hosank

you should be more worried about how wide ilham's pockets are in order to store all that military budget (i think the boobjob on his wife helped lighten the load)...because less than 10% of that money goes to the front line trenches. since heydar's time, the azeri army was primarily focused on suppressing internal revolt or dissent. infact, the military leadership is probably the most distrusted element for the azeri elite. this has begun to change recently as more and more mysterious deaths have dispatched several azeri top level military personnel, only to be replaced by hand picked aliyev loyalists. (seriously, if you guys follow apa.az, you will laugh at how frequently azeri officers seem to dissapear) 1-finally, artsax is the centre of focus for national hatred, which aliyev uses to distract his population from himself. thus i see a military solution to the conflict, in that light, to be somewhat improbable: karabakh, which in 1991 was virtually unknown by the azeri public is now the "centre of azeri civilisation, culture etc" (they have turned it into some sort of kosovo for the serbs) so if, by any chance artsax is conquered, it would be a terrible day for aliyev, because his nation-wide hostage crisis involving his entire population will soon be revealed and his presence will no longer be required. and as everyone mentionned, the source of this military financing is the georgian pipeline, which will exist only as a memory the minute the war breaks. the war would be quite disastrous for armenia and artsax, (who may be resilient because of the blockade) but would mean a deathblow to that of azerbaijan, which has focused its entire national economy on the export of natural resources to the west a simple reminder that this sort of mentality was partly behind the extermination of our people, i find it somewhat hypocritical that the descendants of survivors would wish that, even apon our worst enemies

who still believes in "orthodox brotherhood" now?

church of nij Christian minority in Azerbaijan gets rid of Armenian eye sore AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE--February 17, 2005 NIJ, Azerbaijan Feb 17 -- When a Christian people in this predominantly Muslim republic ground away the Armenian inscriptions from the walls of a church and tombs last month to erase evidence linking them to Azerbaijan's foe, they thought they had the interests of their small community in mind. But now the tiny Christian church in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan has become the focus of a big scandal as the Udi minority struggles to find its identity in an ideological minefield. The church, which has not been used since Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union, has become the center of a dispute between the Norwegian backers of the reconstruction, who consider the alterations to be vandalism, and the Udi community. "We have no God, our people lost their religion under communism and this church is our only hope of reviving it," said Georgi Kechaari, one of the village elders who doubles as the ethnic group's historian. "But we live in Azerbaijan, and when people came into the church and saw Armenian letters, they automatically associated us with Armenians," he said. The Udi, who once used the Armenian alphabet, have struggled to separate their legacy from that of their fellow Christians, the Armenians, who fought a war with Azerbaijan and have been vilified here. Erupting just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, the war cost both countries tens of thousands of lives but Azerbaijan lost Nagorno-Karabakh - an ethnic Armenian enclave - and seven other surrounding regions which have been under Armenian control since the two countries signed an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994. Since then nearly everything associated with Armenia in Azerbaijan has been wiped away, although hundreds of thousands of Armenians lived here before the war. Armenian-sounding city names have been changed, streets named after Armenians have been replaced with politically correct Azeri surnames, while Soviet history glorifying Armenian communist activists has been rewritten in school textbooks. But the white-stone church in Nij, some two centuries old, had not been tampered with until the Udi undertook to reconstruct it with help from the state financed Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise (NHE). "It was a beautiful inscription, 200 years old, it even survived the war," Norway's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Steinar Gil told AFP. "This is an act of vandalism and Norway in no way wants to be associated with it." But the Udis insist they erased the inscriptions to right a historic wrong. Kechaari alleged that the Armenian inscriptions, which stated that the Church was built in 1823, were fakes put there by Armenians in the 1920s so that they could make historical claims to it. The Udis are the last surviving tribe of the Caucasus Albanians, a group unrelated to the Mediterranean Albanians, whose Christian kingdom ruled this region in medieval times before Turkic hordes swept in from Central Asia in the 13th and 15th centuries. They number under 10,000 people and Nij is the only predominantly Udi village to survive to this day, and although they call themselves Christian, there is little that Christians from other parts of the world would find in common with them. The Udis have not had a pastor for nearly a century and celebrate Islamic holidays together with their Muslim neighbors. But while the Udis soul search for an identity, Azerbaijan has used their legacy to strengthen its claims to Karabakh. Armenians argue that the multitude of churches in the occupied region proves that they as a Christian people can lay a historic claim to it. But Azeris, who consider themselves to be the descendants of Albanians who were assimilated into a Turkic group, say the area is rightfully theirs because the churches were actually built by their ancestors the Albanians. To the Udi, who used Armenian script when their church was built, toeing the official Azeri line has become more of a priority than historical accuracy. The perception that they are one with the Armenians has meant that there has been little trust from the authorites; Udi men for example were only allowed to start serving in the Azeri Army two years ago. But their use of power tools to fit the status quo took their Norwegian sponsors by surprise. "They think they have erased a reminder of being Armenian ... instead they have taken away the chance to have a good image when the church is inaugurated," the director of the NHE in Azerbaijan, Alf Henry Rasmussen said, adding that a visit to the church by Norway's prime minister will probably now be cancelled. "Everyone will stare at the missing stones, I'm not quite sure if we can continue our work there," Rasmussen said.

