On the sixth anniversary of his assassination and more significantly, on the sixth anniversary of the Turkish state’s inability or unwillingness to find his real killers, Hrant Dink was remembered by tens of thousands of people in many countries as well as in Turkey, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Malatya, and Bodrum. Throughout the world, Turkish and Armenian speakers repeated his vision and message of direct dialogue between Turks and Armenians. Year by year, instead of gradually diminishing in numbers toward oblivion, as is the case for other assassinated journalists in Turkey, there is a snowballing increase in the number and intensity of people attending the Hrant Dink commemorations, protesting and demanding justice, as well as adopting Hrant’s message with more determination. It is not the tiny Armenian community in Turkey, but Turks (and Kurds) from all walks of life who have embraced Hrant as a tragic hero. The momentum is building to declare Hrant a martyr—the first shared martyr by the historically opposing nations of Armenians and Turks.
But what exactly was Hrant’s message? He would define Armenians and Turks as two sick people, clinical cases—Armenians suffering from trauma (obsessed with 1915) and Turks suffering from paranoia (fear of consequences of acknowledging 1915). He would advocate Armenians and Turks to be each other’s doctors, with dialogue as the only prescription. And he would clap his large hands vigorously, exclaiming, “There is no other medicine, no other doctor, no, no, no.” He knew dialogue would be useless if one couldn’t discuss the painful year of 1915, but only pleasant subjects such as Turks’ and Armenians’ shared values, shared culture, shared foods like dolma and kebab. He knew that dialogue would also be useless if one was unable to really “listen and hear,” in addition to talk. And most importantly, he knew that dialogue would be useless if one didn’t know the real historical facts of 1915. After being systematically brainwashed by the state with ever-changing official versions of history, people in Turkey have now finally started to learn the true historic facts, reasons, and consequences of 1915, not just the Turkish version versus Armenian version. So, if and when there is willingness to talk and listen, both sides can and should engage in direct dialogue, without the need to convince third parties to pressure the other side.
Hrant had studied zoology, and he would explain that if you remove any living organism from its natural environment, you would cause its extinction. He would then say, “If you remove an entire people from its land where it has lived continuously for 3,000 years, even if you transport them with great care in ‘golden airplanes,’ this would still be similar to taking an axe to the roots of an ancient tree.” He didn’t need to explain 1915 with long words; in a corner of the Agos newspaper, every week, he would place some facts about a village or town in Anatolia—could be in west, east, north, south, or central Anatolia—giving the Armenian and total population numbers, the names and numbers of churches and schools there, before 1915. He would have photos of these active Armenian churches and schools in that village or town before 1915, and photos of these non-existent churches or schools today, totaling more than 4,000 buildings. That would be enough for anyone to understand the reality of 1915.
But he wouldn’t only talk about the Armenians gone or dead in 1915. He was much more interested in talking about the Armenians who remained, who stayed in Anatolia, who stayed and survived, but no longer as Armenians. These were the Armenians who survived by converting to Islam, by assuming Turkish, Kurdish, or Alawi identities. These were the Armenian girls and boys captured or sold, kept hidden, protected or married to Turks and Kurds. And entire Armenian villages that converted to Islam, or stayed protected by friendly Kurdish and Alawi leaders. Hrant was obsessed with this subject. What happened to these people? Did they secretly keep their Armenian identity? Did they pass it on to the next generations? Where are they now? How many are there? If there are “hidden Armenians,” what would be the trigger for them to “come out of hiding”?
Genocide is not a single event but a continuous process. It is not only denial of a genocide that continues it, but also assimilation and conversion that continue it. Scholars have recently started defining genocide not only as the destruction of an oppressed nation, but also the construction of the oppressor nation—using assimilation and conversion processes. For Armenians, these processes continued on all fronts.
