notes and comments

[Anoush]

Re: elegy

time for me to go.
see you tomorrow...
in the meantime, please read other sources beside our own.
as for tribal loyalty and nationalist pride: nothing can beat honesty.

I am for honesty; but at the same time I am also for the victims and in this case the Armenians who have been and are victimized in Artsakh by the "azeri" genocidal pogroms.

[Anoush]

Re: elegy

no war is without victims;
and i am on the side of all victims regardless of race, color, and creed.
the azeris victimized us first?
i wonder why, after centuries of coexistnce.
do you really know what happened?
are all your sources armenian?

Are all your sources "azeris" or turkish?

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

***=hria
========================================

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
*******************************************
QUESTIONS / ANSWERS
***************************************
“Who hates the xxx more than a xxx?” (xxxish saying).
My answer: The Armenian who hates an Armenian.
(Finally, I have hit on a field of human endeavor in which we can assert superiority over xxxs.)
*
Q: All nations have their nationalist historians, why shouldn't we?
A: All nations also have dissidents who question their honesty.
Q: Why is nationalism wrong?
A: If its aim is to assert moral superiority, it is not just wrong but simple-minded. I do not believe in the moral superiority of any nation, including our own.
We are as good or bad as any nation, including Turks and Azeris, with whom we have coexisted for centuries.
Q: What makes you think you are right and your critics wrong?
A: I know they are wrong when they voice views that I held thirty years ago when I could not yet think for myself. I also know they are wrong when they go down into the gutter and shout at the top of their lungs. The gutter is no place for civilized discourse, and emotion is incompatible with reason.
Q: Are we really as bad as Turks? Do you really believe that? And if you do, do you really expect us to believe it?
A: Why not? I will go further and say, we may be worse.
Q: Have we ever massacred our minorities?
A: Do we have them? Did we ever have them? According to the most recent statistics I have read, the non-Armenian population living in Armenia today number less than 4%, and as far as I know none of them has ever risen against the state or engaged in acts of terrorism. When we say we are better than Turks or Azeris we confuse military inferiority with moral superiority. As for our claim that we have never been guilty of genocide: Are not violations of human rights crimes against humanity? What are assassinations if not isolated or interrupted massacres? What are mass exodus from the Homeland and the high rate of assimilation in the Diaspora if not “spitak chart” (white massacres)? And let us not forget that the Turks did what they did for a very pragmatic reason: they believed or they were led to believe they were defending the integrity of their Homeland in time of war when their very survival was at stake. Whereas we do what we do for no discernible reason. The smart, civilized, Christian Armenian is not just a myth or a lie but an absurdity.
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[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

[/B]

Are all your sources "azeris" or turkish?

some are english.
i have never read azeri and turkish historians.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Yes for over a century Armenians living in tatar land have been victimized first.

You say your sources are from all over. You do know of course that the "azeri" propaganda is a continuation of warfare against Artsakh and Armenians. So go figure and the thruthfulness of their source or sources.

that's paranoia.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Correction:
i remember to have read and reviewed two turkish historians and i rejected or contradicted all their assertions.

[Anoush]

Re: elegy

that's paranoia.

Call it whatever you want but I read it right on this forum from a couple of knowledgeable writers' posts that it's what the "azeris" do. And quite frankly what is there left not to believe when I see how they charge towards Armenians through the website, they pay monies and use universities to make every propaganda possible against Armenians; then what is there not to believe?

