hosank

oh ya, we just got honoured with our very own red-square...oh sorry, i meant russia square...well we already gave them all our energy rights, guess a square in their name was a logical step

the vatican their balls are too holy to be held by anyone but on a serious notes its not just a story of another country touching our balls, but really of trying to snatch them, or giving them a rash..which is not the case for all state-state relations

100 000 dollars for a 7th child? i should get em' popin

took the words right out of my mouth

NAGORNO NAGORNO NAGORNO NAGORNO KARABAKH Armenian Republic of ARTSAX Armenian Republic of ARTSAX Armenian Republic of ARTSAX Armenian Republic of ARTSAX and for the love of god will you stop editing when i write "nagorni Kara bakh"? i was using it in bloody quotation marks..

you mean we can be closer to our beloved orthodox 'ally'? i mean,they already control 95% of our energy resources, a third of our telecommunications lines, all of the prostitution business...(helzz yaa) if anything, this war showed me one thing...what if that was armenia? what if armenia decided to run things for itself for a change? russia would find some sort of a reason to bring us to reason too no? come up with something like "we support the right for the people of Lori district for independence..bla bla...lori was never a part of armenia, it was given to them by the soviets...etc" then of course they will just stop calling it Lori, but call it Lor, stating it to be its original name (just like sukhumi became sukhum, and tskinvali became tskinval) next thing we know, we'll have the soviet-oups sorry, russian army within 50kms of yerevan. i don't know about the rest of you but i find russia's friendship with armenia to be alittle too...i donno..is it still a friendship? look, i support abkhaz/ossets will for independence, but both these peoples compose only about a fragment of their territory. there are as many armenians in abkhazia as there are abkhaz, which compose only a third of the population: and that's not counting the 250 000 georgians who were ethnically cleansed from the region. similar situation in south ossetia. the root of the problem was the georgian civil war and ultra-nationalistic tendencies towards those peoples (which georgia now aknowledges to be a mistake..) but never the less, if i were an abkhaz i would probably want to stay in some sort of loose confederation with georgia, because georgia has boosted its economy recently and is getting interesting investments, and since georgia is a relatively small state with a more or less democratic system, the abkhaz and ossets which since war and isolation have remained quite poor would certainly benefit, and work a deal with georgia for better democratic representation and so on...where as in the vastness that is russia, i don't think that these two little 'independent' nothings will really be of interest for moscow once the hype about russian aid and all that dissapears. plus they will be stuck in an ever increasingly autocratic russia. now having said that, i still think sakaashvili was a fool. the 53rd russian regiment in the caucasus alone has 3 times the fighting men 5 times the tanks and 12 times the airpower as the entire georgian army, yet they still went for tskinvali knowing the russians would counterattack, i don't see what he tought he could achieve. so ya, granted the georgians fired the first shots, but the russians had engineered, or at least influenced the events of the past year or so leading to the war. sakaashvili was dumb enough to fall into the trap. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=AfRHMbz2nuU russian mig shooting down a georgian drone http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Of1GqbfX_dU (this is from only a week before the war started. the largest russian military exercise in its history, with the largest military district only coincidentally happening 30 kms from s. ossetia a week before the war..the journalist actually hints that they may be used agains "agression from the south"..amazing) within 2 hours of of fighting, russian language medias (if any of you were watching) were already screaming Геносид (Genocide) refering to the grads firing on tskinvali, and within a day or two, they were reporting 2000 dead. we know now that only 20% of the buildings in the city were hit, and only 10% were seriously damaged, and only some 400 people were confirmed dead. since the russians pushed georgian forces back, many georgian villages still in ossetia were ethnically cleansed and their occupants raped and robbed. many of these villages were closed to EU observers as it was reported that even a month after the war they were still being pillaged. the russians had accused georgia of using cluster bombs, and EU observers concluded it was not the case, but found russian made unexploded cluster bombs around the hospital in Gori georgia (russia flatly denied it of course..) infact more attrocities were committed by ossetic militiamen against georgian civilians than vice-versa (though in war trajedies happen on both sides) it is clear that the war has nothing to do with russia's desire for the protection of human rights, or its citizens (anyone who believes that needs just to visit Grozny in chechnia, even today its terrible..i was unfortunate enough to pass by in 2003..i'm not going back) here is what i think happened: georgia just returned from a NATO summit where it was barred entry because of unresolved territorial issue, thus they thought that if they quickly took them back they would remain unopposed...this was perfect for russia who had been looking for an opportunity to 'punish' georgia for its western attitudes since 2004 and also show the world that the caucasus is still part of moscow's soviet empire. this was also meant to other states of the region who may make the mistake of leaving russia's wing. one state that understood that message is none other than azerbaijan. when the war started, azerbaijan was very (and only) vocal about its support of its GUAM "ally" when they started the war which mirrored their own efforts in Artsax, they were totally silent in the week where georgia got their arses handed to them. and then we all witnessed aliyev in moscow speaking of the great historic cultural alliance between the azeri and russian peoples..and signing all kinds of wide reaching economic and friendship treaties that medvedev was putting on the desk, with the promise that russia's acceptance of the 2 breakaways was not a precedent for Artsax (even though if anything artsax is probably the only one that deserves recognition). http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ptL0sMtEbkU (notice how this RT report is suddenly different from earlier ones?...for instance before this treaty, azerbaijan was somewhat more volatile towards russia, and thus RT reports always mentionned that Artsax was traditionnaly armenian and annexed to azerbaijan during bolchevik times etc. suddenly, we only get comments such as "armenian populated region in azerbaijan" and "bone of contention"..hm...funny how unbias and fair russian media can be) armenia on the other hand was the only state NOT to take sides, except for that of the victims. Armenia was not affraid to step in for the side of justice, asking both parties, including russia to step down. armenia also took in georgian and foreign refugees from tiflis. we did not recognise the two states with russia, for the same reason we didn't recognise kosovo. and sakaashvili thanked us for our support when sarkssian visited Tiflis right after, which gained us a few interesting economic deals with georgia (and by extention access to the black sea and the EU), and closer ties (at the expense of azerbaijan who betrayed them). Now, we are being punished. russia is hiking up gas prices, and saying that the best way to resolve the NAGORNO NAGORNO KARABAKH Armenian Republic of ARTSAX Armenian Republic of ARTSAX" is to give it back to azerbaijan. this is the country that provoqued a war and internationl resentment in order to protect the 'right so sovereignty' of two little breakaways in georgia. for those who till now believed that russia's "help" for us was only due to good will between 'orthodox brothers' should see that it is quite simple: azerbaijan has oil, russia wants to control oil markets to the west. Armenia has nothing..."screw armenia". it is that simple we are disposable allies to them, yet we are still expected to stay inline. look, i have nothing against russian people...well especially russian women...and i would greatly respect friendship with russia, but i thought we took down the hammer and sycle banners 17 years ago. maybe its time we searched for new options... in the end i pray for those who died in the name of stupidity..all of which were christians...in this ugly fratricide. there is one way i will trust russia more is that if they recognise North-Ossetia/alania as well..then we will see if they care so much about Self. Determ. how about coming up with a law banning foreign government crown corporations from owning armenian infrastructure (Gazprom???) for starters? cheerio...

even the russians don't have many T-90s, and anyways, for all hype about them, they are nothing more than upgraded t-72s with some elements, (namely the engine) of the T-80 and a more modern firing system. armenia's T-72s (unlike georgia's) have been heavily upgraded usually with the ERA reactive armour upgrade, and much of armenia and NKRs arsenal has had some special armenian mods added. as ak-47 mentionned, they are somewhat too expensive for nothing. armenia has about a hundred and twenty T-72s, a few t-64s and i think 1 or 2 T-55s kept in storage since they are utterly useless in the realworld.i read somewhere that the NKR_DA has 316 tanks of all types, which is phenomenal, compared to azerbaijan's:286 T-72s and 224 T-55s(which is meaningless lol) i wouldn't mind seeing armenia invest in T-80s left over in russia or the urkaine, since they are of a much better quality than the T-72, or even the newer urkainian upgrade, the T-84, which is cheaper than the T-90 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:UkrainianT84Tank.jpg right, assuming the next war will be simply a deffencive war, but we may have to counter-attack, in case we need to retake lost territory, or take advantage of a weak enemy. also, the territory around agdam is quite flat, and thus tank-warfare would be quite prominent, and same for the terrain in Naxichevan. if war breaks out again, we may face threats from the south and beforced to act in the region. most of it into the pockets of aliyev's friends well, armenia has bought some 30 mig 29MUs recently and has like 25 Su-35s, which are both pretty recent aircraft. azerbaijan has a larger airforce but alot of their arsenal is outdated anyways, safe for their armenian designed Mig-29 As, and they have been contracting a deal with pakistan on some new fighters, which are really no match to the MIGs, and are just an excuse for a mass produced aircraft. anyways, i read somewhere that a military analysist had said that you will know if the azeris are seriously contemplating an invasion if they being to buy attack helicopters. because as mentionned fighter-bombers of soviet design are not really capable of precise ground support especially in the mountains, only attack helicopters can help (and are also more vulnerable..hehe)

naturally, no speculation as who will win the next election. lol and, i don't think it will be resolved diplomatically. i don't see how: if armenia gives up even an inch of territory, chances are veterans will lead some sort of a revolt and oust sarkissian. the reality is that both azeris and armenians know that the problem will not last till 2012. so the objective of the azeris is to capture this before going into economic depression, and armenians only want to hold on till then, where they will be homefree. suppose that they agree to settle this diplomatically, armenia knows that, even if the present azeri government aknowledged the breakaway state, in exchange for the bufferzone, azerbaijan is unstable, who knows what will happen, what sort of coup there will be, and who will be the next president in azerbaijan. azeris have been fed ultranationalistic anti armenian rhetoric for almost 2 decades, they will certainly not simply say "oh ok...nice armenians" most of these, the teenagers (Not having ever met an armenian) are usually the most fanatic, they dream of riping our heads out with their teeth. so, if we give them the bufferzone, then they wre within marching distance of stepanakert, and of cutting armenia in half in zangezur. so no negotiations

i think that there are two things armenians can do here. 1, sit comfortably in the safety of our diasporas and say: armenia is perfect, they are a nation of Katch Vartans, all they care about is killing those dirty turks. or 2. acknowledge that modern armenia is the result of hundreds of years of suffering, armenia is imperfect, and we will work together to make it as close to perfect as possible

i may or may not be too late, but, if you really want to help armenia, invest in rebuilding schools, toilets..anything. here, i have this friend called Araz Artinian, from Montreal, who moved to yerevan, and she has set up all these projects for armenia, most requiring donations of between 500 to 5000 dollars...so if you're interested, just facebook her and get in contact with her, she has all sorts of pictures of her projects

well at any rate, nkr has to be recognised as a state before it officially joins the RoA

42 years old? he must have been of a certain rank..which would explain him being targeted by a sniper and anyways, this sort of thing happens on both sides of the line every week or so for the past 16 years.

lol and ya, about tiblisi, much of the old town was built by armenians, infact most of the streets still have armenian names to them. but remember that at that time, yerevan was a small town with more persians and azeris in it than armenians, but in the same light, baku was run by armenians as well.

lol..those turks.. imagine for a second that, today, 63 years after the genocide, the german chancellor gets up and announces that the holocaust was actually a plan by the Jews for..what ever reason... and that the jews actually murdered germans during ww2, and that he errects a monument for the nazis murdered by jews his political career would basically be over...his country would be assailed by just about every power in the world. but for some reason, this is exactly what the turkish government is doing...his entire government is trying to make people believe that the victims are actually the agressors. and for some reason, it's frounded apon in germany, but encouraged in turkey.

lol wow... that was real fascinating reporting. i love how armenians are portrayed as brutes who rape and murder eachother, and yet are still cunning enough to 'create' a massacre against themselves. i don't know if anyone who was alive back then would believe this..

we call it the immigration policy yah man, azeri brides are the coolest. they can do your laundry, cook for the kids, and if ever pedro the mexican gardener gets lonely...

that point was about the genocide, not post 1975. arab and kurdish minorities in turkey were not persecuted during the genocide. when i find pics of the syrian pogroms i will show them to you

well when i say tourists..i mean close friends of his from outiside the country... and he would also tell my cousins and i to pick up some trash and make sure they see you do it, in order for them to be ashamed, and learn to pick up after themselves.

this summer, in yegheknadzor i was walking down a street with my cousin from ottowa that didn't speak armenian, but was trying to learn it. so she was making small talk with anyone who would walking in the street. so this woman was walking next to us, and started smiling at her..so naturally my cousin started going 'barev vonc ek' ba bla bla.. then she was responding, and asking where she was from, and i was translating. then she started asking if 'canadayum martik havatum en Jehovayi'? at first i could not understand what she was saying, finally i understood that she was asking if there are jeohvas whitnesses in canada..and then for 10 minutes she was talking about jehova with a smile on her face that made me want to slap her...she then proceded to preach to me about jehova, to which i finally responded that i was catholic (yes it's shocking but true, one of the 10% of armenians that are) and that i didn't give a shait about jehova.. bud daaamn...the nerve..i am was so pissed.. i hate jehovas. my mum is friends with a nun called kuir arrousiak (if you may have heard of her, she runs an orphanage in giumri, and has a jampar in dzaghkadzor) she says that they came after the earthquake to giumri, and as they were helping, they converted people to bloody jehova. when peoples faith was at their lowest, because of soviet repression, they took advantage. once these people came to our house (in montreal) and after a discussion on the importance of fighting for your country, i told them to go to cote-des-neiges (a borrow of montreal, which has alot of muslims, not far from where i live), and convert the muslims, because i am already christian. but see? they are cowards..they know that the muslims will shut the door on them or kill them, so they go convert christians to their perversion of our religion. and the army offered them non-combatant roles in the military in accordance with freedom of religion, but they did not accept because the military 'still represents violence'... screw them..they should not even be in the country anyways.