Hrant didn’t or couldn’t write much about this sensitive subject, but he was preoccupied by it, gathering stories, anecdotal evidence, always encouraging others to find out more. Clearly, this was not a subject that could be researched openly and scientifically, but whenever a new revelation came out about hidden Armenians in Anatolia, he would be greatly excited. His lawyer Fethiye Cetin’s book My Grandmother was only an example of the fate of the hidden Armenians. In an interview with London filmmaker Nouritsa Matossian for the documentary “Hrant Dink: A Heart Of Two Nations,” Matossian asked him, “Do you see Armenian faces in Anatolia?” Hrant: “Yes, often.” Nouritsa: “Apparitions [meaning, ghosts]?” Hrant: “Apparitions and real ones.” One could tell that Hrant, the emotional Hrant with the biggest heart, was like a child who had a secret he could hardly keep.
The answer to the question that kept him wondering—What would be the trigger for the hidden Armenians to come out?—came four years too late for Hrant to witness, unfortunately. The trigger was the reconstruction of the Diyarbakir Surp Giragos Church in 2011. Thousands of Anatolians, young and old, Turkish and Kurdish, in appearance and identity, returned to their Armenian roots with the reopening of this church. Some got baptized in the church, some changed their Turkish names to the Armenian original, some changed their identity to Armenian but remained Muslim (a new phenomenon of Muslim-Armenians), some started learning the Armenian language. Hrant would have danced with joy to see an 11-year-old Kurdish girl not only learning Armenian but also singing Armenian songs at the first Armenian concert in the Diyarbakir Surp Giragos Church in 2012. Hrant would have danced on the table after seeing a thousand people from Adiyaman, Amasya, Arapkir, Dersim, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Harput, Hemshin, Istanbul, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Malatya, Musadagh, Sason, Sinop, Sivas, Tokat, Van, and Yozgat organize activities together and celebrate the Surp Hagop Day in December 2012, singing Armenian songs, even though no one knew how to speak Armenian.
Hrant was an Anatolian Armenian and wished to have the same democratic rights as all other citizens of the state, without being excluded, without being discriminated against, without being pressured to lose his identity. Armenians wished to have exactly the same things 100 years ago—no more, no less. The state felt threatened, and when fear got combined with opportunity it wiped out the Armenian identity in Anatolia to build a Turkish identity that excluded all others, including Greeks, Assyrians, and Kurds. The enormous transfer of wealth and assets from Armenians to Turks has added to the fear and paranoia of the state in facing its past. A new Turkish identity, which does not fear diversity or minority identities, needs to be created in Turkey in order to face both the past and the future. The state has finally started this process with the Kurds, but not the Armenians. The Kurds have started this process with the Armenians, openly acknowledging their role in 1915, and starting to make amends. It is hoped that Turks will see the light and follow them.
Raffi Bedrosyan
Latest posts by Raffi Bedrosyan (see all)
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Mr. Bedrosyan
you are too optimistic about the future Well done!!
john the Turk,
yes, maybe you Turks – with all your martial victories and undeniable skills- are still a pessimistic lot?
Or is it that the rules of the games of the world are changing, and you have difficulties to adjust?
Very well put Mr. Bedrosyan. As Hrant said in a 2006 interview, Armenians need to find a new vocabulary to define who they are today and what they seek, if anything. His words remain prophetic. Those living chained to the past will never rise to the new challenges and realities that confront them. This is apropos for individuals as well as the nation as a whole. I would urge readers to watch that 2006 interview to better understand Hrant’s message. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAwDPfkuqEI). By the way, I and some friends traveled from Yerevan to Diyarbakir for the reopening of the Surp Giragos Church in 2011. Yes, it was an amazing experience. Too bad, some decided not to go for reasons I find uncomprehensible.
Tlkantintsi,
You seem to have taken too much pleasure-like it with some sector of Armenity,to go visit some Turko-Kurdish “offering”sall we say..for the thousand churches ,monasteries destroyed by them.JUST ONE IS ENOUGH OR MAY BE TWO to convince your kind*and that in present Turkish territory *well populated by kurds…that “We Truks have changed and so have the kurds and welcome you to your ancestral HABITAT,or is it_____
We have built up our CASE over 97 yrs in order to receive what is ,or was our ancestors and to go visit a SHOWCASE AKHTAMARA OR DIARBAKIRA!!!!!!!!
