by Yusif Babanli, co-founder of the US Azeris Network and board member of the Azerbaijani American Council.
From Paris to Berlin,
In every disco I get in,
My heart is pumping for love, pumping for love,
‘Cause when I’m thinking of you,
And all the things we could do,
My heart is pumping for love,
You left me longing for you…
Remember that song by the Danish pop band Infernal? The 2005 “From Paris to Berlin” sent the rhythms beyond the dance clubs and radio hit charts.
The lyrics of the song can be adapted to match the actions of the Armenian separatists. Just replace the words Paris with Khankandi, Berlin with Los Angeles, “disco” with “Armenian community” and you’ll get a vivid image of Bako Sahakian with Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, excitedly boarding a plane with an Armenian passport at Zvartnots, en route to the annual telethon, held by the Hayastan All Armenia Fund since 1998 in Los Angeles. Use your imagination for the rest of the lyrics, on how and for what his heart is pumping and how much he longs for love every Thanksgiving Day telethon.
An installation of a kind, the leader of the Armenian separatists in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, has made a habit of taking trips to the wealthiest community of the Armenian diaspora in the West. The government of the Republic of Armenia may for many apparent reasons shy away from openly wheedling out financial contributions to the devastated economy of Armenia or its occupying installation in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Bako Sahakyan may do the job.
The Sargsyan government has a distinctive record of corruption and human rights abuse, especially after the massacre of Armenian civilians in central Yerevan in the spring of 2008 which naturally diminished the will of many Armenians abroad to put any money at his disposal. Add to that the infamous Turkish-Armenian Protocols which angered the wealthy diaspora in the West and got him a crystal clear ultimatum. Sahakyan, on the other hand, does not enjoy a similar transparency. Well… because he’s not really considered anyone, except by the Armenian diaspora, of course. Hence, Sahakyan’s track record of misappropriation of funds from the contributions allocated to him both by local entities and the diaspora is unknown.
The annual telethon itself is usually held on or around Thanksgiving Day in an attempt to solicit more money when people are more willing to give. However, to magnify the amount of donations, Sahakyan and his companions go the extra mile by hopping from place to place on their way to Los Angeles to show that the donated money is not lost but spent wisely, that the separatist government is “actually” working and is recognized by the world. For example, on 8 November, the Armenian media claimed the “president of Artsakh” stopped in Berlin to hold discussions with German MPs in the Bundestag on “bilateral relations” with Germany (News.am, 8 November 2011.) Needless to say, the information turned out to be false and was accordingly refuted by German MPs.
Another deceptive imposture around the date which is usually prepped by the Armenian government is provoking the Azerbaijani Army to react and retaliate to ceasefire violations by the Armenian Army deployed in Karabakh. While the Armenian Defence Ministry had been persistent about no recorded deaths among the soldiers of the Armenian Army since the ceasefire agreement in 1994, most probably to create the impression that the Armenian Army is unbeatable, in the last few years the strategy has been reversed as Armenian media, fed by the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Armenia, have become more vocal about soaring casualties among Armenian servicemen in Nagorno-Karabakh. The purpose is to justify soliciting more donations on the basis that the Armenian installation in Khankandi has to be able to withstand the annually increasing military budget of Azerbaijan.
A few days before the telethon which is to take place on 25 November, Armenian media reported that two Armenian soldiers had been killed by Azerbaijani sniper fire (ArmeniaNow, 21 November). Reminiscent of the 2008 skirmish provoked by an Armenian offensive on Azerbaijani positions to divert public attention away from the Yerevan massacre of 10 Armenian civilians by the Sargsyan government's security forces, the latest reports on the deaths of two Armenian soldiers are used as a preamble to call for more donations from the diaspora.
Sometimes though, the separatist leaders, dissatisfied with the amount of cash donated by the diaspora, employ other means of blackmail, willingly alerting the diaspora that they will make concessions to Azerbaijan if they don’t get enough from the Armenians. A case in point: the speech of Arkadiy Gukasyan, formerly installed as separatist leader, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel before the Armenian community in November 2006, when he was observed reminding the donors that if the Azerbaijani government offered “oil or black caviar” instead of threats to retake Karabakh by force, he would reconsider his position in regard to pursuing independence from Azerbaijan.
So with or without alerts to the diaspora, the Turkey Day event each November is undoubtedly “the love” Sahakyan longs for throughout the whole year. After all, it's easy money in return for a couple of blushes in front of the Armenian American audience. These extra humble blushes got him $20.8 million last year. It was so much that it even bought him a trip to Argentina and Uruguay which he plans to take right after the LA telethon (News.am, 19 November). Most likely, on the agenda of this trip is the plan to lure diaspora Armenians from the West into relocating to Nagorno-Karabakh and the increasingly depopulating Armenia, better known as the so-called “Armenia 3500” plan which intends to persuade 3,500 Armenians to move to these territories. Let’s give him and Sargsyan some credit. So far it’s working. The Armenian parliament and President Sargsyan are going to settle hundreds of prisoners in Nagorno-Karabakh (Tert.am, 22 November). That seems to be a wise move from the Sargsyan government. By depriving the Armenian community of a bright present and future within the growing economy of Azerbaijan, it enriches them with criminal neighbours and an insecure future. But the telethon calls and the ads will miss that inconvenient truth. No surprise.
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