President Ilham Aliyev last week celebrated his country’s historic victory at the United Nations. With an overwhelming number of votes, Azerbaijan was elected for the first time to the prestigious UN Security Council for a two-year term.
This column shall address three questions: How did Azerbaijan manage to get elected to such an elite body? What will Azerbaijan accomplish with its newly acquired seat? And what actions did Armenians take to counter Azerbaijan’s candidacy?
Azerbaijan, Hungary, and Slovenia competed for a non-permanent seat reserved for the Eastern European region in the Security Council. Normally, Azerbaijan would have no chance of getting elected to such a distinguished body, since it is the least qualified of the three countries in fulfilling the requirements of the UN Charter, due to its failure to contribute to international peace and security, and its lack of participation in the work of UN agencies.
According to knowledgeable sources, Azerbaijan made up for its deficiencies by offering tour packages and monetary incentives to UN delegates, and economic inducements to financially strapped nations in return for their votes at the UN General Assembly, which elects the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council. By hook or by crook, Azerbaijan acquired the support of Islamic countries, the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, and CIS (former Soviet) countries, including Russia. Yet, despite these unusual lobbying tactics, it took Azerbaijan 17 rounds over a two-day period to garner the necessary votes, and only after Slovenia, its main rival, withdrew in protest from the race. Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar complained that his country “did not approve the way this campaign was held.” Although he did not elaborate, he was referring to Azerbaijan’s lavish gift-giving spree.
Naturally, gaining a seat on the powerful UN Security Council accords Azerbaijan international prestige and a new venue to pursue its incessant Armenophobic campaigns. Nevertheless, there is little chance that Azeri officials will be able to succeed in their announced objective of placing the Karabagh (Artsakh) conflict on the Council’s agenda. The Minsk Group co-chairs—France, Russia, and the United States—as three of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, have made it amply clear that this matter will be handled by the Minsk Group, outside the UN framework. Hence, Azerbaijan’s leaders risk disillusioning their people, having reassured them that the Security Council will take up the Karabagh issue. Azerbaijan could also get entangled in precarious situations, being forced to take sides when voting on confrontational issues involving Iran, Israel, and Syria, among others.
While the Aliyev regime was turning the world upside down to come up with votes for its Security Council bid, what were Armenians doing to counter Azerbaijan’s efforts?
Opponents at home criticized the Armenian government for not declaring Armenia’s candidacy for the Security Council, arguing this would have taken away votes from Azerbaijan. Such a strategy, however, may not have been in Yerevan’s best interest because Armenia cannot compete with Baku’s vote-buying spree, and would have drawn votes away from Slovenia, assuring a bigger victory margin for Azerbaijan.
In an earlier column, I had suggested that Armenian organizations and prominent individuals in the diaspora, in consultation with the Armenian Foreign Ministry, launch a global campaign to counter Azerbaijan’s candidacy. I had urged Armenians around the world to ask their respective governments not to support Azerbaijan’s Security Council bid.
Regrettably, neither the Armenian Foreign Ministry nor the diaspora leadership initiated such a coordinated effort. Two months ago, when delegates from 50 countries gathered at a Pan-Armenian Conference in Yerevan, foreign ministry officials should have taken the opportunity to strategize with activists and heads of organizations on how to counter Azerbaijan’s candidacy. Ironically, one of the topics on the conference agenda was “mechanisms for the development of Armenia-diaspora partnership.” Such discussions are only useful if they are followed up by concrete actions.
Fortunately, a mechanism for global Armenian coordination is in the works for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. For this purpose, a preliminary meeting was held in Yerevan several months ago. Turkey has already announced its UN Security Council candidacy for 2015, at a time when Armenians will be commemorating the centennial of the genocide. The question is: Will Armenians be better prepared to counter Turkey’s candidacy in four years than they were Azerbaijan’s this year?
Harut Sassounian
Good point Mr Sassounian well said.
Mr. Sassounian,
What evidence do you have that Azerbaijan resorted to any illegal vote-buying? Azerbaijan may have engaged in bargaining with potential voters, but what is wrong with that? Isn’t that part of normal diplomacy? I know, I know, you are very jealous of Azerbaijan’s growing prominence, but please do not make yourself look ridiculous in the process of trying to make yourself feel better.
For example, did you know that France heavily lobbied (“bribed” in your terminology) a lot of countries in support of Slovenia (to strengthen the EU weight in the Council)? Everybody does such things. In your own very post where you talk about what Armenia could have done to counter Azerbaijan, you essentially recommend the same things to Armenia.
In conclusion, yes, it is a great accomplishment for Azerbaijan to get the seat. We will use it as leverage for our international diplomacy vis-à-vis Armenia. Even if France, USA, and Russia do not let the Garabagh issue to be discussed in the Council, there are many other things we can do in the meantime through U.S.
By the way, I am curious as to why Armenia does not wish a Council discussion on Garabagh. Are you concerned that you don’t have strong diasporas in all of the world’s countries to sway their judgments away from what is objectively in compliance with international law and justice, away towards a distorted judgment? You and I both know very well that >90% of the countries would vote in favor of demanding that the Armenian armed forces leave the occupied lands of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory.
Mr.Kerim,
Firstly, Those borders that both Azerbaijan(this country is a fake made up one ,before 1918 did not even exist) and great Turkey parrot like repeat were created by Revolutionary russia-during turmoil,hoping They (the Russians) could also include great Turkey as anyet another Soviet Republic.Gave gold and armament to Mustafa kemal to suppress newly independent Armenian 1920´s,setting up those fake borders. All monumenets including recently discovered Centurires old ruins of Tigranaker(in Artsakh, Nk) attest to it and many many Monasteries like Gandzasar etc.,.Population composed of Lazis, lenkorani Persians,Dagestanis etc.,please go check it out. As to being jealous,no not at all,cause we know you cannot accomplish anything at that Council.We have liberated our ancient lands (squattered in by your tataar,turco mongol hordes).We shall and Will claim and some day also get back/liberate Nakhijevan, Gandzak(Ganje in your lingo),Shahumian to begin with. I shall not refer to Western armenia ,which is another phase of the whole futuristic Whole United Armenia.
Just suffice it that we know what is ours and that your people came from UYGHURLAND,like your own FM DAutohglu stated in recent visit to China…
We are yet to see what latter has to say about Uyghurland…
Kerim,
re. What evidence do you have that Azerbaijan resorted to any illegal vote-buying?
Nowhere the word “illegal can be found in the article.
re. For example, did you know that France heavily lobbied (“bribed” in your terminology) a lot of …
Nowhere the word “bribed” can be found in the article. In your terminology.
Libeling. Mr. Kerim, no matter how innocent or sincere your comment may sound to yourself and others, it is still libeling. In USA you can be prosecuted for that. And jelousy towards ARmenians is propably the main reason behind your libeling.
re. In conclusion, yes, it is a great accomplishment for Azerbaijan to get the seat. We will use it as leverage for our international diplomacy vis-à-vis Armenia.
Every great accomplishment brings with it a great responsibility Mr. Kerim. So you (azerbaijan) need to make sure that you don’t have more power than you can handle, because it may spell the end of azerbaijan.
re. You and I both know very well that >90% of the countries …
To me this “>90%” means less than 90%. At least we are on the same page together on this.
“Election” of Azerbaijan as a non-veto member of the UN Security Council is a great outcome for Armenia!!
It is not about Artsakh anymore. The current illegitimate Sultan Ilham Heydar ogly Aliyev, needed this trick to prolong his dictatorship. Ideally, he would want to stay in power until his son Heydar Ilham ogly Aliyev Jr. reaches a “presidential age” of 20 something. But the Arab Spring got Ilham-baba thinking hard. The $.25+ billion is a small price to pay for this sort of “international legitimacy” of his regime. He is very afraid that the West can choose his thiefdome to democratize next.
He did consider another approach – sort of a “Putin-Medvedev” trick in an Azeri Turk way – to get his wife Mehriban-hanum elected as president for a few years, but had to rule out that option because her clan became too powerful and there is no guarantee that he would be allowed to return back.
The West is considering bringing democracy to his oilfields anyway. It’s not about Armenians anymore. It is about other native peoples who live in Azerbaijan under the Azeri Turk yoke. The Turks there are actually the true minority and they are afraid that Tolysh, Lezgi, Udin, and other “minorities” could get support from outside and come to Baku to talk to Aliyevs “Benghazi” style. This would mean a long trip back to the Altai mountains for these Azeri Turks who would manage to survive the genuine expressions of love from their non-Turkic Muslim brothers.
Gaytzag,
Imagine what a mess the world would be if all other countries too followed Armenia’s example by calling their neighbor’s modern and internationally recognized boundaries as fake and made-up, and attacked them viciously. Similarly, imagine what a mess your township would be if your next-door neighbors called your house-title as fake and kicked you out at a gun point based on such claims, unproven by court or any other objective authority.
Now, let’s take your claims against Turkey. Could you please let me know when was the last time in history that the modern Western Turkish territory was ALLEGEDLY part of a formal Armenian state? When? 1500 year ago? 2000? Such claims would create a total legal chaos if applied today. For example, a Turk would ask your guy to subject yourselves to genetic tests to see if you indeed descended from the very people who had LEGAL title to those lands, as opposed to, say, the modern Turks who used to be Armenian, etc. Don’t you see how ridiculous such steps would be (i.e., you have a legal right to a land based on a 2000 year old claim that may or may not hold water)?
stay tuned … Azerbaijan will soon make a fool of itself .. relax .. just give them enough rope to hang themselves. At times, the strategy is to retreat or do nothing ;)
What is sad is not that Azerbaijan was a Soviet built nation of less then 100 years,
it was Armenian inventors and and buissness men who put Azerbaijan on the map like Gulbengyan and Mantashov. What is the sad part is Mr. Aliev has made the Azeri displaced citizens into a “Broadway show” by showing the world they live in box cars and tents while
being proud of spending 3.3 billion dollars this year on millitary!
