Sunday, November 06, 2005
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All professions are conspiracies against the laity, Shaw said, and he wrote plays with long prefaces (longer than the plays themselves) to prove it. Americans say something very similar when they ask, “What’s your racket?”
*
Dialogue may lead to consensus but endless contradictions (Armenophile and Turcophile academics being cases in point) lead nowhere but to a dead end; and, as it is to be expected, laymen prefer to believe the side that’s to their own interest. But self-interest driven by chauvinist sentiments is an unreliable guide that leads not to truth but to lies.
*
Writes E.H. Gombrich in his LITTLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: “Children must learn from history how easy it is for human beings to be transformed into inhuman beings.” If children learn that, they will know something adults to no.
*
I no longer ask myself if the enemy is a savage beast. I ask instead, “Does that make me a role model of compassion and understanding? And if I allow my enemy to dehumanize me, am I not a far more dangerous beast to myself than he is?”
#
Monday, November 07, 2005
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THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY
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Until about a year ago I did not know and I did not care to know the other side of the story because I was brought up to believe savage beasts do not deserve a side. I know better now. But before I set out to present a brief sketch, please remember that truth is the first casualty of war.
The Great Powers and Russia were dismembering the Empire and had designs on the carcass. Only Germany was on their side and Germans had problems of their own.
It was at this very critical time when rumor spread that giaours in the Balkans were raping and crucifying Turkish girls. True or false? It makes no difference. As I said at the outset and it bears repeating, truth has always been the first casualty of all wars.
The rape and crucifixion of helpless and innocent Turkish girls by infidels, who also massacred indiscriminately all Turks in their midst, provoked and in their eyes justified retaliation of the worst kind.
Call it propaganda. Call it a Big Lie. Call it what you will, but while you are doing that remember that Big Lies and propaganda are not uniquely Turkish aberrations. Neither is genocide.
#
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
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To dehumanize Turks is subliminal genocide, or to do to them in the abstract what they did to us in the flesh.
*
In my encounters with Armenians in the public eye I have noticed that their public assertions seldom match with their private comments. One could say that double-talk is another attribute we share with the rest of mankind.
*
We are so unused to using our brains that anyone who dares to think for himself is branded as a dispenser of unmitigated b.s.
#
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
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Journalism identifies wolves and sheep. Investigative reporting exposes wolves in sheep’s clothing. Literature tries to understand and explain why wolves, sheep, and wolves in sheep’s clothing behave as they do. One could also say that the aim of literature is to make the incomprehensible comprehensible.
*
Whenever something goes wrong, I begin by analyzing my own motives and conduct. I ask myself, “Where did I go wrong?” That’s because I have a far better chance to change myself than the world or my enemy. It is different with politicians and killers, who begin by pleading not guilty, and when the evidence says otherwise they plead either extenuating circumstances or insanity. That’s because both politicians and killers belong to a different species. They are lesser homo sapiens. They may even be the missing link.
*
If I blame all the world’s problems on politicians and criminals, do I absolve the rest of mankind? I do, except for dupes who by surrendering their intelligence to someone that doesn’t have much of it himself, become co-conspirators.
*
Thursday, November 10, 2005
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If you want to see beauty you can see it everywhere. For thousands of years artists have been observing beauty in the most unlikely places and they have not run of places yet. And if you want to see ugliness, you can see it everywhere too, beginning with your own heart. I speak from experience.
*
Americans love to quote their critics, including foreign critics.
Quoting them has become part of their entertainment industry.
*
Writing for Armenians amounts to making yourself a target for their poison arrows. That’s why I keep it short – to present a smaller target. Were I better writer, I would keep it shorter.
*
The unspoken message of most comments: “I am smarter than you,” and not “I have something to add.”
#

Thursday, November 03, 2005
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One good thing about Naregatsi: he consistently refused to play the blame-game card; and one good thing about our naming him our greatest writer, “our Shakespeare,” is the unspoken admission that our admiration may well be an extension of the fact that we collectively lack his honesty and courage.
*
If Turks are Asiatic barbarians, what does that make us? What kind of moral and political standards were we able to acquire as slaves of Asiatic barbarians during six centuries of subservience?
*
An explanation that implies moral superiority is a convenient explanation; and such an explanation is bound to be biased if only because all claims of moral superiority are false.
*
Conformism is also a form of subservience. To repeat a version of the past that enjoys the approval of a power structure is also a symptom of slave mentality,
*
If the average Turk or Armenian is willing to recycle state propaganda, it may be because Ottomanism continues to shape his perception of reality.
*
When it comes to our perception of reality, Ottomanism can be as misleading as Americanism or Armenianism. That’s because reality is neither Ottoman nor American or Armenian. Mountains and rivers, lies and truth, love and hate, honesty and dishonesty do not recognize national boundaries.
#
Friday, November 04, 2005
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ON BIAS
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Bias, like the force of gravity, is everywhere, as invisible as an abstraction and as concrete as a ton of bricks or an avalanche. Even when we speak of facts and nothing but facts, bias enters into their selection.
Like lawyers, historians know that by carefully selecting facts and documents they can prove anything, even the innocence of a ruthless serial killer. In several recent editions of the ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, for instance, Talaat is described as “an idealist and a man of integrity.”
What I said about lawyers and historians also applies to religious leaders and theologians. When Hemingway said a good writer should be equipped with a reliable “shit-detector,” he was talking about the ability to detect bias.
Whenever you express an opinion, ask yourself the following question: “If I can’t trust bishops, popes and ayatollahs, or rabbis and gurus who speak in the name of God or Truth, why should I trust politicians who speaks in the name of power? — knowing full well that politicians and their propaganda have played a central role in all wars and massacres?”
