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[yialousa1971]

Pro-Turkish UN Personal
Breaking News! Leaked Memo Exposes Pro-Turkish UN Personal

For Immediate Release: September 16, 2009

Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935

NEW YORK—Corrupt Pro-Turkish UN personal have been recently exposed in pandering to the Turkish war machine. The leaked memos available now for download at Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) from Jose Diaz ,spokesman for the UN Mission to Cyprus, sent to Alexander Downer , United Nations Special Envoy for Cyprus makes a wild claim that a Cypriot media owner is with “EOKA” (!) and attempts to blacklist Cypriot dignitaries. This raises speculation in some circles that Diaz, Downer and other high ranking UNFICYP personnel have a Pro-Turkish bias and may have been bribed by Turkish sources or blackmailed by Turkish intelligence forces. Thus far, NONE of the Greek or Greek Cypriot lobbies, nor the impotent Greek diplomatic corps, have addressed this major development:

The Leaked Memo and Analysis in Greek and English is available for download at this special CANA page titled “Pro-Turkish UN Personal” (please distribute widely and post on your blogs, websites ,twitter, face book pages and message boards):

STA ELLIKIKA, Analysis in Greek Pro-Turkish UN personal(word doc.)

Οι υπονομευτές άνθρωποι των Ηνωμένων Εθνών


Στο μάτι της υπόσκαψης και εξουδετέρωσης

ΔΙΑΣ, ΑΝΤΕΝΝΑ, ΦΙΛΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΣ!


Οι στόχοι τους

Τα έγγραφα του ΟΗΕ που διέρρευσαν πρόσφατα επιβεβαιώνουν πλέον ότι αυτή τη φορά, άνθρωποι απευθείας του ΟΗΕ καπηλεύονται τα δίκαια μας δίχως ίχνος ντροπής, αδίστακτα ανελέητα και ας είναι και φιλοξενούμενοι στον τόπο μας. Στοχεύουν στην αποδυνάμωση και υπόσκαψη της αντίστασης όλων εκείνων των ΜΜΕ που πρωτοστάτησαν στην δυναμική και πατριωτική εκστρατεία απόρριψης του εκτρώματος ‘Ανάν’. Γνωρίζουν ότι είναι έτοιμα να ξαναδώσουν την μάχη για την σωτηρία της Κύπρου και να εμποδίσουν την τουρκοποίησή της γι΄αυτό άρχισαν να θέλουν επαφές με τους ιδιοκτήτες ευελπιστώντας να τους πείσουν περι του αντιθέτου.


Ο ανεκδιήγητος και ανεπιθύμητος Αυστραλός Αλεξάντερ Ντάουνερ (με διασυνδέσεις με τις βρετανικές μυστικές υπηρεσίες ΜΙ6 και αμερικανικές αντίστοιχες) και η ομάδα του, ξεκάθαρα έβαλαν τώρα στο μάτι του κυκλώνα:



Α) Το Συγκρότημα ΔΙΑΣ, που έχει την εφημερίδα Σημερινή, Το Περιοδικό, το Ράδιο Πρώτο και το Σίγμα TV,


Β) Το Αντέννα TV,


Γ) Την εφημερίδα Φιλελεύθερος που είναι και η μεγαλύτερη σε κυκλοφορία στην Κύπρο.


Γι΄αυτό λοιπόν χρειάζεται η επιστράτευση δημοσιογράφων που υποστηρίζουν το ΝΑΙ τους λεγόμενους κατά τον Ντάιαζ “journos”.


Ο Αλεξάντερ Ντάουνερ, ειδικός σύμβουλος του Γ.Γ. των Η.Εθνών πριν λίγους μήνες αποτάθηκε τρείς φορές ζητώντας συνάντηση με τον κ. Κώστα Χατζηκωστή του συγκροτήματος ΔΙΑΣ και ο κ. Χατζηκωστής απέρριψε και τις τρείς προσεγγίσεις του Ντάουνερ. Τότε, ο Ντάουνερ πόνταρε για συνάντηση με τον υιό κ. Άντη Χατζηκωστή την οποία είχε εντός Ιουνίου 2009.