I just have one question for the UN “ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?”
I hope the UN will do the right thing and take back there vote if not it will show the world
the UN’s master is MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This a travesty. Azerbaijan, a country that started and finished a well-documented ethnic cleansing campaign against its own citizens, within recent, living memory (as in Sumgait, Baku, etc ), and then expelled almost 400,000 Armenians from its cities and towns, reminds us about the power of oil and having influential, well-placed friends. Armenia should always take the high road, remain honest and steadfast, and then work hard to see that criminal behavior is not rewarded. Everyone knows that Karabagh was never part of an independent Azerbaijan until Stalin handed it over. Now that it has been returned to its rightful owners, the Azeris need to calm down. If their treatment of Nakhicevan is any indication of their stewardship (of lack thereof), then Karabagh can never revert back to their rule, unless the world wants it to become another ethnically cleansed wasteland.
Kerim,
If azeris feel that garapakh really belongs to them, they should go get it !
;-) … bye bye
Mr. Kerim
For your information, the teritories of Kars and Artahan ( including the ancient city of 1001 churches, Ani ) were formally part of the Armenian Republic established in 1918 and this was less than a hundred years ago.As to the enitre part of eastern Turkey, this area is called Armenia , weather you like it or not, in all historical maps.
As to legal claims of property , yes we also have legal claims as families of x-ottoman citizens whose identity, property and life was stolen from them in 1915 from all over eastern Anatolia.
And regarding internationally recognized boundries, are you ready to recognize the boundries of N.K. as an indipendent country if this is recognized internationally ?
Kerim,
Believe it or not I had very properly replied to your above post.By hitting a wrong button it disappeared.But now I see above ,my compatriots have already answered and given proof to you as to your queries,shall we say ,or erroneous,intentional utterings!!
Left unsaid by my compatriots is the following.
1. If great Turkey is busy these days trying to somehow bring back the Protocols-also supported by ¨allies¨ that is because she the elder brother so to say of Azerbaijan is worried.Firstly to kerim though,later for big brother,main supporter of Azeris…
1. Over 1000 year old Monastery/church on island in lake Van was reparied restored,not as a church built by Uyghur mongol seljuk tatar turks,but Armenians and if great Turkley is thus softening up-beginning first by big shows in Istanbulla, after Hrant Dink murder,then yet another ,recently the St. Giragos at Diarbakir(Tigranakert) by kurd(read turkish authorized kurd) to make this presentation as yet another show, in order to appease the West that great Turkey is on right path to Democracy(my foot)while their armed forces are ruthlessly oppressing the kurds,making incursions into iraqi soil inclusive… what does that prove. That indeed theya re being transformed-at least outwardly aestetically so to say) .Meanwhile, talking of house or land titles,Kerim….don´t worry there are quite a few authentic such Ottoman Turkish Deeds(house land titles) like for instance the one that proves land underneath U.s. Air force Base incirlik belongs to Armenian family..and many many more.
It is just a question of time when great Turkey will by and by bend over and/or Heaven forbid sauddenly burst into the famous Turkish Khers and lash around , more fiercely killing thousands and thousands of Kurds.for few Armenians are there to Khers(to show wrath ) upon in Andalou(West.Armenia).so easy , Kerim easy.To finalize, ¨modern¨Turks? I wish….indeed outwardly.Hope though what you say will actually become real by cancelling law -code rather penal code No.301 that punishes unturkishness to begin with and let loose Ochalan Kurd leader.For that is just one small gesture to begin with .Also as another one immediately think of doing something similar no not to a person but ,place Mount Ararat which is a barren Mountain with no klnown minerals around it and ruins of ANI to R.of Armenia to appease further the Armenians and sort of encourage us to believe in what you write .that Turks are becoming modern and commencing to think that wise…
AR, Gaytzag et al,
Wow, after reading these comments, Kerim single-handedly swabed the decks with all of you! Not one of you provides any legitimate argument! Many of you are lost in a “field of dreams” from days gone by! All of you do have one thing in common though…you all exhibit an extreme case of SOUR GRAPES!! Get over it and get a life already! Tell us please then…would you all like some cheese with your collective WHINES?!!
Gaytzag mentions getting land from Incirlik AFB, among other things. How delusional can one be? Who are you and what are you to make such demands? Tell you waht…step back, and then take a GOOD look at Armenia and Turkey! Now can you see how ridiculous your “claims” are? Of course, if you really want Eastern Turkey, there’s nothing stopping you from trying to take it! Then again, if you ever tried that…well, do I really need to finish the obvious! There’s an old saying…The dog can only bark as the caravan passes by!
“And regarding internationally recognized boundries, are you ready to recognize the boundries of N.K. as an indipendent country if this is recognized internationally ?”
Kerim is trying to trick us with his claim that Azeri Sultanate’s borders are “internationally recognized” – this is a lie. There is no such thing as internationally recognized borders.
It is true that the state of Azeri Turks is recognized by the UN, but it does not mean that it is recognized in the borders it claims. UN recognizes member states as independent entities that control certain territories, but it does not rule which territory should be given to which state. The same goes to the countries that recognize the government of Sultan Ilham-baba. All it means is that they sent ambassadors that can talk government-to-government, but they are not going to send troops or UN peacekeepers to annex territories Azeri Turks would like to have.
The border recognition issue is a BI-LATERAL deal between the bordering countries. There is a process of mutual recognition that Azerbaijan should complete with all of its neighbors including Artsakh. It is important to note that Azerbaijan has unsettled territorial claims against all of its neighbors except its illegitimate parent turkey state.
Basically, Sultan Aliyev and his cronies live in a fantasy country with enormous borders covering half of Iran, almost all of Georgia, Russian Caucasus, and even Turkmen and Kazakh oil fields in the Caspian lake.
UN should pay attention to Azeri Turk discrimination against the native peoples of the lands under their yoke – namely Lezgi in the North and Tolysh in the South. These peoples have their right for self-determination. Azeri Turk’s right for territorial sovereignty is dependent on how they guarantee their minorities rights. In other words it is not absolute and the borders constantly change.
In civilized countries the central government guaranties minority rights including the right to secede in a peaceful process of self determination. In exchange for such behavior such countries are protected from others trying to break their territorial integrity. Take Canada for example – Quebec population was allowed to vote for independence in multiple referendums. Until the majority of the province votes for independence, the right of Canada to claim this land is protected provided that the central government creates conditions necessary for the minority French speaking Canadians to live free of discrimination. The same way the population of Newfoundland voted to secede from the United States and peacefully join Canada – it happened!
But the moment when a country like Azeri Turk Sultanate in response to peaceful calls for self determination by minority Armenians launches a military campaign of ethnic cleansing against civilian population of Artsakh the right for territorial integrity is lost and void.
Part1: fake state of ‘Azerbaijan’
Modern and internationally recognized boundaries get rearranged and re-recognized all the time, Kerim-Bey.
Kosovo was an internationally recognized part of internationally recognized Serbia, the cradle of the Serbian nation – until various malevolent international actors under NATO umbrella decided to wrest it away from Serbia: its new borders are the new internationally re-recognized boundaries.
So how is it that independent Kosovo, which had been an integral part of Serbia for centuries, and which was ethnically cleansed of its native Serb inhabitants and replaced by Albanians, can be recognized as legitimate, but Artsakh can’t ?
How come Kosovar’s right of self-determination trumps Serbia’s territorial integrity, but the right of self-determination of Armenians of NKR doesn’t ? (‘Kosovar’=another fake ethnos)
The West never recognized the legitimacy of psychopathic dictator Stalin’s illegal annexation of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia after WW2 into USSR.
But gifting historic Armenian Nagorno-Karabagh and Nakhichevan to the newly minted Soviet Azerbaijan by the same psychopathic dictator Stalin is considered legitimate ? Why ? Nobody asked the native Armenians if they wanted to join, so the decision was obviously illegitimate.
That illegal act was finally remedied in 1994 – after much unnecessary bloodshed, bloodshed initiated by Azeri Musavat fascists.
Sudan had internationally recognized boundaries, until it split into two in 2011: South Sudan has new internationally recognized boundaries now, Republic of South Sudan. (…well it was really 2 separate natural countries all along, which was artificially kept as one by force and violence). How did it happen ? After years of war, South Sudanese voted in a referendum (“Yes” 99% “No” 1%). Same kind of Independence referendum as residents of Nagorno-Karabagh ASSR did in 1991 (82% of registered voters voted for independence by a 99% to 1% margin). So who are the fake Azeris to tell real, natural Armenians with a 5,000 year history and presence in the Caucasus whether they can live independently or not ? Tatar-Turks invade our lands from the Mongolian Steppes 3,000 kilometers away, and they get to tell us how to live ? Really ?
The unnatural empire Soviet Union had internationally recognized boundaries, which got changed 20 years ago, after it disintegrated into more or less natural national boundaries. (still an incomplete process).
Azerbaijan is a micro-USSR: Azeri-Tatars are holding Tats, Talishes, Udins, Lezgins, Zakhors, Luitsis, Avars, Kurds by force.
Not too far into the future there will be newly recognized international borders of: Tatstan, Talishestan, Udinstan, Lezgistan, Zakhorstan, Avarstan….
Not too far in the future Turkey will split into at least 2 parts (Kurds and nominal-Turks), possibly 3, even 4.
That’s the trend in the world: artificial boundaries are being changed.
Natural boundaries are being gradually restored.
Azerbaijan is an artificial, fake country. There is no ethnos ‘Azeri’. It is as fake as the ‘Soviet Man’ ethnos that was bandied about for 70 years. There was and is such a thing as ‘Russian man’. There is no ‘Soviet man’: it’s fake.
