Sunday, August 06, 2006
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Being on the side of the victim and against his victimizer is easy. What’s hard is to determine who’s who. Israel today is surrounded by two hundred million hostile Arabs and many more anti-Semites around the world who would like to see it bite the dust. If you add to that their status as perennial victims throughout their millennial existence, you may have to admit that the line between victim and victimizer is blurred.
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Something similar may be said about Turks and us. In 1915 Turks saw themselves as victims and Armenians, together with Russians, Greeks, Kurds, Brits, and Australians, among others, as their victimizers.
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In my efforts to explain the Genocide am I justifying it? No. What I am doing is trying to understand it without resorting to the crude clichés and simplistic slogans of our nationalist historians and propagandists.
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Speaking of nationalist historians: another factor that complicates matters is that in a political context victims are almost always double victims, as we were in 1915 and as Palestinians are today – namely, victims of their enemies as well as victims of their misguided, non-representative (in our case) or theocratic and fascist leadership (in the case of Palestinians and Muslims in general). To say otherwise is to imply that mullahs and our own tribal leaders are objective observers, impartial judges, and competent statesmen, to which I can only say, “Give me a break!” and “Nothing further, your honor.”
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And now a question: what would happen to a nationalist historian if, like Toynbee, he were to adopt a more objective and impartial stance? The answer is: he would no longer be a nationalist historian, which means he would cease to enjoy the support of our bosses, bishops, and benefactors, his books would no longer be sold in community centers and churches, he would be thought of as a traitor to the cause, and he would thus acquire the status of an outsider, an internal exile, a persona non grata, a pariah, and a pro-Turkish revisionist. He would no longer be an Armenian but a non-person and an abominable no man. I know what I am saying: I have been there. I still am.
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Monday, August 07, 2006
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It has been said, “Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”
Corollary I: The smaller the stakes, the more vicious the arguments.”
Corollary II: When nonentities disagree on nothing, the result is bound to be verbal massacre.
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In our controversies we are like Oscar Wilde’s foxhunters: “The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.”
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“Why do you always find fault with us?” a reader demands to know. “Why are you afraid to criticize odars?” Odars interest me only in so far as they make visible that which we pretend not to see in us. And before I undertake the daunting task of collecting the garbage on Main Street, I like to clean up the mess in my own backyard.
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Let others preach hatred of the Turk; I prefer to get busy recognizing the Turk within me.
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The answer to conventional wisdom is not unconventional stupidity.
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It is in their efforts to appear deep that the shallow expose their lack of depth.
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Even the most ruthless dictator depends on the subservience of the majority, provided of course the majority remains unaware of this.
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My experience with Levantines is that, they think they are ahead of you if they are better at making money. Nothing runs deeper than the contempt of the merchant for the poet. One of our national benefactors is quoted as having said to one of our poets: “I hire and fire people like you every day.”
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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
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DIALOGUE, ARMENIAN STYLE
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When an Armenian disagrees with you he is not satisfied with a simple counterargument; he also feels the need to let you know that he wouldn’t mind tearing off a piece of flesh from your body. Hence, Zarian’s dictum, “Armenians survive by cannibalizing one another.”
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Let others brag about Armenians being the first nation to convert to Christianity. I prefer to deal with facts even when – especially when – they happen to be against us. Because then and only then may we learn to deal with reality as opposed to voicing chauvinist crapola and recycling such nonsense as “it may take two or three generations for our problems to be solved” — and this after centuries of subservience to ruthless tyrants, massacres, dispersion, exile, life in alien slums, and ongoing “white” genocide (assimilation in the Diaspora and exodus from the Homeland).
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Armenians excel in a certain and rare type of counterargument whose true intent is not to contradict but to be a carcinogenic agent.
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All pro-Palestinian arguments recycle mullah propaganda whose most irrefutable tenet is the reward of 78 virgins.
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I trust our televangelists more than their mullahs if only because even the most crooked televangelist – and there have been quite a few of them – has never dared to go as far promising a single virgin to sex-starved teenagers.
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A self-ASSessed Armenian genius will voice the argument of a certified mongoloid moron and see nothing inconsistent in it.
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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
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To be infatuated with one’s knowledge is as bad as to be infatuated with one’s ignorance. That’s because all knowledge is limited but ignorance is without limits, so that at all times and everywhere our ignorance far exceeds our knowledge.
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The real god (if there is one) and our conception of him are two different beings that may not even be remotely connected with each other. I would go further and say that one may well be a contradiction of the other in so far as the unknown and unknowable may be said to be a contradiction of a figment of our imagination. When Nietzsche said, “god is dead,” he was referring to the figment rather than to the unknowable, about which no man is qualified to speak.
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Victims are not the most objective judges of their victimizers.
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Turks believe what their historians tell them because they hate the stigma of being identified as bloodthirsty Asiatic savages. Armenians believe what their own historians tell them because they hate to be identified as perennially divided and inept tribal dupes who allowed themselves to be manipulated by the double-talk of foreign politicians. In their efforts to appear better than they are, both Turks and Armenians lie to their own people and are believed because the uneducated and half-educated masses are no match for the cunning and sophistication of the bourgeoisie.
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Even in countries where capitalism has buried communism and democracy has buried fascism there are people who miss the good old days when they could slaughter dissidents with impunity. I happen to be aware of their existence because some of them are my most faithful readers. Are they bloodthirsty savages or dupes? I will let you decide.
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RUSSIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS DECREE TO AWARD FRIENDSHIP ORDER TO ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.08.2006 13:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree
on awarding Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II with Friendship
Order. The Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II is awarded for
large contribution to development and strengthening friendly relations
between Russia and Armenia, reports the Kremlin Press Service.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANJAR ARMENIAN-POPULATED VILLAGE IN LEBANON NOT BOMBED BY ISRAELIS
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.08.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Euronews report on bombing of Anjar
Armenian-populated village by Israeli air craft is false,” stated
Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan in an interview
with the Public TV Company of Armenia. He reported he had a meeting
with Anjar administration head Skoyan, who stated that Anjar and
adjacent territories were not bombed.
According to him, the road, which is 2-3 km away from Anjar and
connects Lebanon with Syria from Damascus side, was bombed. Skoyan
said villagers have everything necessary and they even help residents
of nearby Arab villages.
According to the diplomat, the Armenian Embassy in Lebanon keeps in
touch with the community’s leaders.
“All the leaders cooperate very well and the community helps 15
thousand refugees actually,” he remarked.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNET ACCESS FULLY RESUMES IN ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.08.2006 14:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The capacity of Internet communication in Armenia is
fully restored, reported Spokesperson of ArmenTel Telecommunication
Company Hasmik Chutilyan. “The capacity is restored to the rate we
had before the damage in Georgia,” she noted.
According to Chutilyan, at the moment Internet connection is provided
via a satellite, as well as at the expense of territorial reserve
sources. At the same time, Chutilyan noted that restoration works
continue in the Black Sea and access via the fiber-optic cable will
be possible only in 10-15 days, reports Novosti-Armenia.
We note that resulting from two damages of the fiber-optic cable
in the territory of Georgia Armenia was deprived of normal Internet
connection since August 4.

