Back to Normal

Yesterday, Lara and I enjoyed a great afternoon together. We had just realized how stressful the summer was with all the tourists; family friends and Apo... for those who know Apo, understand why he requires a category by himself.

Most of us repats (or expat – however you choose to call yourself) who live in Yerevan throughout the summer, look forward to the summer vacations and all the great stuff that comes with it, pool, outdoor cafes, visits from "back home" and meeting great new people who are passing by. at the end of the summer we all complain about how much energy it all requires - it is literally a full time job.

The thing is, working methods and pace have radically changed in Armenia. Gone are the days where you could get away by starting at 10:00. Most offices and shops have started to open much sooner, some even require an 8:30 start up - now that's just too much. All this to say that those of us who have a full time job, seem to be overwhelmed with the summer addition of another full time job.

Anyhow, I'm glad October is around the corner.

… until next June, when it all starts again!

Insulting Turkishness

Two of the police Turkish officers photographed proudly with Hrant Dink's murderer, holding a Turkish flag are on trial. One for "abusing his office by allowing acts unbefitting state officials and leading to the impression that there was sympathy for Samast's action," and the other for "violating the secrecy of the investigation" by leaking the images to the media. They should both be charged with the same article 301 that Hrant Dink was convicted of, the publicity of which led to his murder. Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code of course is the infamous law outlawing "insulting Turkishness". If these two sons of bitches posing proudly with a murderer and a Turkish flag aren't an insult to Turkishness, and those simply telling 92 year old truths are, then perhaps simply being Turkish is an insult.

Fakepolitik

If Realpolitik is "diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions", then it's almost funny that letter written by EIGHT former US Secretaries of State asking Speaker Pelosi not to introduce the genocide bill has to be fakepolitik. Why fakepolitik? Well they cannot even show a real, concrete, practical consideration which would make you think that recognition of the genocide would be bad for US interests. What reasons do they site for not wanting to see the bill passed? In their own words, no doubt written by someone paid by Turkey:

We are writing to express concern that H. Res. 106 could soon be put to a vote. Passage of the resolution would harm our foreign policy objectives to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. It would also strain our relations with Turkey, and would endanger our national security interests in the region, including the safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, let's analyze this shall we?

They are concerned with harm to promoting Turkish-Armenian reconciliation???? This is of course the richest of all their reasons. There is nothing close to a reconciliation, or even a process, or even relations that could develop into reconciliation. This is of course all thanks to a Turkey which refuses to establish relations with a country it is mad at for not disappearing off the face of the earth during WWI like it was supposed to. Do they think they can't promote reconciliation once the historical facts that everybody already knows are recognized by a congress Turkey knows very well the US President and State Department can't control? Has it occurred to them they can better promote it once the bill passes?

Strain relations with Turkey. This one of course is the reason they really want to drive home. Scare Congress with Turkey's reaction, just like they scare Americans out of their rights, simply by hinting at a possible threat of terrorism. What is Turkey realistically going to do? It's going to cry and whine a bit, and cancel contracts, just like it did with France and Switzerland. Then it will move on and get over it, in true Realpolitik style, and face the fact that everybody in the world recognizes the genocide, despite all their crying and threatening and huffing and puffing.

The safety of our troops in Iraq AND Afghanistan is threatened? By what? The only possible lever Turkey would realistically use is the temporary closure of Incirlink air base. So what? The US has over a hundred thousand troops in Iraq, let them keep their planes there too.

Anyway, the fact that this letter was even written makes me wonder what upheaval is going on in Turkey, and the State Department. But in any case, bravo to the Armenian Government (in the person of Vardan Oskanian) for slamming these former secretaries. He quite rightly states that "I regret to say that there is no process in place to promote normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey. Expressing concern about damaging a process that doesn’t exist is disingenuous", and goes on to say that he'd like to "express our deep concerns and to dismiss as unfounded any implication that a resolution that addresses matters of human rights and genocide could damage anyone’s bilateral relations."

Am I in Turkey?

I was forwarded a link to a documentary by Frontline about journalists who risk their lives to speak the truth. It is a good piece. Armenia could have easily been one of the countries on that long list.

