angel4hope

whip out you handy dandy dictionary now....sip finally said something that may make sense j/k

oosoom em gnaam hayastan....

Feb. 26th '02 I am a wound My dressings are my pillows A sad head I rest In the exhaustion of pain There is pretence in your words My reaction is justified I will act like a stranger 'Cause you think I'm insane If I were to be a smile Lost in confusion The dance in your eyes Would illustrate a care But I was born a wound And due to my anguish You won't grant me sympathy Your sould does not dare Why do all humans Shy away from any pain Lives filed with truth That they do not accept If they were born wounds They would share in my tears And sadly their lives Would be filled with regret posted by Anna Tumadottir at

hail almighty master of the rabiz music- i bid the farwell- we shall part...

lately ive found some new bands 2 listen to... maroon 5- its a 2 for one deal here- you get the nice music and the hott lookin lead singer to stare at yeah yeah yeah's - good vocals joss stone- "fell in love with a boy" smooth music- kinda jazzy and blues... ironically eough shes totally whitre and from england - but its good music yellowcard nice summer-y kroq- y music- story of the year- yeah baby- id smack that anyday haha dont mind me thats it for now folks- dont hold your breath- ill visit soon

hmm what chaos... when in school or in class during finals or midterms i prayand beg for a week off...during my week off- i pray and beg for school and some work.... life is a big disappointment soemtimes- but yah still gotta smile

eghav nanar jan

i agree... the department is in dire need of help- and not to mention some actual singers- not some guy who gobbles like a turkey or aimlesly sounds like a rooster whose feathers are being pulled out ony by one..... and what really puzzles me is that some people actually listen to this barn yard music and bump it really loud when theyre driving- ahh the perplexion.....

i sense some "premeditated birth" on behalf of azatik ~ amot kez!!

PHRYGIA Ancient Phrygia in the west of the Anatolian plateau, the country around the sources of the Sakarya Nehri (river) within the triangle of the modern cities of Afyon, Eskisehir and Ankara, was named after the western Indo-Europeans who came here from Europe around 1200 BC and left their mark as skilled craftsmen with a culture of their own. It was a country clearly with many towns and cities, lying on the routes to the east from Lydia and Caria. Today it has only three major cities: Afyon, the opium city, Eskisehir, a hub of industry and the main railroad junction, and Kütahya, a centre for ceramics and the mining of brown coal. Here in many places the westerlies and southerlies can still carry rain deep into the mountains, bringing denser settlement and a greater degree of cultivation in their train. This farming potential enabled Phrygia even in early classical times to develop a powerful kingdom of its own with many towns and cities. Its fringes, where east met west, were a battleground for Persians and Lydians, Romans and Galatians, Arabs and Romans, Crusaders and Seljuks, Ottomans and Mongols, Byzantines and Turks. Ruins and age-old monuments abound up on the rolling plateau around the upper reaches of the Sakarya, with here and there towering rocky outcrops and a few scraggy trees, although nowadays signs of settlement are few and far between. The Phrygian language, which died out in the 6th c. AD, was closely related to Greek, as can be seen from 80 ancient Phrygian inscriptions (7th-4th c. BC.), written in a script rather like Greek and over 110 neo-Phrygian writings in Greek from Roman times. As Thracian invaders, the Phrygians played a decisive role in the destruction of the Hittite Kingdom and the fall of Troy. Their independent Phrygian kingdom of the 8th and 7th c BC maintained close contacts with the Aryans in the east and the Greeks in the west. Its early history is only briefly chronicled (Herodotus), recounting the suicide of its last king, Midas, in Gordion when it fell to the Cimmerians (676 BC.). With the establishment of the Galatians in eastern Phrygia the fertility cult of Cybele, the mother goddess, spread widely amongst town dwellers, while country folk tended to worship Men, the moon god, ruler of Paradise and the Underworld. In 188 BC Phrygia came under Pergamum, followed by Rome, who made it a province in 133 BC. The early spread of Christianity here was largely due to St Paul but the 2nd c AD also saw the development of two extreme sects: Montanism, derived from the locally born Prophet Montanus who preached that the end of the world was high, and Novationism, named after the Roman theologian and later Bishop Novatian, whose followers called themselves "the pure", in Greek "katharoi" (hence the Cathar heresy of the Middle Ages) and refused to allow any lapsed Christians back into the Church. PHRYGIANS The Phrygians arrived in Anatolia in 1200 BC, among the migrating tribes known as the "people of the Aegean Sea". At first they lived in Central Anatolia, building settlements over the ashes of Hittite cities like Hattusas, Alacahöyük, Pazarli and Alisar. At the beginning of the 8th century BC they set up their capital at Gordion. We are familiar with King Midas from his epic, and from the discovery of his burial chamber. Midas, who succeeded to the throne in 738 BC, defended the frontiers of Phrygia quite well, but could not resist the attacks of the Cimmerians advancing from the Caucasian region. After his defeat by Cimmerians in 695 BC, it is said that he committed suicide by drinking bull's blood. Phrygians built the largest mound (tumulus) in Gordion known as the Tumulus of Midas; it is 53 meters high and 300 meters wide. The large, almost square-shaped burial chamber is 6.20m by 5.15m. The skeleton of King Midas was laid on a large bench, surrounded by other benches full of gifts for the afterworld. Close observation of the skeleton revealed that King Midas died when he was around 60 years old and he was 1.59m tall. On the floor of the chamber were found 166 bronze funeral gifts and 145 bronze fibula laid at the head of the deceased. The lack of gold reveals that it was not a custom among the Phrygians to present funerary gifts of gold. Influenced by Hittite art, Phrygian art, in turn, influenced Etruscan art in Italy. However, they were also directly influenced by the Urartu in Eastern Anatolia. For instance, they imported the Urartu figure of a bull's head and worked it on a cauldron of strictly Phrygian form. Metal ores were known and used in metalwork during the Early and Mid-Bronze Ages, from 2500 BC onwards. However, it was only around 1000 BC that Phrygian metalwork forms borrowed from pottery and metal vessels entered popular use. Phrygian art can be divided into three categories: 1- Local Phrygian ware 2- Urartu import ware 3- Assyrian import ware. These groups are again divided into two major phases consisting of artifacts found in mounds dating before 695 BC. The pottery of the Phrygian period was fine polychrome ware, which can be distinguished basically as early and late ware. Because of the Lydian domination of Anatolia during the late period, it bears western Anatolian influence after 695 BC. As a contrast to the Hittite based motifs of the early period, in later ware we see studded patterns within lozenge shaped frames, and again studded motifs on animal forms. Complicated motifs took the place of very simple and geometric motifs from the old period. Instead of one color painted over another color, they started to be painted in many colors. Where animal shapes previously took on a schematic look to them, pieces from the late period showed evolvement. In addition, the late period witnessed motifs of meander, dots and plaited hair. Filtered vessels that had little application in daily life were seen to be popular as a funerary gift. Today Phrygian works of art are on exhibit at the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. Apart from their capital Gordion were you can visit the Tumulus of King Midas and nearby small museum, Pessinus was also a major Phrygian settlement. Examples of megaron planned, semerdam roofed houses were carved into the rock tombs. These may be seen around Afyon Arslantas and Eskisehir Yazilikaya. The Arslantas rock monument near Afyon and the ruins of Midas near Eskisehir are among the most important Phrygian monuments in Anatolia, and are where the Phrygians worshipped their major deity Cybele and her lover Attis. The Phrygian language belonged to the Indo-European group of languages.