Just because a bunch of imperialists (Ottoman Turkey and the Brits) decided to foist the fake country of Azerbaijan upon the Armenian nation, doesn’t mean it has any legitimacy. The name itself is fake: it’s a corruption of Iran’s historic Azarbaijan region. (Iranians of Azarbaijan are Turkish speaking ethnic Iranians, not Turks).
And the fake state of Azerbaijan lost any theoretical right to govern natural Artsakh after the Azeri government surrounded, sealed off, and subjected Stepanakert to months of vicious, indiscriminate bombardment with GRADs, long range artillery, and fighter-bombers, the idea being to force Armenians into submission by death and destruction. As a result, about 2,000 Armenian civilians were killed, thousands more wounded, crippled, maimed – including children. The Azeri government deliberately committed war crimes against people who they claim were citizens of Azerbaijan SSR. Any smidgen of legitimacy they may have had in theory, was erased by that criminal act alone.
Question for Kerim-Bey:
Since Turkey invaded the internationally recognized sovereign state of Republic of Cyprus, do you believe an international body, perhaps NATO, should use force to expel the 40,000 Turkish troops currently illegally occupying the Northern part of Internationally recognized EU member Republic of Cyprus ?
Do you recognize the self-declared independence of TRNC ?
@ ROBERT “Wow, after reading these comments, Kerim single-handedly swabed the decks with all of you!” :DDD Are you kidding me!!!! Some how I feel you are the type of person TOO easily impressed. Probably a simpleton, and easily pleased :D BTW the last 10 years ALIEVBAIJAN has surpassed Armenia in the WHINING contest. READ THE NEWS. :DDDDDD
There is no need for us or anyone to challenge Azerbaijan’s legitimacy at this point. It exists. So what? The real question is, does it act like a responsible state entity? Since it has shown it does not, why is it being rewarded for criminal behavior? On another level, does it retain any right to retake Karabagh? I submit that it does not. It started the war and Armenians finished it in their own self-defense. As for Armenian owned properties in Turkey, let’s let the legal process work If legal ownership documents exist, then they need and should be honored, according to international law and the laws established by Ataturk himself, to return them to the proper owners. This should not be seen as a challenge to Turkey, but asking Turkey to live up to its own legal legacy towards former and event current, minority citizens. Little by little, Turkey seems to be moving in the right direction – away from the racist Kemalist mindset – and towards a more inclusive stance. We have learned in school that a body in motion stays in motion. Let’s hope this is true in this regard, as it will only benefit all parties. Armenians wil certainly benefit from a friendly, supportive and cooperative Turkey, and I’m sure will be supportive in return – leading to joint endeavors that help both peoples. Unfortunately, we’ve seen nothing this positive from Azerbaijan, which seems to be stuck in a medieval mindset brought on by the quicksand of oil.
To Robert,
To your first `post addressed to me et al:-
Claim to land that at present seves as Airport(in Incirlik) has been legally lodged at appropriate Courts/Instances. The outcome is pending,so pleaase wait. This is in response to your first short post addresssed to me. It is claimed by ACTIUAL owne´s heirs by attorneys. Not me, as you write….
As to your second post -addressed to me-mainly, regarding claim for lands,I would suggest you study present situation in occupied Western Armenia(Anadolou)
A. These lands were the habitat of Armenians(and I don´t deny) kurds living there for millenia side by side. After the Genocide perpetrated on us by ottoman Turkey and Young turks Gov.t ,plus kemal Ataturk´final try to completely wipe our trace of Armenians ,Greeks,Assyrians there, kurds ,at that point of time-period-being your accomplices, stayed on those lands looting the riches of the aforementioned and usurping lands. They,the kurds(not Mountain turks,that your gov.ts tried to fake) stayed on and multiplied since then, NOW A WHOPPING 18 million.
My question now being posed to you is :-How do you figure out you can get rid of such a huge population? thorw them into the Black Sea( comes to min Peter Balakian´s ¨TIGRIS IS BURNING¨ and other facts that it happened .That Mustafa Kemal did that to Greeks and Armenians .bUT HOW DO YPOU PROPOSE TO FILL BALCK SEA WITH 18 million kurds? bodies?or what…Think of that puzzle,an important one at that.
K u r d s, not the turkish gov.t authorized brainwashed ones acting as their agents(like before) have come to realize that what turks did to armenians ,greeks and Assyrian, can be repeated to them.this time over crushing them as much as possible by fire and bombarding(including in Iraq),thus for the time being suppressing their demands.But for HOW LONG CAN THIS GO ON? IS THE QUESTION.
Personally I don´t believe it is time for Armenians to claim LAND NOW,i.e. in general a few here and there example (to keep subject alive ,like Incirlik) is good for said reason.MY IDEA OF CLAIM TO BE LODGED WITH GREAT TURKEY NOW, IS THE PREPARATION OF THE MAIN FILE/CLAIM FOR….. B L O O D M O N E Y !!!
wHICH HAS PRECEDENT AND IT HAS BASE TO IT,WITH PLENTY OF FACTS..
LAND ISSUE WE CAN BY AND BY DISCUSS WITH EMANCIPATED K U R D S ,no not in great Turkey but outside of their boundaries…
Rest assured that we mean to carry on our JUST CAUSE TO ITS FINAL SUCCESS!!!
The historical facts are on the side of us Armenians for teritorial claim on NK as part of our homeland and the right of self determination of the people of NK only goes to reinforce this issue.
Yet, events in history have repeatedly taught us that “might decides what is right” eg the illegal invasion of Cyprus by Turkey, the partition of Sebia by NATO for political gains and the illegal anexation of our own land of NK to the newly created Azerbaijan by Stalin. The so called fixed bounderies are changed for political gains by the powerful.
It is in our interest as Armenians to act collectively, homeland and dyaspora working together, to protect our rights by all means available including lobying in our existing countries. We should not miss any opportunity to do so and hope that the “right thing will happen” just because we believe we are right in our claim.
‘There is no need for us or anyone to challenge Azerbaijan’s legitimacy at this point.’
Actually there is: I can’t list the many reason why, but their legitimacy must be questioned and challenged constantly. There are very sound scientific reasons for doing so. The fact that Azerbaijan exists is one of the reasons it must be challenged. Part of the program.
Much as I would not have preferred to correct one notion at this point of time Avery´s and others has pushed me sort of to bring about more info about said notion.
If you take the trouble to go to any important Armenian library and go through Prof. Richard g. Hovhanissian´ 4 volume Republic of Armenia,you will come across in one section how the British were in Baku in 1914´s.Their troops mainly were Gourkhas(Afgan famous fighters near pakistan Border,rather Khyber Pass. You can see photos of these and the British staff and then some. In short ask yourselves why?
Indeed, they were there to take over the precious liquid gold.At that point of time,rather a bit later, in the 1917´s when the Bolshevic Revolution in Russia spread down to the Caucasus, with some Armenians acting as Revolutionaries like Famous Shahumian, the Brits had to get rid of them and they shot him plus 19 others-the Twenty is so mnamed-hoping that they would thus get rid of the Communism spreading into Baku. Bad luck for the Brits,since the Red Army was fast approaching Baku and would eventually take pover the poilfields,much to the chagrin of the Brits,who has to bid farewell to the precious liquid metal. However, if you have heaard of the ¨Oughdi Ken¨ i.e. revenge of the Camel, they waited the oppertune moment,when Garbachov and his communist Regime went down the drain,paving the way for them(the Brits to come back) This time over with company,i.e. couple other oil companies and started pumping it via the BTJ to the Turkish Jeyhan….
Rest is part of the story.As when General Andranik was to have occupied Karabagh and taken over Nakhijevan(this prior to the Red army incursion) The Brits assured him that they would take care of that and those provinces would be annexed to R.of Armenia(the Independent one) .Not so,it was not to be. They actually did the opposite and invented the Azerbaijan(composed of Lenkoranis, Dagestanis, Lezgis eetcx.,) Name Azerbaijan is actually copied form Iranian Azerbaijan that HAD EXISTED AS ATERPATAKAN…
And what happened next was , other wrong doers, lenin Stalin approved of the idea to have Azerbaijan be there and cautiously, stealthily gave those two provinces another made up DENOMIANTIONS, in order to blow dust into the eyes of the Armenians that thesse were quite Azeri but NK would bear name as AUTONOMOUS REGION and Nakhijevan AUTONMOUS REPUBLIC, placing both under newly created state Azerbaijan,rich with OIL and ready to be explored this time by them.Also her it is necessary to mention that before the REd Army or even the Brits were in Baku 4 Armenian families,namely Lazarian, Mantashian Lianazof8Armenian) and later Gulbenkian had started the exploration and Refining OIL in Baki(sorry Baku) that is the way Azerbaboon pronounce it. So at present it is again under Azerbaijan name and Oil ,you know to where directed.So to surmise that easily that it was Lenin and Stalin only who devised that,NOT CORRECT. Present Oil companies there had hjad their eyes on it LOOONG before L,& S.
Avery – I get your point, but come on…why waste one’s time, energy, resources and intelligence on such an activity? Ridiculous as it is, they were just given a seat on the security council and you think you can challenge their legitimacy? Time to get real. Let’s not forget that it was an Armenian (Stepan Shahumian) who helped to establish Azerbaijan as a republic in the first place, plus there are many Armenians who were instrumental in getting Azerbaijan started. So, going down the road you suggest is just another diversion Armenians cannot waste time on, and I’m sure the govt of Armenia has much larger (real) issues to tackle. As they say, talk is cheap, but wasting even cheap talk on cheap ideas isn’t helping to solve existing problems.
Stepan Shahumian didn’t help establish Azerbaijan as a republic. Being based in Baku, Shahumian helped establish the Soviet rule in Transcaucasia. Azerbaijan was established as a nation-state for the first tiome in history by the Bolsheviks and the British. Check your history books.
