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COMMENTARY: WHERE IS THE ENEMY?
By Edmond Y. Azadian
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2011/08/19/commentary-where-is-the-enemy/
Posted on August 19
When Alexander the Great - who was not yet great at the time -
inherited the throne from his father, Phillip II, the first thing
that he did was to distribute his entire wealth to the people. When
he was asked what was left to him after that act of generosity, he
answered with one word: "hope." And that hope gave him enough vision
and strength to conquer the old world.
This brings us to the days when Armenia gained independence 20
years ago. There was no power, no water, no bread, no heat, but the
population was full of anticipation, because there was hope. And hope
propelled the Armenians to win the Karabagh war and liberate Shushi.
Today the situation is almost reversed: the country enjoys 24 hours of
electricity a day; only some rural areas complain about the scarcity
of water; there is an abundance of bread, if one can afford to buy it
and Yerevan has become a bustling city alive with cafes, nightclubs
and casinos. Yet people are leaving in droves. Why?
Because there is no hope. It is almost ironic that people were
ready and willing to endure the hardships and continue holding on
to the land, yet today, in relative comfort, they are leaving the
homeland, which we had dreamed of for centuries. And if we dare to
ask the emigrants why they have decided to leave Armenia, the cynical
answer is ready: "We held on to the land and we suffered too much to
preserve the homeland for you. Now it's your turn to come and keep
the country alive."
The value system has turned upside down. During the Soviet period,
people were sent to Siberia as punishment, while today the Russian
government is inviting Armenian families to settle in Siberia as a
reward, by providing homes, jobs and citizenship.
During the Genocide, honorable Armenian women jumped to their deaths
in the Euphrates River, to avoid being raped by Turks. Today,
young Armenian women are crossing the same river into Turkey for
prostitution.
Recently, Prof. Gerard Libaridian published an in-depth article in
the Armenian press, sounding an alarm over the population decrease
in Armenia. It was titled "Appeal: Critical Moment in Armenian
History." It is no secret to anyone where Libaridian stands in the
administration-opposition equation. Hopefully, his alarm will not
be viewed within that context, because his voice comes from the
very depth of our history. His theory is that Armenians can survive
dictatorships, genocide, earthquake, war and any other calamity,
but they cannot survive after the depopulation of the homeland.
The precedents he has cited in his article are bitter, yet succinct.
The fall of the Bagratuni Kingdom was accelerated when the Arzunis
began a side show in Akhtamar, causing the depopulation of the
mainland. He also theorizes that the Genocide became a feasible option
for the Young Turks when the Armenian population was reduced into
minority status in historic Armenian provinces, while the self-defense
war in Vasbouragan was successful because Armenians were a majority
in that region, during World War I.
Today, with brain drain and depopulation, Armenia has reached
a critical point, after which it will not be able to sustain a
government nor defend its borders.
Of course, there are objective reasons for this ominous state
of affairs; Turkey and Azerbaijan are continuing their genocidal
policies in an entirely different form, by blockading Armenia into
economic strangulation and possible extinction. The Georgians are no
lesser enemies.
Recently Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili openly declared that
"Azerbaijan's enemy is our enemy." No one has any doubts that the
target of that announcement was Armenia.
These are our external enemies that cannot behave otherwise, based
on their own national self-interest. But we have internal enemies
who are more detrimental. Those are the very same people who have
created a caste of oligarchs to stifle Armenia's economy for their
own selfish interests.
When government functionaries - and even one minister - plundered
the help that was sent to Armenia for the destitute survivors of
the earthquake, we were all appalled by how much degeneration was
caused to the Armenian character by the Soviet rule. But the trend
continues. Recently, diasporan benefactor and businessman Vahakn
Hovnanian cited some examples in an interview. He says he tried to
get involved in the wheat business, but he received threats that
his wheat field would be burnt down before the harvest, although,
Armenia is a net importer of wheat.
He has tried to import timber from Russia, but his Russian counterparts
have even refused to deal with him, because timber is the monopoly
of certain oligarchs. He has encouraged some Diaspora Armenians to
do business in the homeland, but the government apparatchiks have
scared them away.
