1 - United States Arrests Turkish National
For Exporting Defense Data to Turkey
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Kocharian Signals He Might Cede His Parliament Seat
3 - U.S. Army construction projects in Armenia
improve local emergency response, firefighting capabilities
4- Recognition of Armenian genocide is
major moral crisis for Jews, Israel
By Israel Charny
5- Armenia extends ban on import of Turkish goods
for another six months
6- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1 - United States Arrests Turkish National
For Exporting Defense Data to Turkey
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Michael Balestra, Special Agent of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, submitted a 16-page sworn affidavit on June 21, 2021 to
Judge Jennifer Boal against Arif Ugur, a Turkish national, requesting
that an arrest warrant be issued.
Ugur was accused of:
1) Conspiring to export defense technical data from the United States
to Turkey without an export license;
2) Exporting technical data from the United States to Turkey without
an export license;
3) Committing wire fraud by devising a scheme of fraudulently
obtaining contracts from the Department of Defense (DOD).
Ugur is a 52-year-old Turkish national who lived in Massachusetts
intermittently since 2002. He became a Permanent Resident of the
United States in 2005.
According to the affidavit, Ugur founded in 2015 the Anatolia Group
Limited Partnership in Massachusetts, described as a domestic
manufacturer and supplier of specialty machinery and parts to DOD. He
was the sole partner.
The Affidavit claimed that “between July 2015 and September 2017, Ugur
acquired dozens of contracts to supply DOD entities with various parts
and hardware items used by the U.S. military. Many of these contracts
required that the parts be ‘domestic end product,’ manufactured in the
United States. In order to obtain these contracts, Ugur falsely
represented to DOD that Anatolia would manufacture the parts at
facilities in the United States. In fact, Anatolia had no
manufacturing capabilities whatsoever and many of the parts that
Anatolia supplied to DOD and its affiliates were manufactured
overseas, including at least one manufacturer in Turkey. Some of these
parts were substandard and, therefore, could not be used for their
intended military purpose.”
Ugur provided the manufacturer in Turkey “with technical
specifications and drawings of the parts, which he obtained from the
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).” Several of the drawings and
specifications required an export license which Ugur failed to obtain,
prior to exporting them to Turkey. He registered his company with the
DLA which granted him access to DOD bids after he agreed in writing to
comply with the strict legal requirements — not disclosing, sharing
or providing foreign entities access to defense technical data,
according to the affidavit.
On August 13, 2015, DLA provided Ugur access to technical
specifications, drawings and other information concerning active DLA
solicitations. That same day via email, Ugur notified three Turkish
nationals on how to access the DLA ‘Collaboration Folders’ through the
internet, including its library of ‘military critical technical data,’
the affidavit alleged.
Special Agent Balestra wrote in the affidavit: “In an email dated on
or about July 27, 2016, a DLA purchasing agent asked Ugur to verify
the ‘address of the actual manufacturing’ of Bracket Assemblies for
the purpose of arranging an origin inspection…. In an email dated on
or about July 28, 2016, Ugur told the contracting agent that the
Bracket Assemblies were being manufactured by Anatolia at 90 Woodmont
Road in Milford, Connecticut. I believe this statement was false, as
Ugur knew that the Bracket Assemblies were being manufactured by the
Turkish Manufacturer in Turkey. Ugur subsequently caused the Bracket
Assemblies to be delivered to DOD in late August 2016 without allowing
DLA to first inspect the parts at the place of manufacture. I believe
that Ugur intentionally avoided the origin inspection in order to
conceal from DLA the true place of manufacture: Turkey. Upon receiving
the Bracket Assemblies, DOD determined that they failed to meet
contractual specifications. DOD declined to pay Ugur and Anatolia for
the Brackets, and they attempted (unsuccessfully) to return the parts
to Ugur.”