No ,Karekin,
Avery is right.We must insist and show to the world that Azerbaijan is a FAKE.I explained above how it came to be. You have erroneously-permit me to say- presented the picture that Stepan Shaumian helped create it .Nothing of the sort.Shahumian was a communist(but a true Armenian) he was an activist at that time trying to revolutionize both Armenians and turco-tatar and other nationality workers in BAKI(not Azerbaijan)Baku was becoming the centre for such socialist revolutionaries ,which did not sit well with the British( I went to school in England and know they don´t mind if I write the facts.Facts? day in day out Mr. Robert Fisk of ¨The Independent¨atacks British wrongdoers,U.K.,like the U.s. is a free country you can express yoursself freely..so much for that.
Now then ,Shahumian at any rate , together with 19 more revolutionaries, were grouped together and shot by the British!!!!! they did not approve of these advancing further.
However, much more important wave of communist led ,RED Army units swarmed over Baki and took over the Whole area.The British had devised the name for that area as Azerbaijan.I explained that before,up above that it was a replica of the other Aterpatakan ,called Azerbaijan by the Iranians.Yes, there are over 16 million ,now probably more ,within North Iran, but these unlike the Bakili Azeris are quite more civil(I know thenm personally, and are well governed by the Central iranian gov.t.
This to the chagrin of both Baku and Ankara.
Here I would like to add the following for all to think over. If Shahumian, Miasnikian ,Mikoyan and a host of others did not harm Armenian rights but were adamant in their ideologies,shouln´t we Armenians -Those who aspire to be or feel as real freedom lovers-approve of them.Example, in Armenia right now exist the Marxist party, head of which is Davit Hakobian a stout Armenian(that when khatchklars in nakhijevan were being destroyed, in direct TV. from Yerevan,a discussion on -I was watching-angrily insisted that OSCE Minsk Grouop negotiations for peace ought to stop right then until they stopped destorying the Khatchkars ,begged pardon and then go back to table to negotiate…No one listned to him not Oskanian no Kocharian nobody…Is he a bad Armenian?We armenians must begin to appreciate what is said or offered suggested, by any person with any ideology,Main issue is to weigh and measure the subject matter,if found beneficial ACCEPT IT WITHOUT GOD D (come form old times) Armenian bad trait of being jealous….
Going back to above subject matter. No karekin shahumian to me , at least is as much a person of respect as is Njdeh or Mura , Cahvoush or Andranik.A true Armenian -never mind his ,her ideology-is one that NEVER PUTS BEHIND HIS ARMENITY!!!!
SO kAREKIN OR OTHERS TRY TO BE MORE REALISTIC. tHE bRITS came back didnn´t they????ACCEPT FACTS.tHEY ARE THERE NOW,NOTWITHSTANDING WHAT Shahumians or russian bolsheviks did to stop them.This is like a chess game ,capiche, Politics is the art of the clever and the cunning minds yes even the G.D. Toikish cunningness.
Good news to y’all! Turkey will preside over the G-20 summit. Guess when? In 2015! :-)
sorry Karekin, you are deliberately reframing what I was advocating to create a strawman – and then present arguments against it.
(Nothing new: have seen it from you before more times than I can remember.)
You are quite right that Armenians helped establish the fake state of Azerbaijan. However, you deliberately left out the part about them being Bolsheviks, Shahumyan included. Unfortunately Armenian Bolsheviks’ loyalty was not to their own people – in most cases. Their misguide loyalty was to the ideology of Bolshevism: they did what their leadership (V.I. Lenin) told them to do.
Ottoman Turks, with the help of the highly experienced British Imperialists, outsmarted and outmaneuvered the Bolsheviks in Azerbaijan– and we Armenians are still paying the price.
Ethnic Georgian Bolshevik Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili aka Joseph Stalin illegally gave NKR and Nakhichevan to Soviet Azerbaijan despite furious objections from Soviet Armenian leadership (gave…with Lenin’s approval).
Was that the fault of Armenians too ?
As to the worth of the security council seat, here is a news item from a couple years ago:
{Oct 17, 2007 | The Associated Press
Libya Wins Seat on U.N. Security Council
Libya _ a former pariah state condemned by the U.S. as a sponsor of terrorism _ won a seat on the U.N. Security Council Tuesday without opposition from the Bush administration.
“We really felt let down when the State Department didn’t make the objections it has in the past”
The U.S. decision not to support a rival African country for the seat angered families of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland _ some of whom watched the vote in the U.N. General Assembly from the visitors gallery. They said the United States should have done more to prevent Libya from getting a seat on the U.N.’s most powerful body.}
On Sept 17, 2011 UN gave Libya’s UN Security Council seat to the Libyan rebels. Yep, rebels, who overthrew the previously legally recognized government headed by Gaddafi. So much for the value of a UNSC seat. So much for legitimacy conferred by UN.
And the legally recognized head of a UN State who only a short time ago was ceremoniously received at the UN and gave a speech, with the requisite enthusiastic applause, was unceremoniously killed like a common sewer rat hiding in a large pipe. (….as a bonus insult, other awful and degrading things were done to Gaddafi before he was killed, but this is a G-rated online magazine).
So phony legitimacy conferred by this or that world body is very fleeting. We Armenians have the kind of legitimacy that very few nations have.
Our legitimacy and the sense of nationhood has survived the test of time. Our sense of nationhood is not something one can measure, but it is very real and very powerful.
Deep down, Azeris know they are a fake, artificial country, a non-existent ethnos, with no roots. It manifests itself in almost every action and pronouncement of their leaders. For example, in their deep desire to gain legitimacy where there is none, they even claim that the Khachkars of Nakhichevan were created by their mythical Christian ancestors, before they converted to Islam. 10,000 irreplaceable centuries-old Khachkars which they, Azeris, themselves destroyed. The absolute illogic of the claim somehow escapes the brilliant minds of Azeri leaders. But it makes perfect sense if one considers the deep fakosis psychosis they are collectively suffering from.
Good News indeed Ahmet!!!
By then we shall have won the Case(Armenian Genocide Recognition,worldover) and then the ¨Boold money¨ compensation to heirs of the killed,riches and properties confiscated,regularly continued.For I do believe we shall reach there prior to 2015,I´d say in a couple yrs ,latest. Rich neighbour much better,than a poor one that so far has existed with handouts-albeit lately began to produce and sell,too.
Keep giving us such Good tidings willya?
Ahmet –
The simplicity of your Turkish mentality is in that you think Armenians fight against Turks. No, we don’t fight against Turks, we fight for historical justice. Therefore, whether Turkey will preside over G-20 or not, essentially doesn’t matter for the advancement of justice. Besides, Turkey is too minor a player in the world affairs to stop international recognition of the Armenian genocide. The recent statements by Sarkozy are a demonstration that the recognition will happen whenever it suits the world power centers and Israel. They would care less about whether or not Turkey will preside over G-20. Don’t fool yourself.
Ahmet: Two years ago denialist Turks like you mischievously made a big fuss about the appointment of Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). What did it give both Turkey and its Turkic outgrowth Azeristan? Absolutely nothing! Spare your health from venting gall.
“For I do believe we shall reach there prior to 2015..” GAYtzag, keep believing!!! :-)
Sarkozy’s recent statements? Who is Sarko? He is trying to save his behind in the French elections. that is all.
Berch, what did it give to Turkey? What do you think? Could it be the G-20 presidency? :-)
All of my friends here in USA are telling me they have been hearing a lot about Turkey recently as the regional power. Turkey is the trend now.
But wait a minute. The world has been hearing a lot about Armenians too. Kardashian just got divorced right? :-)
Last time I checked Mr. Sarkozy was the president of one of the important world power centers. The recognition of the Armenian genocide by France and the high probability of enactment of law punishing deniers like you, is not just “saving his behind in the French elections.” Only a simplistic Turk like you would think about the world of politics and historical justice in such superficial categories.
Turkey’s G-20 presidency was not the consequence of Çavuşoğlu’s chairmanship in PACE. How ridiculous is it to even contemplate such a connection? Turkey is striving to become a regional power, but it is too minor a player in the world affairs, nevertheless.
The world has heard a lot about Armenians when Turks were grazing on the pastures of Mongolia and Altay mountains. If you’re hearing about Kardashian’s divorce, it only demonstrates the narrowness of your educational horizons and worldview. Broaden it. To start with, do a simple research, if you can, and find out who were the architects and genius minds behind the construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace, the most important national shrine of the Turks. Good luck. I spare you from doing research on the civilizational achievements of the Armenians in the BC era, because I’m afraid it would be too burdensome for your brains.
Not matter how frequently you recyle a lie, it does not become a truth (unless you are doing as part of a myopic community drunk on its own delusions of grandeur). Now, about the lie about Staline giving Azerbaijan to Karabak. You misrepresent facts. Your claim implies that Karabak was part of an Armenian state and Stalin took it from Armenia and gave it to Azerbaijan. THis is incorrect. What happened he voted in favor of KEEPING it as part of Azerbaijan during a meeting in which Armenia’s petition to take it from Azerbaijan was being considered. As the leader of the subsuming country of USSR, he felt their claim was a bogus. Now, by attaching a bogey-man name like Stalin to Azerbaijan’s historical ownership of Karabak, you try to create a negative association in people’s mind (“Oh, wow, Stalin is evil. Stailin gave Karabak to Azerbaijan. Therefore, Azerbaijan owning Karabak is bad.” How pathetic of you!). As for using the word Artsakh as the name of Karabak, this too is an attempt to obfuscate real facts. Kabak is a historical name of the land, which means Black Garden in Azeri. And its capital city was called Khankendi, before being renamed after the Armenian communist of 1920s, Stepan Shamuyan. And guess what, Khankendi means King’s Village in Azeri. You know why? Because it was established by the Azeri khan (king) of Karabak as a summer get-away for his family. And you know who signed the capitulation agreement with the Russian tsar to acknowledge Russian ownership of the land: an Azeri king. Now if this land was Armenian, what business did Russian have getting a signature from an Azeri, who according to you, had no ownership of the land? Now, where did the Armenians come to Karabak? As part of that very agreement with the Russian, Russian, migrated a lot of Armenians from Turkey and Iran to create a Christian presence as a buffer. This is a historical fact. Not a long time ago there was a monument the ARmenians built in Karabak (in Martuni town I believe), which celeberated the 150 year anniversary of ARmenian settlement in Karabak. Facts are facts. Another fact: we Azeris will come back!
