V.H. Apelian's Blog

V.H. Apelian's Blog

Monday, November 9, 2020

Norayr Eblighatian: Diaspora and its Extensions


Norayr Eblighatian penned the attached on his Facebook page today, November 9, 2020 and titled it “Turkish Integrated Diaspora and its Extensions”. It behooves us to be cognizant of the new dynamics.

“Know your enemy and know yourself” Sun Tzu

Lately a day does not go by without hearing about attacks on demonstrators and ‘hunts’ for Armenians. It seems that we have not taken notice of a growing presence of the Turkish Diaspora.

* Traditionally, a Turkish presence in Europe is thought of as economic migrants leaving Anatolia and working in Western Europe, especially in Germany (after WWII). These numbers are rough estimates but are quite impressive:

- Germany: 6+ million (population 83 million) or approximately 7+% of the country.

- France: 1+ million (population 67 million) or approximately 1.5+% of the country.

- Netherlands: 0.5+ million (population 18 million) or approximately 2.8+% of the country.

- Austria: 0.5+ million (population 9 million) or approximately 5.5+% of the country.

Of course, these numbers are not reliable as Europeans can count Kurds as Turks, but nevertheless the numbers are there.

* Aside from economic migrants, there are also the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the Balkans and Turkey has made significant effort of reclaiming them as ‘Turks’ before they go native and are assimilated. In the Middle East, the example of the Turkmen during the Syrian civil war and the Turkish sentiment reawakening in Northern Lebanon (Tripoli) are well documented.

* The Turkish Diaspora is also organized and integrated with Turkey.

- One of the interesting tidbits of information is the latest attempt by France to scrap a 1977 agreement of imam (and teacher) exchange program. The date is significant as the West tried repeatedly to push Turkey and Moslems to fight against the Soviet Union. Afghanistan is a relatively newer example and one can go all the way back to the Korean War where a Turkish Army infantry brigade fought against North Korea in the early 1950s.

- Another indicator is the attempt to ban the ‘grey wolves’ organization in France and Germany. The Kurdish Diaspora has worked for years to ban the grey wolves, but has not been successful yet.

* Visualizing the Turkish Diaspora, one can see three concentric circles:

1. The Diaspora of Turks leaving Anatolia for economic reasons and the Diaspora left from the Ottoman Empire.

2. The ‘Turkic nations’ with the Ottomans or Turkey as the center or leader. PanTuranism has its roots in the ‘Great Game’ during the 19th and 20thcenturies. It was encouraged by the West in its confrontation with the Russian empire. While the Great Game is officially over, other variants still exist. But the crucial issue is that PanTuranism is not dead. It gets resurrected when the opportunity arises and is put to use.

3. Pan-Islamism with the Caliphate moving to Istanbul and being exploited by the Turks. The latest alliance of Turkey and Pakistan against Artsakh is an example of this.

* The key inference from all the above is that the Armenian Diaspora, which we consider a center of strength, is being challenged by another Diaspora.

- How are we going to reorganize and become more efficient in light of the war in Artsakh?

- How are we going to face the challenge of the Turkish Diaspora?

- How are we going to upgrade the interrelationship between the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora. Clearly, it is beyond the setup of a ministry or the office of a High Commissioner. Nor is it an issue of personalities. Eventually it will encompass all the structures that our parents and previous generations erected in a cold war atmosphere.

* I will finish by a quote from Erdogan:

‘… (You) are our power outside the country […] For us you are not only emigrants, you are our strength in foreign countries… I would request you to make the best use of the power in your hands. I am expecting you to fill the ballots in Germany and in Europe to fill with your favor and determination.’

—Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan in a speech to German-Turkish citizens in the German city of Karlsruhe prior to the 2015 elections in Turkey.

Friday, November 6, 2020

REFLECTION: 270 vs. 268

Vahe H. Apelian

As of  late November 5, 2020, all but six states reported the results of the presidential election voting that has granted the challenger Biden 253 electoral votes  and the incumbent President Trump 214 electoral the votes. The states that have not reported their voting tally are the following: Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. Their electoral votes respectively are as follows: 3, 6,11, 20, 15, 16.  Biden is narrowly leading in Nevada and Arizona.

If Biden wins in NV and AZ, it means that 17 electoral votes will be added to his current 253 votes bringing him just to the finish line, and no more. There is a POWERFUL SYMBOLISM in that tally of the electoral votes, if it will come to pass. It means that both the winner and the loser stand just next to each other. Who scored a decisive win then ? It appears to me that the people. Having done what is their duty and responsibility to do to keep this form government continue on running its longest course in modern history, outliving all other governmental institutions for the past some 250 years. Those other governmental institutions could have kings, monarchs, tsars, dictators, comrade commissars, all were pushed into the dustbin of history as this institution rooted in “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” continued to govern with the consent of the governed.

