Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry talks details of meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani FMs

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 26

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Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov within an official visit to Russia on met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend on Aug. 26.

After the one-on-one meeting of the ministers, an expanded meeting was held with the participation of delegations.

The sides discussed the prospects for the development of cooperation in many spheres of the bilateral agenda, including political, economic, trade, humanitarian, cultural, educational and other spheres.

The close contacts and mutual visits of the presidents of both countries have made a great contribution to the development of bilateral relations.

The sides stressed the importance of roadmaps for the development of cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

The sides expressed hope that a new roadmap in the field of innovations, put forward during the official visit of Azerbaijani First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva to Russia last November, will be approved soon.

During the meeting, support was expressed for the full commissioning of the North-South international transport corridor, which is of particular importance for the development of trade and economic relations and the strengthening of regional cooperation.

The sides also stressed that the commissioning of a new border bridge across the Samur River will give a new impetus to the mutual trade and contacts between people.

The views on cooperation and mutual support within the international organizations were exchanged.

The sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation within the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The sides stressed that Russia supported the initiative to convene a special session of the General Assembly dedicated to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministers exchanged the views on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Touching upon the recent military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, Bayramov stressed that the incident, as well as statements made by the Armenian leadership that contributed to the aggravation of tension in the region, impede the settlement of the conflict through the negotiations.

The importance of holding substantive negotiations in accordance with the requirements of the UN Security Council’s resolutions on the settlement of the conflict was emphasized. In turn, Lavrov stressed the importance of continuing the negotiations to resolve the conflict.

Touching upon the current global situation, the ministers stressed the importance of international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic.

Bayramov stressed Russia's assistance to Azerbaijan, including sending the Russian specialists to Azerbaijan.

Armenia revises mask-wearing rules for TV anchors

Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 18 2020

Asbarez: Yerevan Blasts Ankara Over Sèvres Treaty Remarks

August 12,  2020


Representatives of the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920

Official Yerevan blasted Ankara for a statement its foreign ministry issued regarding the marking of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Sèvres on Monday, saying Turkey, once again, has demonstrated its inability to face its past.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan asserted that “the Treaty of Sèvres has been and will remain a historical fact, which cannot be edited or wiped away.”

Turkey’s statement was especially belligerent and accused Armenia of having “sneaky goals” in marking the anniversary of the landmark treaty.

“Today, it is absurd that a government, which is unable to feed its own people, dares to bring up the Treaty of Sèvres which the Turkish nation overturned 100 years ago,” said the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

“Those who have the idea of achieving ‘sneaky goals’ should know that they will fail against Turkey’s determination to maintain its survival and national existence,” added the Ankara.

“The lesson given by the noble Turkish nation to those who dare to invade Anatolia and the heavy blow it dealt on imperialism is taught as lessons in history books. This glorious struggle has set an example for other oppressed nations,” added the Turkish foreign ministry.

Yerevan countered by saying: “Surprisingly, the current authorities of Turkey, who never miss an opportunity to praise their Ottoman heritage, are nervously reacting to the reference of the Treaty of Sèvres which the very Ottoman Empire signed with a number of states including the Republic of Armenia.”

“While refusing to face its past and urging others to ‘take lessons from history instead of animosity,’ Turkey continues its traditional policy of justifying the Armenian Genocide and threatening the Armenian people with new atrocities,” said Naghdalyan in her response.

“Turkey’s steps toward undermining the peace and security in our region and its military posturing against Armenia are part of the expansionist policy of the Turkish government which is aimed at destabilizing its neighboring regions,” added Naghdalyan.

Only the reconsideration of such policy and the capacity to face the past by Turkey will pave a way for genuine reconciliation between the peoples in our region,” concluded the foreign ministry spokesperson.

Turkish press: Turkey will continue to support Azerbaijan, Presidential Spokesperson Kalın says


Turkey's Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın. (AA Photo)

Turkey will always continue to support Azerbaijan as it has in the past, Turkey's Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said late Friday.

Kalın appeared on Azerbaijan state television via the internet on a program in which Turkey-Azerbaijan relations were discussed.

"Our alliance against all types of enemy, our common steps against all sorts of friends will continue," he said.

On the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Kalın said if Azerbaijan suffered any attack, Turkey would continue to do everything in its power to support it.