Kerim, I will be there when you get what is yours back. Karabag Azeri!!!!
Allah’a amenat gardash.
Kerim,
Let’s first correct the flaws of your grammatical literacy, or illiteracy, rather. Stalin not Staline, Karabakh or Gharabagh not Karabak or Kabak, Shahumian not Shamuyan. Let’s now proceed to your historical illiteracy. There has never been such a nation as ‘Azerbaijanis’ or ‘Azeris’ as people inhabiting present-day Azerbaijan in history before 1918. Those who lived on those lands were known as Caucasian Tatars, Caucasian Turks, or simply Muslims, i.e. tribes with no particular national identification. ‘Azerbaijan’ or ‘Azerbaijanis’ was historically a Persian, repeat: Persian toponym known as ‘Atrpatakan’ in antiquity. This genuinely Persian name was stolen by the Caucasian Turks in the early 20th century to have some kind of national identity for the new nation-state artificially created by the British and the Russians. Therefore, Artsakh (ancient Armenian name for Nagrono-Karabakh), could not be a part of a modern entity called Azerbaijan. For a short period of time this Armenian land has become a Persian khanate, but was nevertheless ruled by Armenian meliks. Even before artificial state of Azerbaijan was established in 1918, Artsakh was a “disputed territory” based on the decision of the Paris Conference convened to redraw the world map after the World War I. When Bolsheviks came to the region in the early 1920s, their Caucasian Party Bureau first decided to attach Artsakh to the Armenian Soviet Republic given its historical background, cultural ties, architectural monuments, and ethnic composition, but then changed their own decision overnight as a result of intervention by the Soviet Comissar on Nationalities Joseph Stalin. Stalin’s unilateral decision was not because he felt the Armenians’ “claim was a bogus”, but because he simply followed the principle of the Bolshevik nationalities’ policies: to place particular ethno-territorial units under the jurisdiction of other units in order to facilitate the pyramidal centralized governance.
Now let’s refute some toponymical inaccuracies. “Gharabagh” does mean Black Garden, but in Persian and Turkic, not Azeri. What is Azeri? Is it a separate language ever known to the humans? It’s a Turkic language. Nagorno-Karabakh is often referred to by the Armenians as Artsakh, designating a province of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia. In Urartian Armenian inscriptions (9th-7th centuries BC), the name Urtekhini is used for the region. Ancient Greek sources called the area Orkhistene. Same with Khankendi. It does mean Khan’s Village, but in Persian and Turkic, not Azeri. According to medieval Armenian sources, the settlement was first mentioned as Vararakn, meaning Rapid Spring in Armenian, which remained under this name until it was renamed Khankendi only in 1847 by a Persian khan.
The last part about where the Armenians came to Karabakh generates a pity for the simplicity of an Azeri mind. A land where one of the four ancient Armenian capitals of Tigranakert, founded in the 1st century BC by the Armenian Emperor Tigran the Great was found, is one of the many proofs of the Armenian presence at the times when no such thing as Turk or Azeri ever existed.
“Another fact: we Azeris will come back!” What weed are you smoking, Kerim?
KERIM FORGETS-CONVENIENTLY- THAT ¨THE khamsai melikutyunner¨ MEANS IN TURCO PERSIAN five Principlaities¨ always were there in the Artsakh (Nagornyi Karabagh) highlands and never submitted either to azeri (tatar, mongol turco what not from the next to China (with China now,UYghurland cam and like shepherds stayed on ..)
Stepanakert is Armenian ,so is Shushi with total of NK Artsakh , even in soviet times well over 85%,near 90%.
No you err. go study history books.True even persian armies also entered conquered lands there but never the KAHMSAI MELIKUTYUNNER!!!that ws the Armenian stronghold that later came down to lower lands and established the majority Armenians there.Gandzak(you changed to Genjeh) is Armenian so is Nakhijevan.Before stlain and Lenisn the Britswere there ,go biy books and study with photos of the British military staff in Baki in the 1914…s
They were there and have now come back this time over to give as bakhshish to mr. Aliev Clan some % ,rest pumpted out to them, the precious oil that is.how many times do i have to tell you that Armeniasn were the initiators of OIL INDUSTRY in Baki.the Mantashians, the Lianazof(Armenian; Lazarians., Gilbenkians,while your people indeed were very good unskilled workers under Armenian Engineers and Architects.
Be content that you have Oil now( i doubt if you realize what % is yours, rest to whom) then go be more studious.Stalin signed this or that does not prove anything. Also signed is the SEvres Treaty with grteat Turkey.We know that your big brother is supporting your existance there,plus some who make good use of the OIL!!!
We only wish to be away from you nO OBRDER OPENING PLEASE. GO OPEN UP AND WORK WITH OTHERS!!!
iF SOME STUPID aRMENIANS THINK THAT BORDERS OUGHT TO BE OPENED EITHER WITH aZERI OR GREAT tURKEY ,THEY WILL SOON COME TO REALIZE THAT wAHT CHANGES ARE TAKING PLACE IN GREAT tURKEY IS SUPERFICIAL.wITNESS THAT NEW ARREST OF A FREE THINKING tURK INDIVIDUAL .o.k.?
sure you will Ahmet. Are you and Kerim going to be in the first invading jet that will be shot down over Artsakh ?
Are you both going to be in the first invading tank that will be blown up in the territory of Artsakh ?
Are you two prepared to join the 30,000 Azeri-Tatar-Turk troops KIA during the war by the Armenian defenders ?
re: ‘Not matter how frequently you recyle a lie, it does not become a truth’:
Quite so Kerim-bey. You being an Azeri-Tatar-Turk ought to know.
Exhibit A: the mythical 20% occupation myth Azeri liars keep lying about.
In the delusional Azeri math the Artsakh-NK Republic itself is considered, quote, ‘occupied’ by its own indigenous Armenians owners – to in part arrive at the 20% ‘occupation’ lie. So in the Azeri mind, Armenians are in effect ‘occupying’ themselves.
There are other nonexistent areas added to arrive at the nice round number of 20%, but too convoluted to discuss here.
The actual number of historic Armenian lands liberated outside of the Nagorno-Karabagh ASSR proper is about 10%.
This 10% does not include the Armenian NKR Shahumyan/Shahumian Region currently under partial illegal occupation of Azeri-Tatar invaders.
This 10% does not include the Armenian NKR Martuni Region currently under partial illegal occupation of Azeri-Tatar invaders.
The reality is that about half of the fake state of Azerbaijan is historic Armenia, all the way to the Kura River and the Caspian Sea.
Most of the rest belongs to native Tats, Talishes, Udins, Lezgins, Zakhors, Luitsis, Avars, Kurds…
re: ‘. Kabak is a historical name of the land, which means Black Garden in Azeri.’
Karabagh indeed means Black Garden in Persian and Turkish (as Paul noted). However, you, Kerim-bey, very conveniently left out Nagorno, which means mountainous in Russian. So, should we say it is half Russian by your logic ?
But wait, there is more. Undeniably, unquestionably, Nakhichevan is a 100% pure Armenian place-name (….I am sure you know what it means).
So, should we say it belongs to Armenia based on its place name ? It does belong to Armenians, but not because of its Armenian name. It could have been called Oogooboogoo: it still would belong to Armenians, because indigenous proto-Armenians coalesced into indigenous Armenians and lived and existed there long, long,….long before various proto-Turkic nomadic tribes in the Mongolian Steppes coalesced into nomadic Seljuk Turks and invaded Armenia.
So what’s the deal with the various place-names ? Invading Tatar-Turks changed the original Armenian names to Turkic names.
So Armenians are changing them back to their original, historic Armenian names: what’s the problem ?
Invading Turks love to change place-names to Turkic ones to create the illusion that there was nobody there before they invaded and exterminated the locals. Here is some contemporary proof:
Constantinople →Istanbul
Smyrna→Izmir
Mount Ararat →Mount Agri(sic)
(Note: the contemporary program of Turkification of majestic Ararat is not going too well: everybody but Denialist Turks calls it Mount Ararat.)
As to who had Karabagh first: it is an immutable historical fact that Tatar-Turks and Seljuk-Turks invaded the Caucasus and the Armenian Highlands about 1000 years ago. There simply were no Tatar-Turks in existence anywhere in Caucasus prior. Armenians had been living in the area for about 4,000 years before Tatar-Turks invaded, travelling about 3,000 kilometers from their own homeland around Altai Mountains and Mongolian Steppes.
No matter how hard you Turks try, there is no escaping this immutable truth: Armenians were there first; Turks invaded later.
Territory certainly changed hands many times after the invasion of Turks.
However: Armenians were the indigenous inhabitants for thousands of years.
Turks invaded from far away lands, exterminated and ethnically cleansed the indigenous Armenian populations.
Facts are facts.
Armenians: Native. Indigenous. Harmonious..
Turks: Foreign. Invaders. Disruptive.
BTW: hope you appreciate my liberal use of the noun invader. My small contribution to remind people like you who and what your ancestors were: INVADERS.
Paul, thanks for spell-checking my post. You made me laugh :) Did you really think that Staline versus Stalin was anything other than a typo of someone who did not care to spell-check? :)
Now, before I believe anything you say, I have to test your credibility with the things I or any other person (Azeri or non-Azeri) who knoes (spellcheck, Paul!) the Azeri knows. Garabagh means Black Garden in Azeri, and NOT in Turkish or Person. Off a very bad start, my friend.