A similar violation allegedly took place when DLA awarded Anatolia a
contract to manufacture Groove Pulleys. On August 23, 2016, Ugur
emailed the technical data related to the Groove Pulleys to Individual
D, an employee of AYPIK located in Turkey, according to Balestra’s
sworn affidavit. DOD determined that the Groove Pulleys failed to meet
the contractual specifications.
Arif Ugur was arrested on June 22, 2021 and charged in federal court
in Boston with one count of wire fraud, one count of violating the
Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiracy to violate the
Arms Export Control Act, stated in a press release the United States
Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts.
“The charge of violating the Arms Export Control Act provides for a
sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised
release and a fine of up to $1 million, or twice the gross gain or
loss of the offense. The charge of conspiring to violate the Arms
Export Control Act provides for a sentence of up to five years in
prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The
charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in
prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000
or twice the gross gain or loss of the offense,” according to the U.S.
Attorney’s Office.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office pointed out that “the details contained in
the criminal complaint are allegations. The defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a
court of law.”
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2- Kocharian Signals He Might Cede His Parliament Seat
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—The two opposition alliances elected to the
National Assembly during the recent snap election may not take up
their mandates in parliament.
The Civil Contract Party triumphed with 53.92-percent of the vote in
the election this past Sunday, renewing its parliamentary majority and
securing 71 out of 105 seats in the National Assembly. Following the
announcement of the election results, the Armenia Alliance, which came
in at distant second with 21.4-percent of the vote, declared that it
will challenge the outcome in the Constitutional Court, based on
suspicions of a “systematic and pre-planned falsification of the
election results.”
While the Armenia Alliance has yet to decide on its participation in
the National Assembly, former president and party leader Robert
Kocharian hinted his support of taking up the mandates during a
post-election press conference on June 22.
Kocharian acknowledged that the election results were “unexpected” for
the alliance, which includes the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) and the Resurgent Armenia party. He speculated that people voted
to prevent the return of the previous regimes to power.
The Civil Contract Party particularly received a high percentage of
the vote in rural and border communities. In the southernmost region
of Syunik, where the border crisis with Azerbaijan is ongoing,
Pashinyan won 53.5-percent of the vote against Kocharian’s
27.5-percent. Kocharian upheld that if the campaign period were
longer, he would have had the chance to host more town hall meetings
with voters in rural regions and increase his rural vote.
Pashinyan advanced a message of unity during a victory rally on
Monday, calling on his political opponents to join him in ending the
“unnecessary aggression and feuds” that characterized the polarizing
election cycle. For the past two days, Pashinyan has been hosting
meetings with representatives from extra-parliamentary forces.
Nonetheless during the rally Pashinyan revived the imagery of the
“steel mandate” that he adopted during his campaign, vowing to employ
the mandate to “establish a dictatorship of justice and law in
Armenia.” Pashinyan had threatened to wage “political vendettas”
against opponents of the 2018 Velvet Revolution that swept him to
power and politicians who have called for his resignation since the
end of the Artsakh War in November 2020.
Kocharian scoffed at Pashinyan’s appeal to unity in light of his
confrontational rhetoric. “If they carry on with the same style, the
same vendettas and keep up the internal political tensions, then I
have no doubts that Armenia will face yet another pre-term election,
and it will not take long,” he warned on Tuesday.
The I Have Honor Alliance, which came in third place in the election
with 5.23-percent of the vote, is considering joining the Armenia
Alliance in challenging the election results in court. The alliance,
consisting of former president Serzh Sargsyan’s Republican Party of
Armenia and Artur Vanetsyan’s Homeland Party, failed to meet the seven
percent electoral threshold necessary for alliances to enter the
National Assembly. However, since the Armenian Constitution requires
the representation of at least three political parties in parliament,
the I Have Honor Alliance can participate with seven seats.
“Right now we are collecting [evidence of] all violations that
occurred during the elections and considering appealing to the
Constitutional Court with other forces,” Vanetsyan, former head of the
National Security Service, said during a press conference on
Wednesday. “Only after the Constitutional Court’s decision will we
make a decision on whether or not we accept the election results.”
