My personal blog, my thoughts.
A group of EU parliamentarians is calling for an investigation into reports that Azerbaijan bribed EU officials in return for nice reports about the country’s elections and human rights record.
For over a century, no matter what evidence is presented to the Turkish government about their guilt as perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide, they always claim it is fake and deny the facts.
Read more “Turks Deny All Evidence of Genocide; Azeris Deny Any Evidence of Corruption”
WASHINGTON—The full U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee adopted a series of provisions as part of its Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) foreign aid bill on Sept. 7, specifically calling for continued aid to Artsakh and increased assistance to Armenia ($20.7 million), and also imposing weapon and travel sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan. Those provisions were supported by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Read more “Senate Panel Adopts Measures Supporting Artsakh and Armenia, Sanctioning Ankara and Baku”
On 5 September, the website of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) was blocked in Azerbaijan.
The block occurred hours after OCCRP published a major investigation into corruption, bribery, and money-laundering, in which President Aliyev, his family, and other powerful figures are alleged to have been involved. The investigation, known as the Azerbaijani Laundromat, is based on leaked banking records, and details the way in which $2.9 billion was laundered through a series of shell companies and then used to bribe European politicians, buy luxury goods, or move money abroad for other purposes.
STEPANAKERT, Artsakh (A.W.)—Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) Ombudsman (human rights defender) Ruben Melikyan said Azerbaijan has failed in its plan of limiting international coverage and activity in Artsakh since the arrest of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (A.W.)—Investigations led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have revealed that that several bank transfers—in excess of $7 million—were made to a Budapest bank account around the time the Hungarian government extradited Azerbaijani ax-murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan.
Read more “Azerbaijani Laundromat May Have Helped Secure Ax-Murderer Ramil Safarov’s Extradition”
A new documentary will be screened in many theaters across the United States and will be available on demand on Oct. 7. Unlike other documentaries on the topic, this one is different and more relevant to today’s non-Armenian viewer. The documentary, titled “Architects of Denial” and subtitled “Genocide Denied Is Genocide Continued,” links the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 to contemporary massacres of Armenians by Azerbaijanis in various cities of Azerbaijan, and threats to kill Armenians living in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh).
Read more “New Documentary Links Armenian Genocide to Recent Azerbaijani Massacres of Armenians”
TO CELEBRATE “National Press Day” in Azerbaijan on July 22, President Ilham Aliyev announced the award of 255 apartments to journalists. Four years ago, he inaugurated an apartment building for journalists and gave away 155 flats. Both times, Mr. Aliyev used the same words. “Freedom of speech” is “ensured” in Azerbaijan, he declared.
Read more “In Azerbaijan, some journalists get free apartments. Others get jail cells.”
Azerbaijan’s ruling elite operated a secret $2.9bn (£2.2bn) scheme to pay prominent Europeans, buy luxury goods and launder money through a network of opaque British companies, an investigation by the Guardian reveals.
Read more “UK at centre of secret $3bn Azerbaijani money laundering and lobbying scheme”
Armenian-Americans knew they had scored a major victory for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide when Texas became the 46th state to recognize it. What Armenian-Americans did not realize is that the recognition by Texas had a devastating impact on the Turkish community’s lobbying efforts in the state.
Read more “Turkish Activist Admits Major Blow When Texas Recognized Armenian Genocide”