Στα πλαίσια αυτών των προσπαθειών, ο Τζ. Λούη Ντάιαζ ανέλαβε να τον ενημερώσει για τα άτομα που προτίθετο να συναντήσει. Ο Ντάιαζ όμως είναι ενδεικτικό πλέον ότι όντως “συμβουλεύεται” κάποιους επιστρατευμένους δικούς μας για τέτοιες πληροφορίες...

Ο κ. Ντάιαζ, πρέπει να σημειωθεί, ούτε ξέρει ούτε μίλησε ποτέ του στον κ. Κ. Χατζηκωστή. Αυτός ο άνθρωπος λοιπόν, που καμία απολύτως συνάντηση είχε με τον κ. Κ. Χατζηκωστή, καμία προσέγγιση δεν προηγήθηκε για ενημέρωση, δεν γνωρίζονται, ετοίμασε, ενδεικτικά, χρησιμοποιώντας υποδείξεις τρίτων που συνεργάζονται μαζί του, ένα ούτω καλούμενο πορτραίτο του κ. Κ. Χατζηκωστή και το έστειλε στον Αλεξάντερ Ντάουνερ. Η ημερομηνία που στάλθηκε το μήνυμα προς τον Ντάουνερ επιβεβαιώνει ότι αυτό ετοιμάστηκε και πήγε στον προορισμό του πριν την συνάντηση που είχε ο τελευταίος με τον υιό κ. Άντη Χατζηκωστή.

Το ηλεκτρονικό ‘πορτραίτο’ των δύο ανδρών και ολόκληρου του συγκροτήματος ΔΙΑΣ φέρει ημερομηνία 2 Ιουνίου 2009 και ώρα 10.35 π.μ. (Σύμφωνα με το συγκεκριμένο έγγραφο πρέπει να στάλθηκε και ξεχωριστό παρόμοιο ‘πορτραίτο’ για τον κ. Λουκή Παπαφιλίππου του Αντέννα).


Εκείνο που ενοχλεί τον Αλεξάντερ Ντάουνερ είναι αναμφισβήτητα η στάση του Συγκροτήματος ΔΙΑΣ ενάντια στο Σχέδιο Ανάν και οι επικρίσεις ενάντια στους χειρισμούς Χριστόφια στο Κυπριακό. Και είναι γνωστές οι δηλώσεις του σε συγκεντρώσεις στην Λευκωσίας ότι δεν αντέχει Σίγμα, Αντέννα, Σημερινή, Ράδιο Πρώτο, Φιλελεύθερο (έχουν ήδη δημοσιευθεί). Επομένως οι έντονες προσπάθειες του να συναντηθεί με τον κ. Κ. Χατζηκωστή στόχο είχαν να προσπαθήσει ίσως και καταφέρει αλλαγή στην στάση του Συγκροτήματος, που περιλαμβάνει το Ράδιο Πρώτο, Σημερινή, Περιοδικό και Σίγμα. Πράγμα που απέτυχε.

Στο μήνυμά του προς τον Ντάουνερ ο Ντάιαζ αποκαλύπτει όλα εκείνα που τους ενοχλούν για την πατριωτική στάση του Συγκροτήματος.