Today Marie and I went to our regular medical appointments and then then went shopping in Lowes and bought a gas leaf blower on wheels. All we met in the doctors’ offices and in the hardware store were people who attended to us with a smile and did their jobs oblivious of the rest. The cars on the highways and streets were running as they usually do. The weather was nice. The stock market rallied today as follows: S&P 500 3443.44 +2.20%, DOW INDUSTRIALS 27847.66 +1.34%, NASDAQ COMPOSITE 11590.781 +3.85%

It occurred to me that a powerful statement was is being sent to the winner and to the loser and that statement was: do you jobs and move on, as the rest of us do our jobs and move on. Do not distract us the people with your unnecessary bravados or promises, as the everyday people do not boast how well they do the tasks assigned to them nor do they promise how well they will do since they are expected to give the job they apply their best. They just do it. Let the people do what they do best, attend to their jobs and provide the best of the services, and continue to quest for innovation and new technologies that were mostly born in the U.S. whether it is the dish washer or the iPhone . It is the people who have made and will continue to make what was meant for the United States of America be, a beacon among the nations. Attend to them with humility.

“Democracy’s sometimes messy. It sometimes required a little patience as well. But that patience has been rewarded for more than 240 years with a system of governance that’s been the envy of the world.” Said Joseph Biden.

The final results are expected to be in late today, Friday, November 6, 2020. A new phase in the peaceful transfer of power, the hallmark of the American democracy, may very well ensue this time around.

 

Friday, October 30, 2020

Dro in Aleppo (Part 2)

 Translated by Vahe H. Apelian

The attached is an excerpt from Antranig Zarougian’s book “The Greats and the Others” (Մեծերը եւ Միւսները) chapter “Arshavir Shiragian and Trasdamad Ganayan (Dro)” where Antranig Zarougian reminisced Dro visiting the city in 1948.  The article also sheds further light on Dro and also the one-time Armenian community in Aleppo. Antranig Zarougian, born in 1931, was a 27 years old young man at the time.


“ We have now engaged to have Dro like our city (Aleppo). This is my and Nshan’s domain. Like always Onneg, the third member of our trinity, should have been with us as well. But, at the insistence of Nshan we decided to exclude him this time around to punish him for “betraying” us over the volunteers’ issues. 

A car was put under Dro’s disposition with a driver. But, what a car!. There was no other car like it, not only in Aleppo, but also in Beirut. It was an American luxurious “Oldsmobile” that had all sort of whistles and bells no other in its model had. I remember one of its features I have not seen in a car since then. The speedometer changed color as the car sped and after a certain speed it turned red  visually alerting the driver for speeding. Mardiros Teghararian had bought the car from an American political personality returning home. A tragedy struck that car. At a turn on the road in the Bay of Jounieh, near the Casino de Liban, the car veered off course and plunged into the sea drowning Mardiros and his wife.

We have designated  Sahag (Nalbandian) from Nor Kuygh, as the driver. He was the more presentable and energetic among our ungers who also could act as a bodyguard. Fate would have it that years later Sahag became a victim of  the tragic turn events that  affected the Syrian Armenian community. His body was presented to his family in a sealed casket that was not allowed to be opened to spare the family members the sight of his tortured body. 

We have put together a weeklong program. There was going to be a speech in Nor Kyugh (the Bourj Hamoud of Aleppo) so that the ungers would get to meet Dro, a few banquets, a stroll through the Armenian neighborhoods, a visit to the  famed citadel of Aleppo where there was going to be a surprise for him.

The admission to the citadel was free. A written permission from the antiquities department was all that was required to enter in and go around, alone or with company. There was a detachment of soldiers in the castle, where they also lived but had no commission and did not bother the visitors. There were a dozen or so Armenians in that detachment. They were salaried soldiers in the French army much like the rest of Arabs. Among those Armenian soldiers,  corporal Armen Apkarian, upon my proposal, had arranged with his commanding officer to receive Dro with military honor. When Armen conveyed the news to me, he also said:

- Our commanding officer is very much enthused and gave us the necessary orders when I told him that the visiting dignitary Dro is the Armenian Ibrahim Hananu, but you should have Dro visiting before noon.

Hananu is an Aleppo Arab nationalist and has a statue in Aleppo. 

