phantom22

Ahmadinejad is an opportunist. He is laying ground for the "enosis" of Shiite Iraq with Iran. His utterings are those of a meglomanic who wants to establish a Pan-Islamic state. Do you not think he realizes that his statements will elicit an attack of Iran by the US and Israel? He wants to engulf the Middle East in a massive regional war. His motives are quite apparent. Poor Armenia. If the Turks were not such shitty neighbors, we would at least have an alternative to Tehran.

This is all indicative of "Armenophobia" and "Turkophobia." There is an elephant in the room that no one talks about. My great-grandfather and his brother developed true and long-lasting friendships with very influential Turks. Theirs was a symbiotic economic and social relationship that only ended when a madman physician was placed in power. I say to the Turkish government, end it. Become a free country. Settle your differences with your Christian minorities and the Kurdish minority. End this mutual phobia by resolving the outstanding issues. We Armenains are not in a position of power to do this. It is in the hands of the Turkish leadership.

It is always good to find someone who speaks Armenian. I haven't been face to face with someone who speaks it for years, until the other day I overheard an Armenian couple and spoke with them. I didn't think that I still retained the ability to speak it. Such is the problem when your own people send you into exile hundreds of miles away from any Armenians. When I visited Armenia it was like being at a huge Armenain affair, everyone was speaking Armenian, but I had difficulty understanding the Eastern dialect.

Arpa, Please do not obfuscate the issue. Go to Israel and you will see the ancient presence of the Jews there. Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and you say they were a minority?

This is sabre-rattling toward a greater Iran. Soon the Shiite regions of Iraq will be part of a greater Islamic republic. Iraq will split into three nations after the US forces leave and the Shiites will enosis with Iran. The Jews have every right to a PORTION of Palestine. Their monuments there attest to this. It is immaterial if their genes are part Khozar and part European. Their ancestors made marks on this land.

Domino, Please post the complete report soon.

Arpa, You are foaming at the mouth again. This is only a forum of a small group of regular posters. I know of only one who has any official capacity, and he has not posted lately. He is the one who you despise. Raffi Hovanissian, son of a gentle scholar who I have had the pleasure of acquaintance, is trying to make the ROA a more honest society. Turkey is under the world magnifying glass. Get serious dude (or dudette as I surmise-you are too emotional to be a man), what transpires here doesn't amount to a "hill of beans."

One of the members of this forum "15 levels" I believe lives and works in Tel Aviv as a graphic artist.

You can expand that and ask the Catholicos to make a balanced statement that ALL Armenians are to be respected.

Oh, come on Anahid! Please stop with this "Turk lover" talk. Quebecer is one of the Armenians most committed to our cause. Face it, we are in a difficult neighborhood. The Turks are there to be dealt with. Your attitude will not get us anywhere. Turkey has to go through a major transformation from a country controlled by a "deep state" to a free democracy. Spewing hate is just counterproductive.

The issues that we should be focusing upon should be more about today. When is the Turkish government going to return confiscated bank accounts and properties? When are religious institutions going to get back their properties and be allowed to fix their properties? When will the Turkish government stop re-writing history concerning the contributions of Armenians to Ottoman history? Well at least some sense, I wish my goverment do this, but dont hope much. Zurderer, The Turkish government doesn't quite understand that putting this episode behind them is to their advantage. On the one hand they are trying to mesh with the West. On the other hand they do not give Christians equal footing in their nation. Then they get upset and call Europe a Christian club. Turkey acts like a Moslem club and then lobs accusations about "Christian club." Time for Turkey to make amends and move on to a better tomorrow for all concerned. She will NEVER make Armenia disappear, so better to clear the air honestly and focus upon better regional economy. As you state, the differences between us are hard to find. It may get down to only religion and language. The approach of the Turkish government is very poor foreign policy.

Instead of relying solely on macro historic records, I also look at the microhistory of my family members. They survived every massacre and thrived through it all-until 1915. Many prominent Turks fell trying to save them from their fate, as they had made numerous allies among the Turks. It was only when one who viewed Armenians as a bacterium to be eradicated, that their fate was sealed. It is stupid to hate all Turks. The issues that we should be focusing upon should be more about today. When is the Turkish government going to return confiscated bank accounts and properties? When are religious institutions going to get back their properties and be allowed to fix their properties? When will the Turkish government stop re-writing history concerning the contributions of Armenians to Ottoman history?

Edward, Your concern is appreciated, but I am a proud Armenian, so I would not accept any assistance. I came out of retirement and am working two low-paying jobs while retraining myself by going to graduate school. My wealthy brother has offered to help me financially but I have refused. I have also contemplated going to school to get a real estate license. I pray every day that the bastard in the White House gets impeached along with his VP, and McCain is given his job. The Democrats will never let that happen though, giving McCain a head start. I have never disliked an administration like I do this one. I even sort of felt sorry for Nixon, even though he dug his own grave, so to speak. What you can do for me is make sure that honest persons are put in power next time around.

