The Armenian-American writer David Boyajian provides some background for the “color revolution” currently underway in Armenia. See also this translated Bild article.
Armenia’s People-Power Revolution, Russia, and the Western Bloc
by David Boyajian
As we write this, massive peaceful civil actions against Armenia’s establishment have continued under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan, a National Assembly (N.A.) member who is part of the opposition Yelk (Way Out) Alliance. Though widely unpopular Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan has been forced to resign, his Republican Party (RPA) still has a narrow majority (58 of 105) in the N.A. Most observers believe that the RPA members were elected through fraud, bribery, and intimidation.
The RPA’s politicians and oligarchs are also generally blamed for stealing billions of the country’s wealth; violating civil rights; debasing the judiciary and civil service; keeping the talented Armenian Diaspora at arm’s length; and failing to successfully address Armenia’s many problems: corruption, a less-than-robust economy, unemployment, outward migration, and more.
A bright spot: Landlocked Christian Armenia and its brother Artsakh/Karabagh Republic survive, even though blockaded by genocidal Turkey and Turkic/Muslim Azerbaijan who outnumber Armenians by 90 million people. This miracle is due to the tenacity of Armenia’s people and armed forces.
As Armenia is a long-time friend and admirer of our country, we Americans need to understand it.
Why Armenia Matters
The current revolution is home-grown and purely Armenian. Outside powers — whether countries or organizations — neither initiated nor control the revolution. Still, major nations definitely have strong opinions, usually unstated, about the present crisis.
Russia loathes the revolution. Russia wants Armenia to continue to be highly dependent on it for natural gas, the nuclear power plant and energy grid, investments, sophisticated weapons, and the right to travel to Russia to work and sometimes deposit stolen money. Ongoing corruption in Armenia makes it easier for Russia to bribe, intimidate, and blackmail dishonest leaders and oligarchs, represented mainly by the RPA. A Russian base guards Armenia’s border with Turkey.
Why is Russia so intent on controlling its small ally? Because without Armenia, Russia would lose its grip on the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and probably Central Asia. The US/NATO/EU/Turkey (“Western Bloc”) would then move in. Thus perched along the Russian Bear’s soft underbelly, NATO would slice it open and have his insides for dinner. Therefore Russia needs Armenia far more than it cares to admit.
Georgia was coopted by the Western Bloc years ago. It has invested billions in Georgia, which desires NATO membership as protection against Russia.
Azerbaijan, corrupt and a virtual dictatorship, but flush with oil and gas income, has also expressed interest in joining NATO. Over 27 years, the Western Bloc has invested untold billions in Azerbaijan in such sectors as energy, banking, hotels, aviation, agriculture, and consulting. The Western Bloc has also constructed major oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan’s Caspian fields through Georgia and into Turkey and beyond. More such pipelines (to supply Europe) are planned.
Interestingly, Israel receives around 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan and sells it billions in weapons. Major Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Committee provide Azerbaijan political support while, sadly, a coterie of Jewish writers constantly and unfairly berate Armenia in the US and international media.
The Pan-Turkic Path
Turkey’s long-standing dream is a pan-Turkic path from Turkey to Azerbaijan, then across the Caspian Sea to the four Central Asian Turkic countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Western Bloc has implicitly bought into pan-Turkism in order to exploit the region’s energy deposits and, as explained, perch along Russia’s underbelly.
Georgia — predominantly non-Turkic and Christian — serves as the Western Bloc’s door into the Caucasus. Of course, Georgia remains under Russian pressure. Witness not only Russia’s support for Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but also Georgia’s defeat in the 2008 Russian-Georgian war. All that pressure would become meaningless, however, were Russia to lose Armenia to the Western Bloc.
Russia would then have no military or operational base in the Caucasus. Moreover, if Armenia got off its dependence on Russian energy and military equipment, Russia would have little ability to pressure Armenia, especially as the two lack a common border.
The Western Bloc’s path to the Caspian Sea (which a NATO fleet would dominate) and Central Asia would be wide open. NATO would probably eventually sit along Iran’s northern border.
Russia could also lose its mainly Muslim North Caucasus regions (Chechnya, Daghestan, etc.) to the Western Bloc.
‘As Armenia goes, so goes the Caucasus, Caspian, and Central Asia’ is a fair statement. For Russia, Armenia is vital — perhaps a matter of life or death. Russia needs Armenia far more than it will admit.
