It is paradoxical that, as a condition for Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, Turkey demanded that their governments consider the Kurdish groups that have taken refuge in their lands. These groups are deemed terrorist organizations due to their alleged affiliation with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), while Turkey itself is, in fact, a state that, according to diverse specialists, intelligence agencies worldwide and international watchdogs, finances terrorist activities and launders money for organized crime (Financial Acton Task Force). In addition, as Turkish congressmen of the Democratic People’s Party (HDP) have denounced, the country’s government maintains links with the paramilitary group SADAT, which trains al-Qaeda and ISIS combatants and controls their deployment as mercenaries to Libya, Syria and Nagorno Karabakh.
In addition to its repressive policies against the Kurdish people, Turkey also persecutes opponents of the current government, like Osman Kavala who, without proof, was held to be responsible for organizing the Gezi Park protests in 2013. Reacting to that unfounded accusation, ambassadors from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, Sweden and Finland all manifested their concern and support for Kavala. The indignant reaction of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was unprecedented; he stated that he might declare those ambassadors personas non-grata. On April 25th of this year, Kavala was found guilty of “financing protests” whose aim, according to declarations by the prosecutor’s office, was “to overthrow the government.” He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The European Parliament issued a strong pronouncement against the sentence, stating that it considered that Turkey “had destroyed any hope” of re-opening the process of its adhesion to the European Union. In stark contrast, however, NATO’s members, including the US, have been prudent and said little about those events.
There have been two particularly raw points in US relations with Turkey. The first was the supposed coup d’état of July 15, 2016, which Turkish authorities maintain was orchestrated by the religious leader Fetullah Gülen with the support of the CIA. Gülen has lived in the US since 1999 in self-imposed exile. His organization, disdainfully referred to as “Fëto,” is catalogued as terrorist by the Erdogan regime. In response to the “coup,” the Turkish government undertook a massive purge of Gülenist elements in the armed forces and the entire structure of government and is currently persecuting every suspected member of the organization. But the US has offered protection and granted them asylum despite Turkey’s demand for Gülen’s extradition. This has increased friction between the two governments.
The second aggravation surfaced in 2019 when Erdogan’s government acquired a Russian S-400 antimissile system. This was not only contrary to NATO’s interests because the arms were purchased from the organization’s main geopolitical adversary, but also introduced armament that is incompatible with the Alliance’s collective security system and could place the security of US F-35 fighter plane flights over Turkish airspace at risk because the S-400’s radar could be operated to spy for Russia. Washington warned that if the purchase were consummated economic sanctions could be imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), and Turkey would be excluded from the manufacturing program of F-35 planes. It also demanded that Turkey buy the US-made Patriot anti-missile system. In response to those measures, the Turkish government agreed to modernize its Air Force. Instead of purchasing F-35s, it would buy an additional 40 F-16 fighter jets to complement its existing fleet (using the 1.4 billion dollars it had already paid for F-35s). But US congressmen voiced their opposition to the sale, as did Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who during his visit to Washington lobbied strongly for the sale to be blocked while at the same time trying to convince Washington to sell the F-35s to Greece. Enraged, Erdogan bellowed that Prime Minister Mitsotakis had “ceased to exist” and was no longer a political interlocutor. Earlier, Ismail Demir, chief of the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries, had threatened that if the US excluded Turkey from the purchase of the F-16 fighters they could buy Russian Su-35s and Su-57s. Their reactions clearly show how Erdogan’s government continues to blackmail NATO by maintaining that if pursuit of its political and military interests is impeded it is willing to forge agreements with countries antagonistic to NATO.
In line with the ultra-nationalist, imperialist conception generated since the 19th century by Ziya Gökalp which seeks to create a “Greater Turkey” that would encompass all Turkish people, since October 2020, Erdogan has worked to consolidate an organization with principles and objectives similar to those of NATO, but whose membership would consist exclusively of nations of Turkish origin. This so-called “Army of Turan,” under Turkish leadership, would include Azerbaijan and Turkish republics in Central Asia. In addition to a group whose principles of pan-Turkish cultural affinity could easily take a chauvinist turn, the creation of a new military alliance led by Turkey is, or should be, considered a violation of NATO’s principles, or even as a kind of Trojan horse; that is, a member of NATO that seeks to create and lead a military organization some members of which would also be allies of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – the opposing military alliance commanded by Russia.
It is surprising that the US and its western allies have not yet decided to discuss Turkey’s expulsion from NATO or, at least, implementing economic sanctions like the ones previously imposed on Iran and Russia as a way to mitigate the tensions caused by Turkey’s aggressive foreign policy in recent years. Erdogan’s hypocritical game regarding Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, based on arguments of combatting terrorism, while his government is one of the principle precursors and sponsors of al-Qaeda and ISIS, his blackmailing of the west with arms purchases, whether the S-400 system or the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, in addition to his efforts to form an alternative military alliance whose leadership would rest on his shoulders, should all be clear indicators that he could at any time turn his back on his NATO allies and begin to play for an opposing team in order to satisfy his ambitions. There is but one small step from hypocrisy to treason.
