Category Archives: Politics
Florida Armenians Remember Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr.
( Sun Sentinel / File ) U.S. Rep. E. Clay Shaw, Fort Lauderdale delegate, 1983 Republican National Convention in an August 29, 1983 official portait. Shaw: 1981-2007 member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida’s 22nd District.
By Taniel Koushakjian
FLArmenians Political Contributor
Florida Armenians (FLArmenians) mourn the loss of Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL), who passed away on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 74. A former mayor of Ft. Lauderdale, Shaw began his 26-year tenure in Congress in the 1980 election that saw a wave of Republicans elected to office, most notably President Ronald Reagan. He served in the 22nd District, covering the coastal parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, until 2006 when he lost a tough re-election battle to Democrat Ron Klein.
A friend of Armenia, in the early 1990’s Rep. Shaw was a strong supporter of Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union. He would later cosponsor legislation reaffirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide and was a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, according to the Armenian Assembly of America.
The Sun-Sentinel’s Anthony Mann, William E. Gibson and Brittany Wallman echoed Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL), who now holds the seat, in their obituary headline rightfully remembering Shaw as ‘a great statesman’ of a bygone era in American politics. “For many years in Congress, Shaw quietly served his constituents behind the scenes and avoided controversy. But as he gained seniority, he became a force on the House Ways and Means Committee and grabbed national attention in 1996 by chairing a subcommittee that drafted a sweeping welfare reform law,” they wrote. I highly recommend reading their column in full, available here.
A memorial service honoring the life of former Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. has been set for Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, at 11:30 AM at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 901 NE Second Street, in Fort Lauderdale.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that a donation in memory of Congressman Shaw be made to the Lung Cancer Alliance, P.O. Box 418372, Boston, MA 02241-8372, or online at www.lungcanceralliance.org.
U.S Slams Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan For Another Anti-Israel Remark
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (left) tells Israeli President Shimon Peres (right), “When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill,” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. January 29, 2009
By Taniel Koushakjian
August 22, 2013
In the latest development of the Turkish government’s increasingly anti-Israel posture, this week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan made the audacious claim that Israel was behind the Egyptian military’s ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. Speaking to a group of provincial governors of his AKP party, Erdogan reportedly stated: “What do they say in Egypt? Democracy is not at the ballot box. Who is behind it? Israel. We have in our hands documentation.”
This statement was quickly rebuffed by Israeli and U.S. government officials. In response to a reporter’s question specifically citing Erdogan’s comments, White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said “We strongly condemn the statements that were made by Prime Minister Erdogan today.” “Suggesting that Israel is somehow responsible for recent events in Egypt is offensive, unsubstantiated and wrong,” Earnest stated.
According to the Jerusalem Post, “Erdogan’s rant was not worthy of a response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Tuesday. ‘This is a statement well worth not commenting on.’”
Erdogan’s anti-Semitic statements have become a new normal for him and his Islamic AKP Party. A few weeks ago, Erdogan blamed the Turkish uprisings surrounding the Gezi Park protests as being motivated by the “interest rate lobby,” a reference widely interpreted to mean Israel.
While these statements may win him praise on the streets of the Arab World, Erdogan may be miscalculating the effect. “’Erdogan’s speech blaming Israel for the coup in Egypt pours cold water on the option of Israel cooperating with Turkey on the gas pipeline,” Gilad Alper, a senior analyst at Ramat-Gan, Israel-based Excellence Nessuah Brokerage Ltd. told Bloomberg News. With Turkey looking to import Israeli natural gas, it appears that Erdogan’s continued anti-Semitic statements jeopardize Turkey’s dream to becoming a major energy hub in the region.
Statements such as these also have an unfortunate effect on Turkish society. Anti-Americanism in Turkey is among the highest in world and has been for many years. The growing anti-Semitism and increasing Islamism in the Turkish government appear related.
However, Erdogan’s comments are not just confined to Israel and the Jewish people. A headline last month in Commentary Magazine read “Erdogan’s disdain extends from Jews to Blacks.” Author Michael Rubin states that “Criticizing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the center-left and secular Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Erdoğan declared, “Kılıçdaroğlu is striving every bit he can to raise himself from the level of a black person to the level of a white man.”
Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg goes even further: “It’s time to call Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan what he is: a semi-unhinged bigot.”
Jewish-American and African-American members of the Congressional Turkish Caucus should be made aware of these statements and reconsider their support of a government and society that is increasingly at odds with U.S. interests and those of our allies Israel and Armenia.
This article originally appeared on the Armenian Assembly’s Blog.
U.S., Turkey, Armenia Conference on Tourism and Hospitality: The Highway to Sustainable Regional Development
By Caucasus Research Resource Centers – Armenia Blog
July 3, 2013
On June 28-30, 2013, ATA Fellows (American, Turkish, and Armenian Fellows), which is a partnership of academics from the University of Florida, U.S.A., Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey, and Armenian State University of Economics, Armenia, as well as industry practitioners from each country, organized a conference on tourism and hospitality: “The Highway to Sustainable Regional Development.”
The conference was attended by CRRC-Armenia Junior Research Fellows Tigran Sukiasyan and Ani Karapetyan and brought together academics, researchers, NGO representatives, industry practitioners and scholars of different disciplines to focus on the knowledge development and implementation in the field of tourism and hospitality.
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John A. Heffern gave the opening statement, emphasizing the importance of the ATA Fellows Project. In turn, Dr. Artak Manukyan, Armenian Director of the project, made a presentation on the prospects of the opening Armenia-Turkey borders, where detailed analysis from different angles were presented.
The three-day conference integrated separate sessions focusing on the theoretical, empirical and sustainable development opportunities. The discussions of the first session were dedicated to Peace and Tourism, Tourism and Sustainable Development, as well as Tourism Management and Corporate Responsibility. Dr. Mahmood Khan, a professor from Virginia Tech, talked about tourism and peace, stressing that governments should not intervene in the process of tourism development; indeed, people should do the job. In that way, only tourism will lead to peace facilitation process, he stated. Another interesting presentation was made by Dr. Kaye Chon, a professor from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He talked about innovative approaches to tourism and hospitality, and how they would lead to better quality and outcomes.
The second session of the conference was devoted to the Sustainable Tourism Issues and Capacity Building as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development. During this session, several interesting comments were made by Armin Zerunyan, Country General Manager, Hilton Worldwide, Turkey, referring to the tourism development in Armenia. According to Mr. Zerunyan, high prices of flights to Armenia create a serious obstacle to the tourism development. Also, he pointed the importance of Armenian Diaspora for attracting more tourists to Armenia, bringing an example of Eastern Europe countries, which used their diaspora connections to create a well-developed tourism infrastructure. Lastly, Mr. Zerunyan marked out the importance of winter tourism for Armenia. As a supporting example, he noted that in winter, significant number of Turkish people travel to Bulgaria, where winter tourism is highly developed; indeed, by developing its own infrastructure, Armenia could be a strong competitor in that field. In addition, Dr. Muzaffer Uysal, Professor of Tourism at Virginia Tech, mentioned Italy with its free skiing and snowboarding schools having a huge positive impact on the tourism development, and suggested to implement similar projects in Armenia.
The last day of the conference summed up with a brainstorming session related to the further development of the ATA fellows project. The participants were divided into three groups: Research, Product Development, and Policy Making. In the Product Development part leading role of marketing and training for the actors providing tourism services, and investment opportunities for tourism development were emphasized, also stressing the fact that Armenia is the first Christian country (similar examples in other countries, where the religion played an important role for tourism development, were brought by Dr. Kaye Chon). More specific research in the region and cross border collaborations were proposed in the Research part, where CRRC Fellow Tigran Sukiasyan made a speech related to the project idea, which may contribute to the knowledge development and its implementation within the framework of the ATA fellows program. Database creation and analysis of the tourism trends in the Caucasus Region, cooperation with universities, NGOs, public and private institutions concluded the last Policy Making part of the brainstorming session.
The presentations will soon be posted on the ATA Fellows website.
This article originally appeared on the Caucus Research Resource Centers – Armenia Blog and is reprinted with the permission of the author.
Florida Armenians 