If the alliance decides to take up its mandates, Vanetsyan, who was
the head of the alliance’s candidate list, will accept his seat in the
National Assembly.
A total of 22 political parties and four political alliances
participated in the historic snap parliamentary elections, which were
organized to end Armenia’s ongoing political crisis in the aftermath
of the war. Besides the Civil Contract Party, the Armenia Alliance and
the I Have Honor Alliance, none of the other political groupings
received enough votes to participate in the distribution of mandates
in parliament.
As the election cycle draws to a close in Armenia, a political crisis
has erupted in Artsakh, where citizens have been holding
demonstrations since Monday to call for the resignation of President
Arayik Harutyunyan. These demands surfaced after Harutyunyan visited
Pashinyan’s campaign headquarters on election day and subsequently
congratulated him on his electoral success.
“During and after the war Arayik Harutyunyan betrayed us,” protest
participant Davit Minasyan told Hetq. “We are nonpartisan. As friends
we decided to gather [in Renaissance Square], to raise our voices in
protest. We expect that more people will join us and force Arayik
Harutyunyan to resign.”
Harutyunyan hosted a rally in Stepanakert on Tuesday, June 22 to
address the accusations of treachery leveled against him. “It would be
foolish to assume that the current situation gives me pleasure or that
I am personally interested in continuing to work and cling to my
chair,” he said regarding his justification for refusing to resign. “I
simply feel responsible to the people and future generations, so
responsible that I will not destroy our statehood through an emotional
and short-sighted escape and leave the citizens, including those who
demand my resignation, under its ruins.”
Harutyunyan upheld that the heads of the two Armenian republics are
obliged to maintain good relations, regardless of who comes to power
in Yerevan or Stepanakert. He noted that he has maintained “political
neutrality” throughout the campaign and that, besides Pashinyan, he
also met with Gagik Tsarukyan, Hrant Bagratyan, Edmon Marukyan, Aram
Sargsyan, Samvel Babayan and others.
In response to rumors regarding why the presidential residence was not
shelled during the 44-day war, Harutyunyan countered that the
residence had been empty because he had always been at the frontline,
at the most dangerous sections of fighting.
Kocharian said the bloc will use its presence in Armenia’s new
parliament to step up its struggle against Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinyan. “Our struggle will become much more intense. Parliamentary
levers will allow us to work much more actively in other directions,”
he told a joint news conference with the leaders of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and Resurgent Armenia parties affiliated with
the bloc.
“We will fight against this regime by all possible means, both in and
outside the parliament,” said ARF’s Ishkhan Saghatelyan.
Civil Contract is expected to control 71 seats in the 107-member
parliament, compared with 29 and 7 seats won by Kocharian’s and
Sarkisian’s blocs respectively.
Both blocs have rejected the official results as fraudulent, with
Hayastan planning to ask Armenia’s Constitutional Court to overturn
them. It is not yet clear whether Pativ Ounem will also appeal to the
court.
Some supporters of the two opposition forces have urged them to refuse
to take up their parliament seats in protest.
Kocharian argued against such a boycott, saying that presence in the
parliament will give Hayastan “additional and substantial levers” to
challenge Pashinyan’s government and eventually cause its downfall.
“You will see in what corruption deals these authorities are mired,
especially in state procurements and a number of other spheres,” he
said.
The 66-year-old ex-president, who topped his bloc’s list of election
candidates, said that he himself will likely cede his parliament seat
to another Hayastan member.
“I’m a man of the executive branch. I don’t quite imagine myself in a
legislative body,” he explained.
While claiming that the ruling party secured its landslide victory
thanks to a widespread abuse of administrative resources and other
“mass irregularities,” Kocharian described the official results as
“unexpected.”
He admitted that many Armenians voted for Pashinyan because they did
not want their former rulers to return to power. In that regard, he
complained that he and his political allies did not have enough time
to campaign in villages across the country where Civil Contract
secured the highest percentage of votes.