Unfortunately, many Armenians who see Russia as a Christian “big brother” don’t realize that the Russian-Armenian relationship should be a two-way street.
Would Armenia ever join the Western Bloc?
Armenia’s Dilemma
To dissuade it from explicitly joining the Western Bloc, Russia is flattering Azerbaijan as a “strategic partner” (which it really isn’t) and sells it weapons that it will use against Armenia/Artsakh. Russia is also cozying up to Turkey to pull it away from the Western Bloc. It won’t work. Turkey and Azerbaijan (“One nation, two states”) are historically and inherently hostile to Russia. But it makes Armenia nervous nevertheless.
Armenia’s main concern is security. Armenians remember the Genocide of 1915-23 and numerous anti-Armenian massacres committed by Turks against Armenians in the last 150 years. Since 1991, Turkey has threatened several times to attack Armenia. In 1993, Turkey and the Muslim Chechen Speaker of the Russian Duma hatched a plan to invade Armenia while Russia stood aside. Turkey also arms and trains the Azerbaijani army.
And Azeris have long committed massacres against Armenians — as recently as the late 1980s, early 1990s, and currently against Armenians in Artsakh/Karabagh.
Armenians know this history very well. Western Bloc attempts to reassure Armenia that Turkish intentions are benign are understandably treated with derision. With Turkey’s return to its traditional authoritarianism and repression, and its ongoing alliance with jihadists in Syria, even the Western Bloc is reconsidering its long-standing sycophantic treatment of Turkey.
However, Armenians know that Russia may go too far in accommodating Turkey and Azerbaijan and thereby betray Armenia.
After WWI, Turkey used weapons supplied by Bolshevik Russia to exterminate the former’s remaining Armenian citizens and invade the independent Republic of Armenia. Russia also ceded Armenian territory, including Artsakh and Nakhichevan, to Azerbaijan. Russia prevented Armenia from retaking Western Armenia (now eastern Turkey), which Armenia was entitled to according to the Treaty of Sevres (1920) signed by the European powers. Russia could sell out Armenia to Turks and Azeris in similar ways today.
It’s possible, therefore, that Armenia could turn to NATO as a protector. This is risky, however. The NATO member Turkey far exceeds Armenia in military weight. Moreover, the West, though historically sympathetic to Christian Armenians for hundreds and even thousands of years, has generally helped Armenians only in humanitarian — not military — ways.
Still, it is possible for Armenia to switch sides if Russia continues to treat Armenia as little more than a pawn. In fact, one pro-Russian writer just called Armenia a “pawn.”
Indeed, Armenia has excellent relations with the Western Bloc (except for Turkey) and recently signed a partnership agreement with the EU. The Western Bloc, of course, silently hopes that the current revolution and possible internal liberalization in Armenia will someday turn it away from Russia.
Shaping its Own Destiny
The RPA, Russia’s favorite group of pin-up boys, is trying to depict Nikol Pashinyan as anti-Russian and thus a security risk.
However, Pashinyan has firmly stated that Armenia’s alliance with Russia will not change, nor will Armenia drop out of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and CTSO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) if he becomes Prime Minister.
The RPA claims that Pashinyan is anti-Russian because he once opposed his country’s entry into the EEU and preferred an association agreement with the European Union. The charge is absurd. Until Russia twisted his arm in 2013, even then-President Serzh Sargsyan was set to sign an agreement with the EU.
Armenians appreciate Russia’s help. But they refuse to be taken for granted and betrayed yet again.
Armenia’s populace simply wants Armenia to become stronger and more self-confident in every way — for the Armenians’ own sake and so that Russia treats it equitably.
This is neither anti-Russian nor pro-Western Bloc. It’s just the right thing to do.
David Boyajian is an Armenian-American freelance journalist. Many of his articles are archived at www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian.
Previous posts:
As we say: a large ship – a great swim and seven feet under the keel.
The independence and survival of Armenia was largely based on Russian blood. For many years, Armenia has dumped its surplus population to Russia.
Many migrant workers and the Armenian Diaspora Mafia live at the expense of Russia.
The Kremlin has a VERY strong ARMENIAN lobby: starting with Mr. Lavrov-Kalantaryan. Brainwashing from television and the media have Armenian surnames.
These gentlemen will solve their problems with Armenia, dragging the Russians into their adventures.
Armenia has more problems with neighboring Azerbaijan. There is no hot conflict only thanks to Russia. Let this headache get to America.