Carlos Antaramián
First, let me make clear, what we have in Armenia masquerading as presidents, prime ministers and leaders in government, are the epitome of hypocrisy and treachery. They make any Turk look like an amateur. The fake 2020 “war” proved this beyond any doubt. However, the one difference between Turks and supposed ‘Armenians’ of Armenia in their respective governments is that Turks are competent in diplomacy and aggressively pursuing the interests of their nation, while the hyenas and jackasses in Armenia’s “government” are a prime example of what incompetence and stupidity looks like.
As for NATO and Turkey, we can complain all we want, but where is this so-called “ally” of ours, that in theory would use Armenia as a counter point to NATO propping up Turkey, the decrepit, ridiculous and crude “Mother Russia”? Oh Yeah… “Mother Russia” is busy massaging Turkey and giving Azerbaijan foot rubs while passing out Armenian territories wholesale to them. Has anyone notable in Armenia or diaspora ever sounded the alarm? “Niet”.
So what right do we have to complain about “NATO” when we have an “ally” like Russia and we ignore the retarded elephant in the room? Since Russia has made clear that it loves Turkey and Azerbaijan and cares little about Armenia, then Armenia should also join NATO. Yes, Turkey will again impose “conditions”, probably the demand to give up all claims on Artsakh.
And remember, that the idea of Armenia in NATO is not as absurd as it sounds when Turkey is in it: Greece and Turkey are also enemies, and both are part of NATO. The key here is relations with the USA, not actually “NATO”. The US can make anything happen with NATO if it wants to.
And this is where patriotic Armenians with brains apply as leaders of the nation, instead of the retards we have now in Armenia. The very basic principle here would be something like, telling Russia, if Armenia cannot have ALL of Artsakh, then there is no reason for Armenian-Russian relations to exist, as we can give up all claims on Artsakh and join NATO or at least get the same security guarantees from the USA. Russia, nor Turkey can do anything against Armenia being recognized as a sovereign state without Artsakh. But, ideally Russia should also pay for its century of crimes against Armenia and the Armenian people. And we Armenians owe turning on this decrepit Russia for its fraudulent alliance and so-called “friendship” and turkophile policies and making Armenians suffer for the last 100 years.
Also about “kicking a NATO member like Turkey out”. As of yet, there is no such mechanism that exists. When a member state leaves the alliance, it is meant to be voluntary. However, given the misery-spreading decrepit poverty state like Russia, no one is stupid enough to leave NATO. But like I said, there could come out a new legal basis for kicking NATO members out of the alliance, if the USA decides such a thing is necessary and initiates amendments to the NATO charter. NATO = everything the USA says it is.
I have read hundred of articles by Armenian writers and intellectuals in the past 12 years. Nearly all of them mainly focus on the miserable situation of that tiny country and a myriad of suggestions to improve the political, social, economic and defense conditions of Armenia. Many of these articles are very critical and sometimes abusive of Russia. But all the suggestions miss one important point, that is no one bothers to pinpoint and identify the root cause of all the mess the country is faced with since it’s inception. The forceful occupation of a piece of land deep inside another country and even Armenia recognize that this piece of land has no border with armenia itself. So how can anyone justify maintaining the occupation and entrenching it for the foreseeable future. They easily forget that Russia is a big country and borders diverse countries and lands like North Korea, China, Central Asia, Mongolia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, some countries of Eastern Europe, maritime borders with Japan, USA, Canada and Turkey but crucially no border of any type with Armenia. So in such situation it’s unrealistic to expect that on one hand cursing Russia and on the other expecting it to subsidize the occupation of another country’s region will work for ever. Russia has its own interests and policies and it cannot be held hostage to a tiny Armenia. Mark my words untill Armenia has not given up on it’s designs on Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia the resulting consequences i.e. the closure of borders, missed trade opportunities and many other positives will continued to be missed forever and the current miserable conditions will continue. Calling Turkey and Azerbaijan terrorist and petrol and gas station countries will not change anything on the ground in your favour.
Shahid Ibrar
After reading your uninformed, misinformed and biased response I realized you don’t know much about the history and the politics of the region. That’s fine as long as you are open-minded and are willing to learn and improve yourself and see things as they are instead of making some fictional bumper-sticker comments without backing them up with facts. You identified the root cause of all the mess, as you put it, the country (Armenia) is faced with since its inception is and I quote: “The forceful occupation of a piece of land deep inside another country”. Obviously you are referring to “Karabakh” whose original name is Artsakh by the way. If you study the history of the region you will realize that Artsakh was one of the ancient provinces of the Armenian kingdom. There was no such thing as “Karabakh” until the region was invaded and occupied by various regional foreign powers.