imo one can be born with spirituality, but one can also acquire it through life expereinces, but you have to have some sort of predesposition for it-genologically speaking- i guess you are addressing the nature vs. nurture problem that occurs in both biology and every other science--> esp psychology... there can never be onlyone right answer...

im an ox y do i get stuck with these weird animals- both in the chinese astrology and in relationships- aye i have no luck!! ah id wish 4 tigers and lions....

hey now u mean 2 tell me that you never do anything "wrong" ~ sip we all know u downloadmore than music online- hehe j/k iam the most perfect imperfect person ever- now try to solve that irony

anush aziz- hehe now i sound rabiz che?

haha bruin- tigers are hot-- i was about to comment on wolverine- from X men the movie- im not sure i cant recall the name of the actor- i think it was hugh jackman- if im not mistakin- yah he was h-o-t-t hott... dude i used 2 think the cartoon characters were hot- now thats weird aint it? hehe aw flashback from childhood cartoons- marvel comics- i still have the collection- ohh all the characters- gambit. jean grey, cyclopse, storm, rogue- we used 2 act like we were the characters- i was alwas ogue- my fave--- okie back on topic here... yah tigers hott? thats funny bruin....

beautiful photos.... i took a photography class before, i really enjoyed black and white photography, i wish i had time for it... i remember when i had projects due, we'd go down to the beach or the park and id end up using more than 6 rolls of film just tryin to take photos of the ocean or nature...its really relaxing. Heck, im gonna go grab my camera and head on out 2 laguna...Cya guys!!

i actually know a few men who are more emotional than I, and no theyre not gay... i guess its just a generalization, as an individual I can be really emotional at times, and at other times can be totally cold, involuntarily, I guess its just something there is no explanations for... it just is

i found out that hovhannes shiraz wrote it but i dont know what its called- i was watching the movie, and i asked my mom, who is a huge adfn of shiraz btw, so yah he wrote it, i can find out the name u just gotta gimme a few days

gevo jan i agree with ur post about bluntness- i would be the one to know, cause i cant keep my mouth shut and tell people what i think straight to their face, and of course get criticized for it- but hey at least i know i said it to them and not behind their backs or to someone else-- the truth does hurt for people-- i would also rather have someone tell me what they think straight forwardly instead of behind my back or to someone else.... ive had problems with friends about this- thats why i olny have a couple of close friends- because once i see that the person cannot be trusted or that the person isnt honest with me- i cutt it off- totally ignore the person and when they confront me i tell them why i am doing what i am doing and that i dont appreciate false friends or people who cannot even be half honest with me.... anyway....end of story

eww bacon!!-- hmm i have a better solution- men are turkies- (tha animal not the ethnicity) but we like turkey bacon hehe hey its true tho- theere as bad as turkies., chiken, hen...name it- theyre scared to approach women- and they get into cock fights- aah no pun intended