ah it's about time, i was almost beginning to feel...uninvolved in this...somehow, once again, google finds the true perpetrator of this 'so called azeri-on azeri hate': the entire armenian nation ..the azeri blood on our teeth was beginning to dry..we need it fresh..lolllllll this is why i save azeri merdia sites under 'entertainment' in my bookmarks

well recently the PKK has been popular for scapegoating

http://www.today.az/news/society/52547.html Day.Az reports with reference to APA that a soldier of the Azerbaijani armed forces as a result of careless handling of weapons shot his five fellows. 14:40 Names of the soldiers, killed in the Seyfali polygon at 11:00 on May 23 have been divulged. Soldier Orkhan Sharifov killed soldiers Taleh Hidayatov, Ramin Atashov and Shahriyar Hasanov and wounded Punhan Hasanov and Mustafa Sayfulov by firing from a gun at a training centre of the Defense Ministry's military unit N near the Seyfali village in the Shamkir region, the Interior Ministry told Trend News on May 25. Soldier Safarov was arrested. The Military Prosecutor is holding preliminary investigation. The Agjabadi Region Military Commissariat called Safarov to a military service in January 2008, the Defense Ministry reported. According to unofficial data, before the case, Safarov always underwent undisciplined actions and insult by the persons whom he killed -------------- 11:32 Junior sergeant of armed forces of Azerbaijan Orkhan Safarov, who opened fire on his fellows was arrested during the exercise, reported spokesman forthe Defense Ministry Eldar Sabiroglu Monday. "The incident really occured", said E. Sabiroglu, confirmed that troops shot one other. "A criminal proceeding has been instituted. Junior sergeant Orkhan Safarov was arrested and the investigation will find out on what grounds he committed this crime", said E. Sabiroglu. ---------- 10:28 The incident occurred during training exercises at the Seyfali in the Shamkir district. The four soldiers, according to the ANS, died of wounds, another was delivered in critical condition to Ganja military hospital. According to APA, 20-year-old Orkhan Tofig oglu Safarov shot his fellows. According to the agency, one of the dead soldiers was Ravil Atashov. /Day.Az, Trend News/

Climbing to Heydar Peak of the Great Caucasian Mountains starts [ 09 May 2009 15:18 ] Baku. Elbrus Seyfullayev -APA. An expedition group of the Azerbaijan Air and Extreme Sport Events Federation started climbing to Heydar Peak of the Great Caucasian Mountains on the occasion of 86th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources joined the expedition group of the federation, press service of the ministry told APA. The expedition was started in Baku on May 7 and reached the foothills of Gizi Gaya rock massif in Bashdagh chain of the Great Caucasian Mountains on May 8. The climbers encamped in that territory to prepare for climbing of the peak. The expedition group climbed to Heydar Peak, 3751 m above the sea, on May 9 and laid flowers in front of Heydar Aliyev’s bass-relief. http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=101957 ... i know what you're thinking..THERE IS A HEYDAR ALIYEV MOUNTAIN?

though this is all quite interesting, i think that few modern white supremacists use these categories scientifically, though maybe the names are still mentioned. also, i'm afraid that the european connotation for the 'aryan race', is much more complex than the typical blond hair and blue eyes. as you mentioned yourself, hitler also wasn't blond or blue eyed.

that is absolutely untrue. the thing is, there have been no preconditions set at all. he so-called road-map is only an agreement to eventually normalise relations, there was no mention of artsakh or any form of border recognition at all. the only stupid thing is for the armenian government to agree to announce it on the 23rd of april, giving obama the exit he was looking for. i think people should stop being concerned with the 'road-map', because at this point it is non-binding, and very VERY vague. armenians and azeris have been talking about giving back the 'occupied territories' in exchange of recognition for 2 decades now, and we have seen the result of those negotiations: smiles and handshakes in different european capitals, and nothing established. so i don't think we have anything to worry about in that respect, and as a back up we can always count on the dozens of ex-fedayi organisations who routinely mention they will rise up if even an inch of artsax soil is given back. if you would notice, turkey is somewhat relenting on is 'no relations without restoring azeri territorial integrity' rhetoric. this is because turkey is beginning to realise that azerbaijan's issue is a strain on her own forein policy. as i said earlier, nothing was mentioned about artsax in the 'road map'. so if anything, if there is at least a partial opening of the border between armenia and turkey (not mentioning the economic benefits which would ensue) it would certainly be a grave defeat for azerbaijan, who has been counting on turkey's big-brother solidarity for the last 20 years in imprisoning armenia. any surf of azeri internet-newspapers would be enough to see that the azeris are already enraged simply at the prospect of this happening. in effect, we need to wait and see....signing online petitions may not be the answer here i'm afraid, or risk showing the armenian world community as split on the issue...especially at this point, where VERY little is known on the issue