Given the fact that the Central Asian Turkish occupiers, and by association the pseudo-Turkish Azerbaijanis aka former Caucasian Muslim Tatars (Turkified Mongols), and the native Armenians have had quite a tumultuous and adversarial past, and ONLY for the sake of argument entertaining this fictitious idea of “Karabakh” being a Turkish land, how is it possible that such a large chunk of territory, “Karabakh” that is, was allowed to have 95% Armenian population inside enemy “territory” when everywhere else the Turks were busy depopulating Armenians from their native habitats and destroying anything and everything that would bear witness to Armenian existence? A recent example of such criminal act was the desecration and complete destruction of a 1,300 year old Armenian cemetery in Julfa Nakhijevan in 2005 and turning it into a military training camp. Given the bitter history between the two, it makes no sense that if this territory “Karabakh” was Turkish it would be allowed to have 95% Armenian population as recent as in 1921. Therefore, the only way this territory, with majority Armenian population (almost exclusively all Armenian), would find itself under enemy jurisdiction and control is if it was taken away from the Armenians and placed not inside but within the artificial boundaries of the enemy state. And that is exactly what happened in 1921 when criminal Soviets, using their good old divide-and-rule policy, took away Armenian territories and handed them over to an artificial state, a gas station disguised as a country, which they themselves in collaboration with Turkish terrorists, had invented on parts of occupied Armenian homeland in the first place. In other words, the boundaries of this artificial enemy state were extended to encompass seized Armenian territories and that is how a piece of Armenian territory with 95% Armenian population found itself detached from the homeland and under enemy occupation. So it is not the Armenians who are in “occupation” of another country’s “territory” but the other way around!
Furthermore,
It has always been the tradition and a part of terrorist Turkish and pseudo-Turkish criminal Azerbaijani policies to rename and Turkify regions under their occupation after depopulating those regions through various means from implementing racist policies to forcing out the native population to committing mass atrocities and genocide, Just like in criminal and artificial Azerbaijan where Artsakh becomes “Karabakh” and Berdzor becomes “Lachin” so does in genocidal terrorist Turkey the occupied Armenian provinces depopulated of their indigenous Armenian populations such as Tigranakert and Garin become “Diyarbakir” and “Erzurum” respectively. Occupied Western Armenia becomes “Eastern Turkey” or “Eastern Anatolia” where Anatolia has nothing to do with Turkey and has Greek roots meaning territory “east of Greece” which means Western Turkey having nothing to do with the eastern part of this terrorist genocidal Turkish state. Why is it that occupied Western Armenia, comprising 90% of the total Armenian landmass, take on this fictitious name one might ask? Because by doing so the criminal Turkish state tries to hit two birds with one stone as they say. By renaming the Armenian territories they try to remove Western Armenia off the map. And by removing Western Armenia off the map they try to erase from memory the TRUE and indigenous people of the region, the Armenian people. In terrorist Turkey even the Biblical Mount Ararat, the epicenter of the Armenian homeland and the national symbol of the Armenian nation, did not escape this deliberate Turkification fate and was renamed to “Agri”. Realizing these are all Armenian territories, the Turks are so paranoid that they feel compelled to rename to Turkish anything and everything Armenian. They think by doing so these territories become theirs. Well, not now and not ever! They will always be reminded to whom these lands belong until they are liberated. So I suggest you polish up on your knowledge of history before you post some fictitious nonsense!
I’m surprised that the Armenian Weekly has allowed such biased And misleading information to be published (by Shahid Ibrar, the previous letter.) The only internationally recognized borders of Armenia are in the Wilsonian maps – thoughtfully drawn at the end of World War I -by President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, with the agreement and approval of the League of Nations. Any other so called ‘borders’ have been forced on Armenia as administrative borders by the Bolshevik or Communist Governments of Russia and Turkey, and now by the fascistic, nazi, oligarchic, imperialistic dictatorship of Putler. Armenia has been and is a hostage to Russia to be used as a bargaining chip for her imperialistic ambitions as well as Erdogan’s Pan-Turanic ambitions. The question is, how long will the civilized world tolerate Putin’s, Erdogan’s and Aliev’s hubris.
Wilsonian Armenian maps are just that maps. It wasn’t even ratified by the US let alone any other country. You should give up on such irredentist fantasies which have no basis in reality.
Say what you may but Shahid Ibrar is right. Russia is building a nuclear power station in Turkey, it has a bilateral trade with Turkey scheduled to reach $100 billion in the next few years, millions of Russian tourists visit Turkey each year comparing it with landlocked economically insignificant country like Armenia is a bit too much. Russia’s priorities lie else where
The problem with that is that the international community has a broken moral-compass, stemming from the sociopathic geopolitical philosophy. So, my guess is that the world will continue to serve the genocidal & fascistic interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan, until their petrol-oil runs drive, and NATO hegemony becomes obsolete.