My favorite Armenian charities have been the Amercan University of Armenia plus the AAA AND ANCA. The University is turning out excellent graduates. I have supported both advocacy organizations. The money that I sent to the telethon was used to build a critical highway in Artsakh. The two advocacy organizations are doing a tremendous job at home. I am an old man by chronological years but young of body and mind.

Please, let us not reiterate our Armenian myths. Our differences with the Anatolian Turks are primarily cultural, and we were there long before they arrived. As for racial/ethnic purity neither of us can claim that. Yalpa correctly states that present-day Turks are primarily Anatolian with only a small genetic strain from the Central Asian conquerers. Armenians have a sizeable mix of Semitic strains, Indo-Aryan strains (yes, some of us look like we came from India) and a Chinese/Mongol strain from legitimate (inter-marriage with the Mamikonians and other Christianized Mongol nobility), and also by Armenian women being violated during conquests. Both Anatolian Turks and Armenians have strains of Northern and Eastern European genes via the Galicians and Armens, etc. So stop the racial talk. It is primarily a cultural and religious divide.

Every year I made a generous donation to the Telethon. Then first my home in So. Cal. became worthless. Then my tech stocks Oracle, etc. became worthless. Then my retirement income got eaten up by escalating housing costs. I have to struggle to survive in a Bush-dominated America. Perhaps I can pledge $25.00 and forego eating for a few days.

Domino, Domino you are a genius. I think you have the big answer. You made me remember that I have often wondered if our lives are just an obstacle course set up to see how well we do given the problems we face.

Hey sSebB, Did Jesus live in a palace in Rome? Did Jesus wear fine slken garments? Did Jesus advocate killing leaders of foreign lands that he didn't agree with such as the Venezuelan leader? You think that what these so-called Christians are doing around the world is walking in the steps of Jesus? Perhaps you are seeing the world upside down there in "down under."

OK, children. What is accomplished by getting into an insult mode with this Balkan "Turk?" He is not really a Turk at all. He is probably an Albanian, Serbian, Macedonian, etc. whose ancestors converted to Islam. Can't we open a dialogue without getting into a shouting and insulting match? Whatever transpires here is totally inconsequential. What happens on December 16 and afterward is very consequential. Ditto Hrant Dink and other such cases. The EU is going to rub these issues in the faces of Erdogan and Gul. Where will Turkey go if the EU turns them down? Alliance with the Arab States? Allliance with the soon-to-be free Kurdistan? Breaking bread in Teheran?

These issues will begin to be resolved when the "Big Elephant " in the room is acknowledged, namely the historical and present treatment by Turkey and its predecessor of its minorities. There is little in Armenian-Azeri relations that is not impacted by the "Elephant" in the "room" and in the region.

Takouhi, Anahit is not referring to the Christians that you are positively referring to, the true Christians. Did you not notice her subtleties? I did. When she put Christian in qoutes (" ") and did not capitalize the word, she was referring to those who call themselves Christian but who are not. Just the ones you speak disparagingly about, Bush and his cronies. There are many true Christians around the world. Let their good deeds alert you to their presence.

Thank you Arpa, Holding two jobs and attending graduate school has me very tired. Also, I am posting from the other side of the world.

This is a major milestone. A number of years a go, I wrote a short letter to the editor of the magazine that came with my subscription to the History Channel. The "gist" of my letter was that one of the articles failed to even mention "Armenian" when discussing at length Mount Ararat and Eastern Anatolia. My matter of fact letter was never published, nor was anything ever written about the major omissions and distortions in the article about Eastern Anatolia. Not once was the word "Armenian" ever used in a lenghty article.

Anyone can call themselves "Christian." Those you speak of are not Christians at all. They are a corruption of what it means to be a Christian. They are a political force in the USA, but using the word "Christian" to describe them is a corruption of the word. How can one be a Christian when their agenda is Satanic? They want to starve people to death who do not agree with them, both domestically and internationally. They have stolen two Presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, using the most un-Christian means possible, namely stealing votes by corrupting the programs of electronic voting machines.

In the age of AIDS, it is imperative that we undergo changes to bring this phenomenon into the open and study it. My ex-wife knew of my duality and my decision to remain momogamous with her. Others, yes even Armenian men, secretly conduct themselves in this manner with other men and put their wives at risk. Heterosexual Armenian men frequent prostitutes and also put their wives at risk. For the sake of values we have placed the whole of society at risk