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Anti-Armenian White House petitions linked to Azerbaijani top officials
NEWS.AM
February 15, 2013 | 13:08
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has formally asked
the White House for information about the types of safeguards that the
Administration has put in place to protect its popular `We the People'
on-line petition system against foreign attempts at fraudulent
manipulation of American civil society discourse.
In a letter to White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian referenced the Armenian American
community's concern regarding `a number of petitions addressing
Armenian topics, including one that echoes, nearly word for word, the
message of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev's well-funded, unfounded
and hateful campaign to misrepresent Azerbaijan's well-documented
history of aggression against Armenia and the independent Republic of
Nagorno Karabakh.' Hamparian went on to ask for greater clarity
regarding rules related to international participation, and an
explanation about any safeguards that have been put in place against
`against fraud and to protect this important arena for dialogue with
our government from being abused by foreign entities.'
Several petitions echoing Azerbaijani government attacks on Karabakh
rapidly collected tens of thousands of on-line signatures in recent
days. The text of one in particular, titled `pay close attention on
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 20% of Azerbaijan territory was
occupied by Armenian military,' has a direct link to the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation, a project headed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's
multi-billionaire wife, Mehriban Aliyeva. Unlike other `We the People'
petitions, where the city and state of a majority of signers is
typically posted, the anti-Armenian petitions, by and large, do not
have any geographic identification.
News of Azerbaijani government manipulation of online metrics and
social media statistics to boost the image of authoritarian dictator
Ilham Aliyev came out earlier this month in Azadlyg newpaper, with
reports of pressure on government employees to `like' President
Aliyev's Facebook page in the run up to his 2013 election.
From: Baghdasarian
NEWS.AM
February 15, 2013 | 13:08
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has formally asked
the White House for information about the types of safeguards that the
Administration has put in place to protect its popular `We the People'
on-line petition system against foreign attempts at fraudulent
manipulation of American civil society discourse.
In a letter to White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian referenced the Armenian American
community's concern regarding `a number of petitions addressing
Armenian topics, including one that echoes, nearly word for word, the
message of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev's well-funded, unfounded
and hateful campaign to misrepresent Azerbaijan's well-documented
history of aggression against Armenia and the independent Republic of
Nagorno Karabakh.' Hamparian went on to ask for greater clarity
regarding rules related to international participation, and an
explanation about any safeguards that have been put in place against
`against fraud and to protect this important arena for dialogue with
our government from being abused by foreign entities.'
Several petitions echoing Azerbaijani government attacks on Karabakh
rapidly collected tens of thousands of on-line signatures in recent
days. The text of one in particular, titled `pay close attention on
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 20% of Azerbaijan territory was
occupied by Armenian military,' has a direct link to the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation, a project headed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's
multi-billionaire wife, Mehriban Aliyeva. Unlike other `We the People'
petitions, where the city and state of a majority of signers is
typically posted, the anti-Armenian petitions, by and large, do not
have any geographic identification.
News of Azerbaijani government manipulation of online metrics and
social media statistics to boost the image of authoritarian dictator
Ilham Aliyev came out earlier this month in Azadlyg newpaper, with
reports of pressure on government employees to `like' President
Aliyev's Facebook page in the run up to his 2013 election.
From: Baghdasarian