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
*******************************************
QUESTIONS/ ANSWERS (#2)
***************************************
Q: Do you ever ask yourself what an odar may think of us after they read you?
A: That not all Armenians are idiots?...Joking aside, odars have more important things to do than waste their time reading or thinking about us. How much time do you waste thinking about Patagonians? What about Romanians and Aramaeans? -- because most odars I talk to confuse us with them. As for politicians: they already know all they need to know. I can imagine the following conversation between an American presidential candidate and one of his young advisers:
“What do we know about Armenians?”
“A hundred years ago they were massacred by Turks.”
“What's the Turkish side of the story?”
“They did to the Armenians what we did to our Indians.”
“So what do I say to the Armenians?”
“You will recognize the Genocide.”
“Why genocide and not massacres?”
“They need to hear the word, sir.”
“Is that all? I will recognize the Genocide?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I love the Armenians. What about the Turks? What do I say to them?”
“Nothing, sir! They know the rules of the game.”
“They ought to. They ran an empire for how many centuries?”
“Six, sir."
“Do you think we will last that long?”
“Hope so, sir.”
“I do too. Maybe I should read a book about them to see what they did right.”
“I'll see what I can do, sir. I could read one for you, if you like, and underline the relevant passages.”
“Even better. You sure I don't have to say anything to the Turks?”
“Positive, sir."
“I love those Turks.”
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[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Call it whatever you want but I read it right on this forum from a couple of knowledgeable writers' posts that it's what the "azeris" do. And quite frankly what is there left not to believe when I see how they charge towards Armenians through the website, they pay monies and use universities to make every propaganda possible against Armenians; then what is there not to believe?

i have a turkish friend who says what you say about azeris.
remember, for every armenian who speaks as you do,
there are more than two turks or azeris who say the exact opposite.
that's because both sides have been brainwashed by blundering fools eager to cover up their incompetence or criminal conduct.
politics is a filthy business.
stay away from politicians and their mouthpieces.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Thursday, August 13, 2009
*******************************************
RAFFI AND I -- (Q/A #3)
***************************************
Q: The difference between a writer like Raffi and you is that--
A: He is a 19th-century giant and I am a 21st-century midget.
Q: That wasn't my question. My question has nothing to do with literary greatness and everything to do with a balanced and fair view of reality. In Raffi's writings there are bad as well as good Armenians. In your writings there are only bad ones. Why?
A: That's because I write about our problems.
Q: And Raffi didn't?
A: Only obliquely and in the context of historical fiction.
Q: What is your context?
A: Analytical commentaries.
Q: Does that mean good Armenians don't exist?
A: They exist only as victims of humbuggers or as ineffective players.
Q: You say you write about our problems. If we have problems, and I agree that we do, don't we need solutions?
A: Only one: solidarity.
Q: How do we go about developing solidarity?
A: By ending divisions.
Q: How do we do that?
A: By realizing and admitting to ourselves that dividers are our real enemies.
Q: It seems to me we are going in circles here. Let me approach this question from a different angle: If we need solutions, it must be solutions that work, right? When a solution doesn't work, we should discard it and search for one that will do the job.
A: Excellent idea. If we are a failed nation, let's consider the case of successful nations...such as the United States of America.
Q: But there are all kinds of divisions in America – the rich and the poor, whites and blacks, pro-war and anti-war, pro-abortion and anti --
A: There is also a mechanism designed to resolve differences, it's called democracy. Now, throughout our millennial existence we have at no time experienced democracy. We have been and continue to be at the mercy of paternalistic, authoritarian, fascist and self-appointed pseudo-elites who place their own powers and privileges above the welfare of the nation.
Q: Maybe so, but you still haven't convinced me that emphasizing the positive is wrong.
A: It is wrong if it means covering up or minimizing the dangers and challenges we face.
Q: Is that what Raffi did? -- minimized and covered up?...
A: You seem to have adopted Raffi as a model. If all writers had done that, they would have written nothing but historical novels. Writers like Baronian, Odian, and Massikian wrote satire, where the emphasis is on bad characters. If we were to judge a writer's merits by how successful he has been in solving our problems, as you seem to suggest, we shall have to conclude that our literature as a whole, from Khorenatsi to our own days, has been a gigantic failure. If we are to assign failure, let's begin with our leaders and the dupes who support them. That is why I never get tired of saying and repeating, the smart, progressive, civilized, and westernized Armenian is not just a lie but an absurdity.
Q: Are you saying there are no smart Armenians?
A: If there are, they have been marginalized and rendered ineffective: they are, in other words, ahistorical. They neither formulate nor implement policies, and in that sense they are double victims – victims of foreign aggression as well as victims of domestic corruption and incompetence. Let's end this interview on a positive note, shall we? Let's consider the case of Naregatsi. There is one positive character in his LAMENTATION, namely God who, as everyone knows, is an Armenian. But the problem with God is that He has always been on the side of the powerful and against the weak, or rather, against dividers, their dupes, and fools who think they are smart.
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