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I found this by an accident when I was trying to find something on Armenia... Helektor...since you're an expert on Azerbaijan, I would like to know which part of this 'history' is made up? I remember reading about Atrpakan in my Armenian history classes, but I did not know that Atrpakan was referred to Azerbaijan! Azerbaijan - the ancient land, proud with history of Caucasian Albans and Atropatenians (Medes), later unified under glorious Turkic heritage and culture. Stretching from the Great Caucasus Mountains in the North to mount Savalan in the South, and from Caspian Sea in the East to lakes Urmiyeh and Goycheh in the West, Azerbaijan has always been a bridge between the cultures of Europe, Middle East and Asia. Origins of the word "Azerbaijan" The origins of this name trace back as far as 2500 years. According to contemporary Iranian publicist Seyed Ahmad Kasravi and Azerbaijani historian Igrar Aliyev, who referred in their writings to ancient Greek geographer Strabo (63 B.C. - 24 A.D.), at the end of Achaemenid Empire, and with Alexander the Great controlling most of the regions of modern South Azerbaijan (in Iran), Alexander's satrap by the name of Atropat (Atoorpat), kept the territory from falling into the hands of the invaders. Thus, the land was named after him as "Atoorpatkan" (or Atropatena in ancient Greek writings). The same country was also called as "Medes Minor", "Atropatenian Medes" and "Medes-Atropatena" in later historical records. People of the region (now Azerbaijan) elected Atoorpat as their sovereign and he protected their independence. Strabo, in his book, which was written at the time of the Parthians and close to the birth of Jesus, declares that: "...still the successors of Atoorpat are reigning independently." Later, in Arabic pronounciation Atoopatkan got the spelling of Azerbaijan. According to medieval historian Haji Rashid Ad-Din Fazlollahi Hamedani, who lived in times of Turkic reigns in Azerbaijan, the name of Azerbaijan might be Turkic. In particular, Hamedani writes: "...when Oghuz Khan conquered that region, he became fond of the grasslands of Owjan, which is a district in Azerbaijan. He ordered everyone to bring a bushel of the earth's soil and dump it there. He himself did so, along with all the people including the soldiers. Naturally a large hill was created, which he called Azerbaigan, since "azer" in Turkic means towering and elevated, and "baigan" means distinguished and famous." Although this interpretation of the name "Azerbaijan" can be valid linguistically, historical evidence is not sufficient to claim this approach as correct. Few medieval Persian sources claim that the name of Azerbaijan might be coming from "the Land of Fires", namely "azer" (fire) and "baigan" (place) in Persian. This might also be approved by the fact that Zoroastrianism (or fire worshipping) was widespread in Azerbaijan before Islam. However, only the first version of origin coming from Atoorpatkan seems to be valid, as Strabo in his reference lived close to times of Atoorpat, and at the time of Strabo's writings, Atoorpat's dynasty "was still reigning in the region independently". Sebeos, the Armenian historian of VIIth century, also referred to RЭstДm, the great leader of "ashxarh Maratsa" (the country of Medes) or ruler of Atoorpatkan. Medieval Arabic author Al-Ma'sudi calls RЭstДm, who was killed in battle with Arabs, as "Дl-AzДri" (an Azeri), which in essence means "Azerbaijani".

This video is about political chaos and how easily rallies can get out of hand and manipulated if you pay few people. This is very interesting. I'm posting it here since it has a lot to do with LTP's political rallies and the above article. It's called "Kto Zakazivaet Chao" (Who orders chaos) http://rutube.ru/tracks/269210.html?v=2694...07f276e1555e337

STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTER MAKES SENSATIONAL DISCLOSURES armtown.com The Strategic Research Center of Moscow has published an analytical report entitled “The Presidential Elections of Armenia from the Point of View of Ex-President L. Ter-Petrosyan’s Influence on the Internal Political and Electoral Processes”. The “Analytical Report” provides a detailed description of the stages of Ter-Petrosyan’s political career from 1988 onwards. In particular, the Russian analysts provide the following information on L. Ter-Petrosyan’s political steps: “L. Ter-Petrosyan did not stand close to the sources of the Artsax Movement; he joined it later, after feeling that this force might bring him to power. And the fact that he, together with his companions-in-arms, was arrested by Mr. Gorbachov’s decree made him a hero. And that he was released just six months later is estimated as a proof of the fact that Mr. Ter-Petrosyan was recruited by the Soviet Intelligence Services. There is some documented evidence on the real motives of L. Ter-Petrosyan’s being involved in political processes in the 1980’s. The orientalist, formerly less popular but materially well-off, was pushed to the demonstration arena in April-May 1988 by the desire of saving his brother, Telman Ter-Petrosyan who was accused of large-scale embezzlement and bribe-taking and was in custody pending trial. As reported by several sources, Telman Ter-Petrosyan, the manager of one of the large enterprises, was not only one of the wealthiest people in Armenia but also one of the masters of the ‘black cash’ of the Communist Party – a holder of amounts envisaged for giving bribes on different levels through the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia. And this key figure, one of the pillars of Soviet Armenia, was overthrown by the Gorbachov-led system of ‘perestroyka’. It was necessary not only to save Telman but also make the system collapse so as it wouldn’t recover its punitive force. Therefore, together with the pro-Artsax speeches, one of the first appeals of L. Ter-Petrosyan was ‘To remove the Prosecutor General of the Republic’. The appeal was accepted with enthusiasm. The goal was achieved. The Prosecutor General was removed from office, and the newly-hatched member of Artsax Committee had his brother released from prison. As to L. Ter-Petrosyan’s second “advent” in autumn 2007, the analysts of the Strategic Research Center of Moscow present quite interesting observations in this regard.” In particular, the authors of the “Analytical Report” say that Ter-Petrosyan and his team received tremendous amounts of financial resources for the electoral campaign. Turkey and Azerbaijan provided the funding through the Western Foundations. The specialists of the Strategic Research Center are sure that Ter-Petrosyan’s return to the political arena was not absolutely impromptu. “There are grounds to assume that different foreign structures played a special role at the stage of preparing his return. Every year, the ‘British Council’ sends active young people to study in the Public Policy School of the Birmingham University. For being awarded the ‘Achieving’ scholarship, it is necessary to submit recommendations from the liberal parties, and the Armenian Pan-National Movement is one of them.” “There emerged the youth movement called ‘Sksel a’; it first organized innocent flash mobbers and carnivals, attracting students to its ranks. The movement was funded by Britain. Step by step, it became politicized. Last year, the funding of the movement made up more than 100.000 pounds.” According to the data of the Strategic Research Center of Moscow, the foundations named after Fredric Nauman and Fredric Ebert, as well as “Eurasia” foundation and others provided funding to the organizations supporting the Armenian Pan-National Movement for 10 years continuously. In 2007, a number of activists belonging to anti-government youth movements and having ties with the Armenian Pan-National Movements (Ter-Petrosyan’s Press Secretary was one of them) were awarded scholarships in different universities abroad, e.g. the United States, Great Britain etc. During the whole year, the studied the political technologies and returned to Armenia prior to Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s pre-election campaign. “Since the very start of Ter-Petrosyan’s electoral struggle, the group of politicians representing ‘Spectrum’ Strategic Analyses Center have been working in Yerevan; they are also members the International Institute of Strategic Research, London, The US Naval Foundation. According to non-official data, ‘Spectrum’ is an organization actively cooperating with the Turkish and Azerbaijani Intelligence Analytical Center,” the analysts of Moscow announce. In addition to all this, it is worth mentioning that the activists of the Armenian Pan-National Movement have received their Master’s Degrees from the NATO University, studied in the Political Research and Public Administration School of NATO, taken special leadership courses in the G. Marshal European Center of Security Issues, Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany. To be continued

CSTO MEMBER STATES COMMITTED TO HELP A PARTNER SUBJECTED TO AGGRESSION The regulations of the Collective Security Treaty Organization read that the CSTO member states are committed to lend a hand to their partner subjected to aggression, CSTO Assistant Secretary General told a news conference in Yerevan. Valery Semerikov reminded that in October 2007, the CSTO heads of state signed a protocol on military and technical mutual assistance. “If necessary, we will act accordingly,” he said. The CSTO brings together Armenia, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan, which quitted GUAM two years ago, filed in application for joining the CSTO again. So how are they going to intrude now? Hoping to fight only the Armenians? I say good luck to them!

The students who destroyed the signes were Latinos.

Thanks for all this info! It's very helpful. Will you be thinking about publishing all this info when you are done with your research at some point in the future? I didn not get a chance to read everything just yet, since it's too much info to grasp at once, but I will read it all gradually.