΄Εγραψε συγκεκριμένα ο κ. Ντάιαζ : “…Τα πρώτα τέσσερα είναι ανοικτά πολιτικοποιημένα και η υπερβολικά “πατριωτική” π.χ. Σημερινή, εθεωρείτο φιλo-ΔΗΣΥκή, αλλά εγκατέλειψε το κόμμα μετά που το τελευταίο υποστήριξε το Σχέδιο Ανάν. ΄Ομως, ακόμα ενσυνείδητα τείνει να απευθύνεται στους αναγνώστες που ανήκουν στην σκληρότερη πτέρυγα του κόμματος αυτού. Κατά παράδοση και γραμμή επικριτική του ΑΚΕΛ, η εφημερίδα βλέπει τον εαυτό της ως ένα αγκάθι στο πλευρό του Προέδρου Χριστόφια. Από τότε που η Κύπρος έγινε μέλος της ΕΕ, η εφημερίδα υιοθέτησε την άποψη ότι το Κυπριακό χρειάζεται Ευρωπαική λύση. Η εφημερίδα είναι πολύ καλά σχεδιασμένη, όμως το γράψιμο της ορισμένες φορές είναι φτωχό, και γενικά αποκαλυπτική. Εκτός του Κυπριακού, η άλλη κύρια εμμονή της εφημερίδας είναι η άμυνα και ασφάλεια. Δίχως έκπληξη είναι αντιβρετανική και αντιαμερικανική. ΄Επαιξε κύριο ρόλο στο να υποστηρίζει τους ισχυρισμούς του Παπαδόπουλου το 2005 ότι οι Αμερικανοί χρηματοδότησαν την καμπάνια για το ΝΑΙ στο δημοψήφισμα το 2004 μέσω της UNOPS και τα δι-κοινοτικά προγράμματα. Για μέρες δημοσίευε αποκαλύψεις σχετικά με ποίες κυπριακές οργανώσεις και ιδιώτες είχαν πωλήσει τις υπηρεσίες τους στους Αμερικανούς”.

Φανούλα Αργυρού

15/9/2009

Analysis in English Pro-Turkish UN personal (word doc.)
http://cyprusactionnetwork.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Pro-Turk_UN_-In_English_conspiring_Downer_and_Makarios_Drousiotis.258155046.doc

Leaked Memo from Jose Diaz to Alexander Downer(PDF)
http://cyprusactionnetwork.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/LEAKED_MEMO_FROM_PRO-TURK_UN_HATZIKOSTIS.258155233.pdf
========================

Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935

Email: [email protected]

http://www.cyprusactionnetwork.org

========================

The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.


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Analysis in English Pro-Turkish UN personal (word doc.)

Leaked Memo from Jose Diaz to Alexander Downer(PDF)

[Get Real!]

The Downer Age : Hakluyt & Co

October 14, 2008

FORMER Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has joined Kevin Rudd’s infrastructure chief, businessman Sir Rod Eddington, in advising a secretive British firm that sells intelligence on government policy intentions - including those in Australia - to big business.

http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=1410

[yialousa1971]

ALEXANDER DOWNER Questioned by Inner City Press About Leaked Memo and Pro-Turkish Bias.

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2009
Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935
NEW YORK—Alexander Downer, UN Envoy to Cyprus, apparently has a business relationship with BESPOKE APPROACH (a business consultancy that does business with Turkey), an interview with Downer by Inner City Press has been circulated and is reproduced below from the Inner City Press website, and on Freedom4Cyprus blog, the interview today also made its way to the website of the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
*Inner City Press last year reported on the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) RALLY FOR THE HELLENIC HUMAN RIGHTS IN FYROM in front of the US Mission to the UN in New York City,
“Several participants told Inner City Press that behind the demonstration was the exposure last week of the US State Department's communications with FYROM and even UN "name issue" envoy Matthew Nimmitz. "The UN shouldn't take its instructions from the US," one of them said. But on this and some other issues, it does.”

http://www.innercitypress.com/un1akrim102508.html

MORE REVELATIONS RE ALEXANDER DOWNER POSTED AT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE.

http://www.freedom4cyprus.blogspot.com/

Downer is promoting business interests in Cyprus. Mixed up in so many scandals! His UN envoy job is just something he does PART TIME

http://www.innercitypress.com/uncyp2conflicts091709.html

UN Cyprus Envoy Downer Brags of Asia Business, Says No Conflict But What Safeguards?
By Matthew Russell Lee Inner City Press
UNITED NATIONS, September 17 -- Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, now working for the business consultancy Bespoke Approach and part time for the UN on Cyprus , was again asked Thursday by Inner City Press if the two roles might conflict, and what safeguards the UN has in place.

