Persian Friend

Hello Guys: I came across this article which I found very disturbing: http://www.zerbaijan.com/azeri/genocide_article.txt Unfortunately the same people who create this kind of misinformation/disinformation are also fanning the flames of separation in our Azerbaijan province which originally was called Azarbaadeguaan, the original inhabitants being an Aryan nation who after many years of Turkish occupation lost their language. I further find amazing the Jewish hypocrisy on this issue as properly displayed in this text.

Hello Guys: With respect to the Persian language I remember a few years ago I was reading a linguistic book whereby the Persian language was described as being the Eastern equivalent of the English language in terms of its historical development. England was conquered by the Normans around 1000 years ago and the Normans were French-speaking people from Normandy in Northern France and they governed England for about 400 years afterwards. As a consequence a great many French words entered the English language and became anglicized. This major historical event had a great impact on the syntax and semantics of the English language. Furthermore the language of science and scientific communication in Europe was Latin which was a Roman language which caused an influx of Latin words into the English language. Similarly Persia was also conquered by the Arabs and the Arabs ruled the country for many centuries. The lingua franca in this Islamic Empire was of course Arabic and all the Persian scientists were composing their works in this language. They even wrote the most complete grammar of the Arabic language. There were many words that entered the Arabic language from Persian and then reentered the Persian language in their Arabicized form but were pronounced with a Persian accent. As an example the word 'Barg' meaning leaf in Persian became 'Varagh' and took on the meaning of 'peace of paper' or 'leaflet' in Persian. Sometimes the words are wrongly assumed to be of Arabic origin whereby they are evidently Persian such as the word 'Borj' meaning 'Tower' is the Arabicized word for 'Borg' of course related to 'Burg' in German and other languages. There are attempts to reduce the occurence of Arabic words in the Persian language or to eliminate them altogether. During the reign of Reza Shah the Farhangestan was assigned the task of creating sound words to replace some commonly used Arabic words and some European loan words and the efforts continue even nowadays. For example the word for an airplane used to be 'Tayareh' and now it became 'Havapeyma' or the word 'Automobile' was replaced with 'Khodro'. But it is not easy to undo and unroll many centuries of literary works and popular culture. The Arabic words have been persianized in the sense that they have in many cases acquired differnt meanings and have taken on Persian prefixes and suffixes and are pronounced with a Persian accent. One of the effects of these conquests on the native languages has been that they caused these languages to be simplified in terms of grammar and also had an impact on the melody of the language and also added more expressive power to these languages because they considerably expanded the vocabulary. This also made for a more fluid conversation in these languages. Maybe that is why the English language is so well-suited for pop music or has a nicer ring to it than for instance the German language. Maybe that is why Persian poetry and music has been quite rich. I have heard many Persian Armenians, particulary singers attest to the fact that Persian is a more beautiful language for writing songs and it rhymes better and has a better ring to it. At one time a Persian Armenian co-worker also once mentioned/confided in me that his Persian Armenian girlfriend always insisted that they speak Persian although they had emigrated for many years and as a proud Armenian he wanted to speak Armenian foremost. All the best. Persian Friend.

Hello Guys: I was wondering whether anyone of you could provide some insight as to the cultural characteristics of Armenians from Iran as compared to those from Lebanon. When I see Armenians from Iran I sense they are very similar to us but when I compare them to Armenians from Lebanon I feel there are some differences. I also hear that the Armenians in Lebanon were not wholeheartedly accepted by the Christian Maronites from Lebanon. I would appreciate it if somebody could elaborate in an objective manner. Also what are the statistics on Armenians in Lebanon? Did most of them emigrate during the Lebanese civil war? Are Armenians still a sizeable minority in Lebanon? Thanks. Persian Friend.

Hi Guys: I thought you might find the information interesting and useful: http://www.iranchamber.com/monuments/histo...urches_iran.php http://www.iranchamber.com/people/armenians_in_iran1.php All the best.

Hi guys: This is an interesting site about Armenian Iranians. http://www.arir.org/ Unfortunately it seems to be only in Persian. Maybe you could send an email to the webmaster and ask also for an English translation to be prepared for future.

Could you give some examples please. Thanks.

Hello Guys: You know I always come to you with questions? Are there any Armenian names that do not end in _ian? The only Armenian that I know whose name does not end in _ian is the famous Persian-Armenian Tennis Superstar Andre Agassi. His father used to box for Iran's olympic game several times. What is interesting about his last name is that is also a Persian last name. One of the famous Persian folklore singer's name is Aghassi: http://www.iranian.com/Music/Aqassi/index.html I would appreciate if you could elaborate. Thanks.