ARMENIAN PROVINCES LACK MEDICAL STAFF
Armenpress
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS: In remote provinces and settlements
of Armenia there exists a demand for 511 doctors, according to the
Armenian Health Ministry. Particularly in the province of Gegharkunik
there are vacancies for 128 doctors, in Syunik 88. For filling the
gap the ministry is going to develop a policy to fill the vacancies
in the remote areas.
According to that policy, starting from the next year those who will
graduate from state-funded places of internatura and ordinatura
of the Medical University will be sent to the Armenian provinces,
in case of their refusal they will have to pay the tuition fee of
the past years. The doctors who will be sent to the provinces will
be provided an apartment and their conditions of life will be ensured.
According to the World Health Organization, in 57 developed and
developing countries including in Armenia, there exists lack of medical
staff as a result of which annually 10 million people throughout the
world die from infectious diseases, complications during pregnancy
and delivery.
For preventing that the experts of WHO published a report in which
they encourage the countries of the world to develop a strategy for
ten years. The report also advices the governments of the countries
to direct the 50 percent of the funds provided for the health sphere
to the training of the medical staff.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ISSUE ON ELIMINATION OF OVERDUE MEDICINES DISCUSSED
Armenpress
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS: The head of the National Assembly’s
social, health and nature protection commission Mnatsakan Petrosian
received today the director of the Belgian organization of the
“Doctors without Limits” Krist Terling. During the meeting the sides
particularly discussed issue on elimination of overdue medicine which
is the current serious problem in the country.
NA press service told Armenpress that during the meeting Petrosian
informed that at present draft law on medicines is in the parliament
and it also refers to the ways of elimination of overdue medicines.
Krist Terling informed that by a partial support of their organization
a special place was constructed in Bosnia where the overdue medicine
is being burnt without any consequences.
After the joint discussion Petrosian suggested that a joint project be
developed with the partial support of the “Doctors without Borders”
Belgian organization and a special place be created in Armenia
where the overdue medicine will be eliminated. The director of the
organization expressed readiness to support the project.