There is a bridge over the wide military ditch around the citadel that leads to the main entrance. The soldiers were lined up on the bridge and stood in attention with their rifles receiving the Armenian “general”. Dro passed in front of the lined-up soldiers with a solemnity of a minister and acknowledged them tilting his head and shook the hands of the commanding officer. Then he mingled with the soldiers as if they were long time comrades in arm. It was not only the Armenians soldiers, the Arab soldiers took a liking of Dro and followed us.

Against our surprise, Dro came up with a surprise of his own.

- Ask the commanding officer, if we can have sharp shooting contest.

The officer accepted it with pleasure and had six beer bottles placed some 25 to 30 steps away. The other contestant was decided. Apparently their best marksman.

Without losing time, Dro right away took a rifle,  examined it and fired three shots while standing. The three bottles disappeared from view.  The other took a long time to prepare himself, rested on the ground on one of his knees with his other foot behind and fired three shots but scored only once. The enthusiasm of the soldiers was indescribable. They shouted, “Long live the Armenian general” . The visit turned into a festive occasion . In two hours Dro had become the idol of the soldiers and their friends. The enthusiasm of the Armenian soldiers knew no bounds. They were happy. The whole brigade, as a crowd, accompanied us to the street and bid us farewell with applause and hurrahs. It’s fair to note that they were soldiers by name only they could only be distinguished from a civilian crowd by their attire and red berets. In order to secure a salary, they had registered as soldiers and the French seemed not have been interested to mold them into soldiers.

There was an amazing trait in Dro’s personality. Warmth emanated from him and right away captivated his entourage wherever he was.

*****

The week was over. There was nothing else left for Dro in Aleppo. He was to return to Beirut the following day. We were returning after a lunch in a local restaurant.

- Is there a store that sells good quality watches? Dro asked.

The car stopped in front of Levon Babigian’s store. It was Aleppo’s finest store for watches.  Do entered and asked.

- I want a men’s watch. The best quality and the most expensive.

Levon showed him the best watch he carried in the store. It was a Zenith. It cost 250 Syrian Liras. Because the watch was for Dro, he made a large discount and erased the price marked on the box. Dro took the watch leaving the box behind.

It might be a present to his son Mardig, I thought. But as soon as we entered the car, he grabbed Sahag’s arm and placed the watch on his wrist, saying.

- You refused my money but you cannot refuse Dro’s gift.

It turned out that a few times Dro had attempted to give him money but Sahag had adamantly refused him.  Dro had found this to be best way to show his appreciation.

Note: To be continued   

 



 

Thursday, October 22, 2020

What Does the Turkish Media Say?

 Levon Sharoyan from a Aleppo posted the piece below on his Facebook page today (10/22/2020) titling it “WE WILL VANQUISH THE THIEVISH ARMENIA.” The original text is reproduced below.

Բնագիրը կցուած է։


Since the first day of this terrible Turanian war that was unleashed against Artsakh and Armenia, for more than three weeks now, I have been following dozens of Turkish stations, day by day. All of them, without exception, simply spread poison and HATRED against the ARMENIAN PEOPLE.

 These stations invite, for hours on end, university professors, high-ranking former officers, retired diplomats, journalists, analysts, party and public figures, "specialists" on Armenian affairs, etc., etc.,  who respond with an astonishing unanimity and with an effortless consistency echo the official view of the Turkish state that  "Armenia is an occupier country and must return Karabakh to Azerbaijan." There is no deviation from this theme and no dissenting opinion. 

The 80 million population of Turkey listens to these stations and swallows what is presented to them day after day; surely appropriating  the following without further ado, that:

      Throughout history, Armenia has always been an occupier and pre-emptive country.

      Yerevan is Turkish land. At the beginning of the last century, the majority of the population of Yerevan was Turkish Muslim.

      In the 1990s, Armenians carried out horrific massacres of innocent Azeri citizens in Khojaly (Azerbaijan) and went unpunished.

      Armenians not only deported the natives of Karabakh, the Azeris, but also committed a cultural genocide there.

      How dare a poor Armenia, with a population of one and a half million attack neighboring Azerbaijan? The Russians are behind the Armenians

      The state of Armenia is a bandit government. It must be taught such a lesson that it is vanished from the region. We must vanquish the thievish Armenia.

      We negotiated with them for thirty years. The knife cut to the bone. Our Azeri brothers will liberate their ancestral lands and have the red crescent flag fly over them.

      The Armenians make a wild nation. In this region, Armenia is a hotbed of instability and hostility.

      By continually hitting Armenia on the head, Karabakh will be taken away from its hands.

