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.

Azerbaijani Bites and Bits

On February 12, 2014, the Hawaii House of Representatives Committee on Veterans, Military, and International Affairs, and Culture and the Arts rejected wo anti-Armenian resolutions during their committee hearing at the State Capitol, despite the efforts of Committee Chairman Mark Takei, who was an author of the bills. Both measures were reportedly introduced at the behest of the Azerbaijani government, confirmed publicly by State Rep. Rida Cabanilla, who was quoted in "Civil Beat," a Hawaii publication, as saying that: "The resolutions came from Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the United States."

A Unique Study of Azeri Lobby in Mexico

An extensive study by Dr. Carlos Antaramian, a professor and researcher in Michoacan College of Mexico, has been published in the Winter 2013 issue of the Mexican journal Istor. It shows in detail the mechanism and works of Azeri political lobbying in Mexico.

The "Khojaly Accusation" of Thomas Goltz

Russell Pollard

 

I was intrigued by Shaunt Oozoonian’s report  from the presentation at University of California, Irvine (UCI) called the “Khojaly Accusation of 1992”. This presentation included a viewing of the film by Thomas Goltz called “Azerbaijan through Foreign Eyes.” During the Karabakh war Goltz was a journalist working from the Azeri side, and now he is a professor at Montana State University. In his book, “Azerbaijan Diary,”  he comes across as a very brash self-assured individual and proclaims himself as being the journalist who  “broke the Khojaly story” to the US media in February 1992. Given this accolade I was surprised to read that his performance at this meeting was unconvincing and disappointing.

Thomas Goltz: The Godfather of the Legend of the “Khojaly Genocide”

Vahram Atanesyan
Translated by Vartan Matiossian

Thomas Goltz. Born in Japan. Graduate of New York University, majoring in Near Eastern issues. He has been a journalist for fifteen years in Turkey and then in the former Soviet republics. He is the author of three books: “Azerbaijan Diary,” “Chechnya Diary,” “Georgia Diary.” He cooperates closely with Azerbaijani organizations of the U.S. and Canada (see http://ru.wikipedia.org)
He authored the first publication about the events of Khojaly in the international press. The Washington Post printed an article with his signature on February 27, 1992. Here it is:

In Mexico, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian Voices Dismay about Pro-Azeri Positions

While on an official visit to Mexico, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian criticized the Mexican Senate on October 23, 2012 for adopting a pro-Azeri resolution and expressed dismay at the recent erection of a statue of Azeri dictator Heydar Aliyev in the nation’s capital.

During a meeting with his Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa, Nalbandian expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the previous Mexican parliament had adopted resolutions that misrepresent the elements of the Mountainous Karabagh conflict. Earlier this year, the Mexican Senate passed a resolution commemorating the events at Khojaly calling the incident genocide.