*
I put my trust only in men who speak against their own interests. Or, in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre on the final page of his memoirs: “I depend only on men who depend on God and I don’t believe in God.”
#
Saturday, November 05, 2005
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A genocide begins with the murder of a single innocent being simply because he belongs to a specific ethnic or religious group.
*
Genocide has nothing to do with number of victims. If an Armenian kills a Turk because he is a Turk, that’s a crime against humanity.
*
A Turk once said to me: “My grandfather was killed by an Armenian. What do I do about it?” If true, and I have no way to prove otherwise, we owe this Turk an apology.
*
If Turks refuse to apologize, why should we? Because it is the right thing to do and because to say it is not is to accept Turks as role models of moral conduct.
*
We should not wait for the Turks to ask for an apology. Neither should we coerce the Turks to apologize. A coerced apology is a meaningless gesture. If I owe someone an apology and I refuse to apologize until my arm is twisted, that’s not an apology but a maneuver to avoid pain.
#

Sunday, October 30, 2005
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In my dealings with most Armenians I have discovered that being an Armenian is not an asset but a liability. As a friend of mine who grew up among Armenians and Turks in Cyprus is fond saying, “Armenians treat Turks with greater respect than fellow Armenians.”
*
In the eyes of our Oriental carpet dealers and philistines in general, writers are no better than potential beggars to be avoided at all cost. I have met only one Oriental carpet dealer and one national benefactor who sought me out and were eager to shake my hand: the first wanted me to translate his memoirs into English, and the second wanted me to help him write his memoirs.
*
The aim of all power structures is either to kill you or tell you what to think.
*
The more benevolent a despot, the more ruthless his underlings and henchmen.
*
The best practical advice I have had from a Canadian writer: “Never serve chicken salad to chicken shit.” If I am a failure, it may be because like most Armenians I have tendency to ignore good advice.
*
Whenever I am accused of hating my fellow Armenians, I remember an eminent English critic’s description of Jane Austen’s fiction: “regulated hatred.” Hatred of what or whom? Hatred of the aristocracy, of course. Or, as my wise Canadian friend would say, hatred of chicken shit who pretend to be chicken salad.
#
Monday, October 31, 2005
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In a recent issue of HARATCH (Paris) I read a lengthy review by an Armenologist (Mutafian) of a textbook on Armenian history by another Armenologist (Mahe). If Mutafian is to be believed, almost every other paragraph in Mahe’s opus contains an error. That’s the way it is with experts: their best efforts go into exposing the misconceptions and inaccuracies of the competition.
*
A sociologist published a book recently in which he proves that crowds act more wisely than individuals.
*
If laymen are wiser than experts, it may be because laymen are like members of a jury, in a position to compare the testimony of experts (who, as a rule, contradict one another) and to reach a consensus (which experts are unable or unwilling to do).
*
Experts are seldom independent operators or objective observers. Rather, they are products of specific cultural and political environments or schools of thought; they work for institutions, serve vested interests, elites, or regimes. Very much like lawyers, they defend a set of ideas and question the validity of all ideas or witnesses that may introduce doubts into their assertions of certainty.
*
When crowds misbehave, as they tend to do in time of war and revolution, it is because they are misled by leaders with personal stakes and conflicting goals. If it weren’t for the Sultan or the Young Turks and our revolutionary leaders, the chances are there would have been no massacres and Turks and Armenians would now be living side by side in peace.
*
Rosa Parks was not a historian, a sociologist, or a political leader. She was the quintessential anonymous face in the crowd. She used her common sense, did the right thing, and changed the course of history. What we need, what mankind needs, are more individuals like Rosa Parks and fewer experts and academics with axes to grind.
*
Any one of us may change history if he uses his common sense, does the right thing, and ignores the sophistries of academics and the rhetoric of political leaders.
*
A nationalist historian who believes in his own version of history has a dupe for a reader.
#
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
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What happened I know. Ever since I was a child I have known. As an adult I want to know why. The conventional explanation repeated ad nauseam (Asiatic barbarians, degenerate West) might satisfy a dupe but not an adult who has acquired the ability to think for himself.
As an Armenian I don’t feel morally superior to anyone and I consider all assertions of moral superiority bogus. Only Jews believe they are the Chosen People and only Nazis believed they belonged to a Superior Race. An Armenian who asserts moral superiority convinces no one but himself and his fellow dupes. I don’t have to engage in academic double-talk or philosophical gobbledygook to reach this conclusion. All I have to do is exercise the minimum degree of common sense and objectivity.
Many readers have questioned my judgment simply because I dare to question racist slogans and nationalist propaganda – the very same mental aberrations whose victims we have been. To say or imply that Asia is populated by barbarians and the West by degenerates is to dehumanize mankind, and to dehumanize is stage one of all man’s inhumanity to man, including genocide.
If we are no better than the rest of mankind, it follows all men are brothers and deserve our understanding. To understand Turks is not the same as denying the reality of the Genocide. It only means that no matter how hard we try we are not equipped to understand everything.
If God exists, He may be infallible in His judgments. But as human beings we can only hope to understand today something we did not understand yesterday. If that’s being a denialist, then I say the English language is not our common medium of communication.
#
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
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Whenever I read a book I learn a few things even when the subject is a familiar one; and since there are thousands of books that I have not read, what I don’t know far exceeds what I know.
*
If I have learned one thing so far it is to reject all dogmas and to question all certainties, especially dogmas and certainties in the name of which millions have killed or died. I have learned this not only from books but also from personal experience.
