Hamparian was featured in an interview on Breitbart News Saturday hosted by Breitbart News political editor Matthew Boyle, and they talked about how Oz's connections with Turkey will affect his performance should he be chosen to serve in the U.S. Senate in November.
Boyle began the interview by addressing the recent letter ANCA addressed to the U.S. Department of Justice, which alleges Oz violated his obligations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by not registering for his involvement in Turkish Airlines.
Hamparian explained that, since the Turkish government is directly in charge of a large portion, Oz most likely would have been registered as a foreign agent.
“It's an increasingly hostile Turkish government run by a very angry dictator, Recep Erdoğan, and Mehmet Oz is representing their airlines,” Hamparian stated. “It's like 49 plus percent owned directly by the government, but the rest is controlled by the government. And he needs to register as a foreign agent and the Department of Justice needs to look into that.”
Boyle pointed out that the former DOJ official David Kaufman, who was the head of DOJ's FARA Enforcement division, stated that it was “appropriate” for the DOJ to look into whether Oz did not comply with the requirement of registration under FARA.
Hamparian stated that the combination of Oz's endorsement agreement with Turkish Airlines as well as the size of his Turkish property portfolio and his participation in Turkey's recent elections ought to require an investigation by the Federal government.
“This is not like just an isolated ad that he might run for Turkish Airlines. This is part of a very comprehensive pattern of activity that raises serious questions,” Hamparian stated.
Hamparian thinks Pennsylvania Republican voters must be aware of Oz's Turkish connection and whether he should be signed up under FARA prior to the time of the GOP Senate primary in May.
“So in a sense, the voters of Pennsylvania will be the ones who decide, does Dr. Oz get a U.S. security clearance? If he gets elected he'll have access to all the classified material he might like to have, and that is a decision for the voters to make,” said the senator. “But they can't make an informed decision unless this all this stuff is aired off before the day of the primary.”
Boyle was then able to bring up the photo that recently surfaced which shows Oz casting a vote in the 2018 Turkish presidential election. He also was then able to get Hamparian to speak about how important Oz's decision was in the context of his Senate run.
Hamparian stated that Oz has repeatedly stated that he will not be involved in any political activity in Turkey.
It's really something which has two sides. One is that you can vote in the Turkish election, but not participate in U.S. elections. This means time, effort, and attention on a Turkish candidate, perhaps Recep Ergodan, the anti-American dictator. In addition, to all of that, he's been known to say repeatedly “I have had no political involvement in Turkey.” In reality, voting is the definition of a political environment. This is political involvement. It's in contrast to the statement he made. Also, compare with and contrast voting in a Turkish election, which he had plenty of time for and not having time to cast a vote for the U.S. elections.
Hamparian continued to speak concerning Oz's Turkish citizenship that he promised to remove it if elected to the Senate following his earlier claim that the citizenship would be maintained.
Hamparian claimed Oz's Turkish citizenship raises doubts about the leverage Turkey could wield over a U.S. Senator, should he get elected.
It's a matter of what the influence this foreign power would have over the U.S. senator. If he's hesitant about surrendering his Turkish citizenship due to legal issues in his home country or other reasons, that's proof in itself that Turkey is able to influence him. They definitely have a say in the extent to which Turkish Airlines pays him millions of dollars. The airline is reportedly involved in legal proceedings involving his family members, and Turkish courts are run through the government. They have leverage in the same way. Evidently, the businessman has ties with several government agencies in Turkey and has influence over him in this way too.
Boyle stated that Oz was required to join the Turkish military to earn his citizenship in Turkey. Hamparian stated that Oz's participation as a member of the Turkish military is “at odds” with putting the needs of Pennsylvanians and Americans first.
I believe we all make decisions in life, and we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Then he said that he wanted to retain that Turkish citizenship; however, he also decided to join as a soldier for an international government. This is the path that he took. He then said that, I can do this, I'm able to swear an oath before an army of another power and also request the people of Pennsylvania to believe in me and further their interests and put Pennsylvania first and America first. Both basically are in conflict. There are two extremely different ways.
“He wants to be able to remain, I guess, pledged his allegiance to a foreign power, and then expect Americans to believe that he's putting America first still really very different things,” Hamparian said.
Hamparian added his thoughts on Oz's refusal to acknowledge his country's refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide, even though U.S. politicians and scholars generally do so. In 2019, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to recognize the genocide; however, Hamparian stated that it was going to reverse the Senate's unity with Oz when he was in office.
“So to send him to the Senate would mean rolling back a unanimous vote, it would mean that there would actually be a genocide denier in the U.S. Senate in the face of a unanimous vote recognizing this,” he added.
“So but the thing is this right, why doesn't he recognize the Armenian Genocide?” Hamparian inquired.
“And the only conclusion I can come to was something like he's got some relationships in Turkey, financial or otherwise. And they have leverage, and in turn over him,” Hamparian explained. “And if he were to to simply say the words ‘Armenian Genocide,' then Turkey would use that leverage to somehow punish him or hurt him, or compromise his legal issues or financial issues.”
