vika182

Guys, I went back to Armenia this summer and somehow, everyone knew how much I missed Armenian food. I was greeted with tons of food and Jermuk and even after having no sleep for about 40 hours, I ate, and ate and ate. Every trip had a detour to a ponchik shop, a peroshki shop, a lahmaju shop.The food never stopped. My family had been the the us and remembered how tasteless the food was here. Anyway to everyone who is afraid to go back, I came to the Us with a child's idealized version of her childhood. All i remembered was wonderful, forget the lack of heat, no electricity, no water. What did I remember except not needing to practice my violin, hugging my dad for warmth, I remembered all good and no bad. The only bad I remember was hating the russian girls in school!!! hehe. Anyway after going back as an adult at 21, sure there was some bad, but most was incredible, even better than I had remembered. The lights in Yerevan at night, the Cafe's, the life on the streets, it makes you cry, especially if you left during the bad years becuase youre so thrilled to see things lit up, to see 24 hour electricity, and of course, to see the unchanged hospitality and friendliness fo the Armenian people. And yes, I still got excited eveytime they'd turn on the water for 2 hours. some things never change. Everyone should go, it will honestly make you love life again. Anyway, here's some pictures I took in Armenia, enjoy. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/klrqueen17/a...m/ph//my_photos And lets post some more memories. Heres another one from me. I was 4 or 5 and I wanted to prove that I would swim so my mom and I went to the pools in Shaumian park. SO I put on a camera, except instead of putting it under my arms, I put it around my waist and under my butt. Nedless to say it flipped me over and held me underground...and Ialmost drowned! Well some chivalrous Armenian boys came to rescue me yelling "Kyorpen khortakvum a." In like 2 feet of water I almost lost my life...

Ah so many memories!! You guys are right about the kvas and stuff not tasting the same. I left Armenian when i was 8 1/2, and remembering the food, water, the kvas, the eskimo ice cream was like a dream and when i went back this summer i was so afraid the whole thing was my childish imagination, but it wasnt. All the manufactured stuff like kvas, esimo, etc has changed, even according to people in Armenia, but everything organic like the water, the APRICOTS!!, oh I cant say enough about the apricots, gilas, watermellon, cheese, bread, tarkhun, all of the food is still delicious and the water (when there is water) tastes just as sweet! I grew up around the hraparak and went to the spendarian music school, and i remember walking through that park from nalbandian street to the school, the fountains in the parks, kids swimming with their cameras (am i remembering the word right? the floating devices), the beautiful flowers in the park. And in the fall, the tree lined lanes of the park where the beautiful leaves had fallen under your feet, all over the place, the huge pine trees with the shishkas. And the fountains of the hraparak, everyone swam in their tighty whiteys, and my brother and cousins telling me that while the lights were on, if you touched the bottom of the pool you would get electricuted. And they told me the middle pool with the big fountain had a huge whilpool at the bottom and I would get sucked in and come out in the canalisatia...the sewers. And after swimming, my brother and i putting our shorts on and creatively maneuvering our wet underpants off without taking off our shorts. And the eskimo ice cream sellers, oh loved the wonderful ice cream they sold. I remember the first time i stole money was when my parents weren't home and I just NEEDED to have one and I heard the music of the vendor so I stole 10 rubles and ran like hell for that eskimo ice cream. And the turbo gum, and the crazy cars they had. Remember the "sider cars"? the ones that the doors lifted up so they looked like spiders when open? We were all gonna get tose cars when we got to the US. And paper dolls....no one needed barbie!!! We made our own paper dolls, we made their paper clothes, their paper furniture, their paper doll friends. So much creativity Armenian kids have...can you imagine that happening in the US? please! And the water fights on the hottes day of the summer, june 21st if im remembering correctly...everyone would shoot water at each other. The rich kids had water guns but my mom was a doctor so I used syringes... And bubbles, making bubble out of soap and blowing them out of the bottom half of a pen. We were so creative, such smart people...thats why we are so smart, no one gave us barbie or water guns, or bubble blowers, we made our own and they were fabulous! Am I remembering correctly? And also the more momentous occasions, like the removal of lennin's statue from the hraparak, such commotion, the radio announcers saying instead of the statue they were going to put a statue of a bud, a meaty thigh in is place cuz everyone was so hungry. And new years eve programming, there was a comedy cooking skit where the recipe requires cooking on a gas stove and the chef says i have no gas, and his helper says use gas from limonad, the things you remember... And the "good night show" with the singing lady, the puppet pig and other animals, u guys remember that?