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PROPAGANDA EXPOSED By Demir Delen All Armenian publications and documents claiming "genocide'' focus on 1915 and invariably suggest that on April 24th, Turks suddenly started killing innocent Armenians. In their zealous propaganda to show that this was the first so-called genocide of the 20th century , they never mention the events leading to April 24, 1915 and in fact, what decisions were taken by the Ottoman Government on that day. One cannot view the Turkish - Armenian relations of 1915 to 1922 in isolation, without placing it into the proper historical context. Also, the events in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus between Turks and Armenians cannot be analyzed without considering the interaction of numerous other players, namely, the Russians, the British, the French, the Americans, Kurds, Circassians and Crimean Tatars. What Happened on April 24, 1915: On April 24, 1915, after having shown patience to the collaboration of the Armenian Revolutionary Committees with the Russian enemy for nine months, during the First World War, the Ottoman Ministry of the Interior sent a circular to the governors of the provinces where the treasonous Armenian activities were taking place and ordered them to close down the headquarters and branches of all Armenian Revolutionary Committees and arrest their leaders. This was a decision taken by the Ottoman Government at a critical time during the war with Russia on the eastern front while also fighting with the British and the allied forces at Gallipoli on the western front and at Mesopotamia on the southern front. With all their men and resources spread so thinly, being engaged in wars on three fronts, the Ottoman Government had to also deal with the uprising, atrocities and collaboration with the Russians of its own Armenian subjects. In order to understand how the relations between Turks and Armenians changed and why the Armenians were engaged in treasonous activities, one has to go back in history and analyze the Armenians' position within the Ottoman Empire and the Russian and Great Powers' expansionist ambitions against the Ottoman Lands. Armenians; Pawns for Russian, British and French Imperialist Aspirations: Armenians played a respected part in the life of the Ottoman Empire until the mid 19th century. In fact they had special privileges compared to other muslim or non-muslim subjects of the empire and they were referred as 'the loyal millet'. The Russian ambitions on Ottoman lands resulted in three wars during the 19th century; between 1827 - 1829, 1855 - 1856 and 1877 - 1878. In 1853, Russian Tsar Nicholas, referring to the Ottoman Empire as the "sick man of Europe", proposed a plan to England in which he anticipated the breakup of the Empire and wanted to benefit from the spoils. With or without England, Russia went ahead to implement its plans. Russia dreamed of freeing their Orthodox brothers in the Balkans, Eastern Anatolia and in Syria from the Ottoman control and establishing a Russian-Orthodox Empire in the Mediterranean basin. The health of the Tsarist Russia's economic life depended upon its commercial fleet being able to sail to warm open seas passing through the Straits, which were under the Ottoman control. The Russian-Turkish war of 1877 -78 was a watershed in Eastern Anatolia. Its effects on both Muslims and Christians was great. Armenian aspirations of living under Christian sovereignty and possibly even Armenian autonomy were heightened. Part of what the Armenians considered to be their homeland, the Kars-Ardahan region, had been taken from the Ottomans and there was good reason to expect that other Ottoman lands would soon be in Russian hands. There also was a deterioration of the Ottoman government's control of its eastern provinces. This was a direct result of the war, which broke the balance of power in the east. The Ottoman government, impoverished and now without many revenue-producing European provinces, found it impossible to pay for the security needs of the east. Many of the soldiers and gendarmes who normally would have provided for public security had died in the war. In order to weaken the Ottoman Empire internally Russia started to incite the nationalistic feelings of the Ottoman "millets" and supported revolutionary committees. Establishing small states on the principle of nationalism and taking them under their protection was relatively easy in Ottoman Europe (Balkans) for Russia and the Great Powers. However, the situation was different in Ottoman Asia. The non-muslim millets such as Armenians were scattered all around among the muslims, not forming a majority of population in any province. They were not clustered together as in the Balkans. However, by organizing and supporting Armenian Revolutionary Committees, the Russians thought they would effect the collapse of the Ottoman Empire from the inside. The Hunchak Revolutionary Party was established on Marxist principles in 1887 and the Dashnaktsutiun Revolutionary Party was founded in 1890 in Tiflis. The Russians were successfully using the imperialist policy of "divide and rule" against the Ottoman Empire by using the Armenians in the Caucasus and the Slavic nations in the Balkans. According to Louise Nalbandian, a leading Armenian researcher, the Hunchak program stated the following: "Agitation and terror were needed to elevate the spirit of the people. The party aimed at terrorizing the Ottoman Government, thus contributing toward lowering the prestige of that regime and working toward its complete disintegration. The Hunchaks wanted to annihilate the most dangerous of the Armenian and Turkish individuals who were then working for the government as well as to destroy all spies and informers. To assist them in carrying out all of these terrorist acts, the party was to organize an exclusive branch specifically devoted to performing acts of terrorism. The most opportune time to institute the general rebellion for carrying out the immediate objectives was when Turkey was engaged in war". [Nalbandian, Louise, Armenian Revolutionary Movement, University of California Press, 1963] K.S. Papazyan wrote as follows of the Dashnak Society: "The purpose of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnak) is to achieve political and economic freedom in Turkish Armenia by means of rebellion. Terrorism has, from the beginning, been adopted by the Dashnak Committee of the Caucasus, as a policy or a method for achieving its ends. Under the heading "means" in their program adopted in 1892, Method No. 8 is as follows: "To wage fight and to subject to terrorism the government officials, the traitors...". Method No 11 is: "To subject the government institutions to destruction and pillage". [Papazian, K.S., Patriotism Perverted, Boston Baker Press, 1934] The areas which the above revolutionary committees sought to "free" did not have a relatively unified mass and defined borders. In the area that was referred to as Armenia, Armenians were living as small islands among Muslims who constituted 85% of the general population. Thus, the Armenian revolutionary committees thought terror was necessary from two perspectives: 1. Actions of individual terror and mass massacres would be the most effective way of making the Muslim inhabitants of the so-called Armenia flee. Just as had been the case with emigrations from the Balkans, these Muslims would be forced to desert their homes if the Ottoman State failed to protect their lives and those who would refuse to emigrate would be subjected to massacres by the Armenian revolutionaries, so that the area would eventually be left entirely to Armenians. 2. The Armenian revolutionaries knew that they would not be able to succeed in their cause by themselves. It was impossible to make substantial changes in the international political system without the intervention and approval of external powers. The revolutionary committees believed that the powers which controlled the world politics could be attracted to their cause only through terrorism. Western intervention was regarded as indispensable for the Armenianization of Eastern Anatolia and terrorism was regarded as the sole key to the door which would usher in that intervention. There were also religious factors. The Armenian Gregorian Church became more and more troubled with internal problems in the second half of the 19th century because the Patriarch's monopoly of responsibility over the Armenian community was broken with the spread of Catholicism and Protestantism among Armenians through the efforts of European and American missionaries. Because of these concerns, the Gregorian Church thought of using nationalism, the strongest movement in the 19th century, to preserve its secular powers. The Armenian Church, in order to preserve its existence, needed a power, a state. It was not the Armenian nation that gave rise to the idea of an Armenian State, but the Armenian Church. The German ambassador in Istanbul made the following observations in 1913: Armenians are in a better situation in Turkey today than Jews, Poles and Finns in Russia. In spite of this, a propaganda which is being carried out today with the most efficient means is trying to create everywhere in the world the impression that the sufferings of Armenians are increasing everyday and that they have reached a high point which makes European intervention essential. Russia is the state which increased the Armenian demands. The Armenian movement is such a tool for Russia that with it Russia keeps Asian Turkey in a perpetual state of excitement and also retains its prerogative to interfere as the interested state when the time for interference comes. Russia wants to keep the road to Istanbul open by using the Armenian Question. For Russia, the Armenian Question is the key which will open for it the way to the Straits when the day comes. For Russia the Straits and the Armenian Question are interconnected. And we can regard it certain that when complaints about the situation of Armenians increase in St. Petersburg, an immediate action in the direction of Istanbul is to be expected. Armenian issue was a dimension of the "Eastern Question" which was a combination of the numerous projects the Great Powers had developed with the purpose of making the Ottoman Empire collapse and disintegrate by using minorities and separatist movements and then partitioning it among themselves. The Allies' goal was to use the Armenians by proxy in order to make the Ottoman Empire collapse internally. The Armenians' case constituted a perfect subject for propaganda for England as well. The British War Propaganda Bureau, Wellington House, began to work on the Armenian file at the beginning of the First World War and published a book called "The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire" which was based on Armenian sources and documents gathered together by Armenian supporters from second and third hand sources. Although this research was attributed