Goodbye, Armenia
Sorry, it bears saying again to all who are cheering for the naive “velvet revolutionaries” where ever they may be found. Velvet revolutions are a big load of smelly manure. Either you hold people responsible for the wrongs they have done, or they just put on new coats, and turn the naive enthusiastic people into their minions. Just look at the dark underbelly of Vaclav Havel.
Sorry, I do not know much about the political technology and behind-the-scenes machinations behind this velvet revolution.
The decisions taken by the Kremlin regarding Armenia have nothing to do with the moods of the Russians. We are largely indifferent to the fate of this country and this nation.
In Russia, there is not a single major city where criminal names, corruption or organized crime, would not have a name with the ending “- yan”.
Muslim Azerbaijan looks with interest to neighboring Armenia. Their mutual relations are very similar to those that exist between Iran and Israel.
And I suppose that the Armenian lobby in the Kremlin will send Russian fools to protect their interests in Armenia, as it always was.
Good to hear from you, Elena. I hope you tell us more as events keep unfolding.
Are you saying the Armenian mafia wiped out the Georgian mafia, or do they coexist side-by-side?
In Russia, a lot of space – for different mafia there is a niche.
It seems that most of the Georgians were caught and deported in 2007.
Now the Central Asian mafia has appeared.
It seems to me, all the same everything in the world is subject to some kind of conspiracy.
Little Armenia was allowed to be independent and was told that this happened because Armenians suddenly became very civilized and it is only their merit.
In Armenia, there is nothing but beautiful mountain species and a strategic position in the Muslim milieu. Why not?
The former Warsaw Pact countries were allowed more freedom in domestic national politics, also based on geopolitical realities. Now we are told that the Poles are such brave and have defended their independence with flags, torches and wooden crosses. (And the Hungarians too).
But we, who live in the countries of the victorious Orwell, perfectly understand how much these freedoms are conditional. Is not it?
Why no one should support Russia:
1) Russia supports communist regimes in Asia, such as Vietnam, China and North Korea.
2) Russia supports corrupt and socialist Latin American regimes. Invariably the Russian government supports regimes with those of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and formerly the socialist government of Cristina Kirchner
3) Support for Iranian expansion in Syria makes Russia a promoter and protector of Islamic terrorism.
Anyone who is aware of this, or who from now on will have and do not bother to support the Russian regime, I feel to say: you are in serious trouble. Supporting Russia will not be the lifeline of Armenia, or any country. That is why, while many opponents of the Islamic invasion admire Poland, at the same time they do not mention the fact that Poland rejects Russia as a corrupt and genocidal regime, as it really is!
Russia is as much an enemy of freedom as the Islamic State. I advise any patriot to stop giving praise to assassin Vladimir Putin. Because while they do this, he readily supports regimes like those of Venezuela, with which these same patriots do not agree.
Reality is not black and white, sorry.
The Poles have deep historical reasons to reject Russia, but if they don’t pay attention to shifting geopolitical alliances, they may lose out. EU detests the Polish direction.
And the endless beating of war drums against Putin make no sense, except to those running the Spectacle.
I agree with everything that you said. Russia has an empire and is only interested on keeping it. Not an easy task. USA is in a position of luxury. It wants war against Russia. The war will be waged from Europe, and Europe will win nothing from it. USA risks nothing.
Russia is not interested on occupying other countries. This is why we all must be pro-Russian. I do not know what is better. If Russia occupied all of Europe, the tens of millions of Africans wouldn’t be in Europe now. And they are planning to add another 200 million Africans to that number. White genocide full steam.
Poland better become reasonable and reconsider its blind enmity of Russia. It is working against Poland. USA friend is pushing for the colonization of Poland with barbarians, at par with London, Paris, Brussels.
Pretty much spot on, Ilia. I pine for the old Austro-Hungarian empire. Ain’t life weird?
..”Poland better become reasonable and reconsider its blind enmity of Russia.”…
Ilia..educate yourself on Poland-Russia historical relations..
First of all, Poland’s historical reasons cover its scourge under Communism, and the Russians’ refusal to accept that their empire is an empire of corpses. Now, you say that for Poland it is better to be off the agenda of the European Union; I agree! But that does not mean that Poland will have to join Russia. You read what I wrote, but you have not proven otherwise. Can you prove that an alliance with Russia is feasible in view of the issues I have listed? If not then it makes no difference what you are saying, for you are simply ignoring what I said to try to pass a politically correct view of Russia.