On international efforts to resolve the crisis, he said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S., had not produced the desired results and had failed to ensure the liberation of Karabakh from Armenian occupation.

Asked why such efforts had proved inadequate, Kalın said there were countries that sought to take advantage of the occupation by sustaining the problem.

"Is it a problem of neutrality or a strategic perspective? Everyone knows that Nagorno-Karabakh is under Armenian occupation. The solution is obvious. Why not take this road, why not enough pressure on Armenia?" he asked.

He said Turkey supported peaceful solutions in line with Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, adding that the occupation of Armenia must come to an end to allow for peace and stability in the Caucasus.

Asked about Turkey's approach to Armenia, Kalın said if the crisis between Azerbaijan and Armenia was resolved, normalization with Armenia may be pursued, stressing that until then, Turkey would not accept agreements deemed unacceptable by Azerbaijan.

He also said the strong ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan that rest on economic, cultural, security and energy relations would continue to develop.

Armenian armed forces killed a dozen Azerbaijani soldiers in an attack launched in July. However, the country later withdrew after suffering losses following retaliation from the Azerbaijani military.

Since 1991, the Armenian military has illegally occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as territory belonging to Azerbaijan.

Four U.N. Security Council and two U.N. General Assembly resolutions, as well as a number of decisions by international organizations, refer to the illegal occupation and demand the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the region, as well as seven other occupied areas of Azerbaijan.

Armenpress: Post-Soviet area priority for Russia’s foreign policy – Putin

Post-Soviet area priority for Russia's foreign policy – Putin

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 19:29, 7 August, 2020

YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the members of the Security Council to discuss the situation in the world, particularly in the post-Soviet area, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Kremlin.

''We will speak about the situation in the world, focusing on the post-Soviet area, considering the fact that they are our neighbors and allies. As a rule, both our economic and political interests coincide. Definitely, it's one of our foreign policy priorities'', Putin said.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

Armenian analyst: Turkish-Azerbaijani military drills accompanied by false, exaggerated information

Panorama, Armenia
Aug 3 2020

Propaganda is one of the key elements of the ongoing joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises, head of the Yerevan-based Henaket analytical center Tigran Abrahamyan said.

“That’s why the military drills are accompanied by strong propaganda campaigns, false and obviously exaggerated information and beautifully packaged photos and videos,” he wrote on Facebook.

“However, all this does not in any way reduce the military threats stemming from the exercises,” he added.

Armenian Consulate condemns provocations of Azerbaijanis during peaceful protest in Los Angeles

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 10:02,

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS. The Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles strongly condemns the provocations of the Azerbaijanis in front of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles on July 21st, 2020, the Consulate General said in a statement.

“Considering the sequence of events, it is evident that the obstruction of the peaceful protest of the Armenian community was planned in advance and had an orchestrated nature.

The Armenian Consulate General in Los Angeles considers the violence against the peaceful demonstrators unacceptable”, the statement says.

The July 21 protest at the Azerbaijani Consulate, organized by the Armenian Youth Federation, drew a crowd of more than 3,000, according to Los Angeles Police Department estimates, Asbarez reported.

As Armenians were arriving at the demonstration site ahead of the 2 p.m. scheduled start time, a group Azerbaijanis, numbering less than 50, were waiting. Los Angeles Police officers escorted them across the street to prevent potential clashes.

However, this did not stop the Azerbaijanis from inciting violence and instigating the Armenians, as they began throwing water bottles at the arriving protesters, promoting them to cross the street. A small scuffle ensued and was quickly broken up by police.




Rumblings of regional strife in Caucasus could make its way to Israel

Israel Hayom

One of the most unexpected, lesser-known and not often reported bilateral relationships is the ties between Israel and Azerbaijan. While both countries are small, Israel is constantly garnering global headlines and attention for better or worse. The same cannot be said for Azerbaijan, which generally stays out of the news despite its strategic importance.

However, an ongoing escalation in violence between Azerbaijan and its neighbor Armenia is threatening to spill over into an all-out conflict that could draw in several regional powers, such as Russia, Turkey, Iran, and maybe even Israel.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States Elin Suleymanov said that the international community is ignoring Armenia's aggression against his country, which is a close ally of the Jewish state.

"Israel is clearly disproportionately targeted for criticism while Armenia is doing things much worse," said Suleymanov, referring to Armenia's "ethnic cleansing" of some 1 million Azerbaijanis in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh that is occupied by Armenia.