Pashinyan and his allies celebrated their victory with a rally held in
Yerevan late on Monday, June 21 Addressing supporters, the prime
minister declared the end of a serious political crisis sparked last
November by Armenia’s defeat in the war with Azerbaijan.
Citing the “extremely serious” post-war challenges facing his country,
Pashinyan said he and his political opponents must end personal
insults and tone down “unnecessary aggression and feud.” He expressed
readiness to embark on a “dialogue” with opposition forces.
But in a clear reference to the two ex-presidents, he went on to state
that they must “immediately” negotiate with his administration on
“returning what was stolen from the people” or risk a crackdown by
law-enforcement authorities.
Kocharian construed this statement as a clear sign that the reelected
premier has no intention to change his confrontational policies and
attitudes towards the opposition. The political crisis in the country
is therefore not over, he said.
“If they carry on with the same style, the same vendettas and keep up
the internal political tensions, then I have no doubts that Armenia
will face yet another pre-term election, and it will not take long,”
added the Hayastan leader.
During the 12-day election campaign Pashinyan pledged to “purge” the
state bureaucracy and wage “political vendettas” against local
government officials supporting the opposition.
He repeatedly brandished a hammer meant to symbolize a popular “steel
mandate” which he said he needs in order to continue ruling Armenia
with a more firm hand.
The Armenian human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, denounced that
campaign rhetoric.
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3 - U.S. Army construction projects in Armenia
improve local emergency response, firefighting capabilities
By Christopher Gardner
(U.S. Army)—Construction is underway on three fire and rescue station
projects in the Shirak Province in northwestern Armenia to help
increase fire and emergency response capabilities within the small
landlocked nation in the Caucacus region.
Crews are busy constructing a new fire and rescue station in Gyumri,
the nation’s second largest city and the capital of Shirak Province,
renovating another nearby in the Gyumri suburb of Akhuryan and
building a new fire and rescue station further northwest of in the
Shirak Province in the community of Ashostsk.
The humanitarian assistance construction is being managed by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District and funded through the United
States European Command, or EUCOM. The work is being done in close
coordination with the U.S. Embassy in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
“Humanitarian assistance projects of this type help to strengthen host
nation disaster response and overall essential services capability,”
said Europe District Project Coordinator for the Caucasus Region Nana
Kacheishvili, who works in Europe District’s Caucasus Project Office
in Tbilisi, Georgia. “This type of program is great example of the
close cooperation between Armenia and the United States. Thanks to
improved station conditions, the brave firefighters and rescuers will
be able to serve the local population better.”
The sites were selected not only due to the important role they play
in providing fire, medical and other day-to-day emergency support to
the Armenian people, but also because of their roles in larger
emergency response activities.
Gyumri and the surrounding area were hit particularly hard by the
magnitude-6.8 earthquake that hit the region in 1988. The region
remains prone to the impacts of seismic activity with the Gyumri and
other nearby firefighters always ready to respond.
“In 1988 Armenia suffered a severe earthquake in the Gyumri area with
25,000 casualties and the region, after 30 years, still hasn’t fully
recovered from that disaster,” said Humanitarian Assistance Program
Manager Ani Melkumyan, working in the Office of Defense Cooperation in
the U.S. Embassy.
In addition to standing ready for large-scale disaster response, the
fire and rescue station in Gyumri is considered to be one of the
busiest stations in all of Armenia, handling more than 1000 calls a
year. Despite that, the existing facility has fallen into disrepair
and is in need of replacement.
The new station under construction now will have plenty of space for
the firefighters, their equipment and vehicles. The facility will also
have storage for search and rescue and other specialized emergency
response equipment so it will be readily available whenever needed.
In Gyumri’s nearby suburb of Akhuryan, crews are also renovating an
existing fire and rescue station which, in addition to providing
critical service to its local community, provides mutual aid to Gyumri
for large emergency response actions.