to Lord Bryce as part of an effort to increase its credibility, it was in fact compiled by Arnold Toynbee who was at the time a young author and intelligence officer. This book is very frequently referred today by Armenian activist as proof of the so-called genocide. In this propaganda book, Toynbee discusses the status of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and argues that Armenians did not have any nationalist tendencies and that on the contrary they were devoted to the continuation of the Ottoman Empire. According to Toynbee, there was no Armenian rebellion and that they never tried to collaborate with the enemy. All these rumors were fabricated by the Turks who wanted to get rid of the Armenians once and for all by taking advantage of the war and they initiated an organized and systematic massacres of the Armenians in 1915! Toynbee created in his book, savage scenes of massacres without mentioning his sources and without giving the names of his witnesses. As A. Ponsonby says in Falsehood in War Time, during a war "tales of savagery are very popular. A war cannot be fought especially by this country (England) and by the United States without them. Slandering the enemy was regarded as a national duty". The same author goes on to say that tales of savagery were repeated day after day in brochures, posters and speeches. The common theme in all of them was the cruelties by the Germans in Belgium and the Ottomans towards Armenians! The purpose of this British war time propaganda machine was to obtain support of the public opinion for the war effort and to entice the United States to enter the war and join the Allied Forces. Allegation of Genocide: In the definition of the "crime of genocide" approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1948, the essential element is that there has to be an "intent of destroying a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". Such an intent is clearly absent in the tragic events during the First World War in eastern Anatolia. All sources, including the most ardent advocates of the Armenian cause, accept that none of the relocation measures imposed by the Ottoman government were applied to the Armenians in the areas distant to the war fronts or to the Armenians who had settled in big cities such as Istanbul and Izmir. All civil servants of Armenian descent maintained their positions during the conflict. The Ottoman Government took measures for relocating Armenians in the war zone, where they were collaborating with and actively fighting on the side of the Russians as well as attacking villages and massacring Muslims. Due to lack of public order and security forces, Armenians were subjected to revenge attacks during the relocation by Muslim residents. There was inter-communal warfare where both sides killed each other, not a state organized genocide. In his letter dated December 3, 1918 addressed to the French Foreign Minister Mr. Stephen Pichon, Boghos Nubar, President of the Armenian National Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference states clearly that Armenians have been, since the beginning of the war, "de facto belligerents". The letter explains in detail how Armenians fought along side with the Imperial Russian Army and the French Foreign Legion and their "unshakeable attachment to the cause of the Entente". This is confirmation of treason at the highest level. The following excerpts outlining the role played by the Dashnaktsutiun for the Armenian cause during the First World War, are from the speech given by Mr. Hovhannes Katchaznouni, First Prime Minister of the Independent Armenian Republic to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's (Dashnaktsutiun) Congress in Bucharest in July 1923: At the beginning of the Fall of 1914 when Turkey had not yet entered the war but already been making preparations, Armenian revolutionary bands began to be formed in Transcaucasia with great enthusiasm and especially with much uproar. ...The Armenian Revolutionary Federation had active participation in the formation of the bands and their future military action against Turkey. ....In the Fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer band organized themselves and fought against the Turks because they could not refrain themselves from fighting. This was an inevitable result of psychology on which the Armenian people had nourished itself during an entire generation; that mentality should have found its expression and did so....The Winter of 1914 and Spring of 1915 were the periods of greatest enthusiasm and hope for all Armenians in the Caucasus including of course the Dashnaktsutiun. We had no doubt the war would end with the complete victory of the Allies; Turkey would be defeated and dismembered and its Armenian population would be liberated. We had embraced Russia wholeheartedly without any compunction. Without any positive basis of fact we believed that the Tzarist government would grant us a more-or-less broad self-government in the Caucasus and in the Armenian vilayets liberated from Turkey as a reward for our loyalty, our efforts and assistance. (John R. Carlson "The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Has Nothing to Do Anymore") The above statements by prominent Armenians Boghos Nubar and Hovhannes Katchaznouni clearly demonstrate that Armenians were not innocent, law abiding citizens who were suddenly subjected to genocide in 1915, as the Armenian activists are trying to convince the world for the last 30 years. The term "genocide" was specifically coined after the Second World War to describe the Nazi atrocities towards Jews. Armenian opportunism tries to link the Holocaust with their claim of a so-called genocide, so that they can tap into the world sentiment, influence public opinion and obtain recognition for their propaganda. There is no parallel between the Jewish Holocaust where innocent civilians were subjected to systematic annihilation by the powerful Nazi government and the tragic events in eastern Anatolia where more than 2 million Turks and 700,000 Armenians died during war. After the First World War the Ottoman capital was under Allied occupation and all State archives were under the control of the British Authorities in Istanbul. As a result of constant propaganda and accusations by Armenian agitators, the British finally decided to transport more than 140 Ottoman high officials, officers and cabinet members to Malta for a trial, almost like an anticipation of the Nuremberg Trials. The prisoners were held in Malta for 30 months while the British, French and the Americans searched feverishly for evidence. If there were any credible witness or evidence regarding the alleged Armenian massacres, they could have been found easily. No evidence could be found in Paris, Istanbul or in Anatolia to support the charge that the Ottomans had planned a mass slaughter of the Armenians. The British High Commission was unable to forward any legal evidence to London. There was nothing in the British archives that corroborated the wild accusations of the Armenians. In America, there were already powerful Armenian lobbies. Certain Protestant circles had been carrying on an anti-Turkish smear campaign for decades. Surely in America there would be something to unearth, evidence to be found. On June 2, 1921 Sir Aucland Geddes, the British Ambassador in Washington, replied to Lord Curzon informing him that the State Department could not produce any evidence against the prisoners in Malta either. The meticulous search conducted by the British for more than two years with utmost zeal to vindicate the Armenian allegations, produced nothing. The main source of information of the British High Commission in the capital city of Istanbul was a massive Armenian propaganda machinery orchestrated by the Armenian Patriarchate. >From a political standpoint, it was highly desirable for the British Government that at least some of the Turkish deportees to Malta should be brought to trial. The Brirtish Foreign Office left no stone unturned in order to prove that the so-called "Armenian massacres" actually took place. Yet all efforts and zeal in this regard ended-up with a complete failure. There was no evidence, no reliable witness, no proof and no case. On October 25, 1921 after 30 months of imprisonment, the accused Ottomans left the British colony of Malta as free men. Armenians frequently quote statements from Arnold Toynbee and Henry Morgenthau to justify their claims of genocide. The British new that their publications and statements were war time propaganda and would not stand the test of evidence in a court of law. Therefore, they were dismissed as evidence for the trial of the Ottoman officials held in Malta after the First World War. It is ironic that Toynbee's and Morgenthau's work which were not accepted as evidence for the trial of Ottoman officials in Malta after the war, are shown by Armenian activists in the 1990's as proof of a so-called Armenian genocide. Armenians know that there is no proof of their claim of "genocide". If there were any legal or historical basis to their claim, they would have applied to the International Court of Justice in the Hague long time ago. That is why they are attempting to rewrite history 85 years later using politicians who are not expected to be knowledgeable regarding the events long time ago in a far away country. Such politicians pass judgement on history, based on what is fed to them by Armenians. Since the 1970's, Armenian activists are trying to attain, first by terrorism and now by political means what they could not achieve by military and legal means against Turkey, since the beginning of the 20th century. They are still living with the dream of what they were promised by the Great Powers at the Treaty of Sevres in 1920. The following excerpt is from an article by Marmaduke Pickthall in the July 1920 issue of Foreign Affairs: The Turks have never put their case before the world. Their language, to say nothing of their religion, has always been a bane to European understanding. And so a race, which has produced a literature worthy to be compared with that of ancient Greece, has come to be regarded as uncultivated and incapable of civilization; a nation famed for tolerance, to be regarded as fanatical. The Armenian diaspora with its effective propaganda machinery, is trying for political gain, to portray the tragic events during the First World War as genocide, by ignoring the millions of Muslims who were killed by Armenians and Russians. Are Armenian dead more valuable than Turkish dead? Bibliography: 1. Prof. M. Kemal Oke, "The Armenian Question, 1914-1923", K. Rustem & Brother. 2. Prof. Justin McCarthy, "Death and Exile, The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922", The Darwin Press Inc. 3. Erich Feigl, "A Myth of Terror, Armenian Extremism: Its Causes and Its Historical Context". 4. Prof. Azmi Suslu, "Armenians and the 1915 Event of Displacement", KOK Social and Strategic Researches Foundation.