I am asking this question since we Persians usually place more weight on what the Armenians think on this matter. (And I am not insincere) The Arabic positions on this matter will certainly not be well-balanced because of their long-standing feud with the Jews because of Palestine. But the Armenians by the virtue of the fact that they are not directly involved in Middle-Eastern affairs/conflicts and also because of their smaller weight in the region might be able to offer a more balanced and also objective view on this matter. The Armenians in the region also don't share the same historical burden of Anti-semitism as other Christian European nations and that is why their position would offer valuable insight. Thanks again for granting me permission in order to participate.

A European commission opinion poll that claims 60% of Europeans see Israel as the greatest threat to world peace has drawn outraged denunciations of anti-semitism. The poll surveyed 7,500 people in 15 EU countries who said Israel was a bigger threat to world peace than Iran, North Korea and the US. Regarding the charge of anti-semitism that some have seen as implied by the poll results, the following passage from an article by Anatol Lieven in the May 2003 issue of "Prospect" is relevant: "Finally, the use of the charge of antisemitism as a means of intimidating critics of Israeli policies into silence—an approach all too common in the US—should be publicly rejected by all who regard themselves as liberals. Its overuse, whether from cynicism or hysterical conviction, runs the risk of producing a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sooner or later, what should be a charge of crushing seriousness and moral weight will become a mere marketplace insult, and will produce in its targets just a shrug of the shoulders. "Moreover, the widespread use of this charge deals a blow to civilised debate. Because by its nature it can be neither proved nor disproved in most cases, it leads discussion away from the clearly-lit arena of rational discussion and towards the dark corridors of paranoia and conspiracy, gloomy chambers of the mind in which even Blair's criticism of Israel can be attributed, as one American official recently remarked to me, to 'traditional British antisemitism.' " I would like to know how the Armenians would have voted on this issue. I would appreciate to see a sample of your views. All the best. Persian Friend.

Iran has lost his king of pop Vigen: http://www.vigenmusic.com/ May his soul rest in peace.

Please contact http://www.pbs.org and order the documentary "The Mystery of The Three Kings". It could shed some light as to the origin of The Holy Trinity. You should see this as a sort of indirect rendering of events. The remains of the three Persian magi were unearthed and moved and buried in a church in Cologne in Germany. It will answer many of your questions. Form a purely political standpoint (I mean don't mix religion into it) many Persians think that they were behind the creation of Christianity and they also subsequently accuse the Romans to be behind the creation of Islam. Sort of a tit for tat. I will maybe later go into details as to why later on. Thanks. Persian Friend.

I was expecting more specific answers or some elaboration. Hopefully America-Hye will provide that extra edge. I also thought that given the fact that Armenia was for a long time an integral part of Soviet Union that its number one trade partner would be Russia because of the Russian type of infrastructure and industry and also in terms of previous administrative structure of Armenia as part of Soviet Union. Thus you must have come a long way quite fast implementing an industrial and administrative conversion. But thanks anyway. Persian Friend.

Hi America-Hye: Thanks for the information. Are those Jews such as the wife of Levon Petrosyan originally from Armenia? I mean do you have Armenian Jews like we have Persian Jews? If yes since when have they been living in Armenia? For instance the Jewish community in Iran is amongst the oldest in the world. Tthe Jews were so impressed by the benevolence of Cyrus the Great that some of them decided to stay in Persia and even have some religious monuments such as the Tomb of Esther besides numerous synagogues. Is it possible to be Armenian and not Christian? There are many Iranians in the US notably in LA that have converted to Christianity. Do you know of any Armenians who may have converted to Judaism or Islam based on their independent study? I would like to know whether there exists a viable Armenian comunity in Israel like the ones in Lebanon, France, US and Iran. If yes how large is that community? I would also like to know the extent of trade between Israel and Armenia if it is okay to disclose. And just one last comment. I have Armenian friends from Lebanon whom I have seen sometimes complain about the Maronites of Lebanon that they discriminate against Armenians although the Maronites are themselves Christians. Could you tell me the nature, extent and intensity of those discriminations. I am sorry if the list got too long. Appreciate your time and effort. Thanks again. Persian Friend.