      “Zangezur” is Turkish land. It is necessary to take quick steps to have it as a land bridge between Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan

      It is necessary to restrain the spoiled Armenia. With the support of the West, it has become a plague for the Turkish-speaking peoples of the region.

      The Azeri army did not bomb urban settlements at all. The civilized tradition of the Turkish nation forbids us to do such a thing.  Meanwhile, Armenians continue targeting cities and their innocent residents.

      Pashinyan has become a pathetic figure. To cover up his defeat, he makes statements against Turkey using the myth of "genocide".

      Turkey is with its Azeri brothers to the last point, both on the front line and at the negotiating table.

These many quotes, I think, give an idea of the kind of enemy the Armenian army is fighting.

Has anything changed since the days of Abdul Hamid and Talaat?

 

 

 

«ՊԻՏԻ ԶԳԵՏՆԵ՛ՆՔ ԱՒԱԶԱԿԱԲԱՐՈՅ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԸ»…

Արցախի ու Հայաստանի դէմ շղթայազերծուած թուրանական այս սարսափազդու պատերազմի առաջին օրէն իվեր ,- արդէն աւելի քան երեք շաբաթէ ասդին,- օրը-օրին կը հետեւիմ Թուրքիոյ պատկերասփիւռի տասնեակ կայաններու, որոնք խօսքը մէկ ըրած (ու առանց ո՛րեւէ բացառութեան) ուղղակի թոյն ու ատելութիւն կը տեղացնեն ՀԱՅ ԺՈՂՈՎՈՒՐԴԻ գլխուն։ Այս կայանները, երկա՜ր ժամեր, կը հիւրընկալեն համալսարանի դասախօսներ, բարձրաստիճան նախկին սպաներ, հանգստեան կոչուած դիւանագէտներ, լրագրողներ, վերլուծաբաններ, կուսակցական ու հանրային գործիչներ, հայկական հարցերու «մասնագէտ»ներ եւայլն, եւայլն, որոնք ապշեցուցիչ միասնութեամբ մը ու անձանձրոյթ հետեւողականութեամբ արձագանգ կը հանդիսանան թուրք պետութեան պաշտօնական տեսակէտին, որ է՝ «Հայաստան բռնագրաւիչ երկիր է ու անպայման պէտք է Ատրպէյճանի վերադարձնէ Ղարաբաղը»։ Այս գաղափարէն ո՛չ մէկ շեղում, ո՛չ մէկ այլախոհ կարծիք։

Թուրքիոյ 80 միլիոն բնակչութիւնը օրն ի բուն կը լսէ եւ կուլ կու տայ իրեն հրամցուած հետեւեալ «տուեալներ»-ը, անշուշտ՝ իւրացնելով զանոնք առանց այլեւայլի.

-Հայաստան, ամբողջ պատմութեան ընթացքին, միշտ եղած է բռնագրաւիչ ու նախայարձակ երկիր մը։

-Երեւանը թրքական հող է։ Անցեալ դարու սկիզբը Երեւանի բնակչութեան մեծամասնութիւնը թուրք մահմետական էր։ 

-1990-ական թուականներուն հայերը Խոջալուի մէջ (Ատրպէյճան) ահաւոր սպանդներ գործեցին ազերի անմեղ քաղաքացիներու դէմ եւ անպատիժ մնացին։

-Հայերը ո՛չ միայն բռնագաղթի ենթարկեցին Ղարաբաղի բնիկները՝ ազերիները, այլեւ մշակութային ցեղասպանութիւն մը ի գործ դրին այնտեղ…։

-Մէկուկէս միլիոն բնակչութիւն ունեցող աղքատ Հայաստան մը ի՜նչ համարձակութեամբ կը յարձակի հարեւան Ատրպէյճանի վրայ։ Հայերու ետին՝ ռուսերը կանգնած են։

-Հայաստանի պետութիւնը աւազակային իշխանութիւն մըն է։ Անոր դասը պէտք է տալ այնպիսի ձեւով մը՝ որ ա՛լ վերանայ մէջտեղէն։ Պիտի զգետնե՛նք աւազակաբարոյ Հայաստանը։

-Երեսուն տարի բանակցութիւններով լոլոզեցին մեզ։ Ա՛լ դանակը ոսկորին հասաւ։ Մեր ազերի եղբայրները պիտի ազատագրեն իրենց պապենական հողերը ու անոնց վերեւ պիտի փողփողի   կարմիր դրօշը…։

-Հայերը վայրենի ազգ են։ Այս հողատարածքին մէջ՝ Հայաստան անկայունութեան եւ թշնամանքի օճախ մըն է։