In it, I make a short appearance. It feelsa as though I was in Turkey; but I was really on Freedom Square in Yerevan.

here is the link : http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/newswar/

On the right side, below the section called "Requiem" click on "Watch Online"

Zibil Thursday

ding-aling, ding-ding-ding, ding-aling-aling

I live in a quiet street at the edge of the gorge that runs through Yerevan. It may be “out of the way”, a ten-minute walk to the nearest metro station, but it’s peaceful, apart from the odd vehicle running past, or some of the crazy dogs which, I admit, sometimes keep me awake at night with their barking… But we just about always have water, the neighbours are nice and the evenings are cool. A lovely view of Ararat is just outside the door on a clear day. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Public sanitation is not one of Armenia’s strong points, and garbage collection definitely needs an improvement. There are large garbage bins on all main roads and near concentrations of dwellings (residential buildings and their clusters), but the trash is generally left out in the open for long periods. Animals often rummage through them and, very unfortunately, MOST touchingly, a sight that I still cannot allow myself to get used to in Yerevan, many homeless people also try to find something of use in the rubbish.

We don’t have trash cans where I live, so, twice a week, a truck drives by collecting people’s rubbish from their houses. How can we tell that it’s coming ? A ding-aling-aling of a hand-held bell is all it takes for us to make our way outside, and wait patiently by our gates while the trucks rumbles its way slowly, pausing every few houses or so.

It’s an… interesting system, I suppose. I don’t know what to make of it. It is indeed “better than nothing”, but the efficiency is questionable, especially as we don’t always have someone at home when they show up on Thursday mornings. And forget about Sunday; we’re at church then. Sometimes, our trash bags add up, so we load two or three of them onto our car and drop them off at one of the main garbage cans. And the trash collection is a service we pay for, by the way.

When the truck comes by (ding-ding-ding) and stops, the one or two people standing on the open back bend down, while we residents have to lift up our refuse, stretching our arms to meet the gloved hands of the “sanitation worker”. It isn’t terribly pleasant.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that we seem to be the only people on our street with actual trash bags. The plastic kind, I mean. Most of our neighbours tend to collect their rubbish in large buckets, which they pass on to the garbage collectors on the truck, who, in turn, empty the contents and return the buckets. They re-use these buckets, which may seem environmentally sound, but I wonder just how hygienic it is.

In any case, I expect most people would agree that the generation of trash is, to an extent, an economic indicator; there wouldn’t be any rubbish if there weren’t any importation or production. Ten or twelve years ago, there were no trash cans, nor garbage bags, nor trucks, nor sanitation workers, you know. And I’m sure improving this system is already on the “to-do list” of the Yerevan municipality. Maybe the truck will have a new bell next Thursday…

message of hate?

It has been ages since my last log. I have been quite busy over the summer with guests, children and work. What kept me going was the Congress Hotel Pool... this place is an oasis during the very hot summer season of Yerevan.

I came across a very interesting article recently and wanted to share it with as many people as I could. Some people have criticized the author but I think he is actually speaking from the hearts of many. It is not a hate message, on the contrary. I feel that Western societies who declare themselves as being democratic, have forgotten the essence of the foundations of their nation. I applaud the Mr. Howard for his courage to speak out honestly and without prejudice.



Here is the article:


Prime Minister John Howard - Australia

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should clear off. "Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia . However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!

Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.
If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU chose."

Torch for Darfur

I went to a torch relay event for Darfur 2 days ago. It was a very nice ceremony at the Genocide Monument, and the Catholicos, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others spoke very well. There was also a survivor from Darfur there, the head of the Jewish community of Armenia, and others. I'm not sure what a ceremony here can accomplish, since it seems the only way to prevent genocide is to simply send in troops, but at least it hopefully raised some awareness, which perhaps can muster up some popular support for international intervention.

Other than that I met some new people, as you do in Yerevan, through sometimes the most random connections. One I met through a very cool American woman who worked in the DC office of a USAID project I was at, and she would come out to the field now and then to see how things were going. She was odar, but somehow had ended up attending the Armenian Sisters Academy in Philadelphia for a few years and remembered a bit of Western Armenian even. So anyway, she asked me to meet with a friend of hers who was working for a Dutch company that is making investments here. A very solid guy, who might be based of of Yerevan next year. I also met an Armenian writer who is probing some very interesting issues. I will share more about that when the time comes (which will be a while).

I'll also mention here that I went to the Republic Squares new fountains 2 days after they opened and it was PACKED with thousands of spectators. It was really great to see so many people enjoying the fountains.