Thanks America-Hye for the information. Unfortunately I did not have this information but appreciate tremendously that you enlightened me. That is why I always ask in my posts and also insist that some of my statements are not absolute. As any other person my experiences are limited. We cannot know everything, everywhere all the time. Our experiences and education are limited by time, space and content. Thanks again. Persian Friend.

Hi Jewish Friend: The Persian Jews are fine. They love everything Persian particularly the food and the music and also the culture. Ther Persian Jewesses are also very nice and they don't mind to marry a Persian guy since according to your religion children take on their mother's religion automatically. But somehow all my Persian Jewish friends got into either medicine, law or dentistry and I was in engineering. They all hated engineering. I know the bond between us goes back a long time: Cyrus the Great, the three Magi lead by Caspar, Ester and Mordecai and many others. Actually it may come as a shock to our Armenian friends that Christianity was conceived and created by the only two monotheistic people of that time the Aryan Persian monotheists (Zoroastrianism) and the Semitic Israeli monotheists (Judaism). Thus it is believed by many that Christianity was brought about by combining elements of Judaism and Zoroastrianism. The aim of the new religion was simple: to infect the Romans by a new religion and thus to weaken them by preoccupying them with the spread of this new religion. The Romans were bugging the Jews too much since they had occupied Judea and the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire were also rivals and locked in frequent conflicts. The Holy Trinity actually refers to the three Persian Magi Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior who came to Jerusalem and took baby Jesus under their wings and protected and promoted him. Any input on this issue by our Armenian Friends? But hey we should not take up too much space on the Armenian forum. What I always wondered about is that how come there are no Armenians and Jews who have intermarried. I mean I know about so many Persians and Armenians married together and as you mentioned there are also many Jews and Persians intermarried but there are no Armenians and Jews that I know off. Anybody feel like contributing on this issue? Take care.

Hello Guys: I am back. I just wanted to tell you not to be distracted by the comments made by our Jewish friend. I can understand that they are traversing a difficult period right now. When I was studying at university all the Armenians, Iranians, Lebanese, Italians and Greeks used to study together. I found it very interesting how well we got along. Somehow there was a chemistry between all of us. Maybe we are just warm-blooded and more easy-going. I cannot pin it down exactly what was the reason why it clicked so well between us. Besides studying we used to play soccer with each other and enjoyed going out together mostly to restaurants and strip joints. The Jewish guys always kept a distance mostly studying alone amongst themselves. Some even seemed to look down at the way we studied together. Maybe they questioned our work ethic. Well that was my observation and experience. You may have had a different experience. I hope that the long-standing friendship between Armenians and Persians is not turned into a political matter. This is something beyond and above politics. I also hope that the Jews do not construe this friendship as threatening to them or that it doesn't simply make them jealous. Afterall one's friendship with one group is not necessarily at the cost of another one. As far as the relationship between Persians and Jews is concerned my best professors at university were Jewish. They gave me easy marks on the exams or so I noticed. I could only ascribe that to the fact that since they owe their existence to our ancient Persian Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great they feel like helping out a bit. All the best. Persian friend.

Dear MJ: Thank you very much for your answer. I found it most convincing and enlightening and wish you and the Armenians all the best in their endeavours particularly those in Armenia. I hope that the world will stay vigilant so that these tragedies never occur again. Last night many of our Armenian compatriots who participated in Olympic Games on behalf of Iran before the Iranian Revolution were honoured on the Iranian satellite TV called NITV. All the best.

Dear Armenian Friends: I have some other questions to ask in order to quench my curiosity: Do the Armenians primarily want to get recognition in order to receive monetary compensation or do they want to get recognition to have their suffering recognized as a principle? How come the Jews have been able to benefit from the Holocaust in terms of acquiring immunity to criticism and impunity to act as they wish whereby the Armenians have not been able to draw any benefits at all? The Jews who survived the Holocaust receive monthly restitution payments for their suffering or the suffering of their parents. There is also a book written by a Jewish author called the "Holocaust Industry". The Holocaust also motivated Jews to migrate to Israel and to accept all the hardships and dangers associated with living there. Is your problem due to a lack of solidarity and organization? Are you being constrained in your activites in any palpable way? How come the so-called powerful and industrialized Christian countries are not willing to grant the same kind of recognition to the Armenians? Is it only because the Christians feel guilty for what they have done to Jews and this guilt complex prompts them to give lots of attention to the Jewish suffering in order to rehabilitate themselves in their own mind? Or is it the fact that the Jewish-owned media and financial institutions are firmly controlling these Christian countries? Thank you for your time.