As many have said, the government of Armenia raises prices all the time so why should they be so concerned with Russia with raising the price of oil? There are underlying issues at play here, mainly Armenia's inability to stand up to russia. When we are given an opportunity to free ourselves from Russian control (through the Iranian pipeline) we cower and give in to Russia. Are we afraid that we will be destroyed without Russian "protection" and Russain military bases in Armenia? If Armenia angers Russia and Russia stops "supporting" Armenia, maybe the turks and azeris can have their way with Armenia. Maybe theyre thinking its better to have a fickle and irritable protector than to have no one. It's like an abused wife who will not leave her husband. Georgia does not have similar problems with the Turks so maybe that's why they can stand up to Russia. However, we need to consider how much support we are actually getting from Russia and how much is just Russia's rule by terror and fear tactics. My opinion is that were not getting much from russia, or not much we can't get elsewhere. Again, What has Russia done for us that we have not paid for very heavily? Obviously Russia's main concern is having an oil monopoly and therefore complete dominance over the region. Did anyone believe the tyrannical giant died in 1991? Obviously it is in the interest of others to keep Russia from having a monopoly so if we played our cards right, we could certainly win allies. Secondly, with all the money being supplied by the diaspora and loans from other nations, surely we could last one lousy year, because thats all russia is offering us, cheap oil FOR ONE YEAR. What are we going to do next year when we have noting to sell to Russia? We cant keep giving them what they want and hoping that theyre nice to us. This foreign policy is ridiculous. Look at what Europe is doing to help Armenia, recognizing the genocide, giving loans, negotiating with turkey, trying to get them to open the borders. What is Russia doing? Keeping us subservient so that they can benefit from our weakness. If we need to take out loans at 50% interest it is better than this deal because this deal will be on our backs FOREVER and future generations will suffer greatly both economically but more importantly politically. With each step we are selling out independence and our autonomy and the corruption of the Armenian government is the greatest accomplice to this crime. After centuries of dreaming, we have a nation yet it is slipping from us. I am tired of Armenia being Russia's slave. However, I'm sure Mr. Kocharian is being highly paid to keep it that way. Anyway, this is only my perspective and as I am living in a warm house with electricity in the states, do I have the right to talk? But I do have to say that those years living in Armenia without electricity or water were good for me, they made me more armenian, because suffering for our principles is something we have done for millenia and consequently we are still alive as a nation. We should not sell ourselves now. Any perspectives from Armenia?

Let's not forget that Armenia is being ruled by greedy and selfish idiots/tyrants. Don't believe that the government cares at all about the average armenian and Im sure theyre recieving some sort of benefit from this, otherwise they would have figured out long ago to drop Russia and look towards Europe. Russia is a tyrranical country ruled by a dictator, a country who has skrewed armenia for centuries, why are we allied with them, for helping so much during the genocide, for helping us keep our lands afterwords, or for interfering in 1988. Any intelligent person will tell you we should not ally with Russia and many armenians in armenia feel the same. Russia is playing the same game that The US and China are playing, which is economic/political empirialism. However, Russia actually has oil, making it more dangerous, because they need nothing from anyone else and can be as big a tyrant as they want. Armenia is on the road to becoming an african country, in debt due to its corrupt dictators, with no resources, no assetts nothing but barren land and a beaten down citizenry. Is slavery next? Does Armenia not remind you of Afirca or India? sold at the hands of its corrupt leaders? Is kocharian anythign other than a dictator? Soon we will be a colony unless we wise up, develop a nuke, destroy tyrrany in Armenia, ally with the European Union. There will be no war in Iran, I doubt there will be sanctions either. The US needs oil and there is no way russia and china will agree to a war. Conclusion: The US cannot fight another war unilaterally.