Ignoring the facts listed above is simply proving that to you a beneficial hypothetical alliance is better than losing to an enemy who has clear actions, and right address. Russia is undemocratic, anti-Western. It is as harmful as the European Union. The European Union still uses political force to bend the idiots who have joined it. Russia uses much more than this, it uses force, as it used in Georgia and Ukraine. No matter what kind of apology the pro-Russians gave you, invading a country for pretensions to “save” it from European globalists is a frenzy.
Defending the sovereignty of countries is to defend the fact that national decisions are not always for good. I am not in favor of Ukraine being part of the European Union, but also I am not in favor of Russia invading Ukraine, because I can not be a nationalist in fact advocating the breach of sovereignty of a country that does not follow my political tastes. I will emphasize what I said: prove that Russia is not like the issues later brought, and I will reconsider [maybe].
Listen, I am Czech. You don’t have to lecture me on the evils of the Soviet empire. I agree with everything you say, but all of eastern Europe will have to make a choice: either the EU komissars plus Islam, or Russia/China. It’s a bad choice. But you’ll have to choose, nevertheless. It sucks.
Strengthening the Visegrad 4 would be awful good to see… but I don’t see it yet.
Eastern Europe is in a difficult position, sandwiched between Russia in the east and EUSSR in the west. I pray for you.
..”Now, you say that for Poland it is better to be off the agenda of the European Union; I agree!”…
Resentment of EU start to surface in Poland and is growing by weeks..
We see EU and Bruxell as a political toll of Germans and Benelux countries to colonize economically CEE area..
Germans permanently interfere in Poland affairs…creating chaos and social disorder.. pitching Poles against Poles thru theirs paid and corrupted agents of influence in past Governments….
Max, politics is the art of acquiring and maintaining power. It has nothing to do with hatred or history. Today Russia has no designs at all towards Poland, except for the Polish paranoia. USA has plenty of use of you. They want to use you as cannon fodder in the war against Russia that they are planning. All the while, they want to mongrelize you like they did with Londonistan, Paristan, Brusselistan. Look at little Hungary. They already are allied with Russia because it is in their interest. They know that they cannot afford emotional stances in a moment when their very own existence is at stake.
Russia of course defends its own interests, like any other strong country, but if you are searching for Communists, look no further than the EU leadership.
Not only in the European Union, but also in Russia itself. Russia has reshaped its ideological vision, and the fact that it is always in common with countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, China, North Korea and Nicaragua proves that it still regards Communism as a valid road. You can not give the European Union the antidemocratic seal and turn a blind eye to Russia, which is as anti-Western as Brussels.
Be honest, and reflect on the above questions. But I already warn you: to prove that Russia is a good fit, you would have to prove that all the antidemocratic countries, all the terrorist groups with which it walks and that it is proven fact are beneficial for the freedom and the sovereignty of the nations in some way. I believe you will have a difficult day.
I think you stuck in Rambo movie from the 80’s. Russia more nationalist now. How can I believe in such change? Look at Hungary! We were once “Communists”. In reality it was a small minority calling itself “majority”. (Bolsheviks) I can see the change in Russia, which went down a similar path. Your argument has no merits, other than listing a bunch of country names, which all has very different historical paths. The fact that Venezuela still has Communist/socialist tendencies proves nothing of the guilt of Russians. They are the result of the Cultural Marxists (neo-Marxists) who undermined the western societies for decades independent from the Soviet union.
You would blame Edison for all the fires caused by electric light, by your reasoning.
Finally, some common sense. CrossWare, I enjoy your work on this site. Thank you.
Oh, get off China’s case. I lived there and liked it despite the problems, and I am glad to see Russia supporting it. The world is more complicated than a Risk game.
Right on !!
..”right on” was my response to Ronnie Peterson..
It’s very funny for me as a Pole to read what script you are writing here for Future of Poland…what a Prophetic capabilities you are showing..
You don’t know Us Poles at all ..
Your opinions (accept R.Peterson) are baseless..
what you say make no sense. Putin is an important supporter of Assad, while the rest of western world US/UK/FR have been tryed to destroy the country of Syria for meaningless motives like regime change. All arab “spring” revolts were supported by western countries. The biggest supporter of ISIS was not Russia, neither Assad, while Merkel,Uk,fr, eu,us all of them wanted Assad dead. Assad will be remembered as a national Hero, defensor of the Christians, and Russia was on the right side of this kaos artificially created by the west + israel + saudi kingdom. If one really wants to fight islam, he should at least not support isis and its mujahidin. But I do not think anymore of UK or FR that they really are on the same side of the truth.