*
When as a boy someone suggested that what I had been taught until then had been stuff and nonsense, I was not outraged. On the contrary, I immediately assumed I was dealing with an eccentric who should be humored and ignored. It was very gradually that I became aware of my status as a thoroughly brainwashed dupe.
*
If dogmas and certainties are more popular it is because they are supported and actively promoted by power structures. Benefactors, for instance, know that money is no better than excrement (and Freud agrees) unless it is used to acquire power and prestige. Something similar could be said about religious, political leaders and their propaganda.
*
“Makers of idols don’t believe in them,” says an old Chinese proverb, and if Italians are to be believed, “Even the Pope doubts his faith seven times every day.”
*
Propaganda pays, philosophy starves. Because Socrates said, “Of the gods we know nothing,” he was condemned to death. If history, our own history, teaches us anything, it is this: all ideologies and religions are no better than bloodthirsty idols.
#

Thursday, October 27, 2005
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If you compare the contents of your local daily with those of an Armenian weekly, you may notice that odar papers cover an encyclopedic array of subjects and issues, while the Armenian weeklies seem to be obsessed with Turks. Today, for instance, after counting thirteen headlines on Turks in the latest issue of an Armenian weekly of 16 pages, I gave up in disgust. Focusing on Turks also means (a) reinforcing our image as victims, and (b) ignoring or covering up our own present problems of which we have more than our share.
*
Even when, on those rare occasions, we focus on a specific Armenian problem, we do so monomaniacally. During the last couple of months, for instance, I have been reading a veritable eruption of articles, commentaries, and letters to the editor about a couple of Armenian-American benefactors who were cheated by a crook in Yerevan and abused by a thoroughly corrupt or inept justice system.
*
My question is: Why is it that some Armenians who have been fully aware of corrupt practices in the Homeland from day one are heard from only when they are personally stung by them? Don’t they know that by keeping silent they actively legitimize the very same system whose victims they now claim to be? What about the countless other victims, who cannot afford lawyers, are in no position to make headlines, and whose sole alternatives are either emigration or prostitution?
#
Friday, October 28, 2005
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In what we think and believe we are all dependent on experts and we tend to forget that experts, very much like Armenophile and Turcophile historians, seldom agree on anything. They may be able to reach a consensus in another planet or life, but in this one, never! If it were up to laymen like us, we would continue to think the earth is flat.
*
In the eyes of laymen, televangelists and ayatollahs, or for that matter, popes and bishops are more trustworthy than Socrates.
*
In our belief systems we resemble parrots, and in our defense of these belief systems, we behave more like cannibals.
*
No one has ever killed or died in defense of the flat-earth theory, but millions have been massacred in the name of a fictitious god.
*
All wars and massacres may be said to be consequences of laymen and dupes (but I repeat myself) placing their trust in the judgment of preachers and politicians, whose very survival depends on their self-assessed expertise to rewrite history.
*
Religious leaders not only rewrite history but also the word of god, to the point that a god of love, compassion, and mercy becomes a god of prejudice, intolerance, hatred, and murder. Figure that one out if you can.
#
Saturday, October 29, 2005
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Armenians come in all sizes and shapes and not all of them are what they pretend to be. Some look like Germans, others like Mongols, Arabs, Jews, and Indians. I even know an Armenian whose name is Kurdoghlanian (literally, son of a Kurd). Speaking of myself: since, on a clear day, I can trace my ancestry all the way back to my father, I could be a combination or permutation of several dozen tribes in all the colors of the rainbow. When I was a little boy, I remember, two neighborhood Greek girls nicknamed me Hirohito.
Raffi may have been wrong when he said “treason and betrayal are in our blood.” What is in our blood may well be divided loyalties and in such a situation to be loyal to one side means to betray the other. And those who want to be loyal to humanity, as opposed to a fraction of it, may have to betray two or more sides.
Something similar could be said of Turks. Since intermarriage (to be politically correct about it) was practiced for centuries in the Ottoman Empire, identifying oneself as a Turk today may serve some vague political classification but is not and cannot be a racial or national or tribal designation.
What about Canadians and Americans? I will never forget the answer of an unbelievably attractive teenager when I asked for her nationality. “Canadian,” she replied; and when I pressed for more details, she said: “Polish, German, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Indian, French….”
The Turks maintain what they did to us at the turn of the last century can’t be called genocide because it had nothing to do with race; it was civil war. Which raises the question: Does civil war justify indiscriminate fratricidal massacre?
#

Sunday, October 23, 2005
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GUARD DOGS AND DISSIDENTS
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Intellectuals may be divided into two categories: defenders of the status quo (or, in the words of a French philosopher “guard dogs”) and dissidents. It goes without saying that the guard dogs enjoy the full support of those in power, and the dissidents are ostracized, alienated, and, whenever possible, silenced, starved, poisoned, or shot.
*
The history of our literature is rich in dissidents. But when guard dogs compile anthologies and textbooks they tend to cover up the dissent and emphasize the patriotism and nationalist propaganda. Writers like Raffi, Baronian, Odian, and Avedik Issahakian, who were merciless critics of our leaders, are misrepresented as patriotic versifiers, historical novelists or comedians. Many others (Voskanian, Massikian) are relegated to the status of non-persons.
*
Was Narekatsi a guard dog or dissident? Hard to say. He was quintessentially non-political. He concentrated on himself as a sinner. He blamed no one but his own evil inclinations. If he were a contemporary and if he took it upon himself to write about our genocide, my guess is he wouldn’t even mention the Turks. He would have said what a born-again, Bible-thumping, fundamentalist friend of mine in his 80s once said to me: “Armenians were massacred because they were evil and they deserved to be punished by God.”