Any Armenian who has had business dealings can cite at least five or
more similar instances.
Any foreign investor seems to be at risk. The bodies of several foreign
nationals who were engaged in business were discovered in Armenia
and even before the police investigation, stories were planted in
the media about the characters of the assassinated people who were
not able to defend themselves any more.
The same hostile policy is applied against the local people.
Currently there is a huge controversy, pitting the mayor of Yerevan
against street vendors who have put up primitive structures to make
a living. And of course, they have paid exorbitant bribes to city
functionaries to get illegal permits to build those kiosks. Rather
than going after the corrupt functionaries, the mayor is evicting the
vendors, of course, for a good cause. Who does not wish Yerevan to be
beautiful? But before that, an answer must be found to the question:
who will feed the families of those vendors?
While oligarchs live in obscene opulence, the majority of the people
have to struggle for survival, and if they can find a way to secure
that survival in any other country, they will not hesitate for
one moment.
Even those still living in Armenia cannot contribute to the population
growth as indicated by a sociologist study. The statistics are as
follows: 68.3 percent of the families do not wish to have a child;
16.4 percent plan to have only one child and 13.6 percent have no
answer. Among the reasons cited, economy is rated first.
Citing a historic precedent, Libaridian writes: "Our numbers had
fallen below a certain threshold, to a level that had made Armenian
revolution against the state of the Ottoman Empire impossible and
successful self-defense against the Genocide by and large, hopeless.
...Nearly a century later, we may now be reaching a similar threshold
in the Republic of Armenia, where the decreasing level of population
closely linked to the unresolved conflicts with the neighbors that
is threatening the viability of the economy and national defense."
Turks, Azeris and Georgians are Armenia's enemies and they wish to
wipe out Armenia from the map. Armenians have withstood that pressure
for 20 years now, and maybe they can resist longer. But what about
the enemy within?
We cannot confront the enemy across the border without killing first
that enemy within.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Edmond Y. Azadian
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2011/08/19/commentary-where-is-the-enemy/
Posted on August 19
When Alexander the Great - who was not yet great at the time -
inherited the throne from his father, Phillip II, the first thing
that he did was to distribute his entire wealth to the people. When
he was asked what was left to him after that act of generosity, he
answered with one word: "hope." And that hope gave him enough vision
and strength to conquer the old world.
This brings us to the days when Armenia gained independence 20
years ago. There was no power, no water, no bread, no heat, but the
population was full of anticipation, because there was hope. And hope
propelled the Armenians to win the Karabagh war and liberate Shushi.
Today the situation is almost reversed: the country enjoys 24 hours of
electricity a day; only some rural areas complain about the scarcity
of water; there is an abundance of bread, if one can afford to buy it
and Yerevan has become a bustling city alive with cafes, nightclubs
and casinos. Yet people are leaving in droves. Why?
Because there is no hope. It is almost ironic that people were
ready and willing to endure the hardships and continue holding on
to the land, yet today, in relative comfort, they are leaving the
homeland, which we had dreamed of for centuries. And if we dare to
ask the emigrants why they have decided to leave Armenia, the cynical
answer is ready: "We held on to the land and we suffered too much to
preserve the homeland for you. Now it's your turn to come and keep
the country alive."
The value system has turned upside down. During the Soviet period,
people were sent to Siberia as punishment, while today the Russian
government is inviting Armenian families to settle in Siberia as a
reward, by providing homes, jobs and citizenship.
During the Genocide, honorable Armenian women jumped to their deaths
in the Euphrates River, to avoid being raped by Turks. Today,
young Armenian women are crossing the same river into Turkey for
prostitution.
Recently, Prof. Gerard Libaridian published an in-depth article in
the Armenian press, sounding an alarm over the population decrease
in Armenia. It was titled "Appeal: Critical Moment in Armenian
History." It is no secret to anyone where Libaridian stands in the
administration-opposition equation. Hopefully, his alarm will not
be viewed within that context, because his voice comes from the
very depth of our history. His theory is that Armenians can survive
dictatorships, genocide, earthquake, war and any other calamity,
but they cannot survive after the depopulation of the homeland.