Nice to hear the opinions from an alternative universe. You are welcome.
Russia has a very simple, cheap, powerful, peaceful means to solve all these problems, but they are too stupid to do it. Just open the Manych canal from low Don to Caspian, free flow. There is a 30 m level disparity between Azov and Caspian. That would sink Azerbaijan for good. That would widen Caspian enormously. It would inundate some Russian lands that are worthless anyway. Russia is not short of lands. The canal would be defensive, and the Caspian dominated by Iran and Russia. Also the other Central Asian countries would have some lands lost — mainly desert. The canal would be very important in defense. The whole enterprise would be also economically good.
There is something contradictory in the essay. First it claims:
“Russia needs Armenia far more than it will admit.”
And a few paragraphs later:
“However, Armenians know that Russia may go too far in accommodating Turkey and Azerbaijan and thereby betray Armenia.”
What sort of prospects will be enticing enough for Russia to betray Armenia, despite the deep need? I see a lot of factuals in the essay, but none of them seem to be good reasons for Russia to betray Armenia. And still no reason for West to support Armenia and protect it’s sovereignty. West is an affiliate of Turks and Armenia will be a “pawn” in the hands of West too. Sorry, that’s the problem when you are small.
I think this is just another puppet show. Looks like young Nikol will be inducted to power, wined and dined and bought, and things will get on just as before. The show is getting old. If the puppeteers can’t come up with anything better, I am ready to check into the local social media detox center.
At Author…
..” Turkey and Turkic/Muslim Azerbaijan who outnumber Armenians by 90 million people. This miracle is due to the tenacity of Armenia’s people and armed forces.”..
Are you serious ??
Why shouldn’t he be serious? Many people consider it a miracle that after the Armenian genocide by the Turks, that there is even an Armenia at all.
It is you, Max, who needs to adopt a more serious tone with your interlocutors. You can disagree with a statement and yet keep it civil.
..” This miracle is due to the tenacity of Armenia’s people and armed forces.”..
This part …Armenians “armed forces” against 90 milions Turkey as a NATO member..give me a break..
Dear Dymphna..I will remove myself for this site for some time. As I did in the past.
I will advise my Polish and Hungarian friends to do the same.
Your site become more and more one “sided ”
..You “westerners” have abilities to irk and antagonise people from CEE..All the best. Whatever that means for you..
This is especially for you Max – to warm your soul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PpfJUDGyBI
It must be maddening to read comments by people who have absolutely no idea what your country is all about and are clueless about its history. Yet they have all the answers. I also find it very insulting to be addressed as if you were sitting in a 2nd grade classroom.
The leaders of the genocide were not Turks. They were ‘Young Turks’, that is, they were newly arrived immigrants (from the Baltic countries) who had recently become Turks.
Similarly, in Australia, newly arrived immigrants were called ‘New Australians.
Yeah. Little Armenia is a very heroic country with a very heroic people. Russia does not play any role here!
“The current revolution is home-grown and purely Armenian. Outside powers — whether countries or organizations — neither initiated nor control the revolution.”
I found a bit hard to accept outright, but his wording is clever and misses out “influence, co-operate, co-ordinate with ” etc. ….
Anyway
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2018/05/armenias-velvet-revolution-rockers-and.html
You’ll notice the Union of Informed Citizens was initiated April this year.
is one of the first to question a bit… sure, it is conspiracy but any unproven allegation of influence can be labelled as that, or simply as investigative theory in normal parlance.
If anyone wants to go deeper, and I am no fan of the pot vs. kettle of US Russia type argument, Armenians ended up on everybody’s side in WW2 … expelled by Turkey they also in some numbers joined its ally Nazis, as well as supporting the Russian presence … sort of makes you wonder exactly what, not that I am here to judge. Here are essays from apologist vs. critical views on that… sometimes I think there must be some past reason available for anyone to argue with anyone in the region if they want to :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenische_Legion
http://www.ataa.org/reference/nazi-ozer.html
I am not aware of the Armenian positioning for survival post WWII, but it must have been fierce and factional. Survivors of genocide tend to be that.
The so-called Dashnag Armenians were murderous.