*
Were Khorenatsi and Yeghishe, two of our greatest historians of the Golden Age, guard dogs or dissidents? It is true that most of our medieval chroniclers were propagandists of a prince with dynastic ambitions. In order to fulfill their duties they had no choice but to attack political adversaries and expose corruption in high places. In so far as they did that, they too may be said to have been dissidents.
*
What about Sylva Kaputikian? When the USSR collapsed she declared herself to have been a proud member of the Communist Party, the very same Party that had systematically eliminated some of our ablest intellectuals. Shortly thereafter she also published an autobiographical book in which she portrayed herself as a dissident. If true, she must be the only Soviet dissident who was awarded the Stalin Prize.
#
Monday, October 24, 2005
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RELIGIOUS TRUTHS ARE BIG LIES
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In a recent interview published in a learned French periodical, a Muslim scholar proves to his complete satisfaction that Islam is a better religion than Christianity, and the only reason Christians outnumber Muslims is that Christianity is six centuries older. In the next six centuries, he goes on, Islam will surpass all other organized religions in popularity. That is one of the central problems with all men of faith: they think they know better and they are closer to God even when they behave like swine. And you may have noticed by now that it is not the good and the honest who assert moral superiority but charlatans and riffraff. “If I am no good,” they seem to be saying, “the least I can do is pretend to be better even if it means engaging in double-talk and lies.”
*
The world will be a better place on the day scholars concentrate their efforts in exposing the shortcomings of their own belief systems and the blunders of their own tribes instead of asserting moral and intellectual superiority with arguments that convince no one but themselves and their dupes.
*
If the Pope doubts his faith seven times every day, as Italians are fond of saying, let him say so if only because in matters of faith doubt is more civilized than certainty.
*
And if God is infallible, why has He created an imperfect world in which man’s inhumanity to man is a constant and war and massacre are routine occurrences? To those who say wars and massacres are men’s doing, not God’s, because God has given man free will that allows him to choose between good and evil; I say, the free will argument may apply to the victimizer, not the victim. Given the choice, who would freely choose to be the victim of fanatic butchers?
#
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
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A headline in our local paper today reads: “Rosa Parks’ defiance changed a nation.” What it does not say, or what it covers up, is that the compliance of millions of others perpetuated an unjust, not to say, an evil system.
*
If in crime it’s cherchez la femme, in all verbal communications it’s cherchez the unsaid or the covered up – there it is, step on of deconstruction 101.
*
To believe a nation’s own version of its past amounts to believing a criminal’s plea of not guilty.
*
If a ruthless serial killer were to write his memoirs, you can be sure of one thing: he would portray himself as a victim rather than a victimizer.
*
Every nation thinks of itself as a role model among nations.
*
Propaganda may also be defined as emphasizing the positive in us and the negative in our enemies.
*
To believe in an Armenophile’s version of Armenian history makes as much sense as believing in a Turcophile’s version of Turkish history.
*
The history of our literature is rich in writers who, like Rosa Parks, defied the status quo. But their voices have been silenced so effectively that whenever they are quoted or paraphrased, our propagandists are scandalized. I speak from experience.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
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So far we have been emphasizing our status as victims or extensions of someone else’s will, be they foreign aggressors, tyrants, denialists, revisionists, Turcophiles, and ultimately our own mini-sultans and neo-commissars. How do we liberate ourselves from that mindset? There are no easy answers. But we could start by seeing things as they are.
*
One of the functions of leadership is to convince the people that their leaders know better even when they don’t. That’s because all leaders prefer sheep to wolves. If the German nation had followed Hitler to the end, it would have committed suicide and that would have been the end of their story. Something similar could be said of the Japanese.
*
Leaders may pretend to know better, but they don’t. Our status as perennial victims and losers is a result of foreign barbarism and domestic incompetence. All other explanations are propaganda whose sole aim is to mislead us into thinking that patriotism consists in allowing ourselves to be an extension of our leaders’s will, in other words, to adopt the mindset of sheep.
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Thursday, October 20, 2005
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In the latest issue of NEWSWEEK I come across the following highlighted sentence: “For many Iraqis, the only sense of security they can find after so much chaos is in the bosom of their sect or tribe.” There it is, I thought, the roots of our tribalism.
Perhaps one of our problems is that we have too many political pundits and very few or no psychologists; either that or we have them too but they have given up on us as beyond repair.
If you ever suggest to an Armenian that he may be in need of a shrink, he will start analyzing you and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were conceived in an asylum for the criminally insane. I speak from experience. Once when I quoted Jung to a reader, he counter-quoted Freud, Adler, and half a dozen other Germanic names I knew nothing about.
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Friday, October 21, 2005
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When it comes to analyzing Turks, we speak like experts in the field; but when it comes to analyzing ourselves, we cannot even tell the difference between self-analysis and flattery. And whenever an Armenian dares to suggest that we may not be paragons of virtue, he runs the risk of being labeled a Turcophile and a denialist. Again, I speak from experience.
*
We analyze Turks as if our aim in life were to improve them, and we avoid analyzing ourselves on the grounds that one should not fix what ain’t broken. Why else would our dime-a-dozen pundits spend more time exposing foreign misconduct and ignoring our own?
*
It’s astonishing how many decent people allow their paycheck to dictate their code of ethics and to ignore the fact that “grub first then ethics” is no ethics.
*
If you lie down with an Armenian don’t be surprised if you wake up with a Turk.
*
Sometimes a man reveals himself less by what he says and more by what he does not say.
