Knarik O. Meneshian was born in Austria. Her father was Armenian and her mother was Austrian. She received her degree in literature and secondary education in Chicago, Ill. In 1988, she served on the Selection Committee of the McDougal, Littell “Young Writers” Collection—Grades 1–8, an anthology of exemplary writing by students across the country.” In 1991, Knarik taught English in the earthquake devastated village of Jrashen (Spitak Region), Armenia. In 2002–2003, she and her late husband (Murad A. Meneshian), lived and worked as volunteers in Armenia for a year teaching English and computer courses in Gyumri and Tsaghgadzor. Meneshian’s works have been published in "Teachers As Writers, American Poetry Anthology" and other American publications, as well as Armenian publications in the U.S. and Armenia. Knarik is the author of A Place Called Gyumri: Life in the Armenian Mountains. She has also authored a book of poems titled Reflections, and translated from Armenian to English Reverend D. Antreassian’s book titled "The Banishment of Zeitoun" and "Suedia’s Revolt" She began writing at the age of 12 and has contributed pieces to The Armenian Weekly since her early teens.
dear. mrs meneshian I read all the articles and I cry how the government can be so callowness against ours people they not Armenian too or they are odar
thank you
Good article. Thank you.
Thanks Knarik, you have described so well what we have been seeing year after year in Armenia. Thee is such hopelessness among people there that is heart wrenching. I am afraid in a few years the population will get so low that there won’t be a country named Armenia.
Sad and true story of our Hayrenik. Us, in the diaspora we must have hope and don’t give up. It takes time and lots of sacrifices to make a great country. Settling the war with Azerbaijan will improve our conditions and accelerate change. There is no other option!
The same things can be written to many and many countries,there are problems everywhere, the people of Armenia have to be informed of many facts,they think if they go away they will be better which is not the truth,examples are many, 6 milion ukranians leave outside Ukrania 1.5 milion of them work to assist the old people in Italy,the examples are many,they fill pages and pages, when I go to Armenia and say these thinks,they tell me you are the only one from the diaspora who is saying such things,i tell them read the statistics of economic hardship in the world on United Nations site and you will not dream anymore to leave Armenia.
No mention of the many, many new multi-million dollar churches (and new residences for the Catholicos) being continually built with money from the diaspora and oligarchs? Perhaps the poor, hopeless, deprived people need to remember that they will get their rewards in heaven?
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/221699/
Armenia is a TYPICAL developing nation with TYPICAL growing pains. Actually, when one considers that the country is small, poor, remote landlocked, blockaded and in a state of war since its independence, one may actually realize that Armenia is actually doing not so bad after all. It could have been much, much worst. But Armenia is alive and well. The constant, relentless complaints about the country are being propagated by Western intelligence agencies via their proxies (servants) in Armenian communities around the world. The net result: Today’s hysteria, panic, hate, hopelessness, disillusionment and thus, population flight. Armenians may think they are running away from “injustice”, “corruption” or “oligarchs” what they are actually doing is running away from all the constant negativity being propagated by Western powers. Injustice, corruption and oligarchs are much worst in most countries of the world. Yet, it sometimes feels like Armenians are the only ones fleeing from it. The Western agenda to weaken Armenia has achieved some success. Western interests want to foment a revolution in the country like the one they managed in Ukraine simply because Armenia is allied to Russia. This is why Western agents in Armenian society (and there are a lot of them) constantly air Armenia’s dirty laundry and this is why Western agents in Armenian society (and there are a lot of them) constantly bad mouth Russia. Trust me folks, had Armenia been in bed with Uncle Sam we wouldn’t be seeing any protests against our “corrupt leaders” or “oligarchs”. At the end of the day, we must realize that the Western agenda is alive and well in Armenia today only because we Armenians are foolish enough or, in the case of the thousands of Western funded NGO workers in Armenia, financially desperate enough to allow it. Anyway, despite all the hysterical rantings, be it in the homeland or in the diaspora, Armenia is slowly but surely developing and moving forward. People can begin developing a positive attitude and join in the long process of nation-building or continue staying on the murky sidelines and continue spewing their poison. Those who choose the latter are merely doing the bidding of Armenia’s enemies.
Thank you Knarik for a very informative article.
Thank you Norserunt for calling it what it is.
I have known Mrs. Meneshian since we volunteered together in 2002-2003 with the Armenian Volunteer Corps, and I have read many of her articles and I hope you do not mean to accuse her of being on the pay of Western powers. She is not! She is an honest sensitive person who describes things the way she sees them. Everything she wrote here does not surprise me and I have experienced the same, personally. The only thing that surprised me is the “Պատարագ” incident. Either that priest had a very good excuse on that Sunday, or he should be reported. All our operating churches I have been to, on Sundays, have a proper service and live choirs. I have never heard piped music in our churches.
The lack of jobs Mrs Meneshian mentions, and, in contrast, the foreigners who work in Armenia (I have seen groups of SriLankan labourers, who could not even speak English, working on different construction projects in Yeghegnadzor) are unfortunately true. This should tell us that our sisters and brothers of Armenia expect (and deserve) better paying jobs (than those from SriLanka, India, Africa, etc).
I also agree with David Karamian. If you take Economics 101, one of the first things you learn is: “A country can produce more butter, or more guns. It cannot do both”. Eventhough our military budget is dwarfed in comparison with Azerbaijan’s, we win first prize on being the country with the “Highest per capita defence related expenditures in the world”. If we repelled Azerbaijan’s attacks, it is thanks to the brains of our commanders and the valour of our soldiers. But we will have to live with less butter if we want to stay at war.
It’s much easier to be Armenian in Bergen County, Pasadena, Glendale, or Chicago than a Hayastan.