RA President: Armenian Genocide bears universal significance and must receive universal recognition /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan issued an address on occasion of the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, the RA leader’s press office reported. The statement reads, “Dear Compatriots, Today we pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. As a result of the state-conspired and carried out genocide in the Ottoman Turkey, a vast number of the Armenians were annihilated on their native land and lost their living space. At the time numerous cultural and material values, which the Armenian people had been creating for thousands of years, were destroyed and are being destroyed even today. International recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is an appropriate and inevitable part of the Armenia’s foreign policy agenda. The Motherland of all Armenians – the Republic of Armenia – should double its efforts for the restoration of historic justice. When it comes to the genocide condemnation, the denial has no future, especially today, when many countries of the world have added their voices to the voice of truth. Recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is not just an Armenian issue. Crime against humanity bears universal significance and reverberation and must receive a universal recognition. Our goals have nothing to do with animosity or revenge. While keeping the memory of the innocent victims alive, presently we are ready to establish normal relation with Turkey without any preconditions. Dear Compatriots, The preconditions and causes of the Armenian Genocide have been widely spoken and written about. Many new facts and analytical works are waiting to be published. However, one thing is absolutely clear: execution of such a crime became possible only in the absence of the Armenian state. Today, on April 24 we must acutely realize the exceptional meaning of the Armenian state. The Armenian nation should develop and strengthen, embracing our state - the guarantor of our people’s security.”

Azeri army alerted over Armenian Genocide anniversary /PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azerbaijani armed forces have been alerted on occasion on the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. “The Azerbaijani armed forces stay firmly at their posts at the line of contact. Recently, Armenians have conducted maneuvers in the occupied territories and in the near-border areas,” the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s press office said, Trend Azeri news agency reports. Official Baku claims that “every year on April 24 the Armenian army fires upon the Azeri positions.”

Moscow OMON arrests dozens of people for passing by Turkish Embassy /PanARMENIAN.Net/ A mourning ceremony dedicated to the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held at the abuilding Armenian Cathedral in Moscow, head of the Youth Association of the Union of Armenians of Russia Levon Mukanyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. Some 3000 people gathered at the cathedral, according to him. “Several days ago we petitioned the Moscow Mayor’s Office to authorize a demonstration but were rejected. Nevertheless, Armenians of Moscow decided to pass by the Turkish Embassy, thus protesting Turkey’s policy of Genocide denial. The Embassy and nearby streets were cordoned by OMON. Besides, several dozens of people were arrested just because they were passing by Turkish diplomatic representation in Bolshaya Nikitskaya,” he said, adding that the “Turkish Embassy has done a good job.” “Presently, the UAR leaders negotiate with Moscow law enforcement. We are hopeful that all detained will be released, since they haven’t done anything illegal but just performed their civil duty,” Mukanyan said. My reaction to this was a big HUH?

Pravda Russian newspaper has a long article about the Armenian genocide posted on their main website today! There's another article they posted few days ago about Israel's double standards when it comes to the Armenian genocide. Both articles are written in Russian. www.pravda.ru

Finally, we have someone with common sense in the Foreign Ministry to bring this issue to the attention of UNESCO, although it's veryyyyyy late now to stop it.

It's only 9:30am in Armenia and people are still waking up from their beds, so how did those 10,000 people already manage to march to Tsitsernakaberd? At what time was this article writen? People mostly gather there around afternoon from what I remember. I have a feeling that this article was written in Autralia the night before because how would they figure out that 10,000 people already marched in the streets when there's such a big time difference between Australia and Armenia.

I hope Aliev consults with the oil companies first before he stirs up the situation. If he was going to start a war with Armenia he had a good chance doing so on March 1st, but he did not pursue anything. The 12 attacking Azeris do not count because if Aliev wanted a real war, he would have sent 150 soldiers at once to infiltrate the Armenian controlled side. I'm sure he knows that he wasn't going to start a war by sending few soldiers to the frontline.

Correction...meant to write Nagorno-Artsax or Artsax, not Nagorno-Artsax. Just invented a new name for the region without realizing it!

I'm studying Eurasia at uni and my professor just assigned us to read International Crisis Group's writings of Nagorno-Artsax conflict. So we're learning about the conflict through the website of ICG.

Well...our teachers were hardly showing up to school in winter months and at some point our school was closed in winter months. I clearly remember going to school and hanging out with my classmates for few hours, then going back home because no teacher would show up to work! Sometimes one would show up, so we would sit in that same classroom for the rest of the day because she was the only one who would show up that day....We had more vacation time than school time for few years.