WOW, WRITTEN PROOF THAT THE AZERBAIJANI MEDIA AND THEIR STUPID PRESIDENT ARE LIARS. HE DIDNT FOCUS ON THE POVERTY OF THE AZERBAIJANI PEOPLE, AND THE QUESTIONS WERE NOT ABOUT HOW EVIL ARMENIANS ARE. THE QUESTIONS WERE ABOUT WHY HE WASNT ELECTED AND HOW HES AN ILLIGITIMATE LEADER!!!

Here is the article from the columbia paper: the headlines were Aliyev's Speech Laments Armenian Conflict and Aliyev Uses Armenia to Deflect Criticism... at least someone picked up on his evilness... Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev, president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, used his Low Library speech on Friday to criticize international community for ignoring Azerbaijan's ongoing territorial dispute with Armenia. The generally upbeat address was part of Columbia University's second annual World Leaders Forum. Aliyev credited foreign investment in Azerbaijan's oil and gas industries for the country's emergence from near economic collapse in the early 1990s. However, Aliyev described tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the lack of foreign intervention with a sense of urgency as he stated simply, "Patience has its limits." Aliyev, son of Azerbaijan's previous president, Haydar Aliyev, holds a Ph.D. in history from the Moscow State University of International Relations and is also a former vice president of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He came to power in October 2003 in the former Soviet state, which suffers from problems ranging from pervasive corruption and an underdeveloped economy to ethnic conflicts. Aliyev spoke of his desire to establish lasting peace and stability in a historically unstable region. His country's economic progress and swift integration into the international community after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 show possibilities for the future. He also noted that further economic and social progress within Azerbaijan depends on developing non-oil sectors of the economy, a process that requires further foreign investment. Aliyev pointed to the Armenian occupation of the Nagorno-Artsax region as a source of instability and an obstruction to foreign investment. "Twenty percent of our territory is under occupation," Aliyev said. This conflict stems from the popular desire among the Armenian majority in the Nagorno-Artsax region for self-determination. The leaders of Azerbaijan have consistently insisted on preserving territorial integrity, and between 1988 and 1994, violent conflict resulted in thousands of deaths and 1.4 million refugees. Aliyev referred to the continued occupation of the region as a "humanitarian catastrophe," and chided the U.N. for failing to enforce the resolutions that the Security Council passed in 1993 calling for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the contested region. He argued further that the legitimacy of the U.N. and of international law rides on the international community's resolve to act on its resolutions by placing sanctions on Armenia. Although Azerbaijan is committed to peaceful negotiation, Aliyev said, "negotiations cannot go on forever." To loud applause he then stated that Azerbaijan reserves the right to restore territorial sovereignty "by any means." Yet, as the late former President Heydar Aliyev admitted last year, Azerbaijan has not purchased a single tank in seven or eight years, and Armenia continues to modernize its armed forces. A highlight of the question-and-answer portion of the event was a pointed question regarding accusations that Aliyev's government has severely restricted free speech and may have even rigged last year's election. While criticizing those who would "throw stones at police," Aliyev denied any breaches of civil liberties by his administration, and he attributed his overwhelming victory with 76 percent of the popular vote to political disarray within the opposition party. He quickly refocused his response with further criticism of Armenia, arguing that the sooner the conflict can be resolved and international law upheld, the better Azerbaijan will be able to pursue economic and social reform. Guess who was the majority attending....who else would applaud a call to war....

