After switching positions, Gephardt and his lobbying firm have taken $8 million from Turkish government

Chuck Raasch

 

As a member of Congress, Dick Gephardt often spoke passionately about the need for the United States to recognize as genocide the mass deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians under the Turkish government that began one century ago.

But as a lobbyist for Turkey since leaving Congress in 2005, Gephardt, a Democrat, has taken the opposite side. His behind-the-scenes work has been cited as a factor in the annual failure of Congress to recognize the Armenian genocide.

Starbucks becomes flashpoint between Turks, Armenians

Pinar Tremblay

 

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) posted on Feb. 18 a picture of women with traditional Armenian gear, holding a Starbucks coffee cup, under the Turkish crescent and star flags on their Facebook account. Under the photo, which was displayed at the Mulholland and Calabasas stores in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, ANCA posed the question: “Why is Starbucks selling coffee using an image of women, dressed in traditional Armenian costumes, celebrating a Turkish state that systematically victimized Armenian women during the Armenian genocide, and that still denies this crime against all humanity?” Starbucks, known as a rather liberal establishment, promptly issued an apology and removed the posters, which were displayed in a couple of locations in Southern California. The photographer responsible for the design of the poster, Timothy Rose, also issued an apology on his Web page explaining that he had not known the women were Armenian.

How Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholes

Shane Goldmacher 

 

Dennis Hastert and Dick Gep­hardt couldn't stand each other when they led Congress a decade ago. But now they've moved to K Street, where the flood of money tends to wash over such personal differences. These days, they work hand in hand as two of Turkey's top lobbyists, with their respective firms pocketing most of a $1.4 million annual lobbying contract.