Come come, you must realize what traps are being set for us by them.
“come pray and go and if you wish a few RICH fat cat,I’d say Armenian Americans come shine up fronmt that “‘we went to ANATOLIA,not western Armenia and have kissed and made up with great Turkey!!!!
Hurray!!!! you have solved our age old CASE….Oh I forgot have the patriark from istanbulla come to conduct a ONE DAY A YEAR MASS at above…..
Bravo ,what can we expect when some of us think that wise..
Remember when a dozen yrs ago great Turkey offered us port of TRABIZONA!!!! some happy go lucky fellas were planning to invest jointly there*Armenian luminaries,that is,who thought Turks are reliable and can jointly operate the port facilities….Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!
then again the TARC trap in NY,remember…..
Now what next another Monastery or to appease the big lot of such Armenians well how about AGHRI DAGH*read Ararat within present r.of Armenia!!!!!!! Case is closed and we are on friendly terms with great Turkey….
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Now my counter offer. great turkey must officially beg pardon like willy Brandt did for Nazi attrocities.Begin to make reparations \, in other words pasy cash.IF THEY ARE NOT PREPARED TO EVER PAY-BUT ARE USED TO RECEIVING, then we ask the Anglo american Oil companies who by passed Armenia for the Oil pipeline transit and are currently paying around TWO BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR-as Transit duty,to split that into two HALF TO ARMENIA AND ARMENIANS…
Otherwise the Turks have all the right to think those Ermenis NEVER CHANGE, THEY ARE TO BE TAKEN FOR NINCOMPUPS,suckers,,,,so why bother just do some lobbying spending and invite TO CONDIUCT MASS ONCE A YEAR NEXT IN KARS CATHEDRAL!!!!!
Dear Raffi, excellent article. We need clearheaded Armenian men and women to look into the future while reflecting on the past. Dink’s story is very touching. let us honour him and his work.
Count me in as your supporter.
You are so right! Time is passing and we need new approaches. Hate and resentment is not a solution. Peace and understanding can do a lot.
“Armenians wished to have exactly the same things 100 years ago—no more, no less”
This is what is called not looking at a mirror. They wanted nothing more? They wanted a Greater Armenia cleansed of all Muslim inhabitants. It is clearly stated and written by Hinchaks leaders then AND now! Armed resurgence of Armenians in the middle of WWI and the church behind them caused incredible suffering and loss to both nations. You can not even acknowledge a tiny portion of it. I do not blame you for being intimidated.
It is encouraging still that you do recognize the fact that Hrant, a Turkish intellectual and hero, had a messege for Armenians too. Just imagine how many more churches and schools would have been open by now and how many Armenians would be returning to their roots if it were not for the incessant campaigns of murder and hate by so many Armenians who have changed their thinking so little a century later.
Dear Palandjian,
Your mindset is indeed chained to the past. Loft sounding pronouncements and demands are just so much bluster and bravado. I went to Aghtamar and Diyarbekir
not to participate in some show, as you label it. but to represent an Armenian presence on those lands. To show Turkey and its people that Armenians can do more than talk and pontificate. If you were sincere about your patriotism you would remove the blinkers from your eyes and understand that we must put our bodies into the reality that now exists in western Armenia. Sooner or later, Armenians must get up off their easy chairs and take real risks. All your arguments are mere smokescreens for concerted action! I lament your shortsightedness and that of others like you. You erroneously believe that Armenians will somehow advance their interests without taking risks. Of course, no one is suggesting that Turks and Kurds who now apologize for the actions of their ancestors are truly sincere and have no ulterior motives. But this does not preclude the need for ENGAGEMENT. I have seen what was lost in western Armenia and now am even more dedicated to see that justice is served. Nothing can substitute for that experience.
Tlkatintsi,
Have you ever visited Armenia or do you live there?
