. The walkathon
concluded at the plaza of the Glendale City building, where the
festivities continued into the day.
The event also gave participants the opportunity to join the ranks of
ABMDR as potential bone marrow stem cell donors, as many volunteers
were on hand to answer questions and welcome new recruits.
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6- Haigazian Hosts Cultural Evening with Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra
BEIRUT—On October 5, the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, under the
direction of Maestro Garo Avessian, presented a concert—sponsored by
Haigazian University—at the St. Joseph Church, in Ashrafieh, featuring
guest pianist Karen Hakobyan, from New York.
The Concert program included a rich selection of International and
Armenian music by renowned composers, Johann Strauss, Antonin Dvorak
and Aram Khatchaturian.
Hakobyan skillfully played Aram Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto in
D-flat major, op. 38. Hakobyan further enchanted the audience by
dedicating his encore, Armenian composer Arno Babajanian’s “Elegy”, to
the memory of the late French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour.
Through this cultural collaboration with the Lebanese Philharmonic
Orchestra, Haigazian University fulfilled part of its mission as an
acclaimed institution of higher learning, that of contributing to the
“refinement of the mind, the language, the behavior, and eventually
the soul of the human being”, as stated by University President, Rev.
Dr. Paul Haidostian.
Hakobyan is a top prizewinner of multiple international piano and
composition competitions; Avessian, in addition to his many honors and
awards, was the First & Grand Prize Winner of the 14th Danube
International Conducting Masterclass & Competition in August 2018.
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7- U.S., Turkey, France at Ends about Saudi Arabia, Journalist Khashoggi
By Julia Harte and Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday,
October 13 the United States would be “punishing itself” by halting
military sales to Saudi Arabia even if it is proven that Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the country’s consulate
in Istanbul.
Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh and a U.S. resident,
disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate. Turkey’s
government believes he was deliberately killed inside the building and
his body removed.
Trump has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and is under
international and domestic pressure to help determine what happened to
Khashoggi and punish Saudi Arabia if investigations show its
government had him killed.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have demanded firm action.
There was already mounting concern over civilian deaths caused by a
Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen’s civil war and some lawmakers
have said Washington should block military sales to Riyadh if the
allegations over Khashoggi are proven.
But Trump is firmly opposed.
“I actually think we’d be punishing ourselves if we did that,” Trump
told reporters at the White House on Saturday.
“There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very
strong and we’ll do them,” he added, without saying what those
measures might be.
Under U.S. law, major foreign military sales can be blocked by
Congress. An informal review process lets key lawmakers use a practice
known as a “hold” to stall deals if they have concerns such as whether
the weapons being supplied would be used to kill civilians.
Major U.S. defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp. and
Raytheon Co, are among the beneficiaries of Washington’s close ties to
Riyadh and would be hurt by the halting of any major deal. Trump said
on Saturday his administration won a $110 billion military order from
Saudi Arabia and that it was worth 450,000 U.S. jobs.
“If they don’t buy it from us, they’re going to buy it from Russia or
they’re going to buy it from China,” he said. “Think of that, $110
billion, all they’re going to do is give it to other countries, and I
think that would be very foolish.”
It was unclear what measures Trump might take against Saudi Arabia,
which is the world’s largest oil exporter, and one of his top allies.
The Trump administration plans to reimpose sanctions on oil exports
from Iran on Nov. 5 and Trump has urged Saudi Arabia to boost oil
output to help make up for the loss.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, October 12, that he
was “extremely worried” by the disappearance of Khashoggi and would
speak on the issue with Saudi and Turkish leaders in the coming days.
“What has been described is serious, very serious,” Macron told French
broadcasters France 24 and RFI in Armenian capital Yerevan in his
first comments on the case. “I await the truth and complete clarity
being established. France wants everything to be done so that we have
all the truth on this case of which the first elements are extremely
worrying.”
Macron said that he had not spoken to Saudi King Salman or his son
Crown Prince Mohammed about Khashoggi.
Some commentators in France have criticized the lack of response by
the government, which like other Western allies of Saudi Arabia have
recently embraced Crown Prince Mohammed as a reformer of his kingdom.