The event will be held this Friday at 3:00 PM, i think you have to sign up in advance, but i think you need to be a member or columbias staff or student body. maybe i can sneak some of you guys in. let me know. I will ask the questions about how armenians can feel safe in karabagh was given to azerbaijan after the massacres. Also I considering invoking his fathers use of al quaida's help in the massacres. Vote for Kerry becuase Cheney is worse than Ken Lay when it comes to corporate fruad. he's got 10 million in stocks invested in halliburton...do you see a motive for the war developing? He is being sued for copropate fraud, bribing world leaders, and trading with lybia, iran and iraq while there were sanctions against it, polluting the envorionment, having artur anderson do their book keeping...etc etc etc. The whole lot of them are nothing but oil people. and rumsfeld is the one who gave saddams the wmd's. I can go on for pages Vote for kerry because Bush revoked the resolution banning aind to azerbaijan if they didnt lift the blockade on armenia. I was also considering asking about the blockade.

Well well, it seems like one of the biggest unqualified, criminal leaders in the world, the wonderful president of Azerbaijan, Aliyev will be coming to Columbia University to gove a talk. I am inviting anyone who can to PLEASE come join me, and if you cant, please help me decide what questions to ask, since we will be given an opportunity to ask questions. I don't want to just go there and curse at him. help and vote for kerry

Does anyone have any info regarding humanitarian organizations in Armenia and what they are doing? I've read the websites and all..but I'd like to know what impact they're having on people's everyday lives. It sounds like were fighting political battles with a tyrant, and are satisfied with agreements on paper...when people are starving, doctors and teachers living on $20 a month salaries, and people being forced into hellish military service. Also, what about the issue of prostitution, what is anyone doing about it? I appreciate the abolition of the death penalty and all, but what aboput the millions of others not on deat row...

