Sorry Apologies

It seems we’re living in a time of apologies—some meaningful, some irrelevant; some asked or demanded, others received or refused; some for current and others historical offenses. Everyone seems to want to get into the act. And, apologies, when given, are often of questionable worth.

The pundit-ocracy was abuzz with President Clinton’s apology for slavery in 1998. The House of Representatives followed suit, a mere decade later. What good did this do the descendants of the slaves? Similarly, the Turkish apology campaign of 2008, while a welcome sign of (miniscule) progress, didn’t get us anything.

But apologies are being demanded more often than given, lately, it seems.

We have President Sarkissian challenging President Aliyev to issue an apology for saying that “something is missing from the Armenian brain” with no remorseful outcome.

We have P.M. Erdogan demanding an apology from Sarkissian over his comments to a child about the restoration of Western Armenia to its rightful owners.

We have Turkey demanding apologies from Israel for the flotilla fiasco of a year ago.

We have Israel wondering when Turkey will apologize for Cyprus.

Of course, the last of these is the closest one to relevance, and points out Turkey’s perfidy. After committing genocide, massacring people, and occupying others’ lands (Armenians, Assyrians, Cypriots, Greeks, Kurds, Zazas, etc.), anyone in Turkey should be utterly ashamed, totally cowed, and nowhere near the mindset that currently exists—that asks others to apologize. Yet, the egomaniacal Erdogan and his minions go about shamelessly doing just that!

We should be filling the letters pages of newspapers with missives of ridicule at this situation. Don’t wait! The next time some Turkish leader (of Turkey or Azerbaijan) comes up with one of these ridiculous demands, let loose with your keyboard, and hound your local newspaper until they publish your outrage.

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Garen Yegparian

Asbarez Columnist

Garen Yegparian is a fat, bald guy who has too much to say and do for his own good. So, you know he loves mouthing off weekly about anything he damn well pleases to write about that he can remotely tie in to things Armenian. He's got a checkered past: principal of an Armenian school, project manager on a housing development, ANC-WR Executive Director, AYF Field worker (again on the left coast), Operations Director for a telecom startup, and a City of LA employee most recently (in three different departments so far). Plus, he's got delusions of breaking into electoral politics, meanwhile participating in other aspects of it and making sure to stay in trouble. His is a weekly column that appears originally in Asbarez, but has been republished to the Armenian Weekly for many years.

Latest posts by Garen Yegparian (see all)

• Drones for Armenia - November 15, 2022
• So Sad, Too Far Gone - November 7, 2022
• Pomposity to Mask Ineptitude - October 31, 2022