"What bothers us very much is that there is a clear double standard around the world," he said. "People so actively criticize all over occupations, but when it comes to Armenia and Azerbaijan, people become very philosophical. There is no unequivocal condemnation of an illegal occupation, which shows a clear indication of bias."

In recent days, the long-simmering conflict between the two countries has erupted with some fearing the escalation could spiral into a war between the neighbors. Fighting broke out last weekend on the border between Tavush in northeastern Armenia and the Tovuz district in Azerbaijan. At least 11 Azerbaijani soldiers and one civilian have been killed, according to the country, while Armenia reported that four of its soldiers have died.

"Unfortunately, the Armenia side decided to launch a cross border attack against Azerbaijan itself. We don't know exactly the motivation for it. One can only guess," said the ambassador

Nevertheless, Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of initiating the hostilities and accused Azerbaijan of a buildup of military forces in the region over the past months, including conducting training exercises.

According to a statement from the Armenian National Committee of America, "Azerbaijan has launched a military offensive against Armenia starting on July 12, deploying tanks, heavy artillery, and drones against civilian and military targets alike."

While the exact cause of the recent escalation remains unclear, the fact that it occurred not in Nagorno-Karabakh, but along the internationally recognized boundaries between the two countries raises concern. At the same time, that area is also close to several strategic oil pipelines running from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, which also supply some 40% of Israel's oil.

Azerbaijan is one of the largest purchasers of arms from the Jewish state. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the country had purchased $127 million in 2017. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2016 that Azerbaijan had bought $5 billion worth of weapons from Israel. So far, Israel has not weighed in on the flareup between the two countries.

"We are always in touch and engaging in dialogue with Israel, especially on defense," said the ambassador. "They are major contributors to Azerbaijan's security and defense production."

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are former Soviet Republics, regaining their independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Since then they have been stuck in an unresolved conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but now controlled and occupied by ethnic Armenians.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for calm, saying America was "deeply concerned" by the violence and urged an "immediate de-escalation." Russian President Vladimir Putin has also urged restraint and a resumption of peace talks, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would defend Azerbaijan.

Situated in the southern Caucasus Mountain region, Azerbaijan is the only country that borders both Iran and Russia, making it strategically important to regional powers. A Turkic people who are Shi'ite Muslim, Azerbaijanis are also in the singular position of sharing religious and ethnic ties with both the region's two other major powers: Turkey and Iran. In fact, it is estimated that more Azeris live in Iran than in Azerbaijani itself.

Due to its geostrategic importance, Azerbaijan seeks to maintain friendly relations with its neighbors and even countries farther away.

"Azerbaijan is a friend of Israel and the Jewish people," affirmed Suleymanov. "We have had the Jewish community in our country for 2,500 plus years. Jewish people are part in parcel of the Azerbaijani mosaic."

Today, an estimated 30,000 Jews live in the country of 10 million.

In March, Azerbaijan's finance minister, Samir Sharifov, became the first country with a Shi'ite majority to have a cabinet-level minister give a speech at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference.

At the same time, Israel has also sought to develop warmer ties with Armenia, one of the world's oldest Christian countries. Armenia recently announced the opening of its embassy in Tel Aviv.

Relations between Israel, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are also complicated by Iran.

Due to its border with Iran and the fact that many Azeris reside there, Azerbaijan maintains ties with the regime, despite Iran also having warm ties with Armenia.

Similarly, by having close defense ties with Israel, Azerbaijan has placed itself on both sides of the conflict between Jerusalem and Tehran. "We maintain our relationship bilaterally with both countries; it's not dependent on each other," explained the ambassador. "We always openly have a strong partnership with Israel. It is not directed against anybody. It is in support of each other. Our relationship with Iran is not against anybody either."

With thousands of Azerbaijanis taking to the streets of the country's capital of Baku on Wednesday demanding the government to mobilize its troops to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, despite restrictions related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it remains unclear if the country is headed for war in the near future.