We should share information regarding the currents situatin in Armenia. The press reporting about Armenia is either extremely delayed, not free to report the truth, or most importantly, i think, ignores the human aspect. Most of the news I've seen concerns economic fluctuations, however, it does not seem like anything has changed in 15 years. Theres more electircity and water...i think thats about it. The only trend i see is Armenia moving closer to totalitarianism. However, most people think that Ter Petrosians election was fraudulent too, so there might be no change at all. Here is a good article I found ARMENIA: REPATRIATION MAY NOT SOLVE PROBLEMS OF EXODUS Haroutiun Khachatrian: 12/12/02 A EurasiaNet Commentary Armenia’s 2001 census results, which showed up to one-fifth of all Armenians had emigrated during the previous decade, sparked debate over what was perceived as a demographic crisis. Initially, officials sought to reverse the emigration trend. Recent discussion, however, indicates that emigration may not be as debilitating to the state as originally feared. Indeed, some experts now argue that a mass return of émigrés could pose serious challenges for the country. Many Armenian emigrants in the early 1990s were people who had lost jobs after a severe 1988 earthquake, refugees and people fleeing the economic and energy crises of 1992-95. Almost half a million people left the country during this period, a pattern similar to that witnessed in Georgia and Azerbaijan after the Soviet collapse. The vast majority of the emigrants stayed in Russia. In response to the emigration, Armenia’s government declared ending emigration a policy goal. Serge Sargsian, Defense Minister and Secretary of the Security Council, urged all Armenians living abroad illegally to return home in the summer of 2001. Economically and statistically, there are reasons to suspect that this policy may be counterproductive. Armenia’s weak economy, somewhat counterintuitively, makes the idea of hundreds of thousands of new residents daunting. Emigrants send some $250 million dollars a year, an amount equivalent to nearly half the annual state budget, back to their relatives in Armenia. The government cannot guarantee that, if these people returned to Armenia, they could contribute enough to the economy to replace the transfers they now send to the country. Even if many wealthy expatriates bring all their capital back to Armenia, it is not clear that the government or industry could create enough jobs to sustain a large number of returnees. Instead, the government may face problems if mass forced repatriation of Armenians starts. The first such case happened late in November, when over 100 Armenians were expelled from Turkmenistan. Moreover, goals of lifting the population by a given amount may be misguided, since data on the population has been unreliable. The official number for recent years was 3.8 million (up from 3.4 million at the previous census in 1989), with a proviso that "an unknown number" of people had left the country. The Chairman of the National Statistical Service, Stepan Mnatsakanian, reported the "actual number" of people in Armenia as 3,000,807 in mid-October 2001. He also estimated that 210,000 people were out of the country for less than a year. This represents an admission by the government that roughly 800,000 fewer people live in the country than it had previously claimed. The real number of Armenians in the country may be even lower, since the official "actual population" includes foreigners living in the country, the largest group of which consists of Russians on a military base. Some independent analysts – both those affiliated with opposition parties and otherwise – claimed that the actual population of Armenia in the late 1990s did not exceed 2.5 million. If the country struggles now, it might buckle with true population growth. Another obvious implication of these data is that the population is highly mobile, as around 200,000 people move in and out the country during a year. The authorities had acknowledged even earlier that each year between 60,000 and 70,000 people leaving the country "temporarily" failed to return home. One can conclude, therefore, that now, one year after the census, the actual number of Armenians in Armenia hardly exceeds 2.9 million. Many experts, including Hrant Bagratian, the reformist prime minister of Armenia in 1993-1996, claim that the actual population in the country is in fact even lower. Critics say the government has at least two reasons to exaggerate the real number of inhabitants. By claiming a given population, they say, the government will be able to organize fraud during the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections by having "dead souls" vote for the government’s chosen candidates. The second reason arises from the fact that the lower the population, the higher the economic output per person. If one supposes that the real population is 2.5 million, then, given the impressive economic growth of the last seven years, the per capita GDP in Armenia would be almost as high as it was in Soviet times. If this data became official, the government would have to explain why over 50 percent of Armenians still are below the poverty line. The population claims and repatriation appeals may also reflect political gamesmanship. The people who remain in the country are the poorest, while those leaving the country are mostly the most active spenders. The most impoverished people would not quit the country for simple lack of travel funds. Thus, the demographic problem has turned into an economic one, as émigrés remove capital and job skills, and avoid the chance to exercise a significant influence on society. "The exodus from Armenia has a serious impact not only on the country’s demographic composition, but also on its political processes. According to our surveys, the number and quality of emigrants comply with the interests of those shaping the republic’s political life," says Hranush Kharatian, a leading ethnologist. Yet even if the government would struggle to absorb returnees, it may rely on them wherever they live. Like most post-Soviet countries, Armenia has seen its population growth rate decline since independence. The birth rate has dropped almost fourfold in the last twelve years. This reflects a general fall in the living standards in the country, but it also reflects migration patterns that divide families; 70 percent of those that emigrated are able-bodied men. If this trend continues further, the national security of the country will be endangered, as there will not be enough people for army and police, according to independent economist Edward Aghajanov. Obviously, a government cannot import soldiers and civil servants the way it can import expatriates’ dollars. Despite the problems repatriation might cause, the government may have no choice but to seek it. Yes it's old, but it tells the truth. I still have many relatives in Armenia, and know a lot of people who recently left. Things are looking pretty bleak...

Where the hell is this thing located? not only is it nowhere near NY or Ca, it's 40 miles from boston....how is anyone supposed to get there???? great planning... But. I'd love to go...carpool anyone? I'll pool = i have no car.

Germany may have a lare turkish population but german people hate turks, my american friend went to germany and was appalled at how much they hate the turks there... im not

Is it true that he spit in Gorbachev's face becuase he was stealing aid to armenia.

[sexual repression in his work is said to be a big factor in fascism, the more sexually repressed a people are the more authoritarian they will be/QUOTE] hmm, i wonder if this is the reason that people in places like sweden, etc where they responsibly teach kids about sex in kindergarden are at least percieved if not actually really the most free...

whats with woody allen and armenians? did he make a movie about them? oh and to steve dont tell me u have no clue about turks kidnaping boys for sex especially in the crusades