P.S. I'm working on a USAID funded project to create a "Google Earth" type site for Armenia (it is not related to google in any way, though the functionality and content is similar). We need a couple of beta testers to tell us how it works for them and give us feedback. If you want to help, post a comment with your email address (I will not publish it), and I can send you the link. Also tell me the city you live in and the type of connection you have. I will only take some of the firstcomers. We can't handle too much feedback/traffic in this phase :-)

Writing Again

I took quite an extended break from blogging, mostly because I didn't have too much to say. I hadn't left Armenia for a straight 9 months and I think I became part of the furniture in my office, thus had little to say worth reading. I'm now in Washington visiting my mother for her birthday and regaining some perspective on many things, mostly life in Armenia. After a year and a half living in Armenia this time around, so much has changed over that time, it seems clear now that Armenia is heading in a direction, but it's not clear what that direction is. My impression is that comfortable life is very slowly reaching more people. None the less, there's a long way to go.

Recently I went to visit my relatives living in Armenia. They are among the many Armenians from Iran who repatriated to Armenia in the 1940s. This is my grandmother's sister's family. One of them lives in a village outside Hoktemberyan where she lives as a farmer. I haven't had a chance to spend much time with them until now, but recently went on a Sunday with the whole family and realized what a difference living conditions make on the outcome of one's life. These are people with talent and drive, and it's clear that they are of the same blood, but fortune has not been on their side. Regardless, they are a proud and hard working bunch and somewhat exemplary in their determination to better their circumstances best they know how instead of waiting for someone to do it for them.

Otherwise in the US, as I suspected, the race for the white house dominates American media while Iranian President Ahmadinejad's visit to the UN is creating lots of controversy. On Armenian issues, it seems the genocide resolution is dragging along still. It's not clear when the resolution will go to a vote, but despite Pelosi's previous commitments to pushing the issue, she is not coming through. The pressure from the Turkish government is very heavy, even in the ADL controversy that continues to play out with regards to support on the resolution.

And finally, internet. We all know Armenia's internet isn't ideal, but after the monopoly was lifted last year, I was sure it would improve and become affordable. Well, it now seems it has gotten worse. For the office, we connected through ADC, a Norwegian Company, at high speed and at first got a decent connection for a mighty high price. The connection has become much worse as download time has quadrupled. I am only appreciating the strain this creates after being in the US and soaking up the good stuff. It truly makes a difference in doing business, especially with people who do business abroad. There is a serious need for internet improvement as business and economy continue to grow. We need the means to help it continue on this path, but we are only able to grow as far as our tools allow us to... cheap and fast internet... get it done... somebody.

Levon Ter-Petrosian

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian broke his nearly decade-long silence Friday with an unusually harsh attack on the current authorities in Yerevan which he branded “criminal and corrupt” and accused of turning Armenia into a “third world country.”

This statement is only laughable because he was actually set the precedent for criminal and corrupt regimes in Armenia!

Happy Independence Day

So it's 16 years since Armenians voted overwhelmingly for independence, and what a ride it's been. This year's celebrations were mainly centered around the new fountains in Republic Square. They spent the entire year renovating the pool and installing the fountains (from France), and today, we finally saw the results, and they are really quite nice. I put a couple of pictures on flickr, and below is one of them. It was hard to capture much of the different types of movements, colors, etc what with being bumped every second. The square was really packed I must say. But I got a couple of decent shots.



If I read right in the news, the new Northern Avenue will be complete in November. I see it every day, and that seems extremely optimistic, but anyway, when it is done, these fountains will be a nice end cap for it.

One priceless comment I heard one cop make to another during the celebrations: "Mi kich gamats kayle, d'mbo!" (Walk a little slower, dummy!)

Café Trot-war

Well, here's another incident to add to case studies for any future hospitality school that a true saviour of this country would someday deign to open...

This was yesterday, at one of the fancy opera cafés, which will remain unnamed. A friend and I arrived around lunchtime, sat down and had a look at what we'd like to order. The waiter patiently explained the contents of those items whose names didn't really give much of an idea as to what they were... We asked for this and that, and then had a look at the desserts, asked for a couple of slices of pastries, a water and a fanta, and waited...

The wait was a bit longer than it should have been, but our patience was rewarded with the arrival of the cakes.

"Neroghoutiun, karogh ek srank hedo perel, jashits hedo ?" (Could you please bring these after the food ?)