Western Armenia can wait not because we are lazy but simply because we cannot do much now. What is important now is Artsakh as far as the land is concerned. We have to concentrate all our efforts on Artsakh. I am from Armenia, but all my donations have gone to Artsakh. My message is not only addressed to you, but to all Armenian readers. Please donate whatever you can to Artsakh, does not have to be the all Armenian fund if you do not trust them there are plenty of different ones. Visit Artsakh and it’s brave people. Hug them and thank them for staying there.
BTW,
What risks are you talking about? What are we suppose to do? What do you suggest us to do?
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Or even more?
To Tilgatenstsi,
Quite the contrary.When 99% of our people whther in Homeland or Diaspora,have understood the smokescrren -as you put – I´d say veiled Turkish and some Turko-Kurdish such acts(rather theatrical) to involce our paremides like you ,not to say Barzamids….
Witness the infamous TARC try in NY. ,prior to that inviting through some of your like to Trabizona to jointly operate that port facility some 15-20 yrs ago and now three four yrs ago they restarted this New Strategy-indeed through their big ally -Trumpeting that all Christian churhces, monasteries, schools, Hospitals ought to be returned to lawfull owners.This befpore they would START ACT IV…First, Aghtamara….very carefully in order not to rouse the wrath of the REAL TURK -read deep state and co., then after haggling over if CROSS should be on it or not.Then if people from Diaspora such as you ought to be admitted into the -Church or follow Mass on the open air -around church- WHAT A FARCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And you call this great Turkey REALLY WISHES TO come FWD and extend friendly hand to us Armenians!!!!! inceed you can go on trumpeting their desires or the advocacy of their agents overseas…amongst whom many a perfectly armenian speaking Turks(since within the 30 and more Armenian schools the sons of the Deep state funcionaries drilled into learning our VOSKYEGHNIK goldn deer so to speak language. Then again -check it out- Haratch Daily of Paris then(now a weekly) informed not more half dozen yurs ago that there were some 120 Turkish officers in Ankara´s Armenian Chair leraning the Armenian language…What to send them to the MOON? or to lyon, B-Aires ,S.Francisco NJ.;arseille to act as Armenians and try to stir up dioscord amongst us. That of beleiving what greaat Turkey is now offering!!!
NO AND NO,WE HAVE STRIVED HARD TO BRING OUR CASE/CAUSE ON THE INTERNATIONAL `POLITICAL SCENE,WHETHER THROUGH POLITICFAL DIALOGUE OR FIERECE FIGHT AGAINST THE LITTLE BROTHER OF GREAT TURKEY.pRIOR TO THAT THE Angry Armenian Youngmen´s Quest through militancy -when the international media began to admit that indeed AN ARMENIAN QUESTION DOES E X I S T .it is not extinct!!! this is what prompted GREAT TURKEY…to begin to soften up a bit .
But wait ,these days even repented KURDS or those pretending to be real Kurds but actually instruments in the hands of grea Turkey…INVITING US (to refresh your memory) in Diarbaklira (Dikranagert) and I quote¨Do please come to your HOME¨. But failed to add that it would be to live together with them UNDER GREAT TURKEY R U L E …
What do your like people take the real Armenians for????
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great Turkey must come FWD and ask -offiicially that Armeniasn forgive them ,rather their ancestors,acknowledge thius that their forefathers committted G E N O C I D E against their raya Ermenis .Otherwise thus like acts are a dimea dozen will only be blowing dust into the eyes of real Barzamid Armenians or else their like in non Armenian people.That look there are already 2,soon with KARS cathedral also being allowed to conduct MASS there….so Turkey is very Benevolent and Armenisn shoukld kiss and make up with Turkey and come live under theri blood stained FLAG.
Do you kid Mister????
Murat!!!!
You may rejoice that right below you responding to my post above, you have a kind Ermeni,
Tilgadentsi(give your real name buddy please).
Look yourself into the mirror!!! you forgot to add like your like always have..