- Հայաստանի գլխուն զարնելով-զարնելով՝ Ղարաբաղը պիտի առնուի անոր ձեռքէն։

-«Զանգեզուր»ը թրքական հող է։ Անհրաժեշտ է արագ քայլեր առնել՝ Նախիջեւանի ու Ատրպէյճանի միջեւ հողային կամուրջ մը ունենալու համար։ 

-Պէտք է սանձել շփացած Հայաստանը, որ Արեւմուտքի օժանդակութեամբ՝ շրջանի թրքացեղ ժողովուրդներուն համար պատուհաս դարձած է։

-Ազերի բանակը բացարձակապէս քաղաքային բնակավայրեր չի ռմբակոծեր։ Թուրք ազգին քաղաքակիրթ աւանդութիւնը կ՛արգիլէ ատիկա մեզի։ Մինչդեռ հայերը շարունակ թիրախ կը դարձնեն քաղաքներն ու անմեղ բնակիչները։

-Փաշինեան «փերիշան» դարձած է։ Իր պարտութիւնը քողարկելու համար՝ Թուրքիոյ դէմ յայտարարութիւններ կ՛ընէ, «ցեղասպանութեան» առասպելը կը հոլովէ։

-Թուրքիա մինչեւ վերջին կէտ՝ իր ազերի եղբայրներուն կողքին է, թէ՛ ռազմաճակատի վրայ, թէ՛ ալ բանակցութեանց սեղանին շուրջ։

Այսքան մէջբերում, կը խորհիմ, գաղափար մը կու տայ՝ թէ ինչպիսի թշնամիի մը դէմ կը կռուի հայոց բանակը։

Բան մը փոխուա՞ծ է Ապտիւլ Համիտի ու Թալէաթի օրերէն ասդին։

Լ. ՇԱՌՈՅԵԱՆ

 

Monday, October 12, 2020

Antranig Chalabian: “Armenia After the Coming of Islam”

Vahe H. Apelian

“Armenia After the Coming of Islam” is Dr. Antranig Chalabian’s third of the four books he wrote, excluding a booklet titled “Emperors, Tsars and Commisars”.  It was followed by his last book “Dro” in Armenian, which was also translated by his son Jack, a psychiatrist, into English and was published a few years later. Preceding it were his two other books “General Antranig and the Armenian Revolutionary Movment” (in Armenian and in English) and “Revolutionary Figures” in Armenian which the late Dr.Arra Avakian translated into English.

“Armenia After the Coming of Islam” book had two publications. It was first published in 1999, in Southfield, MI. The copy I have is a personalized copy. He was my maternal uncle.  He notes that “this book is about Arabic, Persian, Byzantaine Greek, Seljuk Turkish, Turkoman, Mongol-Tatar, and Ottoman Turkish history, all in conjunction with the ARMENIAN HISTORY”.

The book is 608 pages long. The main text comprises pages 27 to 552, followed by the EPILOGUE (pages 555-561), BIBLIOGRAPHY (565-574), the INDEX (577 to 607), listing on a bi-columnar format the names of places, events and personalities who shaped the era. The book contains 10 maps all painstakingly drawn by him. Dr. Antranig Chalabian was also a cartographer, calligrapher and a reputed medical illustrator having illustrated a few medical book all by himself. He also did the graphical illustrations of research papers and academic thesis. He did the graphical illustration of my Master of Science thesis.

The text is divided it two parts, Part I and Part II. I have listed the chapters in each part and the number of sub-chapters in each to shed light on the extent of the historical coverage made easy and lively to read for the average reader who harbors an interest in the post Christian Armenian history most of which was under Islamic rule.

PART I

CHAPTER 1 -        RELIGION IS BORN ( pages 27-42, 7 sub-chapters.)

CHAPTER 2 -    ARMENIANS PAYS A HIGH PRICE FOR NOT ADOPTING ISLAM (pages 47-63, 6 sub-chapters).