Mr. Downer said most of his work with Bespoke Approach is in East Asia, with Indonesia and China . He said that because he was foreign minister of Australia for twelve years, he has good relations with China , "better than many people I know." Some thought this sounded like a form of advertisement, as did Downer's statement that he was asked about Cyprus during a dinner with Indonesia 's Foreign Minister a few weeks ago.

Downer said that he does no work with Cyprus , Turkey or Greece , and by this appeared to mean he does not negotiate contracts in the three, not that Bespoke Approach does not have business relations with enterprises active there.

Inner City Press asked about an initiative in Australia to ban former minister from serving as lobbyists for two years. While Downer said this must have been passed only yesterday, since he'd never heard of it, from the audience in the briefing room Australian parliamentarian Paul Neville clarified that Queensland and New South Wales are moving on such a ban.
Mr. Neville added that working for the UN wouldn't be considered lobbying. But what about working for Bespoke Approach?

Downer, last time at UN, questions multiply
Downer's connection in this regard was listed in a recent story about the ban on lobbying for two years:
"The State Government will restrict the activities of political lobbyists to guard against corruption, cronyism and conflicts of interest. In London last night, Premier Mike Rann announced a ban on former ministers acting as lobbyists for two years after leaving Parliament. Lobbyists will be listed on a public register from which they could be struck off if they breach rules governing integrity, honesty and ethics...
[url]adelaidenow.com.au[/url]

PUSHING THEIR BARROW
KEY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LOBBYISTS AND THEIR CLIENTS
BESPOKE APPROACH
Former Liberal minister Alexander Downer
Former Labor senator Nick Bolkus
Former Liberal staffer Ian Smith
Clients include: Minmetals Australia ,
Clarke Energy, Forbes Oil & Gas,
Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited,
Billabong Australia
Earlier this year, the Australian reported
"Former Labor senator Nick Bolkus was paid a reported sum of $136,500 to lobby the Rann Government on behalf of the beleaguered South Australian Jockey Club, a board member says. SAJC director Bill Spear, who brought legal action last November against the state's biggest gallops club that resulted in its chief executive being sacked, yesterday raised further questions about the board's conduct... Mr Spear had earlier confirmed that during the past two months, while the board and the SAJC's now-sacked chief executive Steve Ploubidis were the subject of an independent inquiry over vote-rigging and alleged corruption, two payments each of about $68,000 were made to Mr Bolkus for lobbying on behalf of the club. Mr Ploubidis denies the allegations. Mr Spear said payments in excess of $10,000 had required board approval, which, to his knowledge, had not been forthcoming in this case. Mr Bolkus is a founding partner in Adelaide lobbying firm Bespoke Approach, with former Howard government foreign minister Alexander Downer, and businessman Ian Smith, who is married to former senator Natasha Stott Despoja."
Downer said that he fills out a form for the UN Secretariat. But it is not clear if this form lists Bespoke Approach's clients. The UN's safeguards against conflicts by part time envoys appear lax, all the more so after the questions that have arisen since part time UN envoy to Niger , Canadian ex-diplomat Robert Fowler, was kidnapped while on non-UN business, visiting a Canadian owned gold mine. Click here for that story -- more than a week after basic questions were put to the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General, still no answers have been received.