Yeah but "EM' is not a separate word is it? So why does it have to be written separately from "HAY"? It doesn't make any sense. Also, I did not finish school in Armenia, but the "EM" and the other "EM" were VERY confusing...We have two "EM" right? I don't have the Armenian font to demonstrate it in here, but you all know that there are two ways of written "EM" and "EM" after the end of the words.....someone should change that and stick to only one type of "EM" I finished my 7th grade in Armenia and still managed to get an "F" or the grade "2" in all of my writting compositions because I never knew when to write a EM" and "EM" and if we made 7+ mistakes on our compositions, we got a failing grade Armenian grammar class was my worst class ever....couldn't stand it actually! I couldn't even write when the teacher would read a text for us so that we can write it down ourseleves...and I was in the 7th grade I think that it also had to do with the horrible years of early 1990s when nothing was functioning in Armenia, including the teachers all thanks to Levon Ter Petrossian! We had more vacation time than school time, so what would you expect! Our teachers would hardly ever show up because they were getting paid once every 3 months or so and it was around $10...not joking...in the beginning of 1990s that's how much some people got paid! So the teachers didn't bother to come to school because they needed money for transportation and they obviously had not money to pay for their transportation. I remember how some people would sneak out of the busses in order not to pay anything... LTP did a hell of a job fixing our contry!

Yeah but "EM' is not a separate word is it? So why does it have to be written separately from "HAY"? It doesn't make any sense. Also, I did not finish school in Armenia, but the "EM" and the other "EM" were VERY confusing...We have two "EM" right? I don't have the Armenian font to demonstrate it in here, but you all know that there are two ways of written "EM" and "EM" after the end of the words.....someone should change that and stick to only one type of "EM" I finished my 7th grade in Armenia and still managed to get an "F" or the grade "2" in all of my writting compositions because I never knew when to write a EM" and "EM" and if we made 7+ mistakes on our compositions, we got a failing grade Armenian grammar class was my worst class ever....couldn't stand it actually! I couldn't even write when the teacher would read a text for us so that we can write it down ourseleves...and I was in the 7th grade I think that it also had to do with the horrible years of early 1990s when nothing was functioning in Armenia, including the teachers all thanks to Levon Ter Petrossian! We had more vacation time than school time, so what would you expect! Our teachers would hardly ever show up because they were getting paid once every 3 months or so and it was around $10...not joking...in the beginning of 1990s that's how much some people got paid! So the teachers didn't bother to come to school because they needed money for transportation and they obviously had not money to pay for their transportation. I remember how some people would sneak out of the busses in order not to pay anything... LTP did a hell of a job fixing our contry!

19-year-old soldier wounded in Yerevan March 1 melee dies in hospital 12.04.2008 13:36 GMT+04:00 /PanARMENIAN.Net/ 19-year-old soldier Tigran Abgaryan wounded in Yerevan March 1 melee died in hospital. All efforts to save the youth’s life proved fruitless. On March 1 night Tigran Abgaryan was brought to hospital with a gunshot wound and comminuted fractures. His spinal marrow was also affected. The number of killed in mass disorders in Yerevan reached 9.

Armenian Ex-President Offered Gazprom Post Armenia's ex-president Robert Kocharian, who left office this week, has been offered a post as vice-president of Russian gas giant Gazprom, the Aravot daily newspaper reported Friday. The offer by Gazprom, which controls strategic Armenian pipelines, "has not yet received a response and is still hanging in the air," the newspaper wrote, citing a report from the PanArmenian Network news service quoting Russian sources. Kocharian was replaced on Wednesday at the end of two five-year terms by his prime minister, Serzh Sarkisian, after controversial polls marred by violence and vote-rigging allegations. Speculation has mounted about Kocharian's plans after the 53-year-old told reporters in December he had no plans to be "Armenia's youngest pensioner." Ex-Soviet Armenia and Russia maintained strong ties during Kocharian's tenure. With the Armenian government, Gazprom jointly owns ArmRosGazprom, which controls natural gas pipelines feeding Russian gas to Armenia and owns the Armenian section of a pipeline feeding Iranian gas to the country. In January, Gazprom's banking arm, Gazprombank, bought 80 percent of Areximbank, one of Armenia's largest retail banks.(AFP) Can the other post be deleted please...not sure what happened!

Interesting news.... Kocharian Offered Gazprom Vice President Post? 13:03 Yerevan | 9:03 GMT | Friday 11 April Armenia’s ex-President Robert Kocharian may be offered the post of Gazprom’s Vice President. As a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter came to know from a source in Moscow, the situation will clear up in the near future. “Response has not come yet. The proposal itself is uncertain,” the source said. Gazprom’s branch, ArmRosgazprom holds the monopoly in gasification of Armenia. Gazprom Bank has opened in Yerevan recently. The concern also owns the Iran-Armenia gas pipeli I found some other related articles in Russian newspapers. What's interesting is that when on February 19 Kocharyan was asked about his future plans after he steps down, he said that "it is going to be a surprise!" I'm sure many of us assumed that SS and RK were going to follow Putin by trading places, but they said that it is not the case! Then...some people thought that RK will become the next president of Artsax right? But the new president of Artsakh was recently elected, so that means that RK had to wait for 5 years before he ran for the presidential seat. That didn't make any sense! Now we hear the above news, although not confirmed yet, but if the 'rumor' already started to circulate in the media, I highly doubt that this is just another 'rumor' So this is the surprise huh? Well if this is the case then a big WOW to him! Gazprom is considered the richest company in the world, which can easily bring dwon all of Europe to its knees anytime it wants to just by cutting gas to Europe...Europe is depended mostly on Russian gas supplies! Also, it is known that Putin ahs $40 billion dollars through owning about 4% of the Gazprom shares! Same goes for Medvedev. As a VP of Gazprom, RK will earn minimum of $3 million salary annually...and that's just the minimum!!! Also, he's not crazy to turn down the offer and we already know who offered the position to him...Putin! i think that if it's not hidden anymore and some newpapers are already writting about it, although without any final confirmation, then it's done deal!

Nazarian, I bet RK can speak 100 times better and proper Armenian than you ever will! I have no idea what kind of speech of his you have heard before, but I've heard him speak and his proper Armenian is better than mine!

If you mean that his Armenian might not be so perfect compared to that of LTP...you're right. Which Artsaxtsi Armenian spoke perfect Armenian in Artsax back then? They all knew more Russian than Armenian and that's because of political situation. Same goes for Javakh Armenians! I wouldn't even say that RK's Armenian is bad, but he does have a dialect and it's obvious why he would have the dialect! Not being able to put two words together as you would want him to, has nothing to do with how he rules the country! I've heard him speak just like everyone else and the only people who complain about his speech are the Artsaxtsi haters who always have to find stupid things to make fun of or say why he sucks! I think he puts words together just fine. I know that SS isn't the illegitimate president for the reasons I mentioned above...should I repeat them again? Because he won 53% of the votes! Because there's a huge gap between 23% and 53%! Both have rigged the votes and both ended up having a big gap between their votes at the end! Vortev LTP-i gnatsk@ hayastanum gnats 1998-in! Like I said before...see if half of the country wouldn't have been marching on the streets if LTP won the election! Are you going to tell me that people would have not taken the streets the second that LTP was announced the winner of the election? Who was going to accept him as the president? Not most of the country! Those 10,000 do not represent he country! Just like the few hundred American-Armenians, mostly elderly who had nothing else to do with their day, so they had their little rally in LA few days ago if I remember correctly, stating that American-Armenians do not recognize the SS inauguration! Says who? Those few hundred people? Well they do not represent the American-Armenians! I'm tired of hearing how the minorities among ourseleves speak for all of us! Same thing in Armenia! I also saw an interview on youtube of some man who was standing in front of the Armenian Embassy of Brussels, stating that the SS government is illegal and they are protesting in front of the Armenian Embassy because the European Armenians are against the presidency of SS! There were about 20 people standing!!! I guess certain people in our communities think that they represent all of us for some kind of a reason! That is definitely not the case!

If you want to have a descent covnersation, then perhaps you should stop talking nonsense by teaching me that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia are in Caucasus, while Russia is in Trans-Caucasus (before you said Russia is not Caucasus), when I'm telling you that it's the opposite! Stop talking about things that you have no idea about, while trying to teach us about it...giving us wrong info. Also, judging by the nonsense you were talking in here, I have to say that I know more about international relations and what i've been talking about than you ever will, so stop teaching me things in here, while saying that not only I do no know what I'm talking about, but also calling me 'uneducated!" When you do not know what you're talking about yourself...it's better if you read and learn, and do not argue by typing nonsense! When someone tells you about a treaty, which you obviously never heard of judging by the crap you were writting in here, do not dismiss it when someone if giving you information! Just read and learn! If you have to make uneducated comments yourself, perhaps stop and think for a second before typing 6 pages of crap in here! If you use a little logic in what you say, maybe I won't call you stupid anymore. It's one thing to argue about things you know, and it's another thing to sound stupid! Arguments are welcome, but not the stupid ones!

Stop seeing people like Raffi as ultra nationalist who are there to fix Armenias problems...has he fixed anything major along with his Heritage party since he got seats in the Parliament? All his does is gets funding from the outside, whether its through the Diaspora or through some other channels for his 6 member party and his NGO...what major changes has he brought to Armenia? Stop viewing every diaspora Armenian that comes to Armenia to enter the political life as saviors or some one as a 'solution to Armenia's problems' type of person just because they got education in an Ivy League college and decided to go to Armenia!