SONGS OF EXILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SONGS OF EXILE Hymns and Poems Through Which the Armenians Have Cried Out Against their Persecution By Alice Stone Blackwell -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 4, 1915 IN this time of bitter grief among the Armenian people, readers of THE SURVEY may like to look into their thoughts and aspirations as revealed in their poetry. For among the people of many nationalities that have been flung into the American melting pot, the Armenians have one of the most interesting and heroic histories. The Armenians are Aryans and of pure Caucasian blood. James Bryce wrote of them, many years ago: "They are a strong race, not only with vigorous nerves and sinews, physically active and energetic, but also of conspicuous brain power. Among all those who dwell in western Asia they stand first, with a capacity for intellectual and moral progress, as well as with a natural tenacity of will and purpose, beyond that of all their neighbors---not merely of Turks, Tartars, Kurds and Persians, but also of Russians. "Thus they have held a very important place among the inhabitants of Western Asia ever since the sixth century. If you look into the annals of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire, you will find that most of the men who rose to eminence in its service as generals or statesmen during the early middle ages were of Armenian stock. So was it also after the establishment of the Turkish dominion in Europe. Many of the ablest men in the Turkish service have been Armenians by birth or extraction. The same is true of the Russian service." Lamartone calls the Armenians "the Swiss of the East." Dulaurier compares them to the Dutch. Dr. James L. Barton, of the American Board of Foreign Missions, and former president of Euphrates College in Turkey, says: "I know the Armenians to be, by inheritance, religious, industrious and faithful. They are the Anglo-Saxons of eastern Turkey. They are not inferior in mental ability to any race. I say this after eight years' connection with Euphrates College, which has continually from 550 to 625 Armenians upon its list of students, and after superintending schools which have 4,000 more of them." Like evidence has been given by a long list of Armenians who have taught in the missionary schools and colleges in Turkey-- Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, the Rev. Frederick D. Greene, Dr Grace Kimball, Dr. Lyman Bartlett and many others. From a large acquaintance among the Armenians in this country, extending over more than twenty years. I can bear personal testimony to their worth. Among them, as among all other nationalities, there are all sorts of persons, good, bad and indifferent; but Lord Byron wrote with truth: "It would perhaps be difficult to find in the annals of a nation less crime than in those of this people." The native home of the race is a mountainous region of western Asia, lying around Mount Ararat, and containing the sources of the Tigris, Euphrates and Araxes rivers. According to tradition, it was the site of the Garden of Eden. The Armenians have lived there since before the dawn of history. Christianity is said to have been preached in Armenia early in the first century in Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. It is historic fact that in A. D. 276 the king and the whole nation embraced Christianity, under the preaching of St. Gregory, called "the Illuminator." The Armenian national church in its doctrines and services, may be roughly described as half-way between the Greek Church and High Church Episcopalianism. Some of its early hymns breath a poetic devotion, like the following by St. Gregory of Narek (born 951, died 1011): The Christ Child "The lips of the Christ Child are like to twin leaves; They let roses fall when he smiles tenderly. The tears of the Christ Child are pearls when he grieves; The eyes of the Christ Child are deep as the sea. Like pomegranate grains are the dimples he hath, And clustering lilies spring up in his path." As a Christian nation whose lot has been cast beyond the frontiers of Christendom, the Armenians have had to suffer constant persecution--in early times from the Persian fire worshippers; in later centuries, from the Mohammedans. Their country has been invaded successively by the caliphs of Baghdad, the sultans of Egypt, the khans of Tartary, the shahs of Persia, and the Ottoman Turks. All these invasions were accompanied by fierce persecutions and great barbarities; but the Armenians have held tenaciously to their faith for more than fifteen hundreds years. In the middle of the fifth century Armenia had already lost its national independence. It was ruled by feudal chiefs and princes who were subject to the King of Persia. The Persians at this time were aiming at the conquest and conversion of the world. In A. D. 450 the Persian king called upon the Armenians to embrace fire worship; and upon their unanimous refusal, he invaded their country with a vast army. The battle was fought on the plain of Avarair, under Mount Ararat. The much smaller force of the Armenians was defeated, and their leader, Vartan, was killed. But the stubborn resistance offered by men, women and children convinced the Persian monarch that it was impossible ever to make fire worshippers of the Armenians, and he gave up the attempt. This battle was the Armenian Marathon, and the national songs are full of allusions to it. The Armenian mountaineers of the Caucasus still drink the health of Vartan at their festivals, and wreathe his portrait with red flowers on the anniversary of the battle. In the minds of the common people, all sorts of picturesque superstitions cluster about Avarair. A particular kind of red flowers grow there, which are found nowhere else, and it is believed that they sprang from the blood of the Christian army. A species of antelope, with a pouch on its breast secreting a fragrant musk, is supposed to have acquired this peculiarity by browsing on grass wet with the same blood. It is also believed that at Avarair the nightingales all sing. "Vartan, Vartan!" Geographically, Armenia is the bridge between Asia and Europe; and for centuries the Armenians acted the part of Horatius, and "kept the bridge," driving back wave after wave of invasion from Asia. Alone among the Asiatic peoples, they gave aid and comfort to the Crusaders, acting as their guides and supplying them with provisions. One of the most popular Armenian poets, Raphael Patkanian (born 1830, died 1892), recalls these services in his Complaint to Europe "Have you forgotten, Europe, how the dart Of the fierce Persian pointed at your heart, Until, on that dread field of Avarair, Armenian blood quenched his fanatic fire? "Have you forgot the fell and crushing blow Prepared for you by Islam long ago? We would not see your desolation the, Burning of cities, massacre of men. "Two hundred years Armenia, bathed in blood. Europe was safe, our living wall behind, Until the enemy's huge strength declined. "Have you forgotten, Europe, how of yore your heroes in the desert hungered sore? What then could strength or force of arms avail, Had we not fed your hosts, with famine pale?" Armenia, am Asiatic Poland, was long since divided between Russia, Persia and Turkey. The Armenians have suffered oppression in all three, but the worst persecutions have been in Turkey. Protection was guaranteed to the Armenians by