The "G" word

[arabaliozian]

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
*****************************************
Who is right and who wrong?
That’s seldom the real question.
The real question is:
Whose vanity, prestige or source of income
will sustain the greater damage?
*
Turks hate all talk or even mention of the “G” word
not because the Genocide never happened
but because it besmirches their image as a nation.
*
Turks have been taught to believe
they are la crème de la crème.
If their empire lasted longer
than anyone else’s it’s because
they are more competent leaders
and superior administrators of justice.
To massacre innocent civilians
is not in their DNA.
They are too civilized and progressive
to commit such acts.
*
When Armenians asked Toynbee permission
to reprint his book on the Genocide,
Toynbee refused because he explained,
he was afraid of what would happen
to the Armenian communities in Turkey.
*
Toynbee understood Turks.
He spoke the language and
he had many Turkish friends.
But he was afraid of what would happen
to the Armenian communities within Turkey.
That fear speaks volumes!
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[arabaliozian]

Re: The "G" word

ON THE RISE & FALL OF EMPIRES
*******************************************
If the Ottoman Empire lasted longer
than any other it may be because
the Sultans operated in an environment
notorious for its internal divisions
that go back to the beginning of time
(Cain and Abel).

GOD & COUNTRY
******************************
The 1% will always be successful
in convincing the 99% to kill and die
in the name of God and Country
as if God recognized man-made boundaries.
He doesn’t!
Why should He?
He owns the place.
He owns not only all countries, continents and
Planet Earth itself but also the Universe
in which Planet Earth is almost an invisible dot.

GOD & COUNTRY (II)
**********************************
Alain may be right:
“All wars are religious wars.”
Which is why, at the outset of World War II,
Stalin reinstated Etchmiadzin
and unleashed the Catholicos to preach war,
with the result that 350,000 Armenian boys died
and the rest were awarded enough medals
to cover their chest and midriff.
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[arabaliozian]

Re: The "G" word

POWER
**************************
Power is the source
of a thousand and one temptations
and none of us is equipped to resist all of them.
*
What is an Armenian with power
if not a Turk minus the fez and yataghan?
*
Turks cover up history.
We learn nothing from it.
The result is the same.
They continue to be our role models.
*
Like everything I say,
this too is based on self-analysis.
*
Kopeks matter.
So do human rights.
I look forward to the day
when our brothers and sisters in the Homeland
will demonstrate against violations of human rights
with the same degree of dedication and energy.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: The "G" word

POWER
*********************
Mensheviks and Bolsheviks,
Leninists and Stalinists,
Tashnaks and Ramgavars,
Turks and Armenians:
these are all meaningless labels.
There are only men with
and without power;
or in today’s parlance:
the 99% and the 1%.
The rest is propaganda.
*
An Armenian with power is a Turk;
and a Turk without power is my brother.
*
With power you can get away
not only with murder
but also genocide.
Without power you can scream yourself hoarse
and no one will hear you.
*
With power your whisper will be heard
from one end of the world to the other.
*
A man with power is a predator
and a man without power is his favorite prey.
Evolution has brought forth
carnivores and herbivores
and no power on earth and in heaven
can change that.
*
What separates the seed from the tree?
Time.
What separates a man from a bloodthirsty tyrant?
Power.
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