26 replies to this topic

[Kazza]

*No exaggerations, it's true! I was pretty surprised when I heard the story!*

The school that I used to attend, Christ Church C of E, was thought of as a small, caring church school while I was there. About a year after I finished, it started going downnhill pretty rapidly in a short space of time and was described in the local newspapers as a "problem" school. After various inspections the governors were seriously considering closing it down after this summer term. But after hearing of the statistics of the high exam grades of the pupils, and the highest score of all in the school by Mehrtash Lotfian, who got 1 A*, 3 A's, 4B and a C in his GCSE's, the governors have reconsidered the descision. Mehrtash came to England from Iran and started scondary school in 1998, speaking no english.

I feel so proud of my people around now It's always so good to know that there are many positive examples out there.

To read the newspaper article, please click here

[Sip]

I feel Mehrtash's pain! Can you imagine what he must be going through right now?

All the other kids in school saying: "Damn dude, because of you we HAVE to go to school now "

But in all seriousness, that's very cool!

[ September 03, 2002, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: Sip ]

[Rubo]

Nice story Kezza, you should not be surprised, our kids for most part work hard to succeed which reflects positively on our values: on a different note Armenian youth chess team has been taking first prizes on international competitions beating the German, Israeli, French kids. Last tournament in New York they took first, second, and third in short total sweep.
"Many surprising things have happened in chess, but never have the representatives of one tiny nation swept so decisively such a diverse event as the 1998 New York Open, which was held from March 14 to March 22.
In the final round, on board one, Artashes Minasian of Armenia defeated Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria. On board two, Smbat Lputian of Armenia defeated Vadim Milov of Switzerland. On board three, Vladimir Akopian of Armenia defeated Suat Atalik of Turkey. On board four, Sergei Movsesian of Armenia could only draw Julio Granda-Zuniga of Peru.

The event was won by Minasian with 8-1, followed by Lputian with 7.5-1.5, followed by Akopian"

On adult level in world chess championship Armenia was a point and a half beyond Ukraine and end up third place beyond Russia. Armenia is a chess powerhouse for a tiny country and it continues to grow. Something else to be proud!

[Twilight Bark]

Hi people,
Just dropping by. Nice story, but I doubt that the kid in the story is Armenian. I don't recognize the first or the last name as Armenian, and -ian ending is not uncommon among Iranians.
Take care all,
TB

[Sip]

Details details details ...

Actually, I agree. Both the first and last name are Persian.

[Kazza]

Yes, rubo, the kids do work hard. You know when it's just pushy parents, but comes from the child itself. If you read the article, this child taks breifly about how he was happy to attend, not because it's the easy life but because he wanted to study hard and do his best. It's really cool, isn't it! Cool about the chess too, but I don't understand one bit of the game myself! I just appreciate being happy for them.

Seaphan, yes, the kid must be happy he's left school, because knowing the pupils from when I was there, they WOULD react like that! "It'a all because of you!" and having school bags thrown in the corridor. A bit Bart.

But seriously, I thought of that, about the ian being a common persian ending too (I think that's mabye wehre we got the idea? I think MJ was the one who sugessted that? MJ help me out?) so I typed the full name in google with "persian"and loads of results came up about armenian sergeant majors in Iran. Perhaps the parents called him the first name, as they were living in Iran?

[bellthecat]

Mehrtash doesn't sound very Persian. "Tash" is Turkish for stone, and "Mehr" is Meher. Maybe he is Kurdish if not Armenian.

[Sip]

In that caes, then he is either 12/17 Jewish or his ancestors were raped by Mongols and he is 13/5 Mongolese

[-e-]

Here is a pleasant challenge that we came face to face with:)

I give you my word, you will be proven wrong by an expert if you ever dare to say that Mehr is not an armenian name. Don't belive me??? (I care less) Here is a chance for you to check the facts.
Tonight and every friday night, you'll have a chance to speak with Hovik Nersesian who happens to know the old Pahlavi(and not only). He is an academic from New York.

http://www.amga.tv/live.asp

hey t-bark, what is your real name? got something to hide, dude? I seen you making such provocative comments in the past too. That should be typical to the turks, huh? Hope you'll have guts to speak the expert that i mentioned.