the principal European powers, under a treaty signed nearly forty years ago; but the mutual jealousy of the European nations has prevented the pledge from being kept, and the historic of the Armenians for many years past has been one long tragedy. The chronic condition in Turkey was well described by one of the best Armenian poets. Bedros Tourian, the son of a blacksmith of Scutari, who died of a blacksmith of Scutari, who died of consumption on 1872, at the age of twenty. At the time of his writing, the Christians were forbidden by law to possess any weapons, while their oppressors were fully armed: New Dark Days "The centuries of bloodshed Are past, those cruel years; But there is still one country Whose mountains drip with tears, Whose river banks are blood strained, Whose mourning loads the breeze,-- A land of dreary ruins, Ashes, and cypress trees. "No more for the Armenian A twinkling star appears; His spirit's flowers have faded Beneath a rain of tears. Ceased are the sounds of harmless mirth, The dances hand in hand; Only the weapon on the Koord Shines freely through the land "The peasant sows, but never reaps; He hungers evermore. He eats his bread in bitterness, And tastes of anguish sore. Lo! tears and blood together drop from his pallid face; And these are our own brothers, Of our own blood and race! "The forehead pure, the sacred veil Of the Armenian maid, Shall rude hands touch, and hell's hot breath Her innocence invade? They do it as men crush a flower, With no compunction stirred; They slaughter an Armenian As they would kill a bird. "O roots of vengeance, heroes' bones Who fell of old in fight, Have ye all crumbled into dust, Nor sent one shoot to light? Oh, of that eagle nation Now trampled by the Koord, Is nothing left but black-hued crows And moles with eyes obscured? "Give back our sister's roses, Our brothers who have died. The crosses of our churches, Our nation's peace and pride! O Sultan, we demand of thee And with our hearts entreat-- Give us protection from the Koord. Or arms his arms to meet!" Many of the Armenian poems breathe high spirit and courage, like the lines to Liberty, by Michael Ghazarian Nalbandian, who was born in 1830 and died in 1866, of lung disease contracted in a Russian prison: Liberty "When God, who is forever free, Breathed life into my early frame-- From that first day, by His free will. When I a living soul became-- A babe upon my mother's breast. Ere power of speech was given to me. Even then I stretched my feeble arms Forth to embrace thee, Liberty! "Wrapped round with many swaddling bands. All night I did not cease to weep, And in my cradle, restless still, My cries disturbed my mother's sleep. 'O mother!' in my heart I prayed, 'Unbind my arms and leave me free!' And even from that hour I vowed To love thee ever, Liberty! "When first my faltering tongue was freed, And when my parents' hearts were stirred With thrilling joy, to hear their son Pronounce his first clear-spoken word, 'Papa, Mamma,' as children use, Were not the names first said by me; The first word on my childish lips Was thy great name, O Liberty! " 'Liberty!' from on high replied The sovereign voice of Destiny: 'Wilt thou enroll thyself henceforth A soldier true of Liberty? The path is thorny all the way. And many trials wait for thee; Too strait and narrow is this world For him who loved Liberty.' " 'Freedom!' I answered, 'on my head Let fire descend and thunders burst; Let foes against my life conspire, Let all who hate thee do their worst. I will be true to thee till death: Yea, even upon the gallows tree The last breathe of a death of shame Shall shout thy name, O Liberty!' " In consequence of chronic persecution, Armenians are now to be found scattered all over the world. Hence Armenian poetry is full of the laments of exiles. Some are by distinguished men, like The Wandering Armenian to the Cloud, by the late Archbishop Khorene Nar Bey de Lusignan: The Wandering Armenian to the Cloud "Cloud, whither dost thou haste away So swiftly through the air? Dost thou to some far-distant land An urgent message bear? "With gloomy aspect, dark and sad, Thou moves on through space. Dost thou hide vengeance, or has grief Overshadowed thy bright face? "Did a wind come and exile thee Far from thy heavenly home, Like me, in homesickness and tears Across the world to roam? "Like me, who wander now, my grief's sole comrades left to me, While, yearning for my fatherland, I pine on land and sea? "Cloud, when thy heart is full of tears Thou hast relief in rain; When indignation brims thy breast. Fierce lightning's tell thy pain. "Though my heart too is full, my brow With painful thoughts oppressed, To whom can I pour forth the grieves That fill an exile's breast? "O cloud, thou hast no native land! Far happier thou than I. To north, to south thou floatest free. At home in all the sky. "But I, at every step, shed tears, In sorrow and in gloom. Each step away from mine own land Is nearer to my tomb!" Other popular songs of exile are by authors who are otherwise little known like C. A. Totochian's poem: The Wandering Armenian to the Sallow "O swallow, gentle swallow, Thou lovely bird of spring! Say, whither art thou flying So swift on gleaming wing? "Fly to my birthplace, Achdarag. The spot I love the best; Beneath my father's roof-tree, O swallow, build thy nest. "There dwells afar my father, A mournful man and gray, Who for his only son's return Waits vainly, day by day. "If thou should chance to see him, Greet him with love from me; Bid him sit down and mourn with tears His son's sad destiny. "In poverty and loneliness, Tell him, my days are passed My life is only half a life, My tears are falling fast. "To me, amid bright daylight, The sun is dark at noon; To my wet eyes at midnight Sleep comes not, late or soon. "Tell him that like a beauteous flower Smith by a cruel doom, Uprooted from my native soil, I wither ere my bloom. "Fly on swift wing, dear swallow Across the quickening earth, And seek in fair Armenia The village of my birth!" Some favorite songs are of unknown authorship, like The Wanderer "Oh, heavy hearted is the wanderer In foreign lands, who hath his country left! In gazing on the fever of his heart, Even the rocks with sorrow would be cleft. "When you on any man would call a curse. Say, 'Be a wanderer from your native land! And may your pillow be the mountain side. And may you sleep at night upon the sand! !'And, when you think upon your fatherland, May you from head to foot be full of Pains!' My heart is a cracked vase; in vain I pour Water therein; unfilled it still remains. "Each bird of heaven halth its companion found, I am alone and solitary still; Each stone is fixed and quiet in its place; I roll forevermore by vale and hill." Anonymous too is the song of the homesick Armenian girl: The Song of the Homesick Armenian Girl "I was a quince-bush growing on a rock. A rocky cliff that rose above the dell. They have uprooted and transplanted me Unto a stranger's orchard, there to dwell And in this orchard they have watered me With sugar water, that full sweetly flows O brothers, fear me back to my soil. And water me with water of the snows!" The grief of the exile's mother has been voiced, among others, by Siamanto and by Daniel Varoujan, two of the most distinguished of the modern Armenian poets. Both of them were lately deported to have perished. Varoujan wrote The Longing Letter "My mother writes: 'My son on pilgrimage How