Now, about your claims that Azerbaijan is a fictional nation. As a thought experiment, let’s imagine we are standing in front of a UN council, and you gave them the speech you just wrote, which in a nutshell is this: “Ladies and gentlemen, the land that you UN and all other internaional organization call Azerbaijan is a fiction. It is a made-up nation. Accordingly, we have every right to kill and plunder them, and make homeless over 1 million people who now live in the refugee camps.” They would boo you down in a heart-beat. They would see you for who you are: a self-delusional, self-righteous fascist who distorts and misinterprets history in justification of violation of internation law. No country in the world would want to be your neigbor (spell-check, Paul, please).
Avery, as for your post, as soon as I saw the ad hominem with which you started your post, I decided not to read the rest of it. Why waste my time reading the post of a bigot. At least, Paul tries to be reasonable. Also, I am sorry, but your post was just way too long! You should get a life. I know I know you get a great pleasure from the warm fuzzy feeling you get from your compatriots congratulating you for yet another great profound post. But trust me (and we Azeris have own Averies in our own forums), many of them laugh at you zeal when reading such long posts, and wonder the same thing: doesn’t he/she have a life?
Avery,
Turks: Strong, Rulers, the Owner of Anatolia
Armenians: Weak, Be Ruled by other powers, and bunch of (less than 3 million) trouble makers.
here is a question, again, for the two boastful tough guys Ahmet and Kerim, that they avoided answering:
Are you two going to be in the first invading jet that will be shot down over Artsakh ?
Are you both going to be in the first invading tank that will be blown up in the territory of free and independent Artsakh ?
Are you two prepared to join the 30,000 Azeri-Tatar-Turk troops KIA during the war by the Armenian defenders ? (at the cost of (only) 5,000 Armenian KIA).
Kerim,
In case you don’t know, none of the misspelled personal names, such as “Staline” or “Shamuyan” or geographical toponyms like “Karabak” or “Kabak”, would be recognized and corrected by the spell check tool even if you cared to use it after typing the text of your post. You’re much skillful at an intellectually arduous job of inserting smiley faces in the text, so excel in that. You may also laugh until you use the latrine, but Staline vs Stalin, Shamuyan vs Shahumian, and Karabak or Kabak vs Karabakh or Gharabagh were not just typos; they demonstrate a pattern of illiteracy. I somehow feel that you’re not even an Azeri. Most Azeris I know would use correct spelling of the names, places or events that are directly or indirectly related or were made related to them at a certain point of their post-1918—and the only—history.
Your linguistic knowledge is no better than your grammar. Bāgh is of Persian origin (in Persian: غبا) and has become a word common to Persian, Kurdish, Lurish, Urdu, and Azarbaijani (a Turkic language) and means garden. It even exists in the Armenian language: pronounced bakhg, it means garden or field. Because Persians, like Armenians, are known as an ancient people with origins in around 3rd millennium BC, and your Turkic tribes appeared in Asia Minor from Central Asian steppes only in the 12th century AD, heavily borrowing Persian, Byzantine Greek, and Armenian cultural traits, because as nomads they had no culture of their own, please make your best chronological judgment as to who might have linguistically borrowed from whom. Good luck.
Re: Azerbaijan as a fictional nation. There has never been such a nation-state in its current or other boundaries anytime in history before 1918. Refer me to any period, if you can, where we see Azerbaijan as a Turkic state on the lands it now occupies. Warning: do not refer me to Azarbaijan or Atrpatakan that we know existed in antiquity and still exists as an ancient, genuinely Persian province. The two are completely different entities. Standing before the ‘UN council’ (you mean the Security Council? I didn’t know a physical person could stand before the Security Council) and stating that Azerbaijan that exists in the modern times is a fiction, is too primitive an offer. Of course it now exists. But its artificial emergence as a nation-state only in the early 20th century doesn’t give this new ‘nation’ a right to lay claims on the lands of more ancient and more civilizationally advanced indigenous nations. I don’t see why, if not because of an historical inferiority complex, you’d call this ‘self-delusional, self-righteous fascism’. Is stating the historical truth fascism? Or whatever runs counter to the Turkish or Azeri fabricated beliefs is fascism?
Armenia: Internally strong. Only two external enemies
(both with internal ethnic or religious issues)
No internal ethic or religious issues in RoA.
Cohesive, solid population base.
Strong, wealthy Armenian diaspora both in Russia
and West: an asset for RoA.
Bright future.
Turkey: Internally weak. Conflict ridden.
Multiple powerful external enemies.
Ongoing internal ethnic armed conflict.
Population base unreliable, in turmoil over multiple issues.
Turk diaspora in Europe a liability due to religious and ethnic conflict with
natives.
Islamist vs. Kemalist division within ethnic Turks themselves.
Bloated, weak military: 5,000-10,000 PKK have tied down entire TSK.
TSK unable to defeat PKK for 30 years.
Rapidly multiplying 25-30 million Kurds slowly consuming the State from
inside.
Practically no ethnic Turks left in Eastern Turkey.
Ripe for disintegration into 2-4 parts.
Free and Independent Kurdistan coming up.
Powerful external enemies working to breakup Turkey.
Bleak future.
To Ahmet’s comment, I’ll add:
Armenians = constant bickering, constant airing of dirty laundry and constant infighting leading to disunity, undermining of the state and utter indifference towards the fledgling Armenian state.
An Armenians soldier gets slapped by his commanding officer and Armenian “human rights” groups and “anti-corruption” crusaders go berserk demanding heads… Turkish soldiers literally get rapped to death on a regular basis by their commanding officers and Turks utter not a single word about it because for Turks their nation, their army, their sovereignty is sacred. While Turks unconditionally serve their rubber-corrupt leaders literally to the death, Armenians (like some of our “nationalist” organizations) are ready to either boycott or overthrow the Armenian president at the drop of a hat…
Armenians are more concerned about silly/unessential internal/domestic matters such as “there is corruption in Armenia” and “toilets stink in Armenia” than in serious nation-building. Armenians today, particularly diasporans, lack political foresight and awareness of the world they live in. Armenians lack true nationalism and patience when it comes to nation-building.
This is essentially how a small bunch of primitive Turks from Central Asia brought “civilized” Armenians and Greeks to their knees. I personally think we have a lot to learn for our “barbaric” enemies.
Paul,
You know, it is easy to believe the conclusion of a fallacious argument as long as it gives you what you so badly want to believe. Now, let’s take a more adult view of things and try to think through the logic of all of this. And by “all of this” I mean the ubiquitous Armenian claim that since the Turkish tribes came to Caucasus in about X century, this means somehow that you Armenians have a right to Karabak, and even to the whole of Azerbaijan. It is a strawman argument. Of course, no one can deny the fact that Turkish tribes did come around that time – this is a fact. But before you conveniently rush to derive from this a justification for Armenian fascism, halt a second and think more logically. Here is some help for you. (and yes, I will spell-check this time, since it seems to bother you so much :)
Now, you know what also is a fact? All DNA studies of the people of Caucasus have revealed that the people of modern Azeris are not that different from the other peoples of Caucasus. They are much much more similar to Georgians and others than, even remotely, to Mongolians. You and others like you cannot deny this fact. Genetics do not lie. The modern Azeris belong to the region no less than their neighbors if not more (more on that in a moment). But what happened to the Turks coming in? Now, forget about your ideology of calling Azeris subhuman, and listen to your eyes. Who do Azeris look like more, Armenians, or Mongols or even Turkmens? Do you really think that in mere 900 years the Mongols have completely transformed into a Caucasian people? This is genetically impossible and as the DNA tests have shown a practical falsity. What has instead happened, the ancestors of modern Azeris (Albanians) simply adapted the Turkish language and culture. An analogue of this is what has happened to the Hispanics of Latin America. Or do you think that the entire population of theirs all came in a ship from the tiny country of Spain? And therefore, the indigenous people who still speak a non-Spanish language somehow own the entire continent? And you might ask why the Armenians did not adopt the Turkish language? Perhaps they were braver, but it is also possible that no one cared enough to do the same to Armenia (it was a landlocked parking lot, while Azerbaijan lied at the Silk road, had a port, etc, and was thus a more attractive target).
So, if we went back generation by generation, just because my ancestors adapted the Turkish language, it does not mean that your ancestors owned their land! This may or may not be the case: maybe your ancestor did own their land. But this definitely does not follow from the fact that Turkic tribes invaded Caucasus. If anything, it is probably more likely that it was the other way around, given what happened to Armenians elsewhere in the region. The Ottoman Turks slaughtered their Armenians and Russia migrated a lot of Persia’s Armenians to the Caucasus region. It is not wonder that Armenians in Karabak had a monument to the 150th anniversary of their move to the region, furtively demolished by them later for obvious reasons.
Do you now see what I meant earlier by the logical fallacy of your argument? A logical fallacy occurs when the person thinks mistakenly that his/her conclusion necessarily follows from his/her premises, which in your case, as I have just demonstrated, does not hold. True, what I describe may or may not have actually happened that way, but what is clear is that it was possible for it to have happened that way (and even likely, given the DNA evidence). All this means that the necessary connection you rely on is not Necessary after all, since there is a pretty strong alternative feasible explanation.
Regarding your racist comments about Turks and Mongols. If they lacked culture and were so stupid and worthless, how come they built the biggest empire the world has ever seen, and their descendents Ottomans ruled the world, with so many scientists and philosophers who flourished in their states? I know I know you have read in your history books how smelly they were and brutal, and barbaric. I read this in my history books too. But even though I was a child back then, I could understand the following: consider the source! It was written by the Russians, whom Mongols had vanquished for so many centuries. Of course, they would say such things about Mongols. Perhaps yours were written by the Westerners. Still, the bias, the racism of it, is still true.