CHAPTER 3  -     THE BAGRATID DYNASTY ( pages 69-83, 10 sub chapters)

CHAPTER 4  -      THE SELJUK (SELJUKID) TURKS ( pages 89-015, sub chapters)

CHAPTER 5  - THE SELJUKS RETURN TO ARMENIA (pages 109-129 sub chapters)

CHAPTER 6  -     AREMNIANS IN THE SERVICE OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE ( pages 133-1893, 4 sub chapters)

CHAPTER 7 -      THE ARMENIAN PRINCIPALITY OF CILICIA (pages 157-189, 15 sub chapters)

CHAPTER 8 -      THE KINGDOM OE CILICIA ARMENIA ( pages 197 – 219, 9 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 9 -  THE HARASSMENT OF CILICIAN ARMENIA BY THE MEMLUKS OF EGYPT (237-243, 7 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 10 -    CILICIAN ARMENIA RULED BY FRENCH ARMANIAN KINGS (pages 249-275, 12 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 11 - LITERATURE, EDUCATION, AND ARTS DURING THE CILICIAN PERIOD (pages 279-299, 3 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 12 -    THE STIPULATION OF THE EASTERN PROVINCES (pages 303-309, 5 sub-chapters)

PART II

CHAPTER 13 -ARMENIA UNDER MONGOL-TURKOMAN-TURKISH RULE (pages 327-338, 6 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 14 -   THE FALL OF CONSTANTINIPLE (pages 343-364, 7 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 15 - ARMENIA DEVASTATED BY OTHER PEOPLES WARS (pages 369-372, 3 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 16 - THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE REACHES THE PINNACLE OF ITS POWER (pages 383-403, 8 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER17 -     THE DECLINE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (pages 407-440, 15 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 18 -   A LULL IN THE TURKO-PERSIAN WARS GIVES RESPITE TO THE ARMENIANS (pages 447-481, 11 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 19 - ARMENIAN LIBERATION ATTEMPTS DURING THE DARK AGES (491-511, 10 sub-chapters)

CHAPTER 20 -  ARMENIANS SHIFT THEIR FOCUS FOR LIBERATION FROM EUROPE TO THEIR NEIGHBORS RUSSIA AND GEORGIA (pages 519-549, 4 sub-chapters).


Hopefully the listing of the chapters and their sub-chapters shed light on that extent of that crucial era in the Armenian history under Islamic rule, the book covers. As noted earlier, the maps and the pictures included in the book make for lively, informative, and interesting reading. The book is primarily for readers in the west, notably on the north American continent. 

The author, Dr. Antranig Chalabian, ends the introduction of his book as follows: “The Armenian nation survived approximately a millennium-and-a-half of Muslim oppression, exploitation, and atrocities. With patience and faith in our cause and national heritage we bore our cross and pulled through all sorts of trials and tribulations during the centuries. Shall we give up the struggle and forget our past, simply because we are better-off economically and no one is persecuting us here for our Christian faith and national aspirations? If we do that, we will make our enemies happy and serve their cause, which is the obliteration of the Armenian people from the surface of the earth.”

 

 

 

Friday, October 9, 2020

A Reflection: The Sad State of the Palestinian Cause

Vahe H. Apelian


Today I read in Yahoo news an article that saddened me. It is titled “A Saudi Prince Declares Independence From Old Obligations” by Zev Chafets, dated Friday, October 9, 2020. I have copied the text and attached it below. 

The first paragraph pretty much sums up the break-up. It reads: “This week, in a three-part series on government-controlled Al Arabiya television, Saudi Arabia served the Palestinian leadership with a writ of divorce and a stinging bill of particulars that explained the break-up. Delivered by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the country’s leading elder statesman, it brutally laid out the failures of Palestinian leaders going back more than 70 years. It also suggests the futility of present Palestinian policies and the grim future it will bring the people it is supposed to represent.”

This new development has come about because a new world order is in the making. A new world order has always been in the making throughout history. I subscribe to the notion that it’s not the leaders who make the emerging new world order by design but rather by incompetence to best address the configuration of the emerging events that are impacting the living. 

Surely this short note of concern is not meant to look back at the Palestinian cause but rather to invite the readers of my generation to recapture the turn of events that Palestinian cause experienced since it became prominent for my generation when the  Arab states surrounding Israel -  Jordan, Syria, Egypt  Lebanon -  waged  a war against Israel which came to be known as the Six-Days War or the June War because it was fought between 5 and 10 June 1967. The State of Israel was created some two decades earlier, when on “On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.” (Wikipedia).

After the death of the Palestinian legendary leader Yasser Arafat and for most of the past two decades the Palestinians have presented a deeply fragmented reality that any nation should avoid. On one end sits the Palestinian Authority aging leadership in the West Bank and at the other end in the densely populated Gaza Strip, intolerant to each other. 

A lesson to be learned for Armenians as well. Since the Turkish-Azeri blitzkrieg against Artsakh and Armenia on September 24 (2020), an unprecedented cohesion has come about among the Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and in the diaspora.  There is a widespread call for unity proclaiming that we all are one and politics have been set aside. Naturally it is a welcomed development but such an outcry for solidarity in fact obscures the fact that Armenians were in a state of war since the liberation of Artsakh. Presently Armenians are in a very decisive, if not in an existential phase of the state of the war.