long a time must pass ere your moon poor head To my warm bosom I may press, at home " 'Oh, long enough upon strange stairs have trod Your feet, which in my palms I warmed one day-- Your heart, in which my breasts were emptied once, Far from my empty heart has pined away! " 'My arms are weary at the spinning wheel; I weave my shroud, too, with my hair of snow. Ah, would mine eyes could see you once again, Then close forever, with my heart below. " 'Always I sit in sadness at my door, And tidings ask from every crane that flies. That willow slip you planted long ago Has grown till over me its shadow lies " 'I wait in vain for your return at eve. All the brave fellows of the village pass The laborer goes by, the herdsman bold-- I with the moon am left alone, alas! " 'My ruined house is left without a head. Sometimes for death, and always for the cheer Of my own hearth I yearn. A tortoise I, Whose entrails to its broken shell adhere! " 'Oh, come, my son, your ancient home restore! They burst the door, they swept the larders bare. Now all the swallows of the spring come in, Through shattered windows, open to the air. " 'Of all the glodly flocks of long ago One brave ram only in our stable stands. His mother once--remember, little son-- While yet a lamb, ate oats out of your hands. " 'Rice, bran and clover fine I give him now, To nourish his rich djak, of noble size; I comb his soft wool with a wooden comb; He is a dear and precious sacrifice. " 'When you come back, his head with roses wreathed, He shall be sacrificed to feast you, sweet; And in his blood, my well-beloved son, I then will wash my pilgrim's weary feet.' " The Mother's Dream "Let me write now and tell you of my dream. It was upon the midnight of All Saints. Sudden before me your four brothers knelt: They wore no shrouds, no vestiges of flesh; Groping in darkness, with abysmal eyes, Weeping before their mother thus they came TO tell their memories of other days. " 'Mother, the dawning of the bygone days We four together, from beneath the ground, Today have sought once more your little door TO tap on it, companioned by the storm Mother, be not afraid, no strangers we! And, lonely in your slumber, wait at least And let us watch your face in death's dark night!' " 'Mother, the holiness of bygone days! Out of my heart, death our poor graveyard's earth, Mother, a flower of love for you has grown!' " 'Mother, the sweetness of the bygone days! For you two jars with my salt tears are filled.' " 'Mother, the happiness of bygone days! For you have burning roses, flowers of hope, Sprung into fiery blossom from my soul!' " 'O mother, the heroic manliness Of bygone day! Out of my breast-bones now Two shields for your protection have been wrought.' " 'Mother, your peerless beauty in the past! How many furrows now have marked you brow!" (Thus spake your eldest brother). 'All alone Under your roof-tree, how can you endure? These seven years, we seven times have tapped Upon your little door, but till tonight We never yet have found the door unclosed. What traveler do you await tonight? Behold, your fragile hut is tottering. Like to a heap of moldering coffin-boards. Se how the leaves, storm-rent, fall from the trees! The guiltless doves are dying in the brook, And still upon the threshold of your home, Mother, the black snakes lick our dried-up blood. The garden has no leaf, no fruit, no brier. We four together have been through the hut, And at the sight of us our broken swords Gave out once more a single flash of light Empty the larder was, and in the barn A white lamb bleated, biting at its hoofs Mother, the plenty of the bygone days! The love and pity of the bygone days! How can you live here in your empty hut, Here in your empty hut how can you live? "The four were mute; but when I spoke your name And sobbed tempestuously in my dream, They wildly, with bowed heads, began to weep. But still,' I said, your brother is alive. The little one, who did not see you die. It is for him alone I live today.' Then they burst forth, and poured upon mine eyes The terrible black tear drops of the dead A brother, oh, we have a brother yet. A brother, oh, a brother in the world! Mother, the misery of coming days! Hereafter, how shall we to earth return Now how, oh, how shall we to earth return?' " The poetic nature of the Armenians is seen also in their prose. Eghiche, an Armenian bishop of the Fifth century has left us a graphic history of the Persian invasion of A. D. 451, of which he was an eye witness. In the eighth chapter he describes the fortitude shown by the Armenian women, After the princes and nobles had been killed or carried away captive, and the country reduced almost to a desert. Writing nine hundred years before Chaucer Eghiche says: "But I cannot enumerate all the wives of the heroes, both of those who were in fetters and those who had fallen in battle for there are more whom I do not know than those whom I know. I know by name and by sight about five hundred; not only those who were the highest in rank, but many of low degree. All of them together being kindled by a holy emulation, put on the same virtue of fidelity. They forgot even the name of the luxury belonging to their hereditary freedom, and became like men who have suffered from the beginning after the manner of peasants, and who have passed their lives in this world amid hardships. "The elder ones took upon themselves the greater endurance. They were comforted by the invisible force of the eternal hope, and accepted the heavy burden of bodily pain. For although each of them had had hereditary servants, there was now nothing to distinguish between mistress and maid. All wore the same dress, and all alike slept on the ground. Neither one made the other's bed. There was no distinction even in their food. All the mattresses were of the same dark color, and all the pillows were alike black. They had no special makers of spiced dishes, nor bread-markers set apart for service at table, but everything was in common. None poured water on the other's hands, neither did the younger ones offer towels to the elder. The delicate women had no soap, nor was oil offered to them for rejoicing. No costly platter was set before them, neither were cup-bearers found at their festivals. For none of them did an usher stand at the door, neither were the nobles called by them. "The brutal chambers of the young brides became dusty and dusty and dim, and spiders webs were spun in their palaces were destroyed, and the vessels of their table service were in disorder. Their palaces fell, and the fortress of their refuge crashed down in ruin; their flower-gardens dried up and withered, and the wine-bearing vines of their vineyards were torn up. With their eyes they saw the spoiling of their goods, and with their ears they heard of the sufferings of their dear ones. Their treasures were confiscated, and nothing at all was left of the ornaments of their faces. "The delicately reared women of the land of Armenian, who had been brought up in luxury and petted in costly clothing and on soft couches, went untiringly to the houses of prayer, on foot and barefooted, asking with vows that they might be enabled to endure their great affliction. Those who from childhood had been reared on oxen's brains and the choicest pieces of the deer, were now glad to eat vegetable food, like savages. The skins of their bodies, blackening, became dark, because by the day they were sunburned, and all