Armenians stabbed us on the back, joined the Russians….this is outdated though.But try you may indeed. What are the facts are facts.Your people overpressed our ancestors,TAXED OUR FORFATHERS .looked upon them as 2nd or third class citizens ,deprived them of their rights -not carry arms ,hell not even Zmeli ,(paper cutting knives9 and if there was a dispute between an ar,menian and a Osmanli Efendi, and the culpable would be the latter, he would resport to this´´Dinimina Deydi) Judge ,the Ermeni badmouthed our F A I T H !!!!the easiest way to condemn the rightfull Armenian,whose land had been overtaken by neighbour Turk os something like that—WE know you quite well Mister.no need to waste your time tyelling us lies.Save yojur breath!!!
If you do not believe this and still wish to trumpet your everlasting hogwash ,then git a load of the following.
Spain was under khaliphate Rule for 600 yrs. Then they got WELL ARMED AND DROVE THE INVADORS O U T !!!!!
nOW THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE k u r d s TO TAKE BACK THEEIR SOVERIEGNITY FROM YOU FOR kurdistan WAS DRAWN UP AND MENTIONED AT seVRES treaty.TREATY OF THAT NAME AFTER WW I
and whether you like it or not it will come to `pass. they The Armenian one will at the same time pop up as a nightmare for the like of you.
More excuses….A people who were violently evicted from their ancestral homeland and who voice demands left and right is a people defeated because they don’t understand that if they ever want to get back (which i doubt) then yes, one must put ones life on the line. How have other peoples around the world engaged in struggle in their search for justice. Look at the sacrifices made by the people of Artsakh. You want to return to “western Armenia” but can’t even get past the artificial excuses somehow preventing you to go to Akhtamar or St kirakos in Diyarbekir. It’s all a smokscreen for a lack of personal conviction and national will. I have lived and studied in Soviet Armenia and today’s Armenia. I have lived in Artsakh as well. I am a product of the diaspora however. No one can ever convince me that I was duped into going to a Turkish show in Akhtamar. I connected to the reality on the ground and felt stronger for it. Don’t preach patriotism to me. Go follow the examples of Monte or Hrant. Take your pick of ideology. They put their convictions into practice. All the rest is idle bravado and political self-deception.
For a moment I thought you were talking about Azeris!
it’s OK Murat: you are simply confused, as usual. Not your fault. Denialists like yourself live in a permanent state of confusion, because the Denialverse you guys inhabit is the opposite of the normal Universe the rest of us do.
The ancestral homeland of AzeriTatarTurks (and yours, btw) is about 3,000 kilometers due East of NKR, near the beautiful nomadic pastures of Uyguristan.
Armenian ancestral homeland is 5,000+ year ancestral.
W/Ref to going to great Turkey where our centuries old churches,monasteries have been near totally destroyed-leaving a few for showcasing-is FREE indeed.
Go as much as you wish. But let us see what these visits and also so called rapproachments yield….
Above all , not yours but Mr. khachig Mouradian´s.See his very touching,nay very impressive discourse delivered at an Ankara gathering amongst Arkadash(brotherly) Turks…let´s wait and see, as the Brits say…
My like, do not give any credence to such¨sugar coated¨ SHOWS…
After each of latter , a year or two goes by untill the next one comes up.Like i wrote above,I have nothing AGAINST such visits.Go get more encouraged to go on another and another..nobody is stopping you.Fact is many , do so,hoping the Turk ,rather their chiefs have changed.
I agree, one in each 10,000 Turks may have changed.But does that count?
The mainstream and those who are governing their policy are there to admire!!!! by those paremids who so desire!!!A Turk is a Turk is aTurk.
It will be something miraculous if they change within one century and that only a bit,when obliged to by GREATER POWERS.tHEY ONLY BELIEVE IN FORCE/`POWER and that in a vicious way,not on the battlefield.
Just watching our Armenian Generals from overseas visiting Yerevan.One,commented that AT PRESENT WE HAVE 40 OF THEM worldover.
I wish though,we would have some of these come regularly and interchange ideas and learn from ea other´s knowledge of warfare…
Some are colour blind or so or just see everything in rosy colours,irrespective of the WAR CRIES OF THE WOLF NEXT DOOR.Who? the little borther of great Turkey.Latter instead of curbing little brother´s rhetoric encourages and supports him,promising all kinds of help in case of WAR!!!!