Footnotes: Paul Neville the parliamentarian explained to Inner City Press that he has been sent to New York for the UN General Assembly for the next thirteen weeks. Responding to Robert Fowler's detour in Niger , Neville said that if he ventures beyond New York City , he has to get his own insurance.
Inner City Press also asked Downer about leaked UN documents about his role in Cyprus , and will report that -- and attach some of the documents -- separately. Watch this site.
* * *

At UN, Downer Says Has No Conflict in Cyprus , What Of Turkey , KKR?
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, May 4 -- How does the UN police for conflicts of interest in its ranks? The answer appears to be, it doesn't. Last week the UN's envoy for Cyprus , Alexander Downer, took questions from the Press. Inner City Press asked, as it had in 2008, what safeguards are in place to ensure that Downer's job with business consultancy Bespoke Approach doesn't conflict with his activities in and around Cyprus .

Downer assured that he wouldn't allow conflicts, adding that Cyprus doesn't have that much business. Neither is a satisfactory response at the organization like the UN. Only a few month ago, the UN's stealth envoy to Niger , former Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler, was kidnapped in Niger while on his way to visit a Canadian-owned gold mine, apparently not on UN business. The UN has still refused to answer questions, even after Fowler had been released, reportedly in exchange for the freeing of terrorism suspects.

Downer's answer as to Cyprus is particularly insufficient because Bespoke Approach work with Turkey (or Greece ) would also be a conflict. The investment firm KKR lists an affiliation with Bespoke Approach. Who is policing these conflicts? Not the UN.

Downer at UN, questions being raised, answers awaited
The Cyprus foreign service has made this transcript of Inner City Press' Q&A with Downer:
Press and Information Office - Press Releases

Inner City Press: there’s been some controversy or questioning about if you can be the envoy and also have side job as a businessman?

Downer: Well, I was employed part-time not full-time so I have to keep body and soul together. I’ve got a wife, I’ve got children. My daughter got married last week, I just have to pay for the wedding and thank you for congratulating me. It’s only a part-time job. Of course I have absolutely no business with Cyprus at all. I have absolutely no business involvement there. To have business involvement there would be a conflict of interest. Cyprus would be the greatest of perspective, I love Cyprus , is not a very big place, it’s not like the United States . So business doesn’t arise day-by-day between Australia and Cyprus .

Inner City Press: I found on the UN website of bespoke approach, it says you are a good person to hire in part, because you work for the UN. So some people wonder whether it’s appropriate to …..

Downer: Let's just say I’m a good person to hire because if you read it carefully, because I work for the UN, it just explains my CV. You are working in the media and so I think you would appreciate this point in the way that I do. I think transparency is incredibly important. Therefore, it wouldn’t be honest to hide from anybody who may use bespoke approach. But it’s a fair question to ask because obviously I have to be careful there is no conflict of interest. Also I work as a professor at Adelaide University . In that capacity I do talk to people about Cyprus from time to time. In Australia there’s quite a lot of interest on Cyprus . There are nearly 100,000 Australian Cypriots. They split about 60 – 40 Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots. So they keep me busy as well as some of them are on campus of the university. One of them was at my daughter’s wedding actually last week and started lobbying me furiously about some issue to what I’m going to do.

Posted by Admin at 21:00 0 comments

Alexander Downer mixed in scandals! Downer call-up in AWB action

Downer call-up in AWB action

ELIZABETH SEXTON

September 16, 2009

THE former minister for foreign affairs, Alexander Downer, will be called to give evidence about his knowledge of AWB's payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in a shareholder class action beginning in November.

The Federal Court gave the investors leave on Monday to issue a subpoena to Mr Downer by November 20.

The $100 million damages suit begins on November 30.
The shareholders asked the court to order Mr Downer to appear after lawyers for the grains trader revealed during a pre-trial hearing last week that part of its defence would be that the government knew about the ''transport fees'' paid to Iraq while United Nations sanctions were in place.

The shareholders' solicitor, Maurice Blackburn principal Ben Slade, said yesterday that Mr Downer would be called as a witness ''to refute the suggestion that AWB is making that the government knew that kickbacks were being paid''. ''We feel that we had no choice but to ask the previous minister to say again what he said before the Cole inquiry,'' Mr Slade said.