As for the UN thought experiment, you appear to miss the whole point of a thought experiment, i.e., what it means, etc. So I won’t burden you with it any more. Besides, I have already become an Avery by typing a long message such as this, which will be my last.
your last post at 841 words is the longest by far in this thread, Kerim-bey.
so you should be the last person to complain about long posts.
I’ll wait for Paul to debunk your post re alleged Albanians, alleged DNA proof, and all that. but these statements are so patently ridiculous that I just can’t wait to compose another one of my usual, highly anticipated, and much appreciated long posts:
‘and listen to your eyes. Who do Azeris look like more, Armenians, or Mongols or even Turkmens? Do you really think that in mere 900 years the Mongols have completely transformed into a Caucasian people?’
In everyday life we see a child of mixed parentage, e.g. Caucasian and say Chinese, have the physical attributes of both. I live in California. I see it everyday.
Take a look at one public figure, skater Apollo Ono: his father is Japanese and mother Caucasian. Look at his eyes. What do you see ? And this is just one generation (average 20 years for each generation).
Eyes would have changed their appearance completely in far less time than 900 years, Kerim-bey.
Your desperate, absurd example of a ‘proof’ of being indigenous to Caucasus, is another manifestation of the inferiority complex that infects large segments of Azerbaijan’s residents, and warps their thinking in everything.
Whoever ,or plurally who have engaged us in above and other such discussions/debates know at heart that they also have to COMMENT, now and then on the positive COMMENTS, COME EVEN, from, Turks, or ¨supposedly¨ Turk adversaries.
I shall do that NOW here as to at least one Commentator-poster,namely AVETIS|||
Sadly but manly, I wish to confirm that part of your above comments are TRUE!!!
And in order not to waste all others´ otherwise precioous time Here goes my REMEDY!!
Yes ,Armenians -maily due to their innate JEALOUS stance, DO NOT tolerate each other and feel very Jealous to each other(this partially due also to centureis old insecurity having shrunk each into his her own family and self. Remedy?
My Suggested ¨Professional Colleagues Associations¨¨ that is where they will mingle with their OWN work -type colleagues exchange views, try to compromis , in short SOCIETIZATION(MY INVENTED WORD) fOR TRUE, our hereto fore political parties benvolent sportive compatriotic association have done some work towards that but >HAVE IN VIEW WHAT % OF US BELONGS TO THOSE.tHE gREAT MAJORITY IS LEFT TO SHIFT AWAY,FOR REASONS KNOWN TO THEMSELVES THEY DO NOT WISH -LIKE SELF -TO ADHERE TO THE POLITICO NOR THE CHURCH, OR ANY OTHER ABOVE. wHY ? SIMPLE THOSE ARE RATHER FOR THE old way thinking people, set against ea other (by turkish agents , perfectly Armenian speaking and adopted Armen names…yeah don´t be surprised even RIGHT NOW according to haratch two yrs ago French armen Newspaper. 120 Turkish officers in Ankara are undergoing armenian learning,language et al, what TOI BE ASSIGNED TO THE MOON? OR PENETRATE INTO OUR COMMUNITIES AND SAY LIKE PARROTS ¨wE aRMENIANS DO NOT COOPERATE , WE SHALL NEVER uNITE,SUCH PHRASES AND POISONING US…
uNITY? WHAT uNITY?? France has extreme left extreme right political parties and their offshoots they NEVER UNITER,wrong word. ..Especially usefull though for Turks to utilize amongst us.BUT THE FRENCH KNOW THAT POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES ARE NOT ABOVE NATIONAL INTERESTS AND THEY C O O P E R A T E MIAPANIL!!!!
HELL THAT IS WHAT IS NEEDED BY US and for that we can only go through that crystalization mode I suggest. Otherwise a Construction field man sitting with an armenian Physician does not ahv e much in common, nor a Banker/financial expert with a store keeper( in my 15 fields of prof. Colleagues though ,latter, storekeeper is classified as FOOD & Catering field, who also can congregate within their Grouping and through themselves ELECT their Delegagte to the Interprofessional , the ONES THAT ARFE ENDOWED WITH ONE OF 3 MERITS:::Hope I have not taken your time
But avetis, please rest assured that soemthign has to give , to give in to thios GARDZR Armenian old ottoman Armenian mentality!!! have to begin to respect, tolerate ea other…
As to toilet s in ra. You err ,there has been a huge change since i go there every year and those may exist only in very far flung villages of the republic. Thank god, RA/Artsakh are by and by progressing a t a not to fast pace , but O.K. to chagrin of our ONLY TWO ADVERSARIES:Today ´s good news is I R A N is offering more coop with RA and this is good newsindeed.
So be patient.I shall terminate saying that I am writing my well written ,say manifdesto to a hundred armenian Press media , etc,m plus many ,many establishments for the NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEM to be kindly employed in RA and diaspora alike,in PARALLEL WITH THE EXISTING that is political party setting forth their candidaters and the THE WEALTHY (AS IN NEAR ALL COUNTRIES) by campaigning money spending!!! which is self explanatory!!!
Avery
wishful thinking. PKK can not tie down the army but create disturbence
Likewise, Kerim: I don’t think I’m willing to reduce myself to debating with an Azeri or a Turk, if he thinks that believing the conclusion of an argument—whether or not it’s fallacious and whether or not it gives one what one wants to believe—is considered “fascism”. The conclusion I came to believe is based on readings of history, extensive readings, by the way, mostly of primary sources and historical accounts of non-Armenian authors. Your arguments are so primitive that I even posed for a while to decide if they’re worth replying at all.
Maybe for the last time:
A reference to DNA studies would be useful, but even if such studies demonstrate some genetic similarity, they can’t disprove of the fact that modern Azeris are not the indigenous inhabitants of the lands they now occupy. They are the outgrowth of Turkic invaders who penetrated into Asia Minor (with the Persian province of Khorasan as their first stop) from the Central Asian steppes. In the course of centuries their descendants interbred with native inhabitants: Persians, Greeks, Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians, etc. There may be some genetic similarity as a result of it, but interbreeding doesn’t support the fact that their origins were, in fact, in the Caucasus.
I don’t think that in mere 900 years the Mongols have completely transformed into a Caucasian people via interbreeding with nobler peoples. On the contrary, I think a lot of nomadic traits, such as brutality and revulsion towards civilized people, remain in modern Azeris: indescribable savagery against Armenians in Sumgait and Baku are just one indication of it.
The ancestors of modern Azeris are not Albanians who adopted the Turkish language and culture. This is a myth that was created to satisfy the inferiority complex of the Azeris as aliens to these lands. Geographically, Caucasian Albania laid to the north of modern-day Azerbaijan, not to mention that Turkic Azerbaijan never existed in the days of Caucasian Albania. Throughout history, Azarbaijan was a Persian province; it was never ethnically Turkic. Religiously, Caucasian Albania was a Christian state. Culturally, Caucasian Albanians had their own achievements. Turkish language and culture—which modern Azeris, as the Turks’ outgrowth, have adopted—is a result of heavy borrowing from Arabic script, as well as Persian, Byzantine Greek, and Armenian culture. What culture could tent-living Turkic nomads possibly have when they appeared in Asia Minor? Is it not clear that they had to borrow the language, the script, the cuisine, the religion from others in order to put some civilizational clothing on?
If you truly believe that Armenians were brought to Artsakh and it happened 150 years ago, pull your socks up and explain to yourself the presence of the 4th century Tzitzernavank monastery or numerous Armenian medieval churches. Or even better, if your brain fuses won’t blow, try to explain the presence of Tigranakert, one of the capital cities built throughout the Armenian Plateau by emperor Tigran the Great in the 1st century BC.
Turks and Mongols certainly lacked culture, but they were not stupid. There’s tons of scholarly material on how Mongols built the biggest empire the world, major reason being their terrorizing warrior skills and brutality, certainly not culture or civilized manners. You suggest not reading Russian or Western sources because you consider them biased and racist. But, excuse me, did Mongols know how to write or read in order to leave chronicles for future generations?
Ottomans did rule a part of the world for 5 centuries, certainly not the whole world, but at the expense of the indigenous peoples they conquered and colonized. It was by conquest and oppression that they created their empire, certainly not by tolerance and civility. Most of scientists and philosophers who became prominent in the Ottoman empire were non-Turks. Turks were there where wars and slaughters were needed, whilst Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and Jews were there where craft, business, arts, literature, engineering, and architecture were needed.
P.S. I never called Azeris “subhuman”. Either you show me my post where I did so or you apologize to me or I request that moderators ban you from posting here for falsely ascribing racism. Fair deal?
maybe not, Monastras.
{Two [PKK] guys can appear and scare away 30 soldiers. This is a scandal. One soldier opens fire after seeing a shadow; others start firing at random and shoot one of our own in the forehead. Our situation is shameful.} Ex Turk Chief of Staff Gen. Koşaner’s said that.
When some outside powers start supplying PKK with man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, TSK will be forced out of Kurdish areas. Only advantage TSK has over PKK is air cover.
Soviet Union had largely succeeded in suppressing Afghan resistance. Until their ground troops lost their helicopter gunship air-cover due to Muj being supplied with US Stingers.
On the ground PKK can take on TSK and bleed them to death. They cannot win an open battle head-on, of course. They have no need: it will be death by a thousand cuts.
The most recent operation where PKK infiltrated Turkey with 200-300 fighters, engaged TSK at multiple sites simultaneously, killed 24 TSK troops, wounded 18, lost only 5 PKK before calmly withdrawing should give you Turks ample evidence of what can happen if Turks lose their air supremacy over PKK.
Recently, Turks had to practically beg the US to give them a couple of obsolete AH-1 Cobra gunships to use against PKK. What do you think will happen if TSK has no gunships it can fly freely ?
“Armenians = constant bickering, constant airing of dirty laundry and constant infighting leading to disunity, undermining of the state and utter indifference towards the fledgling Armenian state.”