"Che, chem karogh, arten tvats a." (No, sorry, I've already entered it into our ordering system, or whatever they have with their computer back there...)

!

I felt like spelling out to him that he could take them back, and then bring them again later, but, anyway...

The water I asked for arrived soon after, with no sign of the fanta. When our food finally comes, my friend asks for his fanta again, to which the waiter replies, "Sorry, we don't have any fanta, just pepsi and mirinda". All right, mirinda then, for Heaven's sake, but you could have told us that you don't have any fanta when we actually asked for the fanta...

Soon afterwards, the guy comes with a green can, but before he opens it, I extend a hand and say, "Wait! Don't you have orange mirinda ?". No, of course not, why would they ? I mean, everyone who says "mirinda" automatically thinks of the "green apple" kind. Made in Georgia-next-door, by the way...

My friend comments that he never knew that there was such a drink. Neither did I. He pours it out; it's this shocking fluorescent green colour ("Something one sees in a wizard's laboratory", my friend says), but I expect it went down well enough with the meal.

Now, later on, when it came to being paid, the guy immediately brought over the bill, and hung around us like vultures, snatching the thing with the money in it away as soon as it was set down on the table. The money in there wasn't exact - it was a few hundred drams extra - but the waiter never brought it back with the change! He decided to just tip himself...! Sigh...

Well, the food was satisfying enough, I suppose, and the company was pleasant. In fact, these little incidents made for good entertainment, too. I'm glad, however, that I decided to order just a simple coffee later (it would have been difficult to get that wrong) a little bit before I actually intended to drink it (so as to make sure it arrives on time).

See, it's these sorts of life-training experiences that toughen you up and make you a more resilient member of the bourgeoisie. Which other would-be-touristy place can you say that about ?

Kocharian complains of tax evasion, corruption, privileged treatment

I found this article in RFE/RL interesting... everybody of course knows this is true, but is Kocharian implying his family doesn't get special treatment, and that it pays all its taxes? It seems doubtful to me. And with Serjh sitting there, it all just seems like a strange act, and I can't imagine what he's trying to show, prove or accomplish. Oh well. Maybe the future will show what this was all about.

Also in the news yesterday, Ian Porterfield, a Scottish soccer coach who has been coaching Armenia's national team to great success died yesterday.

Last night there was a big concert in Republic Square by the Russian gas company. Djivan Gasparyan, the Armenian Navy Band and others performed.

Oops, we upset the waitress...!

There's always tons of surreal and surprising incidents in Armenia, not the least of which with members of the "service community", i.e., waiters, waitresses, public servants, anyone dealing with a member of the general public but not quite knowing how to deal with people... etc. Often they end up being unbelievable or simply amusing, as the past few entries on "conversations with the waiter" have shown.

Anyway, I remembered an incident when I went for lunch somewhere today, something that happened there maybe four years ago. My mom, brother and I had gone for a meal, and my brother had ordered a cheeseburger. It came, a nice, big, fat bun, which my brother bit into... only to discover that it had... well, cheese. Only. Just cheese.

So, we call the waitress, and inquire whether perhaps they had forgotten something. Quizzically, the waitress asks us what we mean. Well, we elaborate, burgers tend to contain meat. "Ah", comes the explanation, "This is a cheeseburger. 'Cheese', anglerenoum, 'panir' e nshanakoum". Is that right, so "cheese" is English for "panir", eh ? Will wonders never cease...

Well, today, at that same place, the tables were quite turned. I had gone with a couple of friends, and, Armenians that we are, there was a struggle as to who was to pay for the bill after the meal. The waitress brought that little booklet to me, and I immediately put in the money and was about to quickly pass it back (it's all in the speed, folks, that's the number one rule if you want to pay for a meal).

My tactical position was disadvantageous, however, as my friend repeatedly blocked my return of the booklet, and this continued for a good ten or twenty seconds until the waitress made SUCH a face - of disgust, anger, irritation, vexation - and she went away in a huff! She really did, this was something I had never seen before, and it was quite surprising actually. I mean, the face she made was so... I don't know. I was afraid it would stick on her!

Well, my friend had his way; we split the bill. The waitress returned shortly thereafter, and her face was as it was before. So, I guess everything is back to as normal as it could be around here.

Digg, Facebook, del.icio.us....