In the final report of his 2006 commission of inquiry, Terence Cole, QC, summarised Mr Downer's evidence as ''that he did not know and was not at any time aware during the period from about 1999 to 2003 of anything about'' AWB's payment of fees to Jordanian transport company Alia, or Alia's connection with the Iraqi government.

''There is no evidence to suggest that minister Downer possessed any such information at any material time,'' he said.

The investors allege that they suffered losses when the inquiry exposed the illegal payments.

They claim this damage would not have occurred if AWB had not concealed the nature of the payments from officials because ministerial permission for its wheat shipments to Iraq would not have been given.

Justice Lindsay Foster raised the prospect during Thursday's hearing that Mr Downer would be called. The judge said he could ''see some difficulties'' for the shareholders in trying to ''prove that the minister didn't know'' without calling him
####
SEE also CANA report, PRO-TURKISH UN PERSONELL: http://cyprusactionnetwork.org/pro-turkish_un_personal

========================
Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: [email protected]
http://www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================

The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.

[yialousa1971]

Turkish coast guard caught escorting smugglers into Greece.

Monday September 21, 2009
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_1_21/09/2009_110874
Frontex report implicates Turks

Photographs taken from a Latvian helicopter participating in Frontex patrols over the Aegean and published yesterday in Kathimerini, show Turkish coast guard officials failing to obstruct a smuggling vessel from leaving the Turkish coast, an apparent vindication of Greek claims that Turkish authorities are not cooperating in the fight to curb illegal immigration.

The photos, submitted to the European Commission along with a written report by the helicopter pilots, also appear to show a Turkish coast guard vessel escorting a smuggling boat into Greek national waters off the tiny islet of Farmakonisi.

An extract from the report by the Latvian Frontex pilots reads as follows: “We have to mention... at 8.01 [a.m.] a suspicious target detected in Greek territorial waters moving to the east... At 8.02, the suspicious target has been recognized as a Turkish Coast Guard vessel.”

The photographs were submitted to the EC by the Latvian pilots on September 14, when their Frontex aircraft was harassed by Turkish radar several times. The pilots said they received a series of emergency signals via Turkish radar, warning that their aircraft had entered Turkish air space. The signals had been sent while the aircraft was flying over the Aegean islet of Farmakonisi, according to the Frontex pilots, who said they ignored these signals and continued their patrol duties.

Last week, the EC issued a statement – which was rather too balanced for the liking of Greek diplomats – noting that the Frontex helicopter had “never violated Turkish air space” but also added that the aircraft “had never received threats from Turkish authorities.”

In a related development, the French government is said to have submitted a proposal to the EU’s Council of Justice and Internal Affairs Ministers, calling for Turkey and Libya to cooperate with EU member states in the drive to curb illegal immigration. The proposal reportedly calls on the EU to provide the two countries with a “decisive reminder” of their obligations.

[Nikitas]

The captains of the Turkish coast guard boats are what my West Indian neighbors in London used to call "rasclout kebabs".

I have personal experience of their idiotic tactis, harassing passenger vessels in international waters and beating a hasty retreat when the Greek coastguard arrives.

As for facilitating illegal immigrants and various smuggles, that is an old habit of theirs. These guys must be on the take, sharing part of the proceeds.

[yialousa1971]

Defense contractors join Turkish lobbying effort in pursuit of arms deals
The Sunlight Foundation
By Luke Rosiak on 09/16/09 @ 5:10 pm
http://realtime.sunlightprojects.org/2009/09/16/defense-contractors-join-turkish-lobbying-effor/

The Defense Department’s request last week for congressional approval of the sale of $8 billion worth of PAC-3 missiles to Turkey was the latest victory for a disparate group of interests including defense contractors, finance and energy corporations, trade groups, the Turkish government and a well-financed network of domestic advocacy groups. Intersecting interests have led them to join forces and lobby on a number of issues, including the characterization of distant historical events.