Armenians = one of a few nations in the world who never had a civil war in their long history.
“While Turks unconditionally serve their rubber-corrupt leaders literally to the death, Armenians are ready to either boycott or overthrow the Armenian president at the drop of a hat.”
Armenians are ready to either boycott or overthrow the unelected and unpopular Armenian president at the drop of a hat.
Armenians are more concerned about silly/unessential internal/domestic matters such as “there is corruption in Armenia” and “toilets stink in Armenia” than in serious nation-building.
Armenians are concerned about silly/unessential internal/domestic matters such as “there is corruption in Armenia” because they understand that this, among other vices, impedes serious nation-building.
“This is essentially how a small bunch of primitive Turks from Central Asia brought “civilized” Armenians and Greeks to their knees. I personally think we have a lot to learn for our “barbaric” enemies.”
Actually, there were hordes of Turkic nomadic tribes, not a small bunch. Their horde mentality, terrorizing belligerence, and indescribable brutality brought civilized Armenians and Greeks to their knees. But then the same happened to the civilized Romans in the hands of barbarians. Are we encouraged to resemble savages?
Avetis, is your comment supposed to be constructive criticism? What’s with the Armenian-bashing? Do you have a goal other than to spread disunity?
Paul, Avery,
First, disclaimer. This is my last post on Armenian Weekly. As you probably already think, yes, I need to get a life. Also, I have already said everything I can say in this debate. And I thank the moderators for posting my comments. To be frank with you, most Azeri moderators would not have.
Another upfront disclaimer: I actually do believe that is is likely that the Turks committed a Genocide against you. In that sense, the Turks owe us Azeris a big time. Having pissed off and wronged you so much, they have left you hating antyhing that has anything to do with the Turks. And since Turkey is way to strong fo you to tackle, you have transferred your hatred to the Azeris, even though we had nothing to do with the 1915 events. For you, it suffices that we speak a similar language and that we all “descended” from some Mongolian “barbarians.” Pretty childish, I think. In any event, Turkey owes it to us: they should never open the border with Armenia, pretending that the fight between Armenia and Azerbaijan has nothing to do with them.
Now to your posts regard about Azeri’s place in Caucasus…
Now, Paul, the flow of your argument is ultimately based on subjective interpretation of history’s implications. In contrast, hard science does not lie. When you say the modern Azeris do not belong to Caucasus as much as Armenian do, the best evidence you have, even assuming it all is true, is based on history. Compare that to the DNA analysis, based on chemistry. And chemistry does not lie, unlike biased history books and their misinterpreters like yourself.. Here is one academic article clearly showing that the modern Azeris are genetically at home in Caucasus. Google it; it is free to read:
“Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus” published in Annals of Human Genetics Annals of Human Genetics (2004) 68, p 205–221
Compared to such hard scientific facts, you and Avery provide essentially self-serving interpretations of history. I think it is a clear-cut check mate. In sum, it does not matter what language we speak, its is the genetics that count.
Avery, all this does not mean that we Azeris secretly wish we were Armenians. Don’t flatter yourself. Being a native of Caucasus is not synonymous with being an Armenian. If anything, your genetic make-up is much more mixed up with the Middle Eastern people than purely Caucasian, since, according to your own very historical claims, your heartland is in Mount Ararat area, which is not part of Caucasus.
On Albanians … What happened to them? Did they evaporate into thin air? No, they are the Azeri ancestors. And note you cannot say they turned into Armenians because that would contravene your sacred creed that Armenians are the most primordial people of all.
On the Mongolians … Now, your claims to greatness critically refer to Tigran’s territorial conquests. So, your claim to greatness is ultimately based on territorial possession. And yet you downplay the Mongolian’s merit in that area. If taking over a large area is a sign of superiority, then Armenia dwindles in comparison with the Turks and Mongols. And Mongols could not run the biggest empire the world had ever seen solely based on burtality and barbarism. Running an empire requires administrative and political skills, and not just a sword.
Avery, about your comment on Asian eyes … It made me laugh. Your thinking is so naïve, especially compared to the hard-core scientific evidence behind my position. So naïve that it does not even merit a rebuttal.
Paul, about your claims that you are not making racist remarks. What to make of these words of yours: “I don’t think that in mere 900 years the Mongols have completely transformed into a Caucasian people via interbreeding with *nobler* peoples. On the contrary, I think a lot of nomadic traits, such as brutality and *revulsion towards civilized people*, remain in modern Azeris: indescribable savagery against Armenians in Sumgait and Baku are just one indication of it.” Do I really need to comment on this? If you miss the bigotry flagrant in this comment, you are truly blind to your bigotry, which is the case for all bigots. As for burtality, Azeris made homes a couple of thousands Sumgayiti Armenians. You, over 1 million Azeris!
Now, what do you really have to show for the Armenians that makes you feel so superior to the Mongols? Do you think your Tigran used flowers and chocolate to conquer his neighbors? “The Mongols we especially brutal.” Says who? The people they conquered (e.g., Russians, etc). Don’t you see the bias? But still, what is it that makes you Armenians so much better than everyone else? Yes, you have Cher, Andre Agassi? You say your nation is 3000 year old. What do you have to show for it? Yes, like most nations, you are not without achievements, and I personnaly do hold you in respect even if we are enemies (e.g., the best carpenters in Baku were Armenians). But not to the extent that justifies the almost-mythological self-worship of Armenians.
‘So I won’t burden you with it any more. Besides, I have already become an Avery by typing a long message such as this, which will be my last.’
the above is what you wrote in your previous post, Kerim-bey, before this last, really last, absolutely last post…. ‘First, disclaimer. This is my last post on Armenian Weekly’
How can we believe anything you write ? you will not even keep your own promise – on record. Sorry to have to ask you this, but are you an adult ?
Kerim,
It is no sweat to refute this recurrent round of your gibberish, calmly and in a factual manner. But before anything else, you’d need to either show me where in any of my posts I called the Azeris “subhuman” or apologize to me for slander or I bring the matter to the moderators’ attention since false accusations of racism are not allowed on these pages.
“[…] your [paul’s] ideology of calling Azeris subhuman”— Posted by Kerim, November 8, 2011
858 words, Kerim-bey (?). Longest one yet in this thread.
Kerim: What’s your problem with the characterizations such as “noble vs. barbarian” or “civilized vs. uncultured” that are used here to describe past historical events? What makes you think they’re “racist” if, clearly, they’re not addressed in a pejorative way to any modern people? All I see here is references to the Mongols. No history book would describe the Mongols as “noble” people. Is it not so in Azerbaijan? Throughout ancient history, Greeks called Zoroastrian Persians, Medes, Celts, Germans, Phoenicians, Etruscans and Carthaginians barbarians. Ancient Hindus referred to foreign peoples as barbarians. The Chinese thought of the Qiang, Guifang, and Di tribes as barbarians. The Aztecs called a group of nomadic hunter-gatherers in Mexico as primitive and uncivilized. The Incas used the term for all peoples living outside of their empire. The North African Berbers were among the many peoples called barbarian by the Romans, as were the Gauls, Huns, and Visigoths. In ancient times, people who had an advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and social development marked by the extensive use of record-keeping, especially writing, and by the progress in the arts and sciences, were considered nobler and civilized. What is wrong with reiterating this universal truth with regard to the Mongols? You can find references to the Mongols as uncultured and uncouth in any book written on the topic. Are all the authors “racists”?
B
Kerim writes:
Don’t you see how ridiculous such steps would be (i.e., you have a legal right to a land based on a 2000 year old claim…)?
Israel is doing quite well successfully makeing such claims against Palestinians…
mardehros,
One would like to know what is Azerbaijan’s claim on the same land. It has been majority Armenian populated, home to ancient Armenian monuments, an Armenian autonomous republic, even if within Azerbaijan. So what is Azerbaijan’s claim on it? That it was “owned” by Azerbaijan for about 70 years?
The population of Artsakh has a right for self-deermination. They don’t want to be part of Azerbaijan.
Gina, the Palestinians and Israelites go back thousands of years together on the same land. Israel adamantly makes its claims on the land ignoring this fact with aggressvie action. I was presenting this to Kerim with the thought he’d be more sensitive to the Palestinian perspective. I don’t want to say that I was being sarcastic, but I was. My post was not defending Azerbaijan, I agree with your perspective.
Karim
Thanks for the article you forwarded on this site…
I read it in great detail about the Genetics—
About the genes of Armenian and Azeris being similar…
The study is done from many institutes I copied the article here but it was removed.
Having my self done many epidemiological studies…I feel the sample is very small from each ethnicity…Also it is most probable they took the swab from educated ethnicities…
not from all type of populace…Lower and middle class and above…
So it has bias… Such studies are not easy to do…You need time and consents…
I have already contacted the author, I Nasdize Who forwarded to me the complete article
I will comunicate more…
I met once an Azeri female music teacher…after she knew me I am Armenian…She said my grandmother is Armenian and I got the genetics of music from her…and my father Azeri…
So people are mixed…Educated one know every thing but illiterates they are causing the problems and killing…Using their religion as gun against others…
Before BC they had one religion through the years changed
but the genes remained genes…Unchangeable…
So may be you and me we have the same genes…
Sylva
If some once to read the article…the reference is this…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Annals%20of%20human%20genetics%202004%2C68%2C205#
Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome variation in the caucasus.
Nasidze I, Ling EY, Quinque D, Dupanloup I, Cordaux R, Rychkov S, Naumova O, Zhukova O, Sarraf-Zadegan N, Naderi GA, Asgary S, Sardas S, Farhud DD, Sarkisian T,Asadov C, Kerimov A, Stoneking M.
Please don’t remove…It takes us time to collect and write and educate…
Many of my poems are removed by the sensors…
SP
mardehros,
I know what you meant. I was just trying to continue what you had started.