"On this day when Azerbaijan is attacked and does not get the same coverage as other cases around the world, what I would urge to our friends in Israel and the Jewish community is to make our friendship stronger to reach out to Azerbaijan and to tell the world the story of our successful partnership," said Suleymanov. "They should know they have a friend in the south Caucasus."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org


Turkish press: Fraud, scandals and alienation mark FETÖ’s post-coup experience in North America

In this Jan. 25, 2016, photo, FETÖ members are gathered at Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center, in Saylorsburg, Pa., where FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen resides. (AP Photo)

The brutal coup attempt to topple Turkey's democratically elected government was the final gamble made by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), whose resources and support have since nosedived not just in Turkey but also in North America since the plot enacted on July 15, 2016. The group's domestic fraud schemes went beyond Turkey's borders and were used by senior members to swindle money from fugitives who left the country.

While senior FETÖ figures have resorted to fraud and a string of scams to further fund their group's activities, public support for the putschist group has waned, isolating and alienating them from Turkish communities and leading them to adopt a more introverted approach, betraying inner conflicts among members.

A series of scandals has shaken the credibility and reliability of FETÖ in North America since July 15. Besides siphoning charity money to FETÖ executives, some senior members have been accused of defrauding millions of dollars from group members in the U.S.

Before the coup attempt, the group was able to enjoy significant power by extorting money from businesspeople and collecting charity money from the community under the so-called "himmet" scheme (tithe). However, the group's sources of income significantly decreased since the coup attempt and, in addition to renewed cases of financial fraud, the group has been found guilty of a decadeslong exam fraud operation in Turkey, allowing members to cheat their way through public service exams to infiltrate state institutions, including the judiciary, military, police and other vital parts of the state.

While in the U.S., the post-coup period for FETÖ has consisted of a series of scandals involving fraud among members, in Canada, the group has focused on bringing FETÖ members to the country using the money gained to launder in investments, sources who asked to remain anonymous have told Daily Sabah.

In the U.S., several senior FETÖ members have been accused of defrauding members millions of dollars. For instance, former footballer Hakan Şükür, who fled the country in November 2015 and is accused of providing funds to the FETÖ network, confessed that he himself got swindled.

"I was tricked by those whom I swore by," he said on his YouTube channel, claiming he had lost all his entire fortune, including savings for his own children.

People flooded Şükür's post saying that they had also been defrauded by FETÖ, who promised them to either launch new businesses, earn profits or obtain residence permits in the countries they fled to.

Although Şükür did not openly name the individuals involved in the incident, he has been residing in California, where FETÖ was engaged in a fraudulent bankruptcy program and Ponzi scheme scandal called "Abi Auto." He was among the petitioners in the Property Fraud case filed by Yusuf Danyal Kılıçalp against Sirodjiddin Murzaev in the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County Superior Courts, according to official records.

"Abi," which literally means "elder brother" in Turkish, is a term frequently used among FETÖ members to describe senior members and was the name of the Long Island car dealership owned by Tajik-born FETÖ member Murzaev, who attended a FETÖ-linked high school in his native country. Murzaev was allegedly a favorable figure in the community who was recommended by FETÖ's covert "imam" in California and was also among the victims listed in court records. Murzaev collected money from FETÖ members and pledged to give them profits in return for their "investment" before filing for bankruptcy and allegedly swindling up to $20 million. He subsequently disappeared. While some 160 parties took the issue to court, others reportedly hesitated as they had given Murzaev laundered money that could have landed them in trouble with the authorities if discovered.

The fraud scandal in California was not the first nor the last, however.

In Atlanta, FETÖ has been involved in another affinity fraud scandal. A company named Star Chain, owned by Ömer Casurluk, a senior figure who headed FETÖ's businessmen association in Atlanta, defrauded tens of FETÖ fugitives who left Turkey after the coup attempt. According to reports, senior FETÖ figures, including the southeastern U.S. imam Ahmet Çiçek, codenamed Tahsin Gül, encouraged newly arrived fugitives to invest in Star Chain, a company that operated dozens of restaurants in the region. According to court documents, the company had more than 200 creditors and liabilities of over $10 million. Some 34 FETÖ fugitives who arrived in the country reportedly invested in Star Chain and became shareholders in the company but started complaining and asked for their money back after realizing their investments disappeared. Casurluk then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows businesses to continue to operate while they try to reorganize their debts. FETÖ fugitives claim some $5 million disappeared in the incident, while Casurluk transferred Star Chain to another company after debt restructuring and slipped through the net. Even though FETÖ members took the issue to Fetullah Gülen himself, no concrete action was taken and FETÖ's U.S. imam, Mehmet Yaşa, allegedly defended Star Chain and Çiçek and tried to brush it under the carpet.