Dear Sella,
I am moved..very much so by your paatriotic suggestions/declaration.You deserve to be applauded!!! Yes we must aid Artsakh more than anything else.Even more than we do at present to Syrian Armenians.Latter are our brethren and sisters too,but there is a lot of difference between them and our dear Artsakhtis. i have been there twice .Have aided in my capacity as much as possible since the first time when Archbishop(then bishop)came to NJ in wartime 1992/3.After he delivered his discourse and PLEA for ..Nk saying ¨¨I´m here to collect monies for bullets¨.I was the first to stadn up and plegde little I could some$350.-then the avalanche followed,near all pledging.Then again we met in Chicago, when he was on assignment for renovation of college in Nk,I hlped again…then we metagain onlty two yrs ago in Shoushi…Stepanakert.Come Spring,i intend to go back and have jsut decided to trasnport all of the good musical instruments that my alias grandson had( I bought for him) to a musical school in martuni or near area..There cannot be a more strategic area in present Armenia of independent Nk than latter. So let´s please coordinate cooperate all we can with ea other and plan to help NK mORE…
best to all who join with Sella and self and think this is a priority!!!!
One commentator foolishly writes- “Yes we must aid Artsakh more than anything else.Even more than we do at present to Syrian Armenians.Latter are our brethren and sisters too,but there is a lot of difference between them and our dear Artsakhtis.”…….What exactly are those “differences” you refer to between Artsakh people and Syrian Armenians. The last time I looked they were both ARMENIAN. The last time I looked. it was Syria that was being bombed into oblivion and collapsing into further chaos. The last time I looked it was Armenians in Syria being killed or kidnapped every week. The last time I looked it was Armenians from Syria, not Artsakh, fleeing for their lives. The commentator says he has visited Artsakh twice, then he should know that the people there are more than capable of defending themselves. They actually have two governments backing them up, one in Stepanakert and one in Yerevan. What government is supporting the vulnerable Armenian community in Syria? Who is speaking out for Syrian Armenians on the world stage? Before you make such idiotic statements just open your eyes to what is going on. Your armchair prognostications are getting more than tiresome.
They have actually three governments supporting them. You forgot the Russians, the one that really matters.
Well, actually 4: you forgot Islamic Republic of Iran.
Despite public pronouncements, Iran wants a strong NKR to keep Azerbaijan off balance. Lots of under the table support from our Iranian cousins.
Hopefully Azerbaijan will be stupid enough to give Russia and Iran the excuse to dismember the artificial state, and free the indigenous ethnic majorities from the oppressive yoke of Tukic invaders.
TatarTurks can all live comfortably in the City State of Baku and gorge themselves on oil wealth.
Tlkatintsi,
I donated already for Syrian Armenians. Armenian government helped and is helping Syrian Armenians but their resources are limited. Syrian Armenians have to move to Artsakh or Armenia and settle there. That is how we can help them. Syria is going to be a second Iraq. I already wrote this-Iranian-Armenians if they can afford have to secure houses and apartments in Armenia (or elsewhere if they so desire) as well.
Tlkatensi!!!
Hold your tongue and ask me to forgive you for naming me indirectly foolish and idiotic.
That is first condition here to <DIALOGUE,otherwise I can have Editors take action towards you!!!!!
if you do not then there is NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND A TURK THAT AT LEAST GIVES A NAME.WHAT´S yours????
If you interprete my comenting and commending on -Sella´s Not mine-, suggestion that we should concentrate help more Artsakh …which is her and my right,none of yoiur business!!!!! and neithr of us……
WITHOUT MENTIOING AT A L L Syria,then you do need better eyeglasses!!!!
NEITHER HER NOR ME HAVE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT Syrian Armenians!!!!
Last time you dare to use bad words to me….
And read well what others write!!!
Mr. Palandjian,
It appears that Tlkatintsi has a very sur lezu (sharp tongue) as we say in Armenian. I have experienced that before as well. But he still did not tell us what we are supposed to do with regard to Western Armenia.