The verse by the Armenian poet Charents, quoted often, reads:  “ Oh, Armenian people, your only salvation lies in the power of your unity”. I do not believe that the quote implies no opposition. Democracy does not entail the absence of opposition. On the contrary, democracy will not and cannot thrive and prevail without a healthy opposition. What marked the sad state of affairs in Armenia during the past thirty years, from which we profess to depart, hopefully for good, was not the presence of an opposition but rather in the manner the opposition  was conducted. An opposition that did not make sufficient room for reason to prevail but resorted to politicizing issues snatching them away from reason and confining it to politicking. 

Pachinyan led velvet revolution was a necessary correction and wake-up call from that sad reality. It was only after the revolution that I realized the extent of corruption that had taken place in plain view of the previous presidential administrations as evidenced by the theft of soldiers ration to have one of its prominent citizens Manvel Grigoryan feed them to his hungry bears caged next to his ill-gotten pricey cars he had been hoarding in his palatial house, not far from a similar house built for his son, also shutting down some of the  streets of the city of Etchmiadzin not to disturb their tranquility. Yes, the prevailing endemic state of corruption led Gagik Tsarugyan release live domestic animals to his caged tigers to devour for the spectators’ "amusement" and Robert Kocharyan, the one time president of the impoverished Armenia, and sons go to safari hunting wild animals and proudly stand next to the animals’ carcasses for a snap shot to be shown on social media. 

Vying for power is the natural order of things for any political party be in Armenia and the lack of an effective opposition leads to such excesses and abuses.  But governance as well as opposition need to be tolerant,  transparent and not corrupt. The lack of the latter led to the demise of the Palestinian cause making it a live lesson for study and for reflection for us Armenians as well.

The text

 

“This week, in a three-part series on government-controlled Al Arabiya television, Saudi Arabia served the Palestinian leadership with a writ of divorce and a stinging bill of particulars that explained the break-up. Delivered by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the country’s leading elder statesman, it brutally laid out the failures of Palestinian leaders going back more than 70 years. It also suggests the futility of present Palestinian policies and the grim future it will bring the people it is supposed to represent.

No Arab government has ever issued such a harsh public denunciation of the Palestinian movement. Bandar, a longtime former Saudi ambassador to Washington and former secretary general of the Saudi National Security Council is now a private citizen, but Israeli intelligence figures and other experts I asked with were in no doubt that he was speaking for the Palace and, more specifically, Crown Prince Muhammed ben Salman. Indeed, the director of the Crown Prince’s bureau, Badr Al-Asaker, publicly praised the series as “full of facts.”

Bandar spoke in Arabic, to make sure these facts reached every country in the region, with English subtitles for an international audience. He began by affirming Saudi support “for all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” and chronicled the ways in which his government has stood steadfast during decades of futility and regression. “The Palestinian cause is a just cause but its advocates are failures,” he said. “The Israeli cause is unjust but its advocates have proven to be successful.”

He begins with the first Palestinian advocate, the Mufti of Jerusalem. “Amin El Husseini in the 1930s was betting on the Nazi in Germany,” Bandar recalled. “He was recognized by Germany, Hitler and the Nazis for standing with them against the allies.” But Bandar notes that apart from Berlin radio broadcast recordings, his loyalty got him nothing and he did no good for the Palestinian cause.

Bandar goes on to mention a list of similar bad choices and decisions: The Arab rejection of the 1948 United Nations partition plan that would have given the Palestinians a state. The Arab League’s rejection of UN Resolution 242 after the 1967 War that called for an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories; and the Palestinian Liberation Organization rejection of the Clinton Plan in 2000 that would have given the Palestinians a state in most of the West Bank and Gaza.

The most interesting rejection came in 1979, at Camp David. Israel offered Palestinians autonomy in the occupied territories. Yasir Arafat, turned it down flat. Sixteen years later, Arafat signed the Oslo Accord with Israel. Bandar asked him at the time to compare that deal with the terms he had turned down 16 years earlier. Arafat said that the autonomy offer was “10 times better” than Oslo.

Bandar asked Arafat why, then, he rejected such a good deal at Camp David. Arafat replied, according to Bandar, that he wanted to sign but refrained because Hafez al Assad (then Syria dictator and father of the current Syrian dictator) threatened to kill him if he did. “I remember thinking at the time,” Bandar told his audience, “that he could have been one martyr and saved millions of Palestinians.”