Macron, who welcomed Prince Mohammed to Paris in April, said he would
speak on the matter with fellow world leaders “in the coming days.”
“Depending on what is established, I will take a position,” he said.
Turkey’s official line is that Khashoggi is missing but that based on
security footage and other evidence knows “for sure” the journalist
has been killed. The Turkish government has agreed to a joint
investigation with the Saudis, and a Saudi delegation arrived in
Turkey on Friday, October 12 to take part in talks throughout the
weekend.
Human rights activists and journalists have voiced deep concern over
the fact that Saudi Arabia may have used a diplomatic zone in a
foreign country to harm one of its own citizens.
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
8- Armenia Chief Foreign Policy Adviser Gasparyan
Is a cigar entrepreneur afoul with debts
By Grigor Atanesian
(Eurasianet.org)—As Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s chief foreign
policy adviser, Arsen Gasparyan manages one of Yerevan’s most
sensitive relationships: that with Russia. Since being appointed in
July, he has repeatedly met with senior Russian officials, and was
part of Pashinyan’s delegation to Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir
Putin in early September. At the same time, he has been fighting a
lawsuit about an unpaid debt in the United States. According to public
records examined by Eurasianet, three lawsuits over the last three
years have been filed against Gasparyan, a U.S.-Armenian dual citizen,
for unpaid debts totaling about $25,000. Two of the suits have been
settled, but the third is ongoing, with the most recent motion against
Gasparyan filed in a Florida court on October 1.
Though financial troubles are not unusual, and the amounts in this
case not huge, they inevitably raise questions about an individual’s
vulnerability and loyalty. Debt problems are typically disqualifying
for even low-level security clearances in many countries. For an
official in the United States, it would “raise red flags,” said Andy
Wright, who served as associate counsel in the Obama White House.
Of course Armenia has different traditions, but Pashinyan’s choice of
Gasparyan comes amid a string of foreign policy blunders and could
bolster critics who say the new leader’s team is problematic.
In a 2015 letter made public during a lawsuit filed by American
Express over an unpaid credit card debt, Gasparyan wrote that he was
facing “critical financial problems.” In 2016, Gasparyan traveled to
Armenia to sell some property in order to repay a debt of about
$10,000 to a friend. In emails submitted to the court, he tried to
explain his predicament to the friend, Greg Kahwajian, to whom
Gasparyan had promised to repay the money in 2014. Kahwajian, however,
was losing patience: “Get me my [expletive] money. Enough is enough.”
Gasparyan told Eurasianet he has no comment regarding the lawsuits.
“That is a civil lawsuit, and it doesn’t make sense to write about it
because it interests nobody,” Gasparyan said. “This is a strictly
personal matter.” He said that he didn’t plan to attend the next
hearing, because “those matters are taken care of by the lawyers.”
Court records, however, indicate that Gasparyan is representing
himself in the case.
Before being appointed by Pashinyan in July, Gasparyan, 52, was little
known in Armenia, having spent most of the last two decades in Russia
and the United States. He held a number of posts in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in the 1990s, including a stint as spokesman between
1996 and 1998. At the same time, he was befriending Pashinyan, who was
the editor of the newspaper Oragir when Gasparyan was MFA spokesman.
“We’ve known each other very well since then, and we keep in touch,”
Gasparyan said. “It’s an honor for me that he offered me this position
and trusted me with managing international relations and international
economic relations.”
One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that
in Pashinyan’s office, “as a rule, advisers and aides aren’t
nominated, they are [the prime minister’s] acquaintances.”
After leaving the foreign ministry, Gasparyan moved to Moscow,
establishing himself as a pioneer of what he called “the cigar-smoking
lifestyle.” In the early 2000s, Gasparyan founded and ran Russia’s
first cigar-themed magazine, Hecho a Mano, dubbed by Gasparyan as “the
exciting guide to the school of luxury.”
He later moved to Florida to start Arsen, his own brand of Dominican
cigars, along with cigarmaker and restaurateur Augusto Reyes. Arsen
cigars were distributed in the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine; product
lines included Pink for Men and Connoisseur Collection. Until 2014,
Gasparyan also served as president of Vitolier, a Florida-based cigar
importer.
