"The Argument from Intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence."
~ Ayn Rand.
~ Ayn Rand.
Well, what do you know? It looks like Taner Akcam, a specialist on the Armenian Genocide who also happens to be of Turkish ethnicity, was detained by Canadian customs officials because persons unknown had contacted them and told them that Professor Akcam was a "terrorist." Here's the story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune:
What's new: Taner Akçam, an expert on the Armenian genocide and a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, was detained in Montreal by Canadian customs officials Friday. He was held for more than four hours while officials investigated a charge of terrorism leveled against him by unknown persons.
What happened: Akçam had been invited to speak at a human-rights symposium at McGill University Law School. A Canadian customs officer showed him copies of reviews of his new book on the Armenian tragedy, "A Shameful Act," from Wikipedia.com and Amazon.com that said Akçam was a member of a terrorist organization.
The outcome: While being questioned, Akçam was contacted on his cell phone by his host, McGill professor Payam Akhavan, when he failed to pass customs. Akhavan called the office of Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism, and Stockwell Day, the minister of public safety. Akçam's release followed almost immediately.
Not the first time: Akçam, who is a Turk, believes this was part of "a campaign against me by the Turkish authorities" for speaking out on the Armenian genocide. "When I was at New York University recently as part of my book tour, the autograph session was broken up by Turkish nationalists. They distributed a flier labeling me a terrorist and claiming that I was responsible for the deaths of Americans in Turkey."
The same thing happened in December at the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School in New York, but with a twist. When e-mails suggested the same group was going to break up a conference on genocide and law, the sponsors called the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan to complain. The next day, Akçam said, a consular official called Cardozo to say there would be no demonstration. There wasn't.
The fallout: Akçam said that because of the campaign of intimidation against him he is fearful for his life when he travels outside the United States. "I have been forced to cancel five international appearances at academic conferences," he said. "Under the guise of freedom of speech, certain groups are causing me great physical and material harm. It is very difficult to do my work."
Okay, let's think real hard . . . who could possibly be the "certain groups" behind all this, hmmm?? Could these "certain groups" be anyway related to the murderers of Hrant Dink? Could the sudden and bogus designation of Taner Akcam as "terrorist" be related to Abdullah Gul's and Yasar Buyukanit's recent visits to the US? Could the campaign of intimidation be related to the current US-Turkish joint campaign of intimidation against Kurds?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Let's say that the anonymous tipsters were notifying Canadian authorities about the extremely dangerous "terrorist" Akcam because of Akcam's past affiliation with Dev-Yol, parent organization of Dev-Sol, which eventually became DHKP/C. I find it highly ironic that the anonymous tipsters can clearly recall Dev-Yol, an organization that existed back in the mid-1970's, but they can't recall the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Well, hooray for long-term memory loss!
The best thing that Taner Akcam could do was to go public with this news because now, if something happens to him, we'll know who did it. You can see some video interviews with Akcam here. Better hurry, though, before YouTube suffers a campaign of intimidation and yanks 'em.
Akcam isn't alone in suffering from intimidation campaigns by the Deep State over the Armenian Genocide. Congress is also under intimidation for the Armenian Genocide resolution, according to Congressman Frank Pallone:
"Madam Speaker, I rise this morning to share my concerns regarding the Turkish government's threats to retaliate against our country if the U.S. Congress adopts a resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide."
"These shocking threats have been issued in response to the recent introduction of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.106. This measure seeks to affirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide, by recognizing it as a historical fact. It also praises the American record of opposition to this tragedy, which is marked by courageous diplomatic protests and unprecedented American relief efforts for the survivors of this crime."
"Senior Turkish government officials have warned that, if Congress even considers this resolution, they will cut off supply access for our forces serving in Iraq. In fact, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Vice President Dick Cheney that the U.S. must (quote) "calculate the costs of losing Turkey."
"Such a brazen threat to interfere in U.S. military operations is absolutely unacceptable. I am outraged that the Turkish government would put the lives of soldiers at risk in the pursuit of its desperate campaign to deny the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians. This extremist behavior is known as blackmail in my book and it should be publicly and forcefully rejected as such. Clearly, Turkey is no friend of the U.S."
"As an American, I am deeply offended that another country is seeking to dictate where our nation stands on core moral issues. Especially a country that claims to embrace democracy yet has a long-standing history of abusing minorities, intellectuals and the principle of freedom of expression."
"As a Member of Congress, it is extremely troubling that a foreign government is meddling in our nation's legislative process through threats and intimidation. This is the most dramatic intervention of a foreign government in U.S. congressional affairs and it has been going on for much too long."
Read more at the link.
So you see, the US if fully aware of Turkish intimidation campaigns, even in the hallowed halls of Congress. I'd have more sympathy for them if they didn't cooperate with the majority of those intimidation campaigns as well as undermine human rights legislation to turn a buck for the war industry and their lobbyists (hence providing much of those coveted campaign dollars) or to score a few political brownie points.
In other news, in one item from Hurriyet, Abdullah Gul still thinks that Mam Celal has cooties, so he passes information to him through Iraqi Deputy President Adil Abdulmehdi. It sounds to me like Gul thinks that PKK is using television stations in South Kurdistan to "relay their messages." You know, it sounds very ineffient to me to use a television broadcast station to "relay [ ] messages." Besides, cell phones are much cheaper and are easier to carry. In conclusion, Abdulmehdi basically tells Gul to "butt out."
In a second--and even funnier--item, the Ankara regime has just discovered that it was American weapons that were used to murder a priest in Trabzon last year, in the Council of State attack, and in other alleged attacks against "police force members." What this has to do with the availability of American weapons for PKK, I have yet to figure out. Maybe Hurriyet is suggesting that it was PKK instead of the Deep State that murdered the priest in Trabzon or carried out the Council of State attack? More likely the weapons were acquired by MIT and JITEM from their allies, the Sunni insurgents, and that's how they easily made their way over the border and into Deep State's hands in Turkey. It's kind of odd that now, a year after the priest's murder, the Ankara regime has finally figured out where the weapon came from. How's that for police efficiency?
On the other hand, both of these news items may simply indicate that Hurriyet staff is hallucinating again. Good try, guys. Now go take your meds.
Time for boycott! TDN reported today that Turkish organic fruit juices will be making their way to the refrigerated sections of Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Earlier in the week, Whole Foods made the news in reports that it would acquire Wild Oats Markets. Whole Foods is already the world's largest organic food retailer, so the new acquisition will be icing on the cake. More on Whole Foods from the Austin Business Journal:
Whole Foods Market Inc., the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, is sowing its wild oats.
The Austin-based company, founded in 1980, currently has 91 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire competitor Wild Oats Markets (NASDAQ: OATS).
[ . . . ]
According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, all of Whole Foods' 11 operating regions will gain stores, with three of its smallest regions gaining critical mass. Additionally, Whole Foods will gain immediate entry into a significant number of new markets.
With annual sales of about $1.2 billion, Wild Oats Markets is one of the leading natural and organic foods retailers in North America. Wild Oats was founded in Boulder, Colo., in 1987 and listed on the NASDAQ National Market in 1996.
The company currently operates 110 stores in 24 states and British Columbia, Canada, under four banners: Wild Oats Marketplace, Henry's Farmers Market, Sun Harvest and Capers Community Market.
We can expect to see the Turkish import, Organic Juice USA, in all of the retail food chains mentioned above. The first order of business is to make Whole Foods Market, Inc. aware of Turkey's human rights record with regard to the Kurdish people.
For that, I'm gonna need a little help from my friends.
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