*
I don’t understand everything and I don’t want to understand everything because I already understand enough; I also understand that there isn’t one hell of a lot I can do with what I understand except to become more aware of my own powerlessness.
*
Man is unpredictable even to himself.
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Saturday, October 22, 2005
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In one of their anthems (it may be “Rule Britannia”) the Brits pride themselves of the fact that they have never been slaves. When I first heard that song it occurred to me that we have more reasons to be humble than proud. Which is why the sight of a “proud Armenian” annoys the hell out of me. First of all I consider pride, including British pride, not an asset but a liability. Second, the so-called proud Armenians I have met are as a rule full of bombast or what we call “borodakhosoutiun” (thunder-talk, empty loud verbiage, b.s. for short), that is more a mask of inferiority than self-esteem. Unless we admit that we have been slaves most of our collective existence, we will continue to be slaves to our agha-babas and alienate all decent Armenians who can tell the difference between baloney and straight talk.
*
To those who accuse me of having a very low opinion of my fellow Armenians, I can only say, nobody really gives a damn what I or anyone else thinks. What matters, what really matters, is whether or not I can tell the difference between fact and fiction.
*
A writer by the name of Robin Abcarian has just published an article in the LOS ANGELES TIMES (reprinted in our local paper today) titled “Bush nominee knows the art of sucking up,” about U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, where he explains that brown-nosers create a toxic environment in which objective assessment and honest talk become less valuable than flattery and b.s. Two questions: Why is it that articles like this one are never reprinted in our papers? And why is it that Robin Abcarian is not more widely known and respected in our environment as one of the sharpest and most insightful observers of the contemporary American scene?
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Sunday, October 16, 2005
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All the Turks have to say is Armenians are prone to engage in acts of terrorism if their demands are not met and they will have majority support in Washington. And if, on top of that, Yanks discover the fact that some Armenians harbor anti-Israeli and pro-Arab sentiments, then you can kiss acknowledgement of the Genocide goodbye.
*
Several readers have pointed out that my testimony cannot be relied on because I am a traumatized witness. I am more than willing to plead guilty as charged. But if these very same readers imply that six centuries of Ottoman oppression followed by massacres and dispersion have not traumatized them, they deceive themselves. Either that or they have been so thoroughly dehumanized that it doesn’t even occur to them that they may be in denial.
#
Monday, October 17, 2005
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In an interview published in SOCIAL SCIENCE RECORD: THE JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES (Volume 24, Issue 2), Professor Vahakn N. Dadrian has some kind words for Armenians of Zeitun and Sassoun who “defied authority, retaliated, engaged in reprisals, in consequence many Turkish hordes as well as regular and superior army units were held at bay and in some instances even defeated and humbled.” What the good professor fails to discuss is, to what extent this kind of isolated defiance provoked the Turks to retaliate by massacring innocent and defenseless civilians who were in no position to resist?
*
Nikol Aghbalian is right, we are a tribal people; or, in the words of Gostan Zarian, our concept of nation begins and ends with our mountain, our valley, our village, our church, and our chickens.
*
Dadrian sets the stage for the interview by describing Armenians as a “historically persecuted race…an orphan nation” that has experienced “massacres, atrocities, and massive destruction.” What he fails to explore is to what extent our own tribalism, lack of solidarity, and incompetent leadership – things that have been discussed at some length by our own historians, novelists, essayists, satirists, and poets – were a contributing factor to our perennial status as losers and victims.
*
Elsewhere in this same interview and speaking of other academics who, unlike him, have so far ignored the study of genocides, Dadrian explains that it may be because they prefer to explore topics “that yield them dividends in terms of research money, prestige, publicity and publication.” Dadrian thus illustrates another notorious Armenian idiosyncrasy – the widely held illusion that our status as victims empowers us to assume a morally superior stance by viewing Turks as Asiatic barbarians, the West as thoroughly corrupt, degenerate, and cynical, and, as if that weren’t enough, to express outrage when the world fails to support our claims.
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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
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THEME AND VARIATIONS
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History makes one point very clear: in time of trouble, when we need them most, our political parties are nowhere to be seen. But in time of peace they are all over the place – in schools, churches, community centers, and the media, speechifying, sermonizing,editorializing, organizing demonstrations, lobbying, and, above all, rewriting history in their efforts to cover up their blunders and inability to face facts and to come to grips with reality.
*
As a case in point, consider the Ottoman Bank caper at the turn of the last century in Istanbul – the theme of many future variations. A small group of self-appointed heroes do their thing, clear out, and as a result of their actions, innocent civilians are massacred by the thousand. And, as if that weren’t enough, they add insult to injury by misrepresenting that debacle as a glorious page in the annals of our history.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2005
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Somewhere in his STUDY OF HISTORY Toynbee writes that the uneducated or poorly educated masses are no match for the educated bourgeoisie. Elsewhere he explains that the aim of an educational system is to maintain the status quo and to protect the privileges of the ruling class. To put it more bluntly, we are all brainwashed to believe that the political system in which we live is fair and we should be satisfied with our lot.
Long before Toynbee, Napoleon said if it weren’t for religion, the poor would butcher the rich.
Both Napoleon and Toynbee were members of the privileged classes or the Establishment, and both could afford being honest.
One positive feature of the bourgeoisie is that, in addition to producing swine, it has also produced some men of integrity and courage. Jean-Paul Sartre comes to mind. This Nobel-Prize winning philosopher, novelist, and playwright was born and raised into a petit-bourgeois family and he hated the bourgeoisie so much that he allowed himself to be a dupe of Stalin, Mao, and Castro.