you should marry an irish woman to ensure the survival of the pure aryan armenian gene that's what my mum did, and it works as for my commentary on this thread: i don't think that regional differences between armenians are even relevant anymore. i mean, first off, even in western armenia of the day, many people travelled from town to town. second, often, entire populations moved with their local lord after lost battles, or being given new relms, a famous example is the exodus of the entire hamshin armenian people from vaspurakan to the pontic coast, and yet, the majority of hamshen have very light features. - or other lords who moved from west to east, and back depending on the favour of the byzantine or persian emperors, and of course the famous armenian noble families with connections to georgia- and finally, who the hell, in the western-armenian diaspora still marries based on the home town of their partner's great grandparents. a large amount of armenians from vayots dzor, and naxichevan were deported to persia by shah abbas in the 1600s, forming the base of the parskahye community, and likewise, many were repatriated by the russians. in poland, there are 90 000 armenians, 75 000 of them have been living there for 1000+ years, its a safe bet that they are also beautiful blond blue eyed people and as hellektor briefly touched. after the genocide, many armenians from the remaning provinces in eastern 'turkey' migrated to the ASSR, then of course, in the 1940s, tens of thousands of western armenians (such as my aunt and uncle) were repatriated to soviet armenia, thus today, nearly 1/3rd of all armenians from the ASSR are direct, or partially (meaning with at least one parent) descendants of western armenians. it is also said that in armenia herself, the region of 'lori' is noted for its high amount of fair haired armenians. but i don't see this as simply regional. for instance, within my family itself, out of 7 brothers and sisters my mum has, she, and 2 of her sisters have blond hair and very light skin, where as, one of her sisters has a more Mediterranean tan, and her mother is light skinned..and they are 100% kilikiaci. oh, and who the hell cares weather 10 000 years ago, your ancestors may have been from the nayiri or armen, or hayasa tribe? loolll so, in the end, it really doesn't matter.....but i suggest you all mary irish people...scottish will do well...so then we will all be happy!!! hehe

1- they came to the entire region in the first place 2- maybe erdogan should meet with a few german skinheads, and discuss what they think of the 4 million turks living in germany at the moment i don't agree

i have a few points for consideration. 1- turkey as a regional player: as we may well know turkey has, for the last 3 or 4 years fancied itself as the regional power and mediator. its new foreign, regional policy has been to officially distance itself from azerbaijan its "ethnic brother", to take a more neutral tone. even the azeri-turkish feelings of 'turkicness' have been played down, as azerbaijan, in its quest for creating a national identity, tries to create a 'native caucasian' identity for itself. thus, turkey seems to be patting herself on the back with content on its successful attempt at 'football democracy' with Armenia, thinking that it could be enough to woo armenia with the prospect of friendly relations in order for her to somehow forget its longstanding claims against the turkish state. this is the point we are at now, forgetting the fact that turkey pushed for the peace plan to be unveiled on paril 23rd (just on time to give that bolshevik double agent comrade Obama a chance to opt out of his promise for geocide recognition, with the prospect of possible turko-armenian reconciliation, and the genocide resolution as possibly hampering that)- turkey has made other attempts to strengthen its position as the 'peacemaker' in the region, (as its tanks roll over kurdish villagers on the turkey/irak border.) when reading the article, it is interesting to note the great importance which Hrriyet gives to the role of Turkey in these supposed mediation attempts. this has for an objective to show the west that Turkey is indeed capable of solving a conflict while pleasing both sides. 2- hurryiet in general has been known for printing articles on events before they happen. this is specifically in order to get a sense from popular reaction to it. this happened for instance, when serj sarkissian invited gul to yerevan for the football match. Hurryet printed that gul had accepted the invitation even before the president had made an official response. the idea was to scout the reaction of the turkish public; had there been a largely negative reaction, the next days paper could easily have printed that the previous article was from mixed reports and he hadn't indeed accepted. it is the same in this case, where ankara hints a blue print for its new regional policy: in other words, this is basically a test please no internal politics before you offend someone

i hate to break it to you guys...but eurovision sucks...its not like this is a debate going on in a respectable cultural forum..it's freeking eurovision

hello all: i am working on a marketing project for armenian cognac in europe at the moment, so i just thought it would be helpful to get your insight on it. so if i may ask a few questions. first off: what armenian cognacs do you know? drink? why do you prefer a particular brand?-and why? what non-armenian cognac do you know?- drink? (particularily for russahye members) so, it would be really helpful if you could answer this for me, also include your location, and approximate age group (18-25) (25-40) (40+) thank you

regarding the name, the georgian language has also heavily borrowed from old urartian, so it is quite possible that it has a similar meaning in both languages.