It was a very confused time in history, even the UK and US were sending mixed signals re. Germany, France re. Turkey etc. , so I guess people just placed their bets where they did ? ” Hindsight is a wonderful thing ” but the reality of what has occurred is fixed, only our interpretation of it may change, or if we are objective our understanding of it may be made more complete.
There is no denying that sentiment will defy logic, maybe for good reason, but biased logic is also sometimes used to manipulate sentiment.
So with Armenia for example we have the theme of genocide being “played” in various ways… some deny it, or lay the blame beyond Turkey/ Islam, others say Armenians were part of it, specifically re. Jews, etc.
Frankly, the western psyche is too vulnerable in this respect in that genocide has become THE unspoken theme, the subconscious current used to symbolise all that occured that was unsavoury. This is clearly wrong, is unbalanced, and at worst is being used as a cover for other mistakes, as well as being a fuel for new ones. The balance of reason cannot hinge on that reality only, using it as the ultimate example, because it is no example at all of how any event should unfold, and there are countless unrelated ways to be wary of where the outcome may be just as catastrophic – we cannot always be looking in just one direction.
🙁
but the reality of what has occurred is fixed, only our interpretation of it may change, or if we are objective our understanding of it may be made more complete.
Once sub-atomic reality became (partially) understood, we can no longer see the past as “fixed”. And “objectivity” is no longer possible either. The best we can do is to tease out our own blind spots.
Or, as Heraclitus said (more or less) all is flux. Never was that truer than in our compilations of “history”.
That is subjective 🙂 .
A problem with people is they often fail to recognise that anything exists without their witnessing or participating in it themselves in some way. That could be interpreted as ego, or the limit of a persons ability to interpret what reality is…how could a person know more?
Inevitably their perception of what anything means is biased as per their own make up, whether you want to call that culture, biology, religion, schooling, past experience etc.
So from birth we tend to go from being open to anything and everything without a question to disturb us, to forming a complex baggage of interpretation and position that seems like the road to some kind of realisation.
Except that we be as little children, or being nothing as to be everything come to mind as illustrative of the paradigm.
This is where Islam fails, it asks for submission ( so inadvertently emphasising the self) instead of encouraging selfless reunion as maybe more enlightened religions do.
Anyway, modern western society seems more focused on celebrating the self, which is no crime as long as it doesn’t try to fit everyone into an optimal straightjacket for the sake of equality of experience, or is not done at the detriment or suffering of others.
Who knows, it is an own story we write as we walk through life, to pretend that we can skip to the end by copying what someone else has written just shows we are short of ideas, not content with our own script, or most likely afraid of ourselves or the immediate responsibility and vastness that goes with complete freedom.
Doesn’t mean we can’t learn from what others have written either though, I just think any path has to be lived and so cannot be written beforehand, even if we were to agree that the future can only be what it will.
Is it subjective or intersubjective?
When you say So from birth we tend to go from being open to anything and everything without a question to disturb us it makes me wonder how much experience you’ve had with newborns or other babies. Neonates have an instinctive fear of falling, and babies don’t like disruptions or anything strange they’ve not encountered before. The young are inherently conservative because they “realize” how dependent they are.
Re: Ilia Toli
..”Max, politics is the art of acquiring and maintaining power”..False and baseless statement
..”maintaining power. It has nothing to do with hatred or history. Today Russia has no designs at all towards Poland, ..false and baseless statement
..”except for the Polish paranoia”..False and highly offensive statement toward Poles and Poland..Just surprise “Baron” allow to appear..
..”USA has plenty of use of you. They want to use you as cannon fodder ”
Etc,etc..there is no point for me to participate in your derogatory rhetoric’s and Communist propaganda dialectics..
You manage to alienated yourself with me on this site..ende..
For your own sake and for ours, [take a sober view of the facts], Max. We that participated on those anticommunist revolutions in Eastern Europe, all came out intoxicated and with impaired ability to assess reality. It took years for me to come out of the mania that those revolutions leave you with.
So often in real life former friends become enemies and former enemies become friends. No hard feelings, just politics. You are in a junction that you cannot afford the luxury to look at the world like you do.