So for those of you who use sites where you can share web pages and articles that you like, I've just made it much easier for you on Armeniapedia.org. I've added a slew of links on a new menu box at the bottom of the left side menu on every page. Just click on the site you want to share the article on (Digg, Facebook, etc) and it should take you right to the site, ready to share! It's even got a bunch of sites I've never heard of. So now, sharing your Armenia related stuff is much easier.

Of course I was planning to get other work done this evening, and get to bed earlier, but this was productive too...

"Raffi Kojian welcomes you to Armenia"

That's the header the Armenian Reporter chose for my interview in the Armenian Reporter this week. You can download the Arts and Culture section to see the four page interview.

So... Welcome to Armenia! :-)

Conversations between taxi drivers

As my cab pulled up to an intersection with a crosswalk, a pretty girl waited to cross, and my cab driver waved her across, she thanked him with a hand wave, and the cab in the next lane didn't slow down until later, stopping right at the crosswalk.

At the next intersection, my cab driver, leaning partially out the window, to the other cab driver: Bro, drive with some class. Give way to the beautiful sex.

Hurricane "OVIR" struck at Zvartnots

This is what I understood from the first-hand account I heard. Excuse me if I got any of it wrong.

Yesterday, passengers departing at the lovely hour of 4:50am were informed that, the previous evening at 10pm it had been decided that OVIR (Armenia's visa department) would not be open at the airport anymore, and that extensions would have to be acquired in Yerevan, at the disgusting mess of a run-down office building, with lines like a herd of wilderbeasts, before departing (meaning they would miss their flights which departed in an hour and a half). Just what we want tourists who are kind enough to stay longer than 3 weeks to experience and waste their time on.

Of course many countries who actually want to encourage tourism, like say Cyprus, Israel, Australia, Turkey, automatically grant tourists 3 month multiple entry visas, even if they're coming for the weekend.

After over 100 stranded passengers from a couple of flights were left behind, it apparently must have been obvious that the disaster was reaching proportions any idiot could have predicted if they'd looked to see how many overstayed visas are extended at the airport. The third flight saw a mass of people rush the plane and take off - apparently without any extension at all, while those that missed their earlier flights were off to Yerevan to sign a document in Armenian stating they are criminals (yes, criminals!) and then extend their visas. Apparently the scene at OVIR yesterday was one of scores of tourists trying to figure out what to do (since explanations are never forthcoming) while one man sang Hayastan, Hayrenik, Drakhtavayr (Armenia, Homeland, a bit of paradise) and others were passing out snacks and making their wait as enjoyable as possible.

I have no idea what happened since then... any updates??

Zebra... Job Hunt.. Ideas

So I was at Poplavok and after asking the waiter which cake he recommends from their dessert menu, I settled for the ZEBRA.

10 min. passed...

15 min. passed...

20 min. passed... I had almost even forgotten about my cake..

I called him over and politely asked:

"Ays ZEBRA-n Africayic e galis?" (and mind you, my friends and I are cracking up!)

No reaction. No smile. Nothing. He just walked away and 5 minutes later I had my Zebra.


On a more serious note... My job hunt still continues. I have to admit that it has been A LOT more difficult than I anticipated! I knew it wouldn't be easy, but at the same time I hadn't expected it to be THISSSS difficult! For a little while I felt as though there was a little black cloud following me to all the interviews. But this weekend I sat down and plumped up my resume a bit... tried to be less modest, and once again started to send it anywhere I thought I'd make a difference. So far this week I've been to one interview (a group interview-- first one I'd been to in Armenia), and I have another interview next week.

Someone asked me, "But what do you REALLY want to do?", and it is definitely open a preschool - kindergarten!!! I know I've said it before, but seriously my only problem is that I lack the financial capability of starting that project alone. I envision a daily preschool-kindergarten, with bilingual education, and optional extended care for working parents. I'd also like to have a Learning Center after 3pm for older students (much like Sylvan learning centers), where each student is evaluated and a curriculum is created based on her/his needs. Right now, I'm teaching English to a 5th grader everyday... I hope to get more students though.

Another project I thought of is to have a Summer Camp for diasporan kids (and of course local children may participate as well), much like YMCA day camps. During the summer, families who come to Armenia on a regular basis may enroll their kids to take day trips to different places and work on different projects - for example, a trip to Garni with canvases, paint, clay, etc. to recreate Garni in some sort of artform--and have a picnic! Or perhaps a scavengar hunt at Lake Sevan.... things like this. Let's see....