Renovations range from work on the roof, vehicle bays and storage
areas to site access and infrastructure improvements.
Further to the northwest, work has also recently begun on construction
of a new replacement fire and rescue station in the small Village of
Ashotsk. While the community is small, it sits along the primary road
in and out of Armenia, which leads to a significant number of
emergency calls.
“We only have one main road out of the country, which goes through
Ashotsk, and that road gets very overwhelmed with a lot of accidents
happening,” Melkumyan said. “And, it’s the coldest area of Armenia.
There is severe cold there so in the wintertime there are issues of
cars stopping in the snow, they have to rescue people from the snow a
lot so this was a big priority for the Armenian government to have a
decent fire station there to support all these emergencies.”
So despite the relatively small size of Ashotsk, their fire and rescue
personnel handle the highest volume of winter rescue calls of any
station in Armenia and provide emergency service to Armenians
traveling from many other parts of the country. In addition to
replacing the old facility in disrepair, the new facility will be
located adjacent to the hospital and major access roads which will
help facilitate life-saving emergency care.
The two fire and rescue projects in the Gyumri area are expected to be
operational later this year and the fire and rescue station in Ashotsk
just recently began construction and is expected to be completed in
2022.
“Our expectation is that once they start operating it will improve
response times, it will improve the quality of services provided and
it will improve the readiness and morale of the rescuers and firemen
who work there which will directly impact the communities they serve,”
Melkumyan said.
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4- Recognition of Armenian genocide is major moral crisis for
Jews, Israel
By Israel Charny
Do you know that there are many publications in Hebrew which refer to
the Armenian genocide as “Hashoa HaArmenit” or the Armenian shoah?
This is because “shoah” intrinsically means extensive or cataclysmic
destruction. The word became so identified with the terrifying
destruction of the Jewish people and the Nazi intention to destroy all
Jews everywhere that many of us retain a capital letter for the
English translation of “shoah” when we are referring to this immense
event of the Holocaust (capital H). But it is a mistake to think that
either word—in Hebrew or English—is limited or “owned” by the Jewish
people. In Hebrew, the word first appears in the Bible where it refers
to total consumption by fire, and in English, there are many
references through the ages long before the Holocaust to other
holocausts, including of the Armenian people in the genocide by the
Ottoman Turks 1915 to 1922.
Should Israel have recognized the Armenian genocide many years ago? Of
course. The logic, fairness, and historical accuracy of this
definition are obvious to a child. Israel’s choice to play such a
serious version of realpolitik of lying blatantly about a solid piece
of evidence in human history because it believed it would gain favor
and benefits of such favor from the Turks was, in the eyes of many of
us, disgraceful beyond words.
Moreover, it was pointed out frequently that this kind of “practical
thinking” would be bitterly condemned were it applied by other
countries to denial of the Holocaust — we Jews have been very
fortunate that from the outset the German government has taken full
remorseful responsibility for the horror it imposed on the Jewish
people. Even so, there are thousands of cases of denials of the
Holocaust in our world, and, quite properly, we react to them with
angry scorn and whatever possible retaliation. Should not the same
justice be our due when we assault another people’s minds and
sensibilities by denying a known holocaust of their people?
Somehow, people get used to whatever is the prevailing norm in their
lives, and stop fighting back, as even their own instincts incline
them to do. Thus, prejudices and discriminatory and worse destructive
behaviors by the huge authorities in our lives remain fashionable,
practiced and accepted. In US history, for example, slavery for many
years, or McCarthyism, or elimination of basic medical insurance for
millions of people, or laws restricting the right to vote.
However, what is too little realized is that abject unfairness cannot
help but be registered in the conscious and unconscious minds of
people in the country responsible for hurting human lives severely.
And they have consequences for the lives of people.
Both America and Israel take great pride in being democracies. Their
pride in being free and caring societies streams enormous strength to
the spirits of their citizens, and not at all surprisingly show up
regularly in the rhetoric of their military security when one is
called on to fight for freedom and democracy and not only for one’s
specific country. Fighters are frequently encouraged that they are
fighting for liberty, dignity, and decency in this world against
enemies who are pictured as destructive to humanity.
