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The principal of TSG, LLC, a consultancy that advises foreign governments, NGOs and corporations in the realms of strategic communications, politics and policy and former head of Public Affairs and Public Relations for the American Jewish Committee, Jason Katz, published an anti-Armenian article titled “Impediments to regional development in the South Caucasus” on The Hill website in January, 2015. It leaves the broader reading public with a badly imbalanced, inaccurate, and utterly skewed view of the state of affairs in the South Caucasus, according to analyst Garen Yegparian’s article  on the website of the newspaper Asbarez.

Katz describes the South Caucasus as “prosperous,” “stable,” “reliably Western-oriented,” and “most influential and affluent” – terms that Yegparian does not associate with the area region in question. “It would be interesting to have him explain the poverty in the area; corruption and jailing of journalists and oppression of minorities; Azerbaijan kicking out European and American civil society entities; and what the influence of the countries in the area is and in whose hands the wealth is concentrated,” Yegparian writes.

Quoting Katz’s claim about the region being comprised of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and “peripherally Turkey,” Yegparian notes that Katz reveals his pro-Turkish bias with this statement, because in that case Iran and Russia are also “peripherally” part of the South Caucasus.

In his article, Katz also referred to the meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia met, where Armenia was absent – as well as from all discussions regarding the region – choosing “to excuse itself from the ‘growing prosperity’ of the region.” “Its absence has nothing to do with its being excluded by its two neighboring genocidal states, Katz’ darlings, Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Yegparian writes ironically.

Katz accuses Armenia of moving toward Russia, while “the South Caucasus region and surrounding regions seek closer links with the European Union.” Yegparian answers to this statement by pointing out Armenia’s ongoing efforts to develop connections with Europe under the constraints imposed by Katz’s “Turkic masters.”

According to the lobbyist, the Azerbaijanis lost the Karabakh war as a result of the significant help rendered to Armenia by the ‘Red Army’ and Iran. Yegparian counters this argument reminding about the Soviet OMON units that helped the Azerbaijani side attack Armenians, as well as Iran’s studied neutrality.

Regarding Katz’s claim that “Armenia and Azerbaijan” fought a war, Yegparian stresses that it is far from accurate and at best incomplete in describing Artsakh’s liberation war. Quoting Katz as writing that international agreements should be the basis for a solution, Yegparian calls on him to prevail upon Baku to respect the ceasefire.

Jason Katz ends his article with recommendations that Yegbarian calls “Ankara-Baku joint wet dream.” Yegparian answers the Turkish lobbyist’s appeal to ‘return’ the lands to Azerbaijan, by stating that the lands in question were under Azerbaijan’s control during Soviet times and led to ethnic cleansing of Armenians.

Oddly for the author, Katz also refers to the Armenian-Turkish relations and the opening of the borders, suggesting a “tribunal of scholars” to explore the “events of WWI” which appear to be “impediment” to negotiations between the two countries. The statement about the presumed need to “repair” relationships with Georgia Yegparian finds quite strange.

“And, since Katz was the former head of Public Affairs and Public Relations for the American Jewish Committee, I have to wonder if he advised the Jewish Diaspora to ‘use the considerable money spent’ on the Holocaust to salvage Israel’s faltering economy,” Yegparian writes as a hint to Katz’s similar recommendation regarding the money of the Armenian Diaspora allegedly being spent on promoting the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and Karabakh conflict.

Citing the statement that “Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are open to solving this frozen conflict,” the author wonders, “What do Georgia and Turkey have to do with Artsakh? That problem has to be addressed by Azerbaijan and the NKR, no one else, not even Armenia!”

Yegparian presumes that whole piece “reeks of the propaganda mills” of Ankara. “Trying to introduce irrelevant participants to the Artsakh issue, promoting the Turkish line on the Genocide, and generally trying to portray Armenia and Armenians as outliers in the international arena, are all part of a transparent effort to vilify us and sanctify the perpetrators of endless massacres,” he concludes. He calls on the clients of TSG to reconsider their relationships with Katz, and The Hill – to refuse to run such articles.

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