well regardless, i think georgia has a big PR problem. after two wars with their northern minorities, they still don't understand the main rule: if you poke at something relentlessly, it will poke back..and if you happen to be president of georgia, who's military my grandmother can defeat singlehandedly, i suggest a wiser approach. armenians are not some sort of dangerous minority in georgia in the sense that they are coming in increasingly large waves of immigration or anything. the armenian population in georgia in general, and javakhk in particular have been quite stable, and lived in these lands for generations. as the article mentionned, javakhk is not diaspora: its not like the armenians recently immigrated there, or crossed the border, the border just crossed them. georgia's strategic position is also a hazard for its security, it, of all nations in the region, should be the n1 peacemaker, instead, it seems to be a magnet for war. sakaashvili, or who ever will replace him after these protests, should understand that georgia should act somewhat as a federation, with at least some autonomy for its historic minorities (i.e. armenians)...and on the other hand, armenians must at least attempt to integrate, like, learn georgian and so on, so there is work to do on both sides. i also strongly agree that if there is any progress to be made it will be through bilateral relations between armenia and georgia, the solution can only be found through mutual, peaceful cooperation and persuasion

they are building a new highway that will bypass the casinos. anyway, i hardly see anyone at the casino's, there is never more than 1 lada at the parking space.

that was a pretty shitty song, which is too bad considering the quality of the artists singing it. honestly, if i had cared about eurovision, or even bothered to follow up on it, i probably would have voted azerbaijan too lolll

vorovhedev an nuty massin ge xossink, essem vor yes ge papakim turkya ertal, yev kal amare yerp jamanag kdnem ne, sirov g'ertam bolis, engeroch ounim hon. g'ouzem al sebastia ou adana yertal, im endanikis babenagan hoghere. paits chem haskenar inchoo hayutiuni hamar havanapar medz harts e turkyia ertal? i think that throughout the last century, as armenians we have had many perceptions about turkey and turks which may need to be updated, or either way the best way to know what you're talking about is to see it first hand...and this goes not only for turkey but for armenia herself. hajoxxxx

no, aliyev is happy as long as the war is prolonged. he reaps the benefits of the oil-military industrial complex, (as everyone knows from all the azeri deserters) it isn't great. it also allows him to use emergency powers over his population with little questionning. so, aliyev is happy with the war. once and a while, he will make agressive speeches, or claim that the armenians are breaking the ceasefire...but aside from that.. about xojalu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eynulla_Fatullayev ..and if you have google earth..just go slightly north-east of stepanakert, and you will see xojali

just want to point out that i have never been to a country where a under-educated poorly payed taxi driver did not have an uneducated, and oversimplified take on politics, history, or morality...or drove descently for that matter...

aside from the blue mosque in yerevan, i have also seen the ruins of a turkish mosque near our home in yegheknadzor, in a small turkmen settlement that had been destroyed by a rockslide. aside from that, there are 3 mosques (not two) in shushi. as mentionned, one of them has been renovated, the other ones are waiting for renovation. they are funded by Iranian money. here is the site for the shushi revival fund, they have information on the mosques, and some pictures. http://www.shushi.org/en/ as for the agdam mosque. it is mostly intact. naturally it is not in functionning condition, considering no muslim has lived there in 20 years, but it was not deliberately destroyed. there are also a couple azeri cemetaries in artsax.

i agree. i am very much pro- warming relations with turkey...at least on an economic level, but i fear that turkey is now using this issue of closening relations as part of a new attempt at blackmail against genocide recognition. after all, turkey has definately tried to change its role in the region as being a "big brother" for the caucasus, trying to broker peace, and economic unions and so on. more and more, we are faced with the turkish argument of "1915 was a tragedy for everyone, lets move on"...as false reconciliation, in order to push for relations without recognition of the genocide. but, like any armenian, i think that friendship cannot last if it is built on hypocracy. so, definately, i think armenians should be careful, and watch their diplomatic language, because this issue can be won or lost on word games. and maybe we should teach turkish in university too...

well even georgia is not totally a pro-western country, but azerbaijan is less western than russia is...and russia knows that, which is why it is prepared for some leverage on the nkr issue with azerbaijan