Author: George Mamian

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairperson Devlet Bahçeli criticized the United States for threatening to impose more sanctions on Turkey if it proceeds with the purchase of additional S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, and said their threats are in vain.

Speaking at his party’s first parliamentary meeting of the new legislative session, Bahçeli said Turkey will not give up its sovereign character after the U.S.’ “sanctions card.”

“So the U.S. administration threatens us with new sanctions. Let them do that, we’ve gotten used to it by now,” Bahçeli said, as he criticized Washington for threatening Turkey but providing weapons to terrorists in northern Syria.

The U.S. has called on Turkey to refrain from buying additional Russian arms after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they still intended to acquire a new batch of Russian-made missile systems, despite Washington's opposition.

Turkey’s initial purchase of the first batch of S-400s from Russia strained ties with the U.S.

The move prompted Washington to remove Turkey from the new generation F-35 Lightning II jet program before it imposed sanctions on the country’s Defense Industry Presidency (SSB), its chief, Ismail Demir, and three other employees in December

The U.S. argued that the system could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details on the Lockheed Martin F-35 jets and that it is incompatible with NATO systems. Turkey, however, insists that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.

Erdoğan explained that Turkey was not given the option to buy American-made Patriot missiles and that the U.S. had not delivered F-35 stealth fighter jets despite payment of $1.4 billion (TL 12.37 billion).

The MHP chair also slammed the U.S. for plans to label the Idealist Hearths as a terrorist group.

“Only martyrs and heroes come from Idealist Hearths, not terrorists or traitors,” Bahçeli said.

The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to designate the Idealist Hearths, as a foreign terrorist group. The Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the Armenian lobby in the U.S. are thought to be behind the act.

Meanwhile, Bahçeli also criticized opposition parties for seeing Kurdish people as a “problem.”

“Turkey does not have a Kurdish issue,” he said, adding that the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Good Party (IP) see Kurds as a problem. He noted that there is a terrorism problem in the country instead. He also dismissed the opposition’s demand to hold early elections once again and said there was no return to the parliamentary system.

“The presidential system needs to be enhanced and maintained,” he said, in response to the opposition’s plans to return to the parliamentary system.

The CHP and IP argue that Turkey should return to the parliamentary system and the CHP has been working on a "strengthened parliamentary system" proposal.

The opposition-led Nation Alliance's other main partner, IP, also revealed its legislative reform proposal, called the "Improved and Strengthened Parliamentary System," last month.

The system includes eight main features: An "impartial president," a "pluralist democracy, participative government, strong Parliament," "separation of powers and strong supervision," "rule of law and independent impartial judiciary," "merit in the state," "human rights and individual freedoms, strong social state, strong civil society, strong youth," "free press and media" and "fair and free elections."

In response, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) earlier this month dismissed the possibility of early elections and the opposition’s demand to return to a parliamentary system.

It has been more than four years since Turkey switched from a parliamentary system to the current presidential system after the majority of Turkish voters opted to create the new system. Turkish voters narrowly endorsed an executive presidency in the April 16, 2017 referendum with 51.4% of the votes in favor. The official transition to the new system took place when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the presidential oath of office in Parliament after the June 24, 2018, general elections, during which he won 52.6% of the votes.

The next presidential and general elections are planned to be held in 2023.

Dr. Shant Garabedian, an American University of Armenia supporter and medical doctor based in Tennessee, rushed to Armenia when the 2020 Artsakh War broke out. “I knew I wanted to be there to help. Though, I wouldn’t make the best infantryman, I could be valuable as an emergency doctor wherever the need was the greatest,” he recalls. Dr. Garabedian serves as the Medical Director at the Dyersburg Hospital Emergency Department. When the 2020 Artsakh War flared up in September 2020, he heeded the call to defend the homeland the best way he knew how, immediately volunteering his medical expertise to support the Armenian soldiers wounded at the frontline. 

Born in 1970 in Beirut, Lebanon, Garabedian was raised in a highly-respected family of Genocide survivor-descendants. His father, born in Kharpert in 1920, would tell him stories about Shant’s grandfather who was spared from the Turkish atrocities because he was a talented blacksmith who could skillfully repair horseshoes. His mother was born in Aleppo in 1933 to an orphan, who was taken to the Birds’ Nest Armenian orphanage as a five-year old after her entire family was massacred during the Armenian Genocide. These and many related stories have stayed with Garabedian throughout his life and have grown in him the determination to succeed and dedication to his nation. 

Dr. Garabedian en route to Goris with the medical supplies

Settling in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985, Garabedian was involved in the youth activities of the local Homenetmen, Armenian Youth Federation, and the Armenian Church. He gradually grew an impressive professional record of success, which includes an undergraduate degree in Physiology from the University of California, Davis; a degree in medicine from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri, followed by a family medicine residency at the University of Tennessee program in Jackson, advancing all the way up to his current position as Medical Director of the Dyersburg Hospital Emergency Department in Tennessee. 