Dear Armenian Friends: I just wanted to share with you a certain conspiracy theory that is being widely recited amongst Armenian Persians and Persians both inside and outside of Iran. You may be able to help me to verify the truth or falseness of this claim concerning the Armenian Genocide. As you may agree in any major event there are instigators and perpetrators. The instigators being those who pull the strings behind the scenes and the perpetrators being those mercenaries who carry out their orders in exchange for some form of compensation. It is being said that in the Armenian Genocide although the perpetrators were indeed Turks the instigators were Jewish. This by no means is meant to diminish the horrible crimes committed by Turks and their brutality and cruelty. The reason being cited is that the great majority of Jews living in Turkey had escaped the Spanish Inquisition in Spain and had taken refuge in Turkey around 500 years ago. The Jewish people were burnt at stake and flayed alive and viciously persecuted by the advancing Catholic Armies. The Jewish community in Turkey had become prosperous as successful merchants and businessmen and were very influential in the Ottoman courts as advisors, treasurers and doctors. The Jewish people were looking for an opportune moment to take revenge on a Christian minority since they truly believe in an eye for an eye. So they used the chaos created by WWI in order to realize their plans. The other reason being cited is that the Jews are mad at Armenians since they partly blame them for the survival of Christianity since the Armenians are believed to be amongst the first people who converted to Christianity en masse. That is why to this day the Jews are reluctant to allow any comparison between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust and it is also being rumoured that they are blocking indirectly Armenian efforts to have the Armenian Genocide recognized partilcularly in the US. I would appreciate any clarification and evidence and also your input on this issue. All the best.

Dear Gamavor: We Persians do have a word for God and it is "Khoda". There is another alternative word which is sometimes used and it is "Parvardehguar". It is quite an oxymoron that we Iranians have a religious government in Iran. Usually Iranians are the least religious Muslims in the Middle East. You can also deduce that by observing the Iranians living abroad. The Iranians are quick to adapt to the ways of life in the host countries. As an example the Turks living in Germany still adhere to their old way of life as exemplified in their dress code and are less flexible to integrate within their host society. We Iranians in the Middle East have comparatively speaking a good nature and kinder and more generous than Arabs and Turks. Any Persian-Armenian can attest to this fact. They have been living in Iran without any major harassment or persecution and we Iranians consider them as one of us. The Armenians have always demonstrated their benevolence towards and their solidarity with the Iranian nation even during the war with Iraq. Even in the Iranian communities abroad we have always been kind to them. An example is the expatriate Iranian music and entertainment industry in US. Our king of pop is Armenian by the name of Vigen. There are numerous Armenian pop singers such as Andy, Michael, Helen, Martik, Artoush etc. The Iranian satellite TVs also employ many Armenians who work for them as technicians. Inside Iran besides the indigenous Armenian population the Iranians usually give preference to Armenians when they want to grant contracts to people or industries that are equal. As an example the newly established airline Mahan Air in Iran which had leased or bought Russian civil aircraft used to almost exclusively hire Armenian pilots and crew to fly the Russian aircraft. The salaries and benefits paid to them was very god compared to the average salary in Armenia. Iran had to use Russian aircraft because of economic sanctions which barred it from buying US or European aeroplanes. Other examples of course abound. I am told also that 11 years ago during the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict we supported Armenia covertly. The Persian Armenians are also the leaders when it comes to supporting Armenia and investing in that country. There are also numerous nice churches in the different cities in Iran notably in Tabriz, Tehran and Isfahan. There were also a large number of Armenians that took refuge in Iran during the ongoing Armenian genocide in Turkey and the survivors are mostly concentrated in Tabriz in North-Western Iran. Besides the Armenians there is another Aryan group in the region which looks for support to Iran and that is the Kurds who have also been victims at the hands of Turks as properly shown on your website. The motion to recognize the Armenian Genocide has also been considered in the Iranian Parliament.

Dear Armenian Friends: I wanted to reassure each and everyone of you of our continued overt and covert support of the Armenian people. We are very happy to see that Persian Armenians are leaders when it comes to investment in Armenia. Because of shared common Aryan ancestry we feel particularly close to our Armenian brothers and sisters. We were recently quite disturbed by the 9 billion dollar aid package granted to Turkey by the United States. The contribution of Armenians to every facet of Iranian life is always appreciated. A strong Iran will always be a guarantor of Armenian security in the region. All the best.