Turkey and the domestic advocacy groups that promote the interests of Turkish-Americans did so to protect the Turkey’s image, while U.S. companies sought to bolster their own bottom lines. The efforts appear to have been successful for all the parties.

The Turkish government has consistently lavished millions each year on well-connected Washington lobbying firms–including those employing former House leaders–which contacted offices of the lower chamber 1,468 times, according to an analysis of data from Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker of disclosures filed in 2008 by firms under the Foreign Agent Registration Act—nearly twice that of the second-highest country, Libya.

Turkey’s efforts have now been augmented by a domestic effort launched by a Turkish-American entrepreneur. Yalcin Ayasli founded Hittite Microwave in 1985 as a one-man company with a grant from the U.S. Air Force, and built the electronics company into a firm worth $1.2 billion, with half of its products sold overseas, according to a company presentation. The company had $180 million in revenue in 2008, according to SEC filings.

Since 2004, Hittite Microwave has received roughly $30 million in contracts directly from the government—mostly to sponsor research and development—and has also done business with Lockheed Martin and other prime contractors, many of whom use Hittite electronics in their jets and other equipment, sold to both the U.S. military and Turkey.

In 2007, Ayasli transferred $30 million in stock to fund a new endeavor, the nonprofit Turkish Coalition of America. The organization is headquartered in a Washington suite that has also been listed as the address for the Turkish Coalition USA PAC, the lobbying firm of Lydia Borland (who has represented the Turkish government), and the law firm of Bruce Fein and Associates (Fein comprises half of the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund).

The family of Hittite founder Ayaslin contributed nearly half a million dollars to federal politics in 2007-2008, donating near the maximum amount to the House campaign committees for both parties, but largely neglecting the Senate.

TCA is headed by Lincoln McCurdy, who served as a U.S. diplomat in Istanbul from 1980 to 1984, and also functions as treasurer of the political action committee; he draws an additional retainer as Ayasli’s “personal advisor” on “political matters,” in his own words. From 1989 to 2004, McCurdy led the American Turkish Council, a lobbying organization funded by membership dues from defense and energy companies with an interest in Turkey, and whose executive ranks include Borland.

In addition to the advocacy done through the ATC (which also funds trips to Turkey for congressional staff), a handful of its members–Citigroup, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Chevron, Textron, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which spent a combined $80 million lobbying Washington last year—lobbied Congress directly on the genocide resolution and other issues important to Turkey; the Aerospace Industries Association, a trade group, helped coordinate the effort.

A matter of historical record

For Turkey and its allies, perception has been everything when it comes to the nearly century-old killings that left more than a million Armenians dead as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The country has lobbied House and Senate and the executive branch to oppose congressional resolutions to label the incidents genocide, and funded academic programs that bolster the country’s image and downplay the role of the government in the killings.

Those programs include the Institute for Turkish Studies at Georgetown University, which received an initial $3 million disbursement from Turkey in 1982 and continues to draw annual financial support from the government, and is chaired by Nabi Sensoy, Turkey’s ambassador to the United States. In 2006, a board member, Donald Quataert, resigned from the institute, claiming that after he acknowledged in an academic review that the Armenian killings met the definition of genocide, Sensoy told him Turkish authorities had threatened to revoke the Institute’s funding. Sensoy disputed the allegations.

The Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, financed by TCA, aggressively pursues those who threaten the country’s reputation, including suing the Southern Poverty Law Center and David Holthouse, a journalist who prepared a report for the nonprofit, for upwards of $8 million on behalf of an academic. In that case, the Foreign Agents Registration Act is at issue. Holthouse suggested that, as part of a group of professors who have enjoyed endowed positions at universities financed directly by the government of Turkey and who have expressed views on the killings outside of the academic mainstream, he was acting as a foreign agent. If true, the academic would be required to file detailed disclosures with the U.S. Justice Department.