On the day the average Armenian becomes aware of his status as a dupe, our bosses, bishops, benefactors with all their hirelings, flunkeys, hangers-on and brown-nosers will be consigned to the dustbin of history before anyone can say Jack S. Avanakian.
#

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
10/18/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) Armenia's Military Spending to Keep Pace with Azerbaijan 2) 'Hamshen and Hamshen Armenians' conference concludes in Sochi 3) Turkey Warns it May Take Action against PKK in North Iraq 4) Orange County Community Welcomes His Holiness Aram I 1) Armenia's Military Spending to Keep Pace with Azerbaijan YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--A nearly 20 percent increase in Armenia's military spending next year is a response to the drastic rise in similar expenditures in neighboring Azerbaijan, officials in Yerevan said following Tuesday's closed meeting of parliamentary commissions. National Assembly Standing Defense, Internal Affairs and National Security Commission Chairman Mher Shahgeldian confirmed plans to increase next year's military budget to $150 million. Saying that the move was planned considering Azerbaijan's drastic increase in military spending, the lawmaker added: "We should pay attention to this correlation. Our task in this case is to preserve our qualitative level to ensure the country's defense capability and security." Minister of Defense Serge Sarkisian said the sum is sufficient to ensure the country's defense. "This amount of spending is the minimum to ensure a due level of our army's combat efficiency," he told the media. "For the first time the defense budget has been made not proceeding from the absolute sum of previous years, but from the percentage of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is, there is an agreement that at least 3 percent of our GDP should be spent for defense purposes." Meanwhile, Azerbaijan plans to double its military spending in 2006 increasing it to $650 million. During the press conference, Sarkisian also spoke about the possible outcome of upcoming elections in Azerbaijan and how they could influence the Karabagh peace process. "It is natural that if the opposition suddenly wins perhaps the negotiating process would have to begin from scratch, and if the authorities win, I think the negotiating process will be continued," the minister said. Regarding his trip to Washington slated for late October, Sarkisian said it was a routine visit, and not one to intensify military cooperation with the US--at the expense of Armenian-Russian relations. "We wish to be friends with both sides," the minister said. Talking about the upcoming referendum on constitutional amendments, Sarkisian said: "I don't want this referendum to be compared to a football match. I think that in case of proper work, a sufficient number of voters will turn out and will say 'yes' to the constitutional amendments." 2) 'Hamshen and Hamshen Armenians' conference concludes in Sochi YEREVAN (Yerkir)--A three-day conference about Hamshen and Hamshen Armenians ended on October 15 in the southern Russian city of Sochi, home to over 100,000 Hamshen Armenians. Currently a part of Turkey, Hamshen was a historic Armenian region that was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1491. Some Hamshen Armenians adopted Islam, while others emigrated to the Russian Empire. The conference was organized by the History Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's (ARF) Moscow Armenian Affairs office, with the support of Hamshen Union of the Krasnodar region, and Yerkramas Armenian news center located in southern Russia. Scholars from Armenia, Russia, Iran, and the United States, including UCLA Professor Richard Hovannisian, participated in the conference. ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margarian, ARF Bureau member and National Assembly Vice-speaker Vahan Hovhannisian, ARF's Moscow Armenian Affairs Office Director Yura Navoyan, European Armenian Federation Chairwoman Hilda Tchoboyan, and ARF Bureau's Armenian and Political Affairs Office Director Giro Manoyan, also participated. The reports of the conference will be published in Armenian, Turkish, Russian and English. Organizers and participants noted that the event holds not only scientific significance but that it also served as a bridge between Hamshen Armenians, Armenia, and diaspora Armenians. There are currently 400,000 Hamshen Armenians, half of which are Muslims. Most Christian Hamshen Armenians reside in Abkhazia and the Krasnodar region of Russia. 3) Turkey Warns it May Take Action against PKK in North Iraq ANKARA (Reuters)--Turkey said on Tuesday it would take steps to end the presence of Turkish Kurd rebels in the mountains of northern Iraq, but stopped short of directly threatening military action. Turkish officials have repeatedly demanded US, Iraqi Kurd, and Iraqi government forces crack down on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces in north Iraq from where rebel leaders direct their fight for Kurdish self-rule in nearby Turkey. "The principal point which we have stressed at these meetings is that the terrorist presence in northern Iraq must be combated," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his parliamentary party. "So far, Turkey has maintained a patient stance." But, he said: "Our nation expects us to take effective measures to clean up the terrorist presence in the region. We will take clear and effective steps to bring this about. I remind you we will do what is necessary when the time is right." In the 1990s, Turkish forces launched repeated raids into northern Iraq to hunt down PKK rebels in the mountainous region. Turkey still keeps several hundred soldiers inside Iraq, close to the Turkish border, despite Iraqi calls for them to leave. But since the 2003 Iraq war, Turkish troops have not mounted any operations inside Iraq against the PKK which is based on the Qandil Mountain in the far northeast of the country. US officials admit their troops are too tied up fighting the insurgency in Iraq to turn their attention to the PKK which rarely engages in any hostile activity inside Iraq. 4) Orange County Community Welcomes His Holiness Aram I Pontiff meets World Vision, students, and visits Glendale Adventist and Ararat Home LOS ANGELES--His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia kept to his busy schedule, reaching out to all parts of the southern California community and on October 13, traveled to Orange County to visit Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Santa Ana. Greeting His Holiness were leaders from Forty Martyrs Church and the various community organizations as well as clergy from the Coptic Church and Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido with the welcoming procession led by the Homenetmen scouts. Anticipating the visit, The Orange County Register newspaper had printed a lengthy article that day about His Holiness. After presiding over Hrashapar service, the community proceeded to the large community center adjacent to the church for a special welcoming banquet cultural program. In his remarks