The precedents he has cited in his article are bitter, yet succinct.
The fall of the Bagratuni Kingdom was accelerated when the Arzunis
began a side show in Akhtamar, causing the depopulation of the
mainland. He also theorizes that the Genocide became a feasible option
for the Young Turks when the Armenian population was reduced into
minority status in historic Armenian provinces, while the self-defense
war in Vasbouragan was successful because Armenians were a majority
in that region, during World War I.
Today, with brain drain and depopulation, Armenia has reached
a critical point, after which it will not be able to sustain a
government nor defend its borders.
Of course, there are objective reasons for this ominous state
of affairs; Turkey and Azerbaijan are continuing their genocidal
policies in an entirely different form, by blockading Armenia into
economic strangulation and possible extinction. The Georgians are no
lesser enemies.
Recently Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili openly declared that
"Azerbaijan's enemy is our enemy." No one has any doubts that the
target of that announcement was Armenia.
These are our external enemies that cannot behave otherwise, based
on their own national self-interest. But we have internal enemies
who are more detrimental. Those are the very same people who have
created a caste of oligarchs to stifle Armenia's economy for their
own selfish interests.
When government functionaries - and even one minister - plundered
the help that was sent to Armenia for the destitute survivors of
the earthquake, we were all appalled by how much degeneration was
caused to the Armenian character by the Soviet rule. But the trend
continues. Recently, diasporan benefactor and businessman Vahakn
Hovnanian cited some examples in an interview. He says he tried to
get involved in the wheat business, but he received threats that
his wheat field would be burnt down before the harvest, although,
Armenia is a net importer of wheat.
He has tried to import timber from Russia, but his Russian counterparts
have even refused to deal with him, because timber is the monopoly
of certain oligarchs. He has encouraged some Diaspora Armenians to
do business in the homeland, but the government apparatchiks have
scared them away.
Any Armenian who has had business dealings can cite at least five or
more similar instances.
Any foreign investor seems to be at risk. The bodies of several foreign
nationals who were engaged in business were discovered in Armenia
and even before the police investigation, stories were planted in
the media about the characters of the assassinated people who were
not able to defend themselves any more.
The same hostile policy is applied against the local people.
Currently there is a huge controversy, pitting the mayor of Yerevan
against street vendors who have put up primitive structures to make
a living. And of course, they have paid exorbitant bribes to city
functionaries to get illegal permits to build those kiosks. Rather
than going after the corrupt functionaries, the mayor is evicting the
vendors, of course, for a good cause. Who does not wish Yerevan to be
beautiful? But before that, an answer must be found to the question:
who will feed the families of those vendors?
While oligarchs live in obscene opulence, the majority of the people
have to struggle for survival, and if they can find a way to secure
that survival in any other country, they will not hesitate for
one moment.
Even those still living in Armenia cannot contribute to the population
growth as indicated by a sociologist study. The statistics are as
follows: 68.3 percent of the families do not wish to have a child;
16.4 percent plan to have only one child and 13.6 percent have no
answer. Among the reasons cited, economy is rated first.
Citing a historic precedent, Libaridian writes: "Our numbers had
fallen below a certain threshold, to a level that had made Armenian
revolution against the state of the Ottoman Empire impossible and
successful self-defense against the Genocide by and large, hopeless.
...Nearly a century later, we may now be reaching a similar threshold
in the Republic of Armenia, where the decreasing level of population
closely linked to the unresolved conflicts with the neighbors that
is threatening the viability of the economy and national defense."
Turks, Azeris and Georgians are Armenia's enemies and they wish to
wipe out Armenia from the map. Armenians have withstood that pressure
for 20 years now, and maybe they can resist longer. But what about
the enemy within?
We cannot confront the enemy across the border without killing first
that enemy within.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress