THE ATAA: DEEP STATE AND PSYCHOSIS

"Psychosis, with adjective psychotic, literally means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from psychosis are said to be psychotic."
~ Wikipedia.

Last week someone kindly brought to my attention the fact that Günay Hakkı Övünç (Evinch, according to his Americanized spelling) had become the president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Rastî readers will remember Övünç in connection with an American-based Turkish mercenary company that has a training facility in Silopi. More on that from Yeni Özgür Politika:

On some 1,000 acres of land between Silopi and the Habur Border Crossing the Black Hawk Security Company is working feverishly using up to 20 trucks carrying sand, five heavy plant and various other vehicles to get the base finished. The company was reportedly structured according to a model used by the Special Forces. The Washington-based company is shaping its organizations in Turkey and Iraq in order to meet the requirements of a low intensity war. With a cadre comprised of retired soldiers and intelligence operatives taken from special units the company provides a broad spectrum of activities including armored convoy security, defense tactics, low intensity combat, counter-terrorism and intelligence, air operations and hostage rescue.

The company, which has named its site in Habur "Black Hawk 1 Headquarters," will also have three other HQs in Zakho, Kirkuk and Baghdad.

The company will also have over 1,000 "retired" military personnel from the Turkish army attached to it. They will undergo a short refresher training course at the HQ in Silopi. At the Habur HQ, where some 300 service personnel will also be on duty, there will be a mobile hospital, a helipad, one casevac helicopter, one escort helicopter, and 300 vehicles including armed Hummers, and a truck park for 8,000 vehicles.

[ . . . ]

Günay Hakkı Övünç: Company partner and legal architect Günay Hakkı Övünç owns a law practice in Washington. Övünç, who for years has pursued law suits in the United States filed by the Turkish Embassy and the General Staff, is also the American-Turkısh Assembly's deputy chairman in charge of Washington.

Also involved in Black Hawk Security, Inc. is the TSK's retired Lieutenant General Köksal Karabay, who was in charge of Turkish special forces when American marines "bagged" them on 4 July, 2003.

YÖP asks some pertinent questions about the purpose of "Black Hawk 1 HQ" at the Habur border crossing:

The company will also have over 1,000 "retired" military personnel from the Turkish army attached to it. They will undergo a short refresher training course at the HQ in Silopi. At the Habur HQ, where some 300 service personnel will also be on duty, there will be a mobile hospital, a helipad, one casevac [medevac] helicopter, one escort helicopter, and 300 vehicles including armed Hummers, and a truck park for 8,000 vehicles.

[ . . . ]

There are many unanswered questions such as how did the partners meet one another, why did they take on this job, how did they get permission, what kind of relationship do they have with the US authorities, with whom do they share the intelligence they obtain, when the day comes how are they going to use "Turkish-Kurdish-Arab" and perhaps even American personnel, and are they simply going to be escorting trucks and nothing more? As part of an agreement made with this company the Koc Group and Milangaz Company send 1,600 tankers of LPG into Iraq every month. They send 200 tankers of aviation fuel ever day. They provide 70 percent of the United States requirement for diesel fuel via this crossing. When they talk about "security for Turkish trucks" they mean these tankers. However, this much military hardware and these names beg other questions.

Indeed.

Another interesting fact about Övünç is that he's from Chicago. According to the Sibel Edmonds case, Turkish nationals were apparently deeply engaged in covert activity in two major American cities and one of those was Chicago:

It may be more than another embarrassing security scandal. One counter-intelligence official familiar with Edmonds’s case has told Vanity Fair that the F.B.I. opened an investigation into covert activities by Turkish nationals in the late 1990’s. That inquiry found evidence, mainly via wiretaps, of attempts to corrupt senior American politicians in at least two major cities—Washington and Chicago. Toward the end of 2001, Edmonds was asked to translate some of the thousands of calls that had been recorded by this operation, some dating back to 1997.

[ . . . ]

. . . in December 2001, Joel Robertz, an F.B.I. special agent in Chicago, contacted Sibel and asked her to review some wiretaps. Some were several years old, others more recent; all had been generated by a counter-intelligence that had its start in 1997. “It began in D.C.,” says an F.B.I. counter-intelligence official who is familiar with the case file. “It became apparent that Chicago was actually the center of what was going on.”

I wonder how close a relationship there is between Övünç and another Turkish Chicagoan, Mehmet Çelebi, whose fundraising for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was eventually dropped faster than a hot potato.

We know that sometime in 2005 or, perhaps, very early 2006, Övünç was "summoned" to Iraq, in Övünç's own words:

I was summoned to Baghdad. As I did not want to worry my wife, I told her I was going to Turkey for a conference on the Armenian matter – which was true. But, the complete truth was that after the conference I would continue to Iraq via Istanbul Atatürk International Airport, one of the safest routes to Baghdad for civilians. Passengers go through four levels of security checks, and the pretty woman sitting next to you in the plane might be a Turkish sky marshal who can break your neck faster than you can say, “Turkish Delight.”

So who "summoned" him and for what purpose? Inquiring minds want to know.

What may be even more scary is the ATAA's president-elect, Ergün Kirlikovalı (Check the ATAA's board of directors page for verification). He should be Övünç's successor as president of the ATAA in the not-too-distant future. You can get an idea of some of the things Kirlikovalı believes in these comments to a Forbes opinion piece asking, "Should Turkey Apologize to the Armenians".

Or check out a blog entry at the Orange County Weekly, which has a lot of interesting links to comments Kirlikovali is making all over the Internet . . . Like his psychotic babbling here or his anti-Mexican rant here.

And there's more raving at the Huffington Post. Or check out comment #168 here:

Turks are the new Jews. Genocide crowds are the new KKK.

Although there has been no due process or a jury verdict by any competent tribunal, these genocide crowds have already made up their minds about the characterization of the Turkish-Armenian conflict during WWI. Facts, figures no longer matter to them as they are all classified under the heading denials.

These genocide lynch mobs burn crosses not on Turkish lawns (yet,) but in public conscience. They claim, scream, and attack… They insult, intimidate, and terrorize… They already have their chosen verdict in their minds which comforts their anti-Turkish bias: Turks are guilty and there is no need to discuss this lay verdict; it is execution time… get the rope!

Or how about comment #173:

If Turks wanted to kill all Armenians why did they let one go? If Turks were afraid of foreign political pressure, why did they go ahead with the tereset (temporary resettlement?) What is wrong with defending your home when certain elements are trying to destroy your home from within, in total callusion [sic] with forced from outside? If Turks wanted to kill all Armenians, why would they save the ones in Istanbul? and Izmir? and Edirne? and Aleppo? and many other city centers (Urfa, Marasah, Anteb, and more?) Why would they exclude Catholic or Protestant Armenians? Why would they exclude many other Armenians like those dwelling in city centers, and clerks, etc.? And then why would Turks allow Armenians to use the trains where there were railroads (Konya, Adana, etc.?) Why would they allocate ox, horse, donkey carts where available? Why would they assign soldiers to protect them? Why would they allow American aid to help Arenians [sic]? Why would Turks invite an investigation of the charges by an international committee, other than those who started the tragedy in the first place, like Russia, Britain and France?

Can someone explain to me how Kirlikovalı's ranting squares with Övünç's vision for the ATAA in a statement last month, in which he says, "ATAA is a proud interlocutor, as the voice of reason and credibility in Washington DC for nearly 500,000 Turkish and Turkic Americans nationwide"? And why is it that we should believe the psychotic ravings of the future president of the ATAA on his word alone?