during the banquet His Holiness stressed that there should consistently be greater collaboration and unity in the community and the church with a renewed level of proactive participation, especially with the youth. Earlier His Holiness started his day meeting with the international Christian relief and development organization World Vision in Monrovia, California, where he held leadership meetings to discuss strengthening ecumenical collaboration and partnerships between churches and humanitarian organizations. His Holiness also spent some time at Glendale Adventist Medical Center where he met with the medical center's President Scott Reiner, the center's leadership, and visited patients. The Glendale News-Press and the Associated Press wire service covered his visit to Glendale Adventist. On Thursday afternoon, His Holiness met with over 250 college students at Glendale Community College, an event organized by the ARF Shant Student Association and co-sponsored by the Armenian Student Associations of Glendale Community College, the University of California Los Angeles, California State University Los Angeles, and Loyola Marymount University. His Holiness partook in a lengthy open forum question and answer session in order to make the session interactive. He answered questions regarding religion, faith, education, the church, Christianity, and moral and family values. Students came away from the forum feeling enlightened and inspired because of their intimate interaction with His Holiness as he clearly articulated his philosophy on the many current issues facing students in everyday life. As with all the events during the visit, the college student session received an enthusiastic response because of the ability of His Holiness to connect with all people, including the youth. On the previous day, His Holiness visited the Ararat Home in Mission Hills, immediately after returning from Fresno, California. There he met with the Ararat Home's Board of Trustees and staff and spent time with residents. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western United States stated: "His Holiness specifically wanted to visit the Ararat Home to share his love, care, and respect toward our mothers and fathers." All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian, ANCA
[email protected]
Harout Mardirossian, ANC ~V France
[email protected]
Laurent Leylekian, European Armenian Federation (EAFJD)
[email protected]
TIME-EUROPE PUBLISHES APOLOGY FOR
DISTRIBUTING GENOCIDE-DENIAL DVD
— Prints Full Page Letter from ANC-France and Other Human
Rights Groups Demanding that TIME take Concrete
Steps to Reverse the Profound Damage it has Caused
— ANC-France Considering Legal Action
WASHINGTON, DC ~V Responding to months of protests organized by
Armenian National Committee branches around the world, TIME
Magazine’s European edition published, in its October 17th issue, a
brief apology to the Armenian community and all its readers for its
dissemination earlier this year of a 70-minute DVD advertisement
denying the Armenian Genocide.
TIME’s apology was printed alongside an extensive letter to editors
of TIME-Europe by leading Armenian, Jewish and human rights
organizations. This response was published under France’s “right
to reply” laws, which require a publication to provide editorial
space to those unfairly attacked in its pages. The controversy
over this issue began on June 5th, with the dissemination of a DVD,
funded by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, which featured denialist
propaganda as part of a print and electronic advertisement package
promoting tourism in Turkey.
Joining the Armenian National Committee of France in writing to
TIME-Europe were the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations
of France, J’Accuse, Le MRAP and the Memoire 2000. In the letter,
they noted that:
“As representatives of French associations whose aim it is to fight
against racism, anti-Semitism and to preserve the memory of the
Armenian Genocide, we were shocked and disappointed to see that you
chose to include in your June 6, 2005 issue of TIME-Europe a DVD
spreading such the grotesque denial of the Armenian Genocide, and
leveling so many hateful allegations against the Armenian people.”
The letter was printed on a full page in the print edition and can
be read in its entirety on-line. Its authors identified specific
instances in the DVD of genocide denial, and stressed that, just as
TIME-Europe would rightfully not accept hateful Holocaust denial
advertisements, it should not have circulated similarly false
materials denying the Armenian Genocide. The letter concluded by
calling on TIME-Europe to take three specific steps to rectify the
situation it had created, including:
1) Disclose what, if any, official standards TIME Magazine employs
in accepting or rejecting advertising. For example, would TIME
have accepted a similarly hateful DVD denying the Holocaust.
2) Distribute, free of charge, a DVD prepared by the European
Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) documenting
the history of the Armenian Genocide and the modern-day
consequences of this crime.
3) Donate the advertising revenues from this campaign to nonprofit
organizations raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide and
other instances of genocide.
Following the letter, TIME-Europe printed an apology for the
dissemination of the DVD, stating that they had failed to properly
review the DVD to establish its full contents before distributing
it to their subscribers.
“TIME regrets distributing the DVD and we are very sorry for the
offense it has caused. The so-called documentary portion of the DVD
presents a one-sided view of history that does not meet our
standards for fairness and accuracy, and we would not have
distributed it had we been aware of its content. Unfortunately, the
DVD was not adequately reviewed by anyone at TIME because it was
believed to be a benign promotion piece. We have since changed our
review process so as to guarantee more vigilance in future. We
apologize to the Armenian community, and to our readers.”
The letter was published according to the France’s “right to reply”
law, first adopted in 1898, which compels a newspaper or magazine
to allow an individual who has been defamed to provide a response
of equal length. The law was later expanded to audio-visual
material as well, with certain restrictions.
ANC of France Chairman Harout Mardirossian commented that the TIME-
Europe apology and printing of the letter to the editor was the
“the first result of a joint effort and long-term engagement by
associations fighting against racism, anti-Semitism and for the
defense of the memory of the Armenian Genocide.” Mardirossian
added, however, that the effort to rectify the situation has not
ended, noting that, “If TIME Magazine thinks that this “right of
reply” will settle the score on this issue, it is seriously
mistaken. A one-paragraph response does not match the outreach of
a 70 minute DVD and cannot address the humiliation and degradation
felt by Genocide `survivors and their descendants as a result of
this denialist propaganda.” continued Mardirossian.
In an interview with the Armenian Weekly, Mardirossian did not rule
out legal action in the TIME-Europe case, stating that “We, along
with our partners [J’Accuse, Mémoire 2000, Council of French
Armenian Organizations, Union of French Jewish Students] are ready,
if necessary, to initiate a lawsuit against TIME, as well as the
authors, producers and distributors of the DVD.”
Mardirossian added that the ANC-France had successfully taken on
similar anti-defamation cases in the past, including a recent court
victory against French encyclopedia company, QUID, whose 2002, 2003
and 2004 editions included historically inaccurate references
denying the Armenian Genocide. The recently published 2006 edition
of the QUID encyclopedia has removed all revisionist references,
and correctly characterizes the events of 1915-1923 as genocide.
In the months leading up to the TIME-Europe apology, the ANC of
France teamed up with the Armenian National Committee of America
and European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD)
in initiating an international letter-writing campaign to TIME-
Europe calling for swift action in response to DVD. Thousands
responded to the call to action, expressing grave concern that TIME
had sacrificed journalistic principles for a million dollar
advertisement campaign.
A parallel effort to address the TIME-Europe DVD misinformation
issue has also been pursued by the Switzerland-Armenia
Organization, based on violations of Swiss law.
To read the complete letter to the editor and the TIME-Europe
response, visit:
rticle/0,13005,901051017-1113684,00.html
[Scroll down to the article titled “Turkish Tourism DVD”]
#####
–Boundary_(ID_A/Gpf+wrnxL2eqnCa4UfF Q)–

Justice needed for Armenian genocide
By Mona Karaguozian
Opinion
Daily Sundial
October 17, 2005
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, the term genocide is
defined as the “deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial,
political or cultural group.”
In April 1915, during World War I, the Ottoman Empire began
systematically annihilating Armenians, by first ridding the
intellectuals, men, elderly, women and then children in the Eastern
Anatolia and Western Armenia region, in what should be known as the
first genocide of the 20th century.
The Turkish government has continuously refused to accept
responsibility for the atrocities that have taken place, and it also
refuses to acknowledge the existence of this “alleged” genocide.
The Turkish government makes claims now that the Armenians who were
killed during that period died as wartime casualties and that many
Turks were killed as well. This is false because only the Armenians
that were living in that region in Turkey were being “relocated”
for safety. Why weren’t the other residents of that region being
relocated? It was a deliberate destruction of a specific group
of people.
Who alleges the massacres of 1.5 million people? How could the
destruction of a substantially large number of people be alleged? The
evidence is in the death toll. There are also photographs, hundreds
of chronicles from American newspapers and documentation depicting
the massacres as they were taking place not to mention countless
horror stories passed down generations.
The issue of the Armenian genocide is less than ten years shy of
being a century- long struggle for recognition. Ninety years might
seem like ages ago, but I, as an American born Armenian, still feel
the effects of the massacres. My grandfather was a survivor of the
genocide. I hold knowledge of eyewitness accounts and experiences of
the genocide that were passed down through him. It pains me to be
a third generation Armenian after the genocide and to see that the
struggle for recognition continues to this day.
There are numerous advocacy groups, such as the Armenian National
Committee of America and the Armenian Assembly that are seeking
justice on behalf of the Armenian people. These activists dedicate
their time and effort to spread awareness of the genocide and to gain
recognition for its occurrence.
In a letter sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Oct. 5, ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian voiced the profound moral outrage of Armenians
over the Bush administration’s ongoing complicity in Turkey’s campaign
of genocide denial.
Turkey has also been trying to gain admission into the European Union,
yet they continue running into complications. European Union foreign
ministers have attempted to agree on terms for Turkish membership,
but many countries, like Austria, have refused to agree on full
membership. They are only willing to offer Turkey a “privileged
partnership” with the EU until such claims as the Armenian genocide
have been resolved. If the EU is unable to agree on terms with the
Turkish government, there must be a reason. For being just an “alleged”
claim, the Armenian genocide is a substantial cause for concern among
many European countries.
This is not the first attempt by Armenian-Americans to gain a political
voice regarding this issue. Many bills have been presented to Congress,
each of which would have been instrumental toward the fight for
justice, but none have been passed yet.
Instead, all these bills have been shot down. Armenian activists
have also organized many public events, such as marches, protests,
vigils and pickets at the Turkish embassy in Los Angeles as well as
all over the world.
Throughout the years, these activities have gained some local
media exposure. None, however, have had a national effect on
legislation. Many of the local media outlets are familiar with the
commemoration of April 24 due to the heavily concentrated Armenian
community Los Angeles, but the voice is barely heard.
As the years pass the story gets old and people begin to forget. This
is the goal of the denial.
This situation may change with another attempt to pass legislation. On
Sept. 15, after nearly three hours of debate, the House International
Relations Committee, voted overwhelmingly in favor of two measures
calling for proper U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.316
and H.Con.Res.195) and urging Turkey to end its decades-long denial
of this crime against humanity.
The Senate should finish the work started by the House and call
for recognition of the Armenian genocide. Only with the support of
the United Sates will the movement to have the Turkish government
recognize the past crimes of the Ottoman Empire succeed.
Justice needs to be served and not withheld because of politics.
Mona Karaguozian can be reached at [email protected].
ws/display.v/ART/2005/10/17/4353cb4fb78e4