The story is not only a slap at Arafat but the present leaders in Ramallah who practice a similar brand of negative diplomacy. “An opportunity comes and it is lost,” says Bandar. By the time the Palestinians come around to the idea it’s no longer on the table. Significantly, that is also so far true of the Palestinian rejection of the current American peace plan, which is modelled on modelled on the 1979 autonomy offer that Arafat rejected to his regret, although, given that hundreds of thousands Israelis now live in these territories, and Gaza and the West Bank are separated for now, the proposed size of the autonomy would be smaller.

Prince Bandar is candid about the reasons for his monologue. First, he wants a record of how hard the Saudis have worked on behalf of the Palestinians over the decades. Second, he intends to reassure the UAE and Bahrain, which are being vilified by the Palestinians for recognizing Israel -- and any other Arab country contemplating a similar step -- that the Saudis have their back.

Third, he is calling out the PLO and Hamas for making alliances with non-Arab countries Turkey and Iran, who the Saudis consider dangerous. He is signaling that the Saudis will deal only with a new generation of pragmatic, moderate and dependable Palestinian partners. About the current leaders, he is candid: “It is difficult to trust them and to do something for the Palestinian cause with them around.”

The prince, who posted all his words on social media, concludes with a declaration of independence from old obligations. “In my own personal opinion,” he says, “we are at a stage in which, rather than being concerned with how to face the Israeli challenges in order to serve the Palestinian cause, we have to pay attention to our national security and interests.” This is not, of course, simply Bandar’s personal opinion. It is the policy of the Saudi government that put him on the air for three days this week.

Israeli strategists have long shared this evaluation. They are hoping that the new Saudi position may move the Palestinians toward a more realistic view of their prospects.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Zev Chafets is a journalist and author of 14 books. He was a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the founding managing editor of the Jerusalem Report Magazine.

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Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Armenian Culture Month: Revering Translation

Vahe H. Apelian

It’s October, 2020, the Armenian culture month. The Azerbaijanis continue attacking relentlessly all along the Artsakh border. On Sunday, September 27, Azerbaijan, aided by Turkey, launched a surprise attack against our compatriots. The number of Armenian martyrs will continue to mount as the war drags on. Armenians all over the world are now engaged in a battle for existence, no less for maintaining our millennial old written and unwritten cherished culture.  Much is at stake. In the words of the eminent Armenian poet Baruyr Sevag, if we have ever conquered and prevailed it has been with our culture.

Feast of the Holy Translators (Sourp T'argmanchats Don, in Armenian: ՍուրբԹարգմանչաց տօն,) in celebration of translating  the bible into Armenian in 425. The feast takes place on the second Saturday in the month of October.

Perhaps no other nation acknowledges the importance of translating literary works and reveres translators more than the Armenians do. In fact, the Armenian Apostolic Church has canonized the fifth century Armenian translators who translated to Armenian the Bible and other relevant theological books right after St. Mesrob Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet. 

Archbishop Karekian Hovsepian designated the month of October as the Armenian culture month when he was the primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the United States from 1939 to 1944, having been elected the Catholicos of the Cilician See. He served in that capacity until his death in 1952. On August 14, 1942, the Archbishop Hovsepian issued an encyclical designating the month of October as Armenian culture month. Henceforth observing Armenian culture in month of October became an annual tradition.

Translation is a difficult art. There are many quotes about translation ranging from “translation is a sin” to ‘translation is the art of failure”. There is also the acknowledgment that “without translation we would be living in provinces bordering on silence”.

It is inevitable that a translated literary work to certain extent is a reflection of the translator however the translator attempts to remain true to the original text and translate it as verbatim as possible. Despite the fact that translation by its very nature is an imperfect art, but without transitions we will remain confined, if not trapped, in a literary or cultural cocoon of our own making.

Fifteen to sixteen centuries after the great Armenian translators, there is a growing need for translation. This time around translating Armenian literary works to other languages for the growing number of the Armenians who cannot read and write anymore in Armenian but feel the need to connect to the mainstream Armenian culture. In fact, without translating Armenian literary works, our cultural heritage is destined for oblivion.

Modern technology has given us a magical tool, the ability to have translate in any language. Nowadays, anyone can copy an Armenian text he or she does not understand and paste on a Google translation site and have a fairly accurate translation of the Armenian text in any language. We are much more empowered now to continue remaining connected to our culture than any other time in our history.

 Long live translation. Our Christian faith was strengthened and our literary culture started with translated work and will perpetuate by translating our literary cultural heritage.