Indeed Syria is still our responsibility but the DIFFERENCE IS, that is foreign soil!!!!! Hasgcoghin Parev!!!
We have jsut seen what happened there, and more may happen after today´s Israeli bombing…Those who had means left already and will leave, (read and learn) most come to RA, get a Euro visa Shjengel or if they have means to Canada and U.S.,or Austrailia, rest may be a tenth stay in RA.Few go to Nk/Artsakh.
Again that is their God given right.
But if some optimists still believe Haleb will be their nostalgic Haleb again…sorry to say ,not so.Better get geared up with all those monies pouring in and make it to Artsakh/RA.
A youngman from where I am is pleading a passageway via great Turkey (a day´s car ride) to Yerevan…let´s see if great Turkey wiil grant that!!!!
Another good kid With an open heart.Does not know who we are up against!!!
I truly wish though it was the opposite and they (Turks) would allow with strict control to give them Trasnsit visas for 3 days or so , so they could leave without any difficulty those target areas and cross over to RA.
“Indeed Syria is still our responsibility but the DIFFERENCE IS, that is foreign soil!!!!! Hasgcoghin Parev!!!”
In concert with Mr. Palandjian thoughts I would like to add that history has shown us that building on a foreign soil is useless. How much did Armenians build in Baku, Tbilisi, Istanbul and elsewhere? What did they get back? They got kicked out either violently or politely from those cities (and were killed sometimes too). Those who chose to build in Armenia have their statues in multiple locations in Armenia, their buildings stand still and became our national heritage.
Amazing how so many people living in the comfort of the West seem to think they have the moral high-ground when it comes to measuring who is more worthy of their monetary assistance, Syrian-Armenians or Artsakh-Armenians. The picture gets more laughable when these same arm-chair commentators urge desperate Armenians fleeing the horrors in Syria to make a beeline to Artsakh. What gall!
It is not a ¨measuring who is more worthy…¨ you have twisted the whole issue.
We,me and Sella defend that the difference ISA THAT ONE IS ON fATHERLAND sOIL THE OTHER AS YET fOREIGN.uNLESS THIS GENTLEMAN THINGKS bAGHDAD bEIRUT,TEHRAM, hALEB ARE aRMENIAN SOIL!!!!
THAT EASY to discern…otherwise me ,her and all haortis HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE FUND HELPING SYRIAN ARMENIANS.
They are heading out whether Hragadar (Fire performer) like it or not…
Alreadyu hundreds of thousands have left Iran, Iraqy,Syria Lebanon….
What other solution????
There were revolutions there and looks like these continue…..
So would it not be best to reorganize the Diaspora with a clear cut REPATRIATION PLAN AND FUND IT SO AS INSTESAD OF SEARCHIGN OTHER PASTURE GRREN LANDs…DIRECT OUR COMPATRIOTS TO ra/aRTSAKH.
wAKE UP aRMENIAN!!!! those people like us and we like them BUT ENOUGH THINKING AS dispersed all over and without a P A T R I A .
Fatherland is calling.they are corrupt??????oh yeah,
Where you live,I live is ANGEL LANDS….?????
Do you kid???
I just wrote on another thread here. Money goes where money is .Unfortunately after the collpase of many many Financial institutions in many a euro country plius in N.America , people begin to realize that it is universal and cannot go on parrot mouthing that RA is full of Kurrupcia.I agee it is one..but not the ONLY ONE…CAPICHE?????
wE MUST COEM TOGETHER AND form Rank and File in PCA- like prof. Colleagues get to cooperate easier than a MD with a constructor.Tha t is m y plan Inter professiona l Colleagues Association worldwide(soon the turco azeris will copy this and realize it sorry to say rather than US Armenians very sadly…..
NO ONE REPEAT NO ONE SO FAR HAS SECONDED MY SIMPLE ABOVE , PCA´s and a NATIONAL INVESTMENT TRUST FUND.
Armenians like fundlings and ea on his her own…CENTRIFUGAL PEOPLE