Debunking Claims on Farrah Khan’s “Ties” to Baku

This week, a reader forwarded me a link to an op-ed from an Armenian news website calling on the Democratic Party of Orange County to rescind an award designated for Farrah Khan at th e party’s upcoming Gala.  The piece is co-authored by Ardy Kassakhian, a Glendale City Council member, and Leonard Manoukian, who is president of the Southern California Armenian Democrats (SCAD), the nation’s first and largest Armenian-American Democratic club, and they want the DPOC to rescind the award that will be presented to Khan.

The pair writes: “Khan is on record praising Azerbaijan and its regime and has visited the country on the government’s dime.  Khan’s accomplishment as the first Muslim female Mayor of a major city in the U.S. has kept some from stepping up and rightfully criticizing her actions and words.  During her campaign, her questionable ties to one of the most corrupt and violently oppressive regimes in the world was never brought into question by any of her supporters. Khan has not shied away from being an unabashed supporter of Azerbaijan and its billionaire petro-dictator Ilham Aliyev, even praising the nation in a recent Mayoral message.”

The editorial, heavy on history of Aremenian genocide and ongoing violence Armenian people, does the reader a disservice with a strong lack of context on Khan and her alleged ties to the Azerbaijan.  First, Khan has no ties to Azerbaijan. None.  Her mayoral address on YouTube did not praise the regime; it was a congratulatory note on the nation’s independence day with every word uttered being factually accurate.

Khan did attend the 5th Annual World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in 2019 in Baku.  The event was put on with a goal of promoting cultural understanding and tolerance and featured speakers from the UN and UNESCO, as well as from several African nations and Israel.  Conference workshops featured sharing best practices from around the world on making a positive impact by highlighting the importance of intercultural and interfaith efforts for peace.  Khan, a city council member at the time, attended this event as a private citizen and did not represent the City of Irvine in any way.  She also alerted the city manager and city attorney to ascertain her responsibilities for reporting her attendance, travel and grants to cover expenses and followed their guidance to the letter.  Khan’s attendance at this event was not an endorsement of the Azerbaijan regime.  She has no ties to that government, formally or informally.  She attended a cultural event there.

To note, a US citizen does not need permission from the US government to travel to Azerbaijan.  The government of Azerbaijan receives about $120 million in military aid from the US government with Democrats passing bills calling for greater oversight of US military aid in that country.  Azerbaijan is not on a list governments hostile to the US, and this funding is being used to try and prevent ongoing violence against Armenians in the region (with obviously poor results as violence continues).

Khan accepted no gifts from the event but was eligible to apply for grants to offset the cost of travel; she applied for and received those grants as did a journalist from the conservative media outlet Breitbart, a couple of Rabbis from Los Angeles, and a Bishop from Los Angeles.  Khan did not meet with Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, does not know him and never had contact with him, and does not support him, which the writers of the op-ed strongly suggest.  That’s called a lie fellas.

And yes, Khan did participate in a video congratulating Azerbaijan’s Republic Day honoring their independence and her segment called out factual accomplishments of a secular Muslim nation that embraced democracy and gave women the right to vote back in 1919.  Guess who the writers left out of their criticism and who also spoke on that Video?  State Senator Josh Newman, State Senators from Utah, Arizona, and Washington State, as well as a San Diego City Council member, speakers from the American Jewish Council, and an associate dean from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.  The op-ed has not a word of criticism of these speakers.  Why?  If Josh Newman was getting an award from the DPOC, would they call for the party to rescind that award?  Newman isn’t Muslim, so maybe that’s why he emerges unscathed for his video appearance.

There is no question that there was a genocide in Armenia more than 100 years ago and there’s no question there is ongoing violence against Armenian people in the region.  It’s horrible.  But the suggestion that Khan endorses this treatment of Armenians or denies the history of Armenian violence is a flat out lie.  If the writers would like to meet with Khan, all they have to do is pick up the phone and make an appointment. Any other Armenian-American leaders or groups want to see her, do the same thing; schedule a meeting.

The writers add: “Well, if you’ve read this far, now you know.  And if you still support the Democratic party honoring Mayor Khan, then you’re complicit in the suffering of innocent people and the politics of petro-dictatorships.  Because the worst thing you can do when protesting for human rights is ignoring the fact that you place your own boot on someone else’s throat to do so.  The Democratic Party of Orange County should do the right thing and rescind their award of Mayor Khan until she has publicly apologized for her statements and denounced the government of Azerbaijan’s human rights violations both in Azerbaijan and against the people of Artsakh and Armenia.

Khan should apologize for saying Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim nation that practices democracy and gave women the right to vote in 1919?  Should she also denounce human rights violations in other parts of the world too?  If I don’t agree with the writers’ position on this, I’m complicit?  That’s quite a statement to make, especially for those stretching the truth into a falsehood.

The writers clearly didn’t research Khan’s record beyond a video and a trip to Baku.  So let’s see if votes and proclamations Khan is on record supporting clear up her actual stance on Armenians.  The writers didn’t know or failed to mention the proclamations Khan issued as mayor and voted for as a city council member from 2019 to 2021 marking Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and Armenian Independence Day; six proclamations total.

Khan is the mayor of a culturally diverse city and has done a good job navigating her respect to everyone regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity, age and sexual orientation.  She has issued official city positions in support of Armenia and its people.

President Joe Biden issued this statement last April:

Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.

Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including in the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.

Today, as we mourn what was lost, let us also turn our eyes to the future—toward the world that we wish to build for our children. A world unstained by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected, and where all people are able to pursue their lives in dignity and security. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world.

The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.

***

It’s the president’s job to speak on national policy regarding Armenian Genocide, not a mayor’s.  But let’s go with that for a minute because genocide is still happening in many parts of the world and I can’t find a single reference from either writer  — both leaders in the Armenian American community — on these examples:

• The 2015 attempted genocideof the Iraqi Kurds, committed by Islamic State (ISIS), Iraqi government forces and Iran. Attempts by ISIS to wipe out the Yazidis, Assyrian Christians and Shi’ites in Iraq since 2014.
• Myanmar’s ongoing attempted genocide of Muslim Rohingya in 2017.
• Repression of Turkic Muslim Uyghurs in China since 2016.
• The attempted genocide by South Sudan of the Nuer tribal ethnic group since 2018. Ethnic massacres and killings of minority, non-Muslim groups in Darfur.
• The attempted genocide and ethnic cleansing of Christian militias by Muslim leaders in the Central African Republic.
• The mass killing of Yemenis by Houthi rebels since 2017.
• The ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria by radicalized Islamists.

Our federal government has taken a stance on recognizing and condemning Armenian Genocide but many other nations have not.  Instead of cherry-picking details and passing off claims as fact about a city mayor, the writers ought to channel efforts into pressuring the international community to work toward eradicating genocide and ethnic cleansing all over the world.  A trip to Baku doesn’t make Khan an Armenian genocide denier or a supporter of the current regime in Azerbaijan anymore than three trips I made to Hungary to help a client make me a supporter of Viktor Orban or his autocratic regime.

Their argument is weak sauce.

The Democratic Party of Orange County makes decisions on who is deserving of an award.  Demanding they rescind Khan’s award on inaccurate claims by biased writers eager to spread disinformation isn’t something the Party should concern itself with.  If you’re unhappy with Farrah Khan getting an award from the party for any reason, legitimate or not, fine.  There will be another award dinner next year.