Çiçek, aka Tahsin Gül, also defrauded around $1 million from fugitive FETÖ figure Enver Taner Baltacı. The duo's relations date back to pre-coup days, and Çiçek had allegedly provided assistance to Baltacı, who was able to establish a business empire and left Turkey following the coup attempt. Upon his arrival in Atlanta, he founded a construction materials company named Builder Stock and stood by Çiçek after he faced fraud allegations linked to Star Chain. That was, until the day he realized he had also been defrauded by Çiçek to plan his escape from Turkey and for the FETÖ-linked Cahaya Rancamaya Islamic Boarding School to be established in Indonesia. Upon inquiry, Baltacı allegedly found out that the school never received the money he gave Çiçek, so he proceeded to complain to FETÖ executives but never received his money back.

FETÖ's notoriety in handling funds was also documented in American courts, which closed charter schools for failing to meet requirements and a lack of adherence to generally accepted financial standards. The U.S. state of Alabama was the latest example to shut down a FETÖ-linked school two months before its opening, citing a failure to meet conditions for operation.

FETÖ has a considerable presence internationally, particularly in the U.S., including private schools that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group. Over 173 charter schools that enroll over 85,000 students in 26 states continue to operate in the U.S.

Meanwhile, in Canada, FETÖ's domination in the Turkish community has significantly diminished in the aftermath of July 15, as the group alienated itself and focused on bringing fugitives to the country and making investments to put their house in order.

Exploiting their business connections, FETÖ was able to bring thousands of members to Canada following the coup attempt.

The country accepted more refugee claims from Turkey than any other country in 2018 alone. According to statistics by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, over 1,000 claims were accepted in 2018, while 2,043 claims were accepted in 2019, 1,047 in 2017 and 398 in 2016, while this figure was only 104 and 111 in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

"FETÖ seriously stumbled for a while after the failed coup attempt and experienced internal chaos among members, but somehow managed to carry on upon orders of Fetullah Gülen," a former FETÖ member in Toronto, who asked to remain anonymous, told Daily Sabah. They added that members were advised to conceal their affiliation to carry on with business as the group urged newly arrived fugitives to make investments and start new companies to restore their "former financial glory."

Many FETÖ-linked businesses and their Toronto-based private school Nile Academy closed some branches following the coup attempt. For instance, the school's Scarborough campus principal Saadettin Özcan and External Affairs Coordinator Mehmet Gül became real estate and mortgage agents after the campuses shut down.

A fraud scandal also took place in Canada, when senior FETÖ figure Halim Dağlar collected money from fellow FETÖ members, pledging to establish a mattress factory in Africa in return for profits. However, like other FETÖ figures, Dağlar claimed the business went bankrupt and never returned the money, the source told Daily Sabah.

Another Canada-based source, who also asked to remain anonymous, said the group had alienated itself from the rest of the Turkish community following the coup attempt. For instance, while the group actively organized festivals, conferences, charity bazaars and other events, their community presence diminished after the coup attempt in light of the negative reaction they received.

Sources noted that cases of affinity fraud linked to FETÖ indicate that the group has been losing its power to a large extent as senior members seek to save themselves amid the chaos.

Similar scams have taken place in the church as well as various ethnic, religious and social circles in the U.S. For instance, the Armenian-American community lost some $19 million, while Latin American investors lost around $325 million and the Jewish-American community has recorded a loss of some $18 billion in similar schemes.

Like its counterparts, authorities have struggled to detect FETÖ-led scams in North America because some of the victims have hesitated to notify them and opted to solve the problem within their own circles.

Besides obtaining funds from members, FETÖ also uses affiliated charter schools for financial gain. According to U.S.-based lawyer Robert Amsterdam's book "The Empire of Deceit," FETÖ schools routinely use affiliated Gülenist vendors, who purposefully overpay to siphon public funds out of the schools and into the organization by way of apparent kickbacks from businesses. They also serve as H-1B visa sponsors and job creators for Gülenists. Through some 312 educational facilities, FETÖ receives around $600 million in the U.S. alone.

Karabakh MFA responds to Azerbaijan President’s statements

News.am, Armenia
July 8 2020
Karabakh MFA responds to Azerbaijan President's statements Karabakh MFA responds to Azerbaijan President's statements

21:37, 08.07.2020