Israel’s bizarre denials of the holocaust or genocide of another
people brings enormous shame on Israel and works away inside of us
Israelis to reduce and complicate our pride and faith in our country.
In my opinion, before long, it actually weakens our spirit and resolve
and becomes an insidious source of weakening our basic ability to
fight for our safety and survival.
The United States has now overcome decisively its denials of the
Armenian genocide — President Biden has issued full recognition, after
the Senate voted amazingly unanimously for recognition, after the
House of Representatives had voted overwhelmingly for recognition.
In Israel, over the years, we have had several indications of the
Knesset’s readiness to recognize the Armenian genocide — in one case,
just a few years ago, a major committee of the Knesset voted
decisively for recognition. Key leaders such as presidents of Israel
and Knesset speakers have championed the move. Our current alternate
prime minister and future prime minister has taken a firm public
position for recognition: “I will continue to fight for Israeli
recognition of the Armenian genocide; it is our moral responsibility
as the Jewish state.”
If Not Now, When? The price we pay for grossly immoral behavior is
huge and far from a smart-alecky triumph of power and cleverness. We
need to be powerful, but mixed and integrated with the emphases of
historic Judaism — and universal common sense — to be good to human
life. It is high time for Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide,
and it will only add if such recognition is accompanied by a sensitive
apology for doing so much too late. It is no crime for us to note in
such an apology that Israel is always deeply aware of the terrifying
destruction of Jews through the ages and in our Holocaust, and as a
result understandably emphasizes policies designed to maximize its
protection against future attacks against the Jewish people and
sometimes can err because it is so busy protecting itself. The apology
of course should then be accompanied by warm wishes for the security
of the Armenian people. In general, if Israel is to fulfill the
intrinsic and historic seeking of justice to which Judaism is
committed, and if it is to be an honored leader among nations, it is
time for a full policy of standing with any and all people, including
Muslims such as in China and Myanmar today, and including Christians
such as in many countries today who are being subject to genocide.
This article appeared in The Times of Israel on June 25, 2021.
Prof. Israel W. Charny, who lives in Moshav Shoresh outside of
Jerusalem, is the director of the Institute on the Holocaust and
Genocide and author of the just published “Israel’s Failed Response to
the Armenian Genocide: Denial, State Deception, Truth versus
Politicization of History,” available from the publisher, Academic
Studies Press (Boston) or Eurospan Bookstore (London).
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5- Armenia extends ban on import of Turkish goods for another six months
(Public Radio of Armenia)—Armenia will extend the ban on import of
Turkish goods for another six months.
The relevant decision was made at the government sitting on June 24.
“The ban on the import of goods of Turkish origin not only imposes an
economic sanction on Turkey, but also suspends the financial flows to
the Turkish state treasury from Armenian sources for security
reasons,” Vahan Kerobyan said at the cabinet meeting.
At the same time, he said, the penetration of various dangers through
the import of final consumer goods from a hostile country is
prevented.
The six-month ban was introduced on December 31 was to expire on July 1.
Over the past six months, the total volume of imports from Turkey into
Armenia dropped by around 70 percent and the composition of imported
goods changed dramatically, Armenia’s caretaker Minister of Economy
Vahan Kerobyan said on Thursday, June 24.
According to Kerobyan, the decision was made on the basis of the
relevant provision of the EAEU Customs Code, which stipulates that the
EAEU member states may unilaterally apply non-tariff regulation
measures in trade with third countries for a maximum period of 6
months.
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6- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
Armenia is continuing the fight against the third wave of COVID-19
cases, as the country continues promoting the vaccination phase.
There were 3,731 active cases in Armenia as of June 27. Armenia has
recorded 224,797 coronavirus cases and 5,508 deaths; 216,558 have
recovered.
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