Courting Ankara

Since the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003, the U.S. government has been especially wary of riling Turkey, which shares a border with the war-torn country. Despite widespread support for the resolution labeling the Armenian killings genocide, lawmakers have consistently kept it from a floor vote—even in 2007, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed her preference for a vote.

Few members have been as vocal as opposing the resolution as Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who sits on the House Foreign Affairs committee and is a top recipient of Turkish Coalition USA PAC money.

More quietly, U.S. companies with interests in Turkey have lobbied on the resolution. For U.S. defense contractors, the Turkish armed forces are a multi-billion dollar market—Lockheed Martin and Raytheon would benefit from to latest proposed missile sale. Chevron is constructing a pipeline that passes through Turkey. CitiGroup, which has funded development projects in Turkey since 1975, acquired a twenty percent stake in the country’s largest private bank in 2006, and acquired an investment brokerage in 2007.

By itself, Turkey boasts a formidable army of Washington lobbyists. The government has employed the Livingston Group, which boasts Bob Livingston, who’d served as chair of the House Appropriations Committee in the 1990s; Dickstein Shapiro LLP, which has former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on its payroll; DLA Piper, which employed former House majority leader Dick Armey, and the Gephardt Group, led by former House minority leader and Democratic presidential candidate Richard Gephardt. With the addition of corporate interests and its network of domestic supporters, it has built a formidable influence operation—one that can prevent legislation from coming to a vote.

The Sunlight Foundation is committed to helping citizens, bloggers and journalists be their own best watchdogs, by improving access to existing information and digitizing new information, and by creating new tools and Web sites to enable all of us to collaborate in fostering greater transparency.

[Simon]

Greece has missiles that can hit Istanbul, says reportFont Size: Larger|Smaller

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
ATHENS - Daily News with wires
Greece has purchased a missile system capable of striking Turkey, local media reported over the weekend. Greek daily Ta Nea said the army received Scalp missiles from France with a range of 250 kilometers range to equip its 15 Mirage 2000-5 warplanes.

The Mirage 2000-5 warplanes will be equipped by land-to-land Mica and air-to-land Scalp missiles in accordance with the agreement signed between Greece and France, it added.

The purchase came days after Turkey's military said it was planning to spend close to $1 billion for its first long-range missile defense system. U.S. President Barack Obama canceled a long-planned missile shield for Eastern Europe, replacing a Bush-era project that was opposed by Russia with a plan he contended would better defend against Iranian missiles.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey's move was aimed at strengthening the country's defense, rejecting media speculation that the system is meant specifically to protect the country from Iranian missiles. But a European diplomat said Obama’s decision may be part of a trade that includes sending other missiles to Turkey.

Scalp missiles have been in the Greek airbase since last week, said Ta Nea, adding Greece had acquired an advantageous position for the first time in terms of defense.

“Thanks to the Scalps, Greek pilots will remain out of range of anti-aircraft systems and be able to hit larger targets,” said Ta Nea. When launched from Greece’s Maritsa region Scalp missiles have a range that can hit Istanbul, according to the paper.

When launched from Lesbos and Rhodes islands in the Aegean, the range covers all of the Aegean region as well as parts of mid-Anatolia. Turkey and the United States tried to prevent the purchase claiming that it violated the range limits in the protocol over the control of nuclear energy, said the daily.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php? ... 2009-09-22

[YFred]

Oh My God. The Greeks are setting the lesbians on us. There is no hope left.

[Simon]

Oh My God. The Greeks are setting the lesbians on us. There is no hope left.

You were worried enough to go crying to the Americans but to no avail.

[YFred]

Oh My God. The Greeks are setting the lesbians on us. There is no hope left.

You were worried enough to go crying to the Americans but to no avail.

Who wouldn't be worried about a lesbian attack. We have our wives to worry about