Article

2004-07-12 Caucasus

Exodus Is New Chapter of Loss in Armenia's Sad Story

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Posted by Steve White 2004-07-12 1:08:54 AM|| || Front Page|| [11126 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Here's a non-registration link to a portion of the article.

Armenia is a long-running tragedy. The Turkish genocide set the stage for economic genocide in the form of later Soviet occupation. Gangsterism still thrives and Cocharian's government increasingly resembles the previous communist regimes. There is also an amazing lack of social cohesion.

Imagine sitting at a red traffic signal for over 15 seconds only to have a vehicle blow by you in the next-door lane and barrel through the intersection at +40MPH against the light.

The murder of Pogos Pogosian, imprisonment of conscientious objectors and brutal suppression of journalists covering recent protests all points towards a resurgence of Soviet-style government.

None of it bodes well for Armenia's future. I cannot possibly relate to you the pleading looks of silent desperation in the eyes of women selling hand embroidered napkins and tablecloths at Yerevan's Vernisage flea market. It was below freezing outside as I strolled through the booths and I could only wonder if the dwellings these poor souls would return to were any warmer.

You take your shower at midnight when there is water pressure. The skyline is filled with crappy, crumbling concrete Soviet era apartment blocks, major public works lay weathering in the elements - incomplete due to lack of funds, the corroded and cracked structural elements at Zvartnots International Airport, the "thump-down" landing (the hardest I've ever experienced) in the shabbiest airliner I've ever flown in. Not to mention the jerkoff Armenian businessmen in front of me who cheerfully chatted on their cell phones during the flight's roll-out from Schipol (despite the captain's express prohibition on operating such devices at that time).

Armenia may well implode from simple neglect. There is little to do about it either. Reform must come from within or it will not take root. I can still remember watching one of Yerevan's only winter-time construction projects going on full steam across the street from my lodgings.

It was Robert Cocharian's new house being built.

Posted by Zenster 2004-07-12 2:57:53 AM|| 2004-07-12 2:57:53 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Although the Wash Post says the Armenians were the victim of Turkish genocide, Turkey has never admitted that. In fact I don't think Turkey has ever offerred significant reparations of any kind for their actions.

Posted by mhw 2004-07-12 9:48:34 AM|| 2004-07-12 9:48:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Fred - I have an old anonymous account at the WAPO that I'd like to make available to the Rantburgians - the login email is franmacleod@hotmail.com and the p/w is bitsycat. I am so totally against this registration bullshit that I routinely create such accounts and hand 'em out.

Sofia the Imperial Librarian

Posted by Sofia` 2004-07-12 1:00:06 PM|| 2004-07-12 1:00:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Thank you, Sophia.

For anyone interested in the roots of the Turkish Genocide and a soul-stirring glimpse at some of those who fought it with their very lives, read Franz Werfel's book:

"The Forty Days of Musa Dagh"

It details a trained Armenian officer's skillful defeat of thousands of Turkish regulars as he desperately tries to keep the 4,000 people of Yoghonoluk and it's surrounding villages alive on the mountain-top of Musa Dagh. Although in Syria, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, it is still a vivid look into the heart of Turkish barbarity.

"The topic of the Genocide of Armenians of 1915 remains alive in the hearts of all Armenians worldwide and we will not rest until Turkey recognizes that fact of what their ancestors did to our people. The world association didn't condemn the first genocide, thus, it became an example of impunity, for the fascists who carried out the genocide of the Jews. "Who now remembers the massacre of Armenians?" said Hitler on August 22, 1939 in Oberzaltsburg in front of the commanders of the army of Wehrmacht in connection with the attack on Poland."
EMPHASIS ADDED

Here's a link to the event. And here is a link to a Turkish denial webpage.

America's government, even now, has constantly betrayed its promises to the Armenian people, both here and abroad, that the genocide should be recognized. This smaller Holocaust denial represents one more solid reason that Turkey should be side-lined until they bring their country out of the dark ages.

Posted by Zenster 2004-07-12 4:24:41 PM|| 2004-07-12 4:24:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Um, make that, Sofia.

Posted by Zenster 2004-07-12 4:25:54 PM|| 2004-07-12 4:25:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Imperial Librarian!
The stuff of nightmares!

Shipman<------ not laughing, doing inventory.

Posted by Shipman 2004-07-12 5:38:17 PM|| 2004-07-12 5:38:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 A solution for (or rather against) this stupid registration mania (who ever fills in correct info anyway?).

www.bugmenot.com

Werfel: An excellent read.

Posted by True German Ally 2004-07-12 7:17:46 PM|| 2004-07-12 7:17:46 PM|| Front Page Top

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