night they slept on the ground. The everlasting psalms were the murmurs of their lips, and their complete comfort were in the reading of the prophets. "The women paired off two by two, like the animals, as equal and harmonious, drawing strait the furrow of the kingdom, that they might reach the harbor of peace without fail. They forgot their womanly weakness, and became brave males in the spiritual warfare. Doing battle, they fought against the cardinal sins; they pulled up and threw away their deadly roots. With simplicity they conquered guilefulness, and with sacred love they washed away the dark coloring of envy. They cut off the roots of avarice, and the death-bearing fruits of its branches dried up. With humility they trampled upon arrogance, and with the same humility they reached the heavenly height. With prayers they opened the closed doors of heaven, and with holly petitions caused the angels of redemption to descend. They heard the good tidings from afar, and glorified God in the highest. "The widows among them became again as virtuous brides, and put away from them the reproach of widowhood. And the wives of those who were in fetters willingly restrained the physical appetites, and became partakers of the sufferings of the imprisoned saints. In their lives they resembled the brave martyrs in their deaths, and from a distance they became teachers of consolation to the prisoners. With their fingers they worked and were fed, and the pensions granted them by the court they sent year by year to their husbands for their comfort. They became like the bloodless cricket, which lives without food, by the sweetness of its song. "The snows of many winters melted, the spring arrived, the new birds came, life-loving men saw and rejoiced; but they could never see those for whom they longed. The spring flowers reminded them of their loving husbands, and their eyes longed in vain to see the desirable beauty of their faces. Their hounds died, and their hunting excursions were ended. No yearly festivals brought them from afar. The women looked on their dining places and wept; and they remembered them in all their assemblies. Many monuments were raised to them, and the names of each inscribed thereon. "But while thus upon all sides their minds were storm-beaten, the women did not retreat, or weaken in heavenly virtue. To outsiders they appeared mourning and sorrowful widows, but in their own souls they were adorned with heavenly love. They ceased to ask anyone who had come from a distance. !When shall we see our dear ones?' The desires of their prayers to God were only that they moght finish their course with courage, filled with heavenly love, even as they had begun." Armenian women are proverbial for their chastity, which makes the horrible treatment inflicted upon them in Turkey the more grievous. Armenian poetry is not all sorrowful. There are many love poems, tender and passionate; many beautiful lullabies, often addressed to fatherless children; much patriotic poetry; and some fine poems upon general subjects. A good example of these last is The Bond, by Archag Tchobanian: THE BOND "All things are bound together by a tie Finer and subtler than a ray of light. Color and sound and fleeting fragrances, The maiden's smile, the star-beam sparkling bright. Are knit together by a secret bond Finer and subtler than a ray of light. "Sometimes an urn of memories is unsealed Just by a simple tune, or sad or gay. Part of the past with every quivering note From its dark sleep awakens to the day. Just through a simple tune, or sad or gay. "Flowers call back men and women to our thoughts; A well-known face smiles on us in their hue; Their bright cups, moved by the capricious wind, Can make us dream of eyes, black eyes or blue; We in their fragrance feel a loved one's breath; Flowers cal back men and women whom we knew." But nothing can call back the 800,000 Armenian men, women and children who have been done to death since last March. It is now fully established, by abundant evidence from unimpeachable American sources, that the Armenians in Turkey are being systematically exterminated I would most earnestly urge the many able men and women of humanitarian sympathies who read THE SURVEY to use their utmost influence with persons in power to stop the slaughter, in whatever way seems to them individually the most hopeful; and to apply their best intelligence to the problem how to make such cruelties impossible for the future. In the meantime, we can contribute to the relief fund; we can welcome such refugees as may escape to our shores; and we can give our warm sympathy to the many thousands of Armenians among us, who are heartbroken for the fate of their kindred at home. p. 100, GATEWAY OF THE ANCIENT FORTIFIED CITY OF DIARBEKIR The inscriptions and stone cannon-balls are commemorative of the Armenians' perpetual; fight for existence. p. 101, WOMEN WORKING IN THE NEAR HARPOOT The city is 4,500 feet above sea level; the buildings of the flourishing school may be seen in the middle ground. p. 102, DOMESTIC LIFE IN ARMENIA SPINNING OUT OF DOORS GRINDING FLOUR BAKING BREAD p. 103. SIEGE OF THE CITY OF VAN The Armenians, aided by the Russians, successfully repulsed the Turkish attack last spring; later were forced to flee, and now the ruined shell of the city is held by the Russian forces. p. 104, FORMER OFFICERS OF THE STUDENTS' SOCIETY OF AMERICA Left to right, A Chmichian (Harvard), when last heard from, a teacher at Aintab; R. Racoubian (Columbia)a teacher at Sivas, whose life is believed to have been forfeited; D. Loolejian (Yale), a teacher at Harpoot who has suffered extreme torture. p. 104, VICTIMS OF SIEGE Refugees in the American mission compound at Van during the siege. p. 105, REFUGEES Pausing at the frontier town of Ikder on their way to Edgmiatsin, in the Caucasus. p. 105, THE CATHEDRAL AT EDGMIADSIN Parts of it date back to the fourth century. It is the seat of the Katholikos, or head of the Christian Armenian faith. At the present day the only native institutions which has been preserved to the Armenian people is the church.

Godd.. thats so freggin true--- ive seen that around alott- the parents only care about the money and their business and they neglect their children and dont even bother to sit down and talk to them or even discipline them- half thetime they dont even know where their kids are or what they are doing- its not even funny- and then these kids grow up and start doing retarted things and jeopardizing other peoples lives- whether it be through the "im better than you are cause io drivea benz" fights or a stupid street race- im only generalizing ehre- but thats what ive seen go around- its just funny how people get tto that extent where they only prize materialistic things and neglect the whole notion of family and values and "shnork" i guess that the main cause is the parents fault- its really sad to see some armenians go to that level where they represent a low life sort of values- actually i can say NO VALUES at all- and they start being more and more like everyone else around them and the viscious cycle continues....I have alwayas said that alot comes from parents and the family- thats where we learn our values and who we are and most of our beliefs-

at the end of the day- all i have is... me, myself and I...

aye gevo sometimes you amaze me to how smart you are for your age--> and i always thought guys ur age were immature... apres!!