Gasparyan’s official resume on the Armenian government website does
not list his cigar businesses, nor does it mention more recent work as
an executive at an oil company owned by a Russian energy mogul. In
2016, a business magazine listed him as “director of the U.S. Bureau”
of Esproenko International, an oil and gas corporation based in Spain.
Gasparyan confirmed his employment at Esproenko, but said that it had
ended by 2015.
“After 2014, I didn’t have any commercial interests whatsoever,
anywhere,” Gasparyan said. “I was in the publishing business in
Russia, and after that I had a small cigar business, cigar
manufacturing in the Dominican Republic, which I closed. After that,
after 2014, I didn’t have any business or commercial interest
anywhere.”
Such omissions on a resume “raise issues of potential
untrustworthiness,” said Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer in
Washington. “If this were an American case, there would be some real
red flags for whatever agency involved to consider whether or not this
person should have a security clearance or a job.”
Under Armenian law, an official can be denied or stripped of security
clearance if he or she “has presented deliberately false information.”
Access to sensitive information regarding “foreign policy” and
“foreign economic relations” requires a security clearance.
At the same time Gasparyan was juggling his business ventures, he was
pursuing an academic career in Florida. He completed his PhD in
political science 2017 at the University of Miami, with a dissertation
titled, “Energy Diplomacy: the United States of America and the
Russian Federation.”
He also was teaching at nearby Miami Dade College. While the official
resume says he has worked as a “lecturer” at both schools from 2006,
he started at the University of Miami in 2013, working as a teaching
assistant while enrolled as a graduate student. At Miami Dade, he has
taught since 2015, a school spokesperson told Eurasianet.
“I love the academy the most, I love to teach,” Gasparyan said.
Financially, he has been less successful. A review of court records
shows that Gasparyan has been sued three times since 2015 for unpaid
debts. In 2015 and 2016, he was sued by American Express and Capital
One Bank for failing to pay credits of $10,487 and $5,335,
respectively. In the first case, a judge ordered Gasparyan to pay the
debt plus costs; the second case was dropped by the bank.
The Kahwajian suit is still underway. On October 1, Kahwajian filed a
motion in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit for summary judgment
over the debt, plus damages of $19,600. He accuses Gasparyan of “civil
theft.” Kahwajian declined to comment, saying only that his legal
motions “speak for themselves.”
Meanwhile, Gasparyan has been managing Armenia’s Russia portfolio,
meeting with Russia’s deputy foreign minister and officials in the
Kremlin. Gasparyan told Eurasianet that his main responsibility is
managing “international economic relations and international
relations. Together with the prime minister, we think that after the
[upcoming parliamentary] elections, we should seriously consider the
economization of our foreign policy.” Gasparyan occasionally comments
publicly on other issues, as well. In early October, he was involved
in a minor political controversy when he said that there were no
obstacles to foreign investment in Armenia. Some media interpreted
that as contradicting Pashinyan’s regular claims that early
parliamentary elections are necessary to attract foreign investors,
and he was forced to call a press conference to clarify.
He has joined a foreign policy team beset by missteps, contributing to
perceptions that foreign policy under Pashinyan is a work in progress.
On a July visit to Brussels, Pashinyan publicly complained the
European Union wasn’t providing enough aid. The European envoy
responded by saying that the EU must first receive “concrete
proposals.” Later, the government brought charges against Yuriy
Khachaturov, the head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization,
a Russia-led military bloc, for his role in violently breaking up
protests in 2008. Moscow, which had not been consulted, was aghast. In
August, a widely publicized effort to set up a meeting between
Pashinyan and U.S. President Donald Trump fell flat. Gasparyan’s
predecessor resigned shortly after.
“This is a continuation of the old government’s policies—appointing
people with little knowledge about the positions they’re appointed
to,” Eduard Abrahamyan, a doctoral fellow and regional security
analyst at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, told
Eurasianet. Pashinyan’s people “have no foreign policy vision. They
have no understanding of how to channel Armenia’s international
stance.”
The lack of transparency behind some appointments also highlights the
concentration of power around Pashinyan, Abrahamyan said: “We are
seeing the closing of the political system in Armenia.”
This article appeared in Eurasianet.org on October 12, 2018.
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