[Sip]

This lady claims Mehrtash is an Iranian boy name meaning "like the sun".

They have quite a few names in Farsi with "Mehr" ... like Mehrab which is pretty famous. I don't know much about roots of things ...

[-e-]

in about an hour you'll have a chance to ask the same question to Hovik Nersesian. i only regret that the webmaster alouds these much nonsense to be posted here by the turks. one must be STUPID to say that this word or that word has a kurdish origin without understanding where the kurdish language itself is originated from.

[Rubo]

hey t-bark, what is your real name? got something to hide, dude? I seen you making such provocative comments in the past too. That should be typical to the turks, huh? Hope you'll have guts to speak the expert that i mentioned.

Listen Eduard, I am not here wasting time fighting…but your comment, the implication that TB might be a Turk is unrealistic and unfounded. Please read recent genocide thread and his responses to Ali and you will have no doubt furthermore it might teach you about patriotism which has many shades from borderline suicidal to contemplative productive.Please don’t expect everyone to be carbon copy of yourself.

Originally posted by aurguplu:
hagarag,

was it you who had told me in a previous discussion under a different thread that you guys were not trying to carve up my country, or was it someone else, and if it was someone else, could i please get a coment from him about your posting?

Hi Ali,

I do not know if I am the “someone else” you had in mind, but I'll use the break I granted myself to pitch in anyway. First, "you guys" and "hagarag" are not synonymous, to say the least. "Us guys" (and there is really no such coherent entity as far as the issue is concerned) includes people who want nothing more than an acknowledgement (not even an apology) of history, and move on with their lives toward full assimilation into cultural oblivion, feeling good that their grandparents did not hallucinate the whole genocide thing. In fact, "us guys" includes those who want to drop the whole issue and move on, and pretend that Armenians are a "normal" nation, hoping that it could become one by declaring itself so. “Us guys" includes those who enjoy dreaming that a few of the provinces containing the most "significant" Armenian totems like Mt. Ararat and Aghtamar can become Armenian again. And of course "us guys" includes those whose wet dreams involve a "sea to sea" Armenian Empire. And then of course there is the "mainstream" Armenians, who are too busy with life to think much on such silly subjects one way or the other. I am sure you can make a similar categorization about "you guys", except that your "empire builders" are a lot more numerous, are on the ground (rather than in some faraway place a continent or two away, fully submerged in the safety and comfort of the eventual graveyard of their culture and identity), and have afrighteningly cosy relationship with the army, which happens to be the most powerful one in the region by far.

As far as “carving up my country”, how melodramatic of you. You think hagarag will draw his sword made of celery, and throw bean-powered bombs to carve up “your” country? Even if the territory in question were granted to Armenians, it wouldn’t qualify as “carving up”. And in some unlikely scenario where Armenians re-populate their ancestral lands and proceed to demand independence, why do you think it would be such a tragedy? And do you think there are ways in which Turkey could prevent such a “tragedy”? If you don’t, then I suggest you think harder. And in case Turkey couldn’t prevent oh-such-a-melodramatic tragedy, you can take comfort from the fact that Czechoslovakia split into two pieces, and produced two stable and healthy countries, without the Czechs feeling the urge to wipe the Slovaks out of existence, or refusing to deal with Slovakia. And Canada has no immediate plans to punish Quebec into submission or send its residents to France. There is no question that Armenians have the moral right to live on their ancestral lands of many millennia, especially considering the circumstances of their “removal”. Now if you cannot make them happy after they come back, perhaps the land in question does not and should not belong to you. If Armenians do not bother to come back in significant numbers, then they forfeit their moral right to live on it except as tourists or “ordinary” Turkish citizens. In any event, I suspect that a country with the vision to invite back the few Armenians that would bother to come would also have the level of intellectual development that ensures a harmonious coexistence, with all the cultural freedoms and local governance. But don’t worry Ali, the paranoia and territorial obsession displayed by “the best and the brightest” of your society makes a true reconciliation seem like a distant dream that it probably is.