APPLICANTS FAIL TO EXCEL IN HISTORY OF ARMENIA
Panorama.am
14:12 08/08/06
Ruben Topchyan, head of calculation center at the Republican Acceptance
Committee (RAC), said 8 percent absenteeism is observed among the
applicants who registered for the examinations. He said this is a
normal indicator and is even lower than last year.
Topchyan summed up the results of the first 20 days of examinations
at the higher educational establishment together with Sasun Melikyan,
RAC responsible secretary. They said there is a tendency to apply
more to social sciences instead of exact sciences. Besides, students
apply to those departments where the tuition fee is low.
No student has got 19 or 20 from the History of Armenia as of
today. Higher scores are observed from the Armenian language and
English language. No student has also received 20 from Chemistry,
General History, French (oral), Italian (oral and written), Geography,
Russian (oral).
Several cases of plagiarism were reported. Under such cases, the
examination is stopped and the applicant receives the lowest possible
score – 0. /Panorama.am/

APPLICANTS HAVE TWO CHANCES OT APPEAL
Panorama.am
14:22 08/08/06
“If the applicant is not satisfied with the first phase of appeal
which is considered at the higher educational establishment, he/she
may appeal to the Republican Acceptance Committee (RAC) comprised of
independent experts in all subject lines,” Sasun Melikyan, responsible
secretary of RAC told a press conference today.
In his words, as of August 4, RAC has received 95 double appeals. In 75
of the cases, the grade has not been changed. Grades were raised for
16 cases and lowered for 4 other cases. RAC has received applications
mainly from Mathematics, Armenian language, English language and
History of Armenia.
The committees at the higher educational establishment have received
1238 application-appeals. The committees have raised the grade
for 251 cases and lowered for 1 case. Melikyan said, very often,
examination committee members make technical mistakes, and the grade
may be raised by 2.5 points only because one of the exercises was
not checked. /Panorama.am/

“ASALA IS NOT A TERRORIST STRUCTURE” HISTORIAN VLADIMIR PETROSIAN IS SURE
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, NOYAN TAPAN. “I came to the conviction that there
is no international terrorism: who did not like a national-liberation
movement, he called it “terrorism.” Vladimir Petrosian, Doctor of
History, Professor made such a statement at the August 7 presentation
of his “Let’s not Forget…”
(“Chmoranank…”) book. According to him, “the main author and
organizer of terrorism is the United States of America which,
to mask their own terrorism, ascribe it to others just at the
beginning.” According to V.Petrosian, when writing the “Let’s not
Forget” book, he made an attempt to find out if the Armenian Secret
Army, ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia),
is a terrorist organization. Studying the ASALA activity of the last
three years, the author came to conviction that one may not qualify
this organization as a terrorist structure as the Armenian Secret Army
was created based on patriotic ideology and led a national-liberating
struggle. Even more, according to V.Petrosian, the ASALA ideology
may be put in the basis of today’s state foreign policy.

1797 EMERGENCIES REPORTED IN YEREVAN IN 1ST HALF OF 2006
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Aug. 8, 2006
YEREVAN, August 8. /ARKA/. About 1800 emergencies were reported in
Yerevan in the first half year of 2006.
The Vice-Chief of the Rescue Service Vrej Gabrielyan told journalists
that 946 cases were man-caused situations, 31 – natural disasters,
and 867 – cases of social-life nature. He said during the reported
period as a result of emergencies 69 people were killed, and 1147 –
were hurt, 1078 people were wounded.
“Analysis show that majority of people, 59,4% are victims of man-caused
catastrophes”, Gabrielyan said. S.P.–0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress