Boghos

Gentlemen, such a long time: 1. there is a lot we don't know 2. discussions with Turkey for a possible border opening have more to do with elections in the US than anything 3. we have a new generation of bureaucrats but unfortunately lots of old practices have resurfaced 4. Georgian elections are important 5. diaspora is dying but no surprise

My relative. Have been to his house...

Many years ago I had dinner at Mr. Maxian's house. Quite a gentleman.

Thanks for letting me know dear Mosjan.

Farewell indeed, dear Arpa. You will be greatly missed.

What happened to Arpa?

Likewise, dear Arpa!

Fascinating!

Oil prices must be hurting... http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijani-devalues-currency-amid-plunging-oil-prices/26861627.html

http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-starbucks-genocide-pr-misfire/26858687.html

I think is it great that Fatih Akin has made a movie on the Armenians.

Remember, dear Yervan, we discussed in person the idea that Christians would disappear from the Middle East? It's happening every day in almost every single country. I dare say that one day we'll have only Armenians in Kuwait and the UAE..

Marash dondurmasi a few times. Went to see my grandfather's house, also went to Kerhan, where the summer house was. There is a big avenue called Alparslan Turkes...so you can easily figure what kind of place it has become. Lots of stories, actually.

Yes, yes we have no shortage of daydreamers. I was recently in Turkey, in Marash, in Ani, and a few other places. Wouldn't hold my breath.

Until when we'll wait for the crumbs to fall off from somebody else's plate?

Turkish McFarty and Jennifer Lawless. Need I say anything else?

Nice car Arpa jan!

2015 will accomplish nothing. It will certainly, once more, mobilize the usual cannon fodder around some initiatives and also create the opportunity for current so-called leaders and other aspiring illuminated minds to stand up. A few artists will come up with paintings, songs, digital art, books and the like. A few more items for my library. Mementos of proof. The Turks should be celebrating the 100 years of the destruction of Armenians, after all they robbed, raped, tortured, killed hundreds of thousands of people and nothing happened to them. Nothing. Yes a few token recognitions of the Genocide here and there that have not had any practical effect. The fact is that the Centennial is irrelevant, unless it marks 100 years of incapacity from the Armenian side. Almost nothing has been accomplished in100 years: a few songs, bad movies and books aside. On the Turkish side a few country bums and other assorted hicks think that the Centennial is important and hence the RoT should counter act. This is also the anti-Genocide recognition industry within Turkey in motion. It's also a nice item in the populist agenda. But the fact is that the Turks that matter know that the Genocide took place but also that they won. They laugh at us! We'll celebrate 100 years, or make it 1000 years, 2000 years of lack of collective wisdom. Unfortunately.

Yes, indeed.

Yervant jan. Karekin has many questions to answer, not just this one...

Here some pictures. Notice the damage to the Armenian Cathedral caused by Turkish cannons. Also the quarry I mentioned on the Armenian side. On top of the entrance door to my family house there is an erased inscription...

thank you, yes, i'll post some

I am just back from a trip that took me to Ani, Istanbul, my grandfather's on my father's side hometown: Marash and Zeytoun. I will be brief here and eventually return to the topic if there is interest from others and time allows. Ani: first of it is worth noticing that a new airport will open in Kars in the next few months. I was on a direct flight from Istanbul that took 1h45m. At the foot of the castle there is an Armenian church still standing that has become a mosque. Charents house is nearby. Kars is a small city but there is a quite decent boutique hotel. Alcohol is hard to find in restaurants as it is the case in most cities in the interior. I drove to Ani after renting a car at the airport. One company, local. Ani is just under 70 km from Kars on a good road that is too wide to be of local use, clearly a strategic/military road, at least during the Cold War. A few modest Turkish military instalations on the way but no controls. On the way there is also a monument to Turks killed by Armenians in a village whose name I do not recall. Close to Kars there is a tiny village called Kozluca. A church and a chapel. The church is partially collapsed, the chapel is a barn... Ani itself is what many of us know. There are sites and countless books. There is not a single sign mentioning Armenians. One needs at least 4-5 hours to visit the ruins. Not many people around but apparently the season has not begun. Animal graze freely and you'll find plenty of their feces...an unacceptable disrespect. Across the Arax you have Armenia. I heard dynamite and also the quarry has been significantly expanded. It is a sad and disappointing view. Very little left of Armenian life in Marash. A few houses with Armenian inscription. My grandpa's house is still there. Empty. Not a single church. In Zeytoun, outside Marash there is a famous fountain that undoubtedly had Armenian inscriptions now erased. The setting is amazing. Istanbul: there are more than 30 churches and 16 schools still working. Saw a show of Onnig and Ara Dinkjian. Went to the Patriarchate. In some places you can but Marmara, Jamanag and Agos. There is a beautiful monthly magazine called Paros. Many other things as well but not for now. A great sense of emptiness.

As far as I know this is what happened to Armavia: large loans were obtained for the company and the money disappeared, jobs at the company were not exactly awarded according to competency, company was over staffed, and i could go on and on. This is how the flag carried of a small, threatened and landlocked country goes bankrupt with the acquiescence of the government. It is obvious how this should be called.

Bad choice of date, undoubtedly. Armavia is bankrupt in large part because the owner with the complicity of state functionaries hollowed out the company financially. Aside from that it was very poorly run in many other ways...Not quite a surprise. Unfortunately.