Finally, it seems that it is not enough for us to say “we can’t imagine demanding lands from you, because you are too powerful” (paraphrasing Kocharian). You want to censor our thoughts and emotions, so we cannot even wish to live on those lands as Armenians without being accused of complicity in land-grabbing. You want us to tear away from our hearts the places that formed the main body of our nation. As an avid proponent of realpolitik thinking, you surely understand the polite position of “We don’t demand it because we know we cannot get it”. Leave it at that. When discussing matters related to genocide and ethnic cleansing, there is one overriding factor above all else: morality. It is morally hollow (to say the least) to “repent” and yet forbid the descendants from coming back to those lands. Once you fulfill your unavoidable and morally required task, it is then your responsibility to ensure that those that come back have no reason to ask for outright independence. If Turkey can’t imagine doing that, it need not bother the Armenians with silly displays of “Oh I am so sorry”. Here is one censorship (or perhaps self-restraint) homework for you Ali: until you feel in your heart and know in your mind that the land in question belongs as much to Armenians as to Turks and Kurds that now live on it, refrain from trying to sound so enlightened. Once you and the rest of the “best and the brightest” internalize that notion, the two nations can “play it again”, hopefully with much happier results this time for all involved. This may be news to you, but the ball is in your court.

Regards,
Twilight Bark

[Twilight Bark]

Thanks a bunch Rubo.

[-e-]

rubo, why are you hanging from t-bark's d***? lern to stand on your own ground frist before you are involved defending someone else. you have a record on your own that needs to be cleared, remember that. what t-bark writes is only one side of the story. after reading in between the lines, one wouldn't have hard time to understand that he sings the same song that all the other revesionists sing. To the armenians it might just sound great when someone talks about historical armenia and our rights, but for a non-armenian, "Greater Armenia" "Armenian Territories" "Us vs them" sound too provocative.

James Russel too was acting as a frind of the armenians before he was cornered and forced to speak the truth. The same James Russel, the so-called true frind of the armenians, on November 5th will be presenting turkey to the world as the "protector of Asia-Minor" historical monuments.

Next time, before you are involved defending someone, remember to clean your ass first because you too smell like a shit.

BTW, where the hell were you last night when Hovik Nersesian was talking about distortion of the armenian history and the people like you and t-bark? Why weren't you there to defend your point about refering everything thata armenians have to the "Persians"? Had no guts to show your face, huh?

[-e-]

now i see why this rubo character is so concerned about the others. no one talks to this poor creature anymore and he poes to find a frind...

what a joke

[-e-]

now i see why this rubo character is so concerned about the others. no one talks to this poor creature anymore and he hopes to find a frind...

what a joke

[Sip]

I think you are fully entitled to your opinion as childish and dumb-founded as it may be ... I will also put my 2 cents in for whatever it is worth.

For the brief time that Ruben has been here, he has managed to earn my outmost respect even though I do NOT agree with him all the time (He and a few others on this board). I can't say that about too many others in this world.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your life listening to Hovik Nersesian and whatever he says. Whoever he may be.

[ September 07, 2002, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: Sip ]

[Sip]

Oh wait ... was I just hanging from Rubo's d***? Sorry ... I didn't mean to ... I take back all I said. I really want to be considered cool by Eduard

[nairi]

Eduard, why so much hostility? What's wrong with defending people?

Nairi

[-e-]

ohh, how could i miss that? seaphan too thinks that the first and the last name have a persian origin. now we know where this dumb-founded childish opinions come from.