The author’s patriotic attitudes are understandable. But the tendency to blame any and all of the surrounding peoples, countries, circumstances for your own faults – in short, the victim mentality – is a typical Asiatic/East European feature. Armenians, Georgians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Roma people.. name it – all tend to reject any historical responsibility and consider themselves immaculate (while their neighbours or the stronger Empires that overpowered them in certain periods are the devil himself). Such mentality may indeed have something to do with the paradoxal Muslim self-perception as superhuman chosen race and eternal victims and losers at the same time.
So,IMHO, Armenians should not blame Russia for their own mentality. The same tribal structure of society with clans hostile of each other (the “Karabakh clan” versus the “Erevan clan”), with resulting oligarchy, nepotism, corruption, disrespect of laws and rules is found throughout Asian nations, irrespective of their religion and (generally) of their race. Who thinks this is an exaggeration should just remember the Armenian Parliament shooting in 1999 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_parliament_shooting). With Muslims you just find more sectarian violence added here and there. What you see in poor Armenia or Georgia (or Bangladesh) you can also find in rich Kuwait or Saudia…
Finally, nobody can (and nobody should try to) ignore geography, ethnology and history when analysing the present and the future of certain peoples, states etc. The prospects of the Maldives are different from those of Malta or those of Isle of Man (unless the latter decides for some reasons to import an overwhelming majority of Maldiveans)…
P.S. Not to seem unfair and too critical towards Armenians (whom I respect for their suffering in the Genocide and for a number of brilliant persons they gave to the world), what I mentioned about Armenia or Georgia may be seen in the eastern and southern Euromembers as well. Bulgaria, Greece etc – we are not immune, just remember the Greek farmers “planting” plastic orange trees to get subsidies like for real orchard. Or – in a darker hue – the series of gang shootings and explosions in Bulgaria, when dozens of millionaires (and at leas one billionaire, Ilia Pavlov) from the criminal world were exterminated in a “gang war” that saw even a former Prime Minister killed in front of his home. Or – the recent murder of an investigating journalist in Slovakia, when he learnt too much regarding the Italian mafia links with Slovak underground world.
A question for T. Ross (“…… is a typical Asiatic/East European feature”):
Where does Asia begin and end? Does this “tendency to blame …..” also apply, in your opinion, to Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, for example?
“Western bloc” which topples secular leaders like Gaddafi and Assad so that Islamists can take over… Western bloc which opens its borders to every runaway from the Middle East and Africa… Western bloc which does not even protect its own young girls from being raped by Muslims… Western bloc which takes in Libyans, trains them in terrorism, sends them to go fight, and doesn’t blink when they murder their “countrymen”. I live in this Western bloc, I can’t see any reason to care about whether it can tug Armenia away from Russia when the same people doing so see me as an undesirable because I oppose their madness.
Maybe GOV should do an article about just why it is we should identify with our leaders in the Western bloc.
This reads like a typical anti-Russian hit-piece that could almost been written by a Western socialist globalist. Shame on Gates of Vienna for publishing it. The “Russians” whom the writer blames for abetting Turkey in the massacre of the Armenian people were Bolsheviks (with a ruling clique of Jews) who largely hated the Russian people and certainly had no time for Russian culture of tradition, particularly Russian Christianity. Christian Russia, by contrast, has always been an ally and defender of Christian Armenia. The writer must be aware of this and his failure to mention it is disingenuous to say the least.
I think that for reasons of clarity, it’s a good idea to at least give the name of the person to whom one is addressing a comment.
“This reads like a typical anti-Russian hit-piece” writes Emmet Sweeney. What reads like this? No1’s immediately preceding comment?
Why Armenia Matters
Armenia is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) continuously Christian Country and one of the world’s oldest centers of civilization. The prototypes of Europe’s greatest cathedrals originated in Armenia. Its bitter experience enduring the Islamic hordes that have repeatedly crossed her borders is rather instructive all alone.
The Armenian genocide could fill volumes by itself. That it drew so little global attention set the stage for far worse. I need not quote Hitler’s own infamous dismissal of the Armenian genocide.
Equally informative is the immense difficulty that Armenia is experiencing as it continues to emerge from the shadow of Soviet Communist occupation. Any country currently enjoying Russian largess, may wish to scrutinize Armenia’s recent past.
However tragic, Armenia is a historical catalogue of what the Middle East doles out to landlocked Christian nations. All of this becomes even more poignant when you consider what the Armenian empire looked like in its prime.
Armenia is a “canary in the coal mine for that region”. Bracketed by Muslim Majority countries (especially Turkey), the nation is a bellwether for Ottoman expansion.
That’s why Armenia matters.