Vaհe H Apelian
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| Armenian presidents Serzh Sargsyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharian. meeting Turkish presidents Abdullah Gul, Suleyman Demirel |
Armenia commemorates the Armenian Genocide on April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, which is a non-working holiday.
I cannot tell whether the self-appointed Armenian righteous opposition in the National Assemby mistrusts the citizens, or is engaged in enraging or amusing Erdogan or attempted to shoot themselves at their feet, by introducing a bill that would criminalize the denial of the Armenian genocide for the citizens of Armenia. After all, it is their leaders, first and foremost, who should be held legally accountable for forgoing the Armenian genocide when they were the presidents of Armenia and set forth a political process that is being carried to this day. Recognition, restitution, reparation of genocide and historical Armenian lands do not factor in the foreign policy of Armenia.
But that is Armenian politics and all political is local. The Armenian citizens will have to sort it, one way or another. But what is disturbing is the Armenian pundits bringing politics in Armenia onto the Diaspora.
At the cost of repeating myself, it is about the latter that I will address in the manner Jirair Tutunjian addressed while attempting to come across cool, humorous, if not sarcastic.
Yesterday, I read Jirair Tutunjian’s fictional article in Keghart.com titling “Pollyanna Pashinyan”. Pollyana means someone who is excessively cheerful when the person does not have much going for to be so cheerful, especially for Armenians, let alone Armenian leaders, especially Nikol Pashinyan, according to Jirair Tutunjian.
“It is self-evident", Dr. Albert Apelian wrote in his "The Antiochians" novel, that "truth must prevail, or we shall all perish! And the truth is to be found everywhere, even in the pages of a work of fiction.” Indeed, the truth is to be found even in humor and sarcasm and that is what, let us face it, Jirair Tutunjian attempted to do, so will I.
Jirair Tutunjian wrote that “A source close to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s inner cabinet lent to us a copy of the speech Mr. Pashinyan will deliver to the nation next week.” In the copy of Nikol Pashinyan’s speech Jirair has been privy, he highlighted the following statement Nikol Pashinyan will deliver to NA, saying: “I am happy to report to you that I plan to reduce our defense spending from 665 billion drams a year to 563 billion drams. In dollars that’s down to $1.47 billion. We will also reduce compulsory military service from two years to 18 months.”
In order not to offend any Armenian, I was not going to divulge what my trusted source I cannot name, had told me some 10 days ago. Also, I had thought it is fair that I withhold the information trusted to me because I cannot point divulge the source. Jirair Tutunjian is a journalist, and an editor. After reading his report, I told myself if its good enough for him to report from his unnamed sources, it should be good enough for me to report what my unnamed sources told me, sort of the saying, “what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander.”
My trusted source, as I have noted that I cannot name, told me that sometimes during the past 10 days, Erdogan was having a hearty lough during a meeting with his bakanlar(ministers). The ministers had no recollection when it was the last time they saw Erdogan in such a light hearted mood. But none of ministers dared to ask him why he is so amused. It was his askeri bakan (military minister) who took the courage and the following had transpired.
Askeri bakan (military minister): Effendi, what is that amuses you so much?
Erdogan: yan komşumuz Ermeniler (our next-door Armenian neighbors) bickering how to slice their $9.5 Billion state budget to confront our military, whose $47 Billion budget alone is more than quadruple their state budget.
askeri bakan: Effendi, görmezden gelmek (ignore them sir). Önemli meselelerimiz var(we have pressing issues.)
Reading Jirair’s reporting, I checked the internet and realized that Jirair’s figures are figments of his imagination. But Erdogan speaking on Armenia’s state budget in relations to Turkish military budget was right on the money!.
Yes, Armenia’s 2026 state budget to attend to the many needs of the republic, not to mention the overwhelming poverty, the settlement of the Artsakh refugees, is indeed a meager $9.5 billion while Turkey’s military budget alone is $47 billion.
What was more surprising to me was that Turkey is listed among the nations that have the shortest mandatory military service of 6 months to a year. Russia’s mandatory military service is a one year.
I wondered who came with this magical number of 2 years compulsory military service in for the Armenians. I also thought cutting the length of the service by six months, may help the government better feed the young serving the army and improve the quality of their training for, as Napoleone has said, an army cannot move on a fully filled stomach.
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Armenians criminalizing the denial of genocide, will have to bring the presidents of Armenia to justice for setting up the modern-day precedent for ignoring the genocide in their dealings with Turkey.
Armenians criminalizing the denial of genocide will have to render a historical verdict decrying the very founders of the Republic of Armenia who neglected the Armenian genocide and signed the Treaty of Batumi on Tuesday June 4, 1918, exactly one week after Tuesday May 28, 1918, and thank Talaat Pasha, and others, including the Sultan for having let Armenians declare a Republic on 10,400 sq. Km of their ancient land.
Armenian history, what a mess!