That's it for now....
TSUH! :)

Turks on the genocide resolution:

I just came across this interesting piece on the genocide resolution by a Turkish columnist in todays Todays Zaman (no, that's not a typo, it was printed today in a paper called "Todays Zaman". Here's an excerpt:

The real problem is elsewhere. First, there is something that Ankara and the Turkish Embassy in Washington are stubbornly refusing to understand: Turkey has already lost the “genocide” battle. There is simply no one -- except people with a vested financial or political interest -- who believe Turkey’s side of the story. Whether “the events of 1915” amount to “genocide” or not is not even debated in the West. This is one of those situations where perception becomes reality. Turkey can blame the nefarious Armenians and all kinds of anti-Turkish lobbies for this situation, but the fact of the matter is that suppressing free debate on this issue and accusing academics organizing conferences does not help the slogan “leave history to historians.”

You can't tell for sure if he believes there was a genocide a not, my guess is, he probably knows there was one, but the point is the sentiments being expressed would never be seen a couple of years ago. And he ends the article by saying, "Who knows, it may even prove to be a good thing for Turkey to get the resolution monkey off its back. We will have to wait and see."

I'm adding to this post since I noticed two more interesting articles. One says "The resolution on the 'Armenian Genocide' will soon be accepted in the US Congress and major troubles will arise for Turks, Americans and others", then goes on with the typical line and threats if it is passed. The other, in the Journal of Turkish Weekly on September 4, by the same author of the quoted text above, is even more impressive in its open mindedness and admissions than his last article, but what stands out as much as the text of the article, is the simple fact that he's writing it, it's being published, and I don't see him being charged with the infamous Article 301 (insulting Turkishness).

Hundreds of thousands were massacred. Wasn't the government and military in charge of protecting the deported? How can you have hundreds of thousands of men, women, children massacred without a sustained campaign? The legalistic answer is that there was no "intent" to exterminate the Armenian race. OK, so what happened is not comparable to the Holocaust. But isn't it still "genocide" when close to a million people are killed while the state is unable and unwilling to protect them?

Today what Turkey needs to do is to engage Armenia and start a reconciliation process. This is no longer a historical issue. It is a political and psychological predicament. Turkey should also issue an official apology, but also indicate that territorial or financial compensations are out of question. A monument that would commemorate the death of Armenians would go a long way in creating goodwill from the international community. But most importantly it would start a process of self-healing at home. Opening the border with Armenia would also secure the moral high ground as it did on the question of Cyprus three years ago.

Of course, he makes a point of saying Turkey should not give reparations, but my take on this has always been that if you are truly sorry, and the apology isn't merely for show, then you'd want to make amends. You wouldn't mind reparations - you'd offer them freely. After being dispersed by the genocide, and having so much of Armenia swallowed by Turkey, paying monetary reparations, and giving Armenia land (including Mt. Ararat and a Black Sea coast) are a drop in the bucket. If we don't insist on these things, we're doing our ancestors and our descendants a huge disservice.

I'll post the link to the entire excellent article here, but it will only be active for a week before it disappears, as groong articles do.

Genocide recognition domino effect

The domino effect of genocide recognition, as Harut Sassounian mentions in this weeks column, is quite obvious now. We have won battles all over the world, with media giants like Time Europe distributing hundreds of thousands of free Armenian Genocide DVDs with their magazine, the New York Times, LA Times and others now using the term Armenian Genocide very clearly as a matter of policy, and even now with the Anti-Defamation League, whose leader is known for his stubbornness and refusal to change. Our one semi-failure was to reverse the recall of Ambassador John Evans, but in the follow-up we did manage to block the new Ambassadorial nomination. When we get the US State Department to finally bend to the cause of justice, truth, and transparency - which they purport to stand for themselves, as America is supposed to, we will seal the fate of genocide recognition in the USA. We might just get congressional recognition before that, as the number of co-sponsors of the genocide bill now is more than half of congress, and the speaker says she will introduce the bill... we'll see. Even the tone of articles in Turkey is changing day by day. The end of the massive battle to get back the recognition we once had, but which Turkey took away through decades of diplomacy and spending, is in sight.

But again, we must not drop the ball on reparations. The fact that "it was a long time ago" should only amplify demands, as Turkey shat on the descendants of the genocide for almost a century, rather than make amends right away.