Any article on Turkey quickly devolves into a diatribe about its hypocrisy ( supporting ISIS while asking Sweden and Finland to stop supporting Kurds, and at the same time threatening Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Syria and Armenia) , and evil fascist militaristic government which denies the Armenian genocide. Any article on Russia quickly points out that Russia is “selling out” Armenia to Azerbaijan and Turkey to curry favor with them as growing powers in the region, while at the same time “defending” Armenia. I hate to bring the news to the readers attention but big and medium size powers try to coerce smaller countries around them to bend to their will. Forget about the UN Charter. The US promotes a “rules” based international order but even the US will bend the rules if necessary ( for example, in Iraq). Readers should watch any number of Youtube lectures by Prof. John Mearsheimer(U. Chicago) on this topic with regards to Ukraine. Turkey and Russia get away with it because they CAN !!. What are countries like Armenia and Georgia supposed to do? Build the most advanced and intelligent armed forces, sophisticated diplomacy and alliances, increase the population of Armenia and Artsakh, have a vibrant economy, end corruption, have an independent judiciary, and engage the diaspora to rebuild Armenia. Many of these things are doable but they require a vision, purpose, culture and leadership.(see Vahan Zanoyan’s recent essay on this topic). To summarize, Armenians should stop complaining about what Turkey and Russia are doing, and take charge of their own destiny. This will require Armenians to get really serious about state building.
Armenia exist because of Russia we cant sell Mother Russia for liberal europeans and anti armenian america and nato they hate us they allied with turks against us they even dont sell armeni advanced because of we are not part of nato west cuz being ally with russia and having good relations with lran which is opposite to western diplomacy.
its more complicated than that. Armenians think that you either get arms from Russia or US/Nato. There is a third way which includes developing ones own military equipment industry and developing a military force with very high level of training and morale. Once Armenians show that they are willing to fight for them selves instead of relying on Russia, they will get allies from unexpected places such as India, Iran, China, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Serbia. Based on accounts that I have read the Artsakh 2020 war could have turned very different if the Armenians had built up their armed forces over 25 years, gotten rid of corruption and nepotism in the army and had an intelligent Realpolitik foreign policy.
Right but greece and lran wont supported us during artsakh war if they cant show action at least they could suspend diplomatic and economic relations with turkey it was disappoint we were descrieb them as ally they prefer money over armenian lives we must find true and trustable allies like india not liberalised greeks or liar persians cant be trusted after artsakh war
But presumably, the adversary had successfully gotten rid of corruption and nepotism in the meantime.
For the past two hundred years Armenia has been able to live in a dangerous neighborhood like the south Caucasus only because of its ties to Russia. Armenians are not yet ready for full independence, and may not be ready for the foreseeable future. Armenia’s independence from Russia will only translate to Armenia’s dependence on Turkey. If Russia for any reason pulls out of Armenia today, Armenia will disappear from the map tomorrow. For better or for worst, Armenia is wed to Russia. Russia in reality is a historic opportunity for Armenia. All genuine Armenian patriots understand this. Therefore, any Armenian that is anti-Russian is either mentally disturbed, utterly ignorant or simply on the payroll of Turks and Western powers. No other explanation…
Its a false choice to say either Russia or (fill in your favorite country). Armenia must balance its foreign policy which is only possible through economic strength. If Armenia relies on Russia alone, it will end up with the November 9th 2020 capitulation. Russia has its independent interests with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran which sometimes work for and sometimes against Armenia.
For the past one hundred years Azerbaijan has been able to live in a dangerous neighborhood like the south Caucasus only because of its ties to Russia. Azeris are not yet ready for full independence, and may not be ready for the foreseeable future. Azerbaijan’s independence from Russia will only translate to Azerbaijan’s dependence on Iran. If Russia for any reason cuts ties with Azerbaijan today, Azerbaijan will disappear from the map tomorrow. For the worst, Armenia is wed to Russia. Russia in reality is a an enemy of Armenia. All genuine Armenian patriots understand this. Therefore, any Armenian that is anti-Russian sees the writing on the wall, and any Armenian that is pro-Russia is either mentally disturbed, utterly ignorant or simply on the payroll of Turks and Russians. No other explanation…
From Armenia’s perspective then, the hypocritical ally is thus an asinine buffoon state called Russia. But… Armenia is also a buffoon state apparently, as it has not produced a single politician to date that hasn’t graduated from Lenin Papik’s Clown School. Furthermore, the clown collective of Armenia hasn’t once criticized the clown collective of Russia when the clown collective of Russia started supporting the circus acts of the Turks and Azeris. I guess professional clowns have a way of sticking to each other in solidarity no matter what circus…