Garabedian recounts his thoughts in the early days of the Artsakh War that started in September 2020. Determined to fly out as soon as possible, he thought he would be most helpful “within the first one or two hours of a soldier’s injury to bring to bear the initial stabilization.” He immediately began preparing for his trip establishing the necessary contacts, while acquiring from personal funds the necessary emergency room supplies to take with him. These included sutures, bandages, tourniquets, and IV kits, as well as endotracheal tubes for intubation, and bag valve masks for resuscitation. Advance arrangements in place and all packed, he was on a flight to Armenia on November 2, 2020. 

Garabedian emphatically believes that it is the duty of every Armenian to serve the homeland however one can. “This is a matter of protecting our homeland, our sovereignty, our existence as a nation,” he admits as he explains the risk every serviceman takes of the unknown, the risk of not returning home, and also the risk of being permanently handicapped.

Garabedian was assigned to Goris since the Lachin throughway had closed by the time he arrived, barring safe passage to Artsakh. At the hospital in Goris, which functioned as back-up to the Khndzoresk mobile military hospital, Garabedian was involved in stabilizing the wounded soldiers brought there who would then be transferred according to the type of medical treatment or surgery they would need. 

Garabedian was subsequently commissioned to Vardenis following the intensification of the fighting in Shushi, where he worked as an intensivist in both the civilian and military hospitals. “The military hospitals at Khndzoresk and Vardenis were well-prepared,” he recalls, “and had properly-trained medics to stabilize the wounded in the field.”

Garabedian speaks with deep emotion recounting his days in those hospitals and what he has witnessed. He then unequivocally commends the volunteers, all those dedicated men and women, young and old, as well as the soldiers who exhibited such heroism and bravery. “These young soldiers would be brought in very badly wounded, and they would plead with us to quickly patch them up so they would go back to the battlefield. These soldiers displayed immense camaraderie for their fellow servicemen in battle and were determined not to let them down, and ultimately not to let down their nation.”

Dr. Garabedian with a group of full-time and volunteer physicians at the Military Hospital in Vardenis

Speaking to the future of Armenia, Garabedian believes the country needs to modernize its defense system and artillery based on a thorough analysis of the lessons learned from the 2020 Artsakh War. He wants to see Armenia “modernize our technology, especially in unmanned warfare, to be well-equipped and prepared to defend ourselves.” 

Garabedian goes on to speak of the important role AUA is playing in educating the young generations and preparing them to lead the future. Making special reference to the new capital campaign, Build a Better Future With AUA, he is confident that a strong STEM education will significantly contribute to building a better and more powerful Armenia. Especially with the new labs and ancillary spaces to be built, the University will be even better positioned to educate the next generation of technologically-advanced young leaders. AUA will be in a superior stance and strength to engineer innovative drone solutions, tackle chemical-mechanical challenges, realize key transformations in electrical engineering, machine learning-based innovations, and much more. 

Garabedian is a believer in the role of an AUA education, and in the shared knowledge and collaborative relationships that AUA cultivates with other universities and institutions. He is a proponent of expanding such relations, as well as research and development congruent with the long-term strategic goals of the University and those of the country. 

He believes in the projected long-term solutions that an AUA higher education can provide, and wants all young people to have access to it, elaborating that, “specifically AUA, has the quality of education that is unsurpassed in Armenia, with a strong foundation in the UC system. Without this type of education, Armenia will stagnate and the country will not push forward. Armenia needs to become a powerhouse, and with the use of brain power as our ultimate natural resource, that could become a reality.” 

Himself an AUA scholarship program supporter, Garabedian admits that the recent war has reawakened his belief in the urgency of empowering the next generation, preparing the leaders of tomorrow, and especially supporting our veteran students. Placing added emphasis on the need to amplify and further stretch the available sources of education, Garabedian recalls the benefits he had once received as an undergraduate student from the U.S. Federal Student Aid and asserts “there’s no reason why we couldn’t do the same to support our own Armenian youth. Today, we have veterans missing arms and legs, many who have gone through tremendous mental anguish and have developed stress disorders. Yet, they’re trying to make their lives better by aiming at a brighter future through education. The least we can do is to do our small part by supporting their education,” he urges. 

As a diasporan himself, Dr. Garabedian calls upon all Armenians living in the Diaspora to contribute to this new ‘Build a Better Future with AUA’ campaign. “The easiest and least intrusive way for Diasporan-Armenians, and especially American-Armenians, is to help financially; this is the bare minimum we can do, for AUA and for each of those students to benefit from an AUA education.” 

“We must now stand in remembrance of those who fell, but also with commitment to reinforce what we have and to strengthen our collective capacity to prepare the next leaders who will build Armenia.  Now, more than ever before, we need that powerful new force to get back up on our feet and build a technologically-advanced Armenia. I invite you to join me in this imperative national endeavor.” 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.