i must disagree here, armenia's great edge over the turkic republics is our diaspora. while turkic oligarchs can allow their countries to sink ever more into the depths of corruption and tair themselves appart, armenia's diaspora acts as a check for those who may want to take advantage in the country. it is also instrumental in it's revitalisation. i think that the RA and teh AD mutually support each other, as they both need eachother to survive.

bah de toutes façons, l'orthographe du mot en lettres latines n'a pas d'importance car ce ne n'est qu'une translitération d'un mot arménien en lettres arméniennes, tant que nous sommes d'accord sur l'épellation de Շուշի nous sommes correctes do i have to translate that?

yep, if there is one thing that i could point out with outdated armenian political parties, (dashnaks, ramgavars, hnchaks) is their insistance on forein powers. we are armenians, we have nothing to do with the greater line up of power...or russian iranian aims at counterballancing US power or what ever... for now an alliance with russia is somewhat beneficial for us, but let us not be decieved by any power that holds a hand out to us, iranians are investing in our country...let it be so, but that does not mean they are not benefiting from it as well (as with the russians) everyone will try to exploit us, but we must remember that our primary goal is the survival of our nation, and we will take all the help we can get, but not be blinded by illusions which do not concern us.

this comment was rooted in a touch of trajic ethnocentrism, which i attribute to many armenians. first off, the ottomans were not planning to eliminate armenians specifically, but christians in anatolia as a whole, (but we being the largest group by far were the centre of their intention)...if you had cared to learn about other minorities who suffered the same trajedies alongside the armenians, you would see that 500 000 pontic greeks, 400 000 assyrans and almost a million greeks on the agean (though they were killed or displaced later) died in the genocide. all of which were christian, while muslim minorities were not murdered.. my point is to make you understand that christianity and the armenian identity are intermingled. there is not one without the other. and the only 'muslim country' where the armenians were allowed to thrive with little pain was christian lebanon. the armenians of syria were subjected to many porgroms for years after the genocide (my grandfather would talk about them), before they were finally accepted into syria (mostly because of syrian christians).. see, this relates once more to when i told you that christianity is an undeniable part of our identity. we did not fight for christianity, but we fought because this christianity defined us as a nation, as well as the georgians and udis who fought along side us against an enemy who's pagan religion was one more factor deferenciating their culture from ours. armenians may come and go about the world, but in armenia they will always stay, so monetary value of our churches IN ARMENIA are not relevant. of course not, infact, in armenia, just as the church all over europe actually incorporated much of the pre christian culture of their respective nations into their religion, thus ensuring the continuity of our race. first off some of these are mythical, second, as i said, we are christians, but we do not deny our past. anyways, to be honest christianity is the only religion we might say is truly ours. before being christian we practiced persian zoroastrianism, then greek and roman paganism, none of which were armenian, but though christianity is from israel, we were the first nation in the world to be christian, and revolved our faith around our culture.

agreed.. the real problem is that people who for 70 years 'commonly owned' everything, now only own from their appartment door, in. what is outside their flat door matters not to them. if you notice, even the staircaises of flatbuildings have ripped posters and so on. same goes for the streets. the soviet system used any idiot who could move his arms, to clean the street, that system has collapsed. i remember i was driving with my friend somewhere in the mountains, he had a bag of dziran and when i could no longer eat any, he just placed the half full plastic bag on the floor next to a pile of more gargage...(and this is in the middle of nowhere). so obviously i took the bag, dumped the dziran on the floor (well what ever it's all compost)..he was surprised at first..then i told him that he cannot throw this because it would stay and it would pollute and be ugly and what ever..... my uncle who lives in yegheknadzor tries to educate people to pick up in the streets..he usually tells guests (often tourists) to pick up all the garbage they see while they walk down the street... so definately they must be educated in understanding that though they may not own what is outside their flat, it is still theirs, as it's their country, and they must all work together (i say they, but i mean we) to keep armenia beautiful...because it's bad for tourism...

because the defenders of mussa ler wern't targetted for extermination because they favoured plagrounds and green spaces in the ottoman empire, but rather because they were armenian and christian (among other things) ...and btw..there is alot of green space around it. also, keep in mind that this is a rich suburb developped by a private firm, not the government, so they can do what they want with their money...in a suburb where the inhabitants would already have enough money for a hospital anyways. the point is not to created more adherents to the religion, but rather to remind people who we are, where we come from, and our future. i think you should recheck the going price for aluminum my friend, and also keep in mind that the developpers of the project didn't sit down and say "ok..we can build a hospital, or we can use the money to build a giant cross...oh what the hell lets build a giant cross", the monument isn't replacing any projects for hospitals or fields or what ever....you should re-read the article not sure what part of the soviet union you lived in..but i never saw crosses used to represent soviet might...