For instance, one of the films being screened was shot by two Turks in Gyumri, with an all-Armenian cast, while another by an Armenian director is set in [...]]]> When scanning the screening schedule of the 2011 Golden Apricot Film Festival, currently taking place in Yerevan, I noticed that several  joint Turkish and Armenian productions were to be shown.

For instance, one of the films being screened was shot by two Turks in Gyumri, with an all-Armenian cast, while another by an Armenian director is set in Istanbul. There’s even a French production made by an Armenian director about the perils of street dogs in Istanbul (he could easily have made that same film in Yerevan). I counted five co-productions altogether and just as many if not more Turkish films. There are still other films set in Turkey being screened made by European directors. It seems the Golden Apricot Festival has become a venue for promoting Turkey and its artists.

So why is this so peculiar? It’s an international film festival, and naturally films from around the world are going to be screened, including those made by Armenia’s historic foe. What’s wrong with that?

The screenings of such Turkish/Armenian joint productions — most if not all of which are produced by both the Golden Apricot FCD and the Turkish foundation Anadolu Kultur —  insinuate that all is getting well between the two neighbors, when in fact that is the farthest from the truth. The Golden Apricot Film Festival, being one that craves foreign submissions, attracts both local Armenians and filmbuffs from around the world alike. So when you see a film that has been produced by artists from countries that have deep-rooted animosity toward one another, it’s natural for someone to think that some barriers between the two peoples are being broken. Why?

Professional filmgoers pay attention to several criteria when viewing a film, and even beforehand. They want to know first of all where the film was produced, the year it was made, and the nationality of the filmmaker. They look for actors that the filmmaker uses repeatedly in other films and reoccurring themes that are being employed for settings and situations. And filmmakers, amateur or professional, are paying attention to other nuances, like the effects rendered from the use of lighting, camera angles, the representation of the actors, even the positioning of the camera in relation to the ground. When a filmgoer sees a modern film that impressed him made by a Japanese director, he is more apt to seek out movies made by that filmmaker’s contemporaries in his own country in order to compare cinematic styles, plots, and so forth. The nation the filmmaker represents has relevance to the overall impact the film conveys, because the impressed filmgoer will want to naturally seek out the works of other directors from the same country.

The filmmaker therefore is a representative of his own country, whether he wants to be or not. Even a filmmaker who isn’t making films in his home nation any longer  is still considered to be a representative of his own people. This doesn’t apply to painters for instance, where the viewer is captivated by the use of color, shape and design, then associates the artist’s name to it, with his or nationality being an afterthought. A filmmaker is an unofficial spokesman of his country’s artistic development and even tolerance of such development. He makes it obvious to the world where he’s from and is proud to represent his country and its bold achievements in the international community of the arts.

So when you have Turks and Armenians coming together to make films as joint productions you have to wonder what that’s all about. It’s obvious that these artists are trying to show the world that the two peoples can indeed live peacefully side by side, using the spellbinding medium of film. Thus, in doing so they are making social and political statements, whether intentionally or not.

And their efforts, whether they realize it or not, could be viewed as being a method for persuade people to forget the past, to ignore issues that have yet to be reconciled and are still fuming to this day, even almost a century later, and to look ahead. They chose to ignore the glaring fact that Turkey restricts Armenia’s economic growth and trading potential by refusing to open their mutual border. That Turkey refrains from unconditionally developing diplomatic relations by making specific demands of Armenia’s foreign policy is also to be overlooked. Turkey’s utter rejection of the Armenian Genocide is certainly another giant obstacle to overcome. These filmmakers, along with their producers, are essentially alluding that art knows no hate and antagonism — it can only bring harmony and admiration, even between enemies. That notion applied to Armenian-Turkish relations is not only credulous, it is downright negligent as well.

These Turkish/Armenian film productions are all fine and good — by all means, let people from the two countries get together and use the magic of filmmaking to promote brotherly peace. But make no mistake — their collaborations cannot dispel the lingering, obstinate Turkish antagonism that persists and is thwarting any hopes of reconciliation between the two nations. The hostile policies on Armenia set by Turkey’s leadership and lawmakers need to change before the two sides can earnestly talk about meaningful artistic collaborations.

There needs to be mutual trust; nevertheless I don’t believe that the forum of a film festival can be used to develop reconciliation between the two peoples that are steadfastly at odds. Ultimately I think it’s Turkish society that needs to pressure its government to open the border and instill a peaceful coexistence with Armenians.

That certainly can’t done by a few film producers, and the unabashed promotion of Turkish culture and values by the Armenian side seems over the top and unnecessary. It’s relatively obvious that Armenia has long been ready for an open border.

The comments I’ve read that are perhaps most troubling come from former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian, who [...]]]> A week after President Serge Sarkisian announced that the National Assembly would put the ratification process of the Turkish-Armenian protocols on the backburner, harsh criticism is coming to light from the opposition and even former government heads.

The comments I’ve read that are perhaps most troubling come from former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian, who seems convinced that Armenia is now doomed in its new position, claiming that Turkey has more ammunition to meddle in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

In a statement that appears on the Civilitas Foundation web site he expresses the following:

I am astonished by two things, however. First, the government is openly acknowledging that for one whole year they watched as Turkey placed preconditions before them, Turkey exploited the process for its own benefit, and they not only tolerated this, but continuously insisted that this is not happening and that this whole process is a big success and an unprecedented diplomatic victory.

Second, if there were half a dozen possible exit strategies from this situation – from doing nothing to revoking Armenia’s signature – the government has chosen the option least beneficial to us… The Armenian side did that which is most desirable for Turkey: neither ratified the protocols nor revoked them thus giving Turkey the opportunity to continue to remain actively engaged in the Karabakh process.

Criticism by former heads of government is a normal thing, but Oskanian seems a bit too emotional in his text and offers no new approaches for how to move forward. He advocates that the government acknowledge its mistakes (he instead craftily used the phrase “avoid accepting the truthfulness of the criticism”) first, in language akin to a naughty child being scolded by his mother.

The Armenian National Congress last week said:

“By suspending the ratification process and at the same time expressing readiness to continue it, the regime is, in effect, acknowledging that it has found itself in deadlock … and is trying to save face before the domestic public and the international community with deficient, unprincipled and inconsistent actions.”

The last part is a bit perplexing to me. Just how was suspending the ratification process “deficient, unprincipled and inconsistent?” Would that action have been described that way had Levon Ter-Petrosian been in Sarkisian’s position and done the same? Who can say whether the situation would have been any different?

I think that it was a wise decision for Yerevan to at least suspend the ratification process. But I disagree with the former Foreign Minister—the worst thing the government could have actually done was to relent to Turkey’s preconditions and open the border on Ankara’s own terms. It would have been better perhaps as the opposition points out for Armenia to withdraw its signature in light of the circumstances, but you can take that sentiment a step further and say that Armenia should never have signed the protocols to begin with, and none of the opposition forces should have ever allowed that to happen when they had plenty of time to stop it. Instead, they remained divided and disorganized.

By suspending the ratification process Yerevan casts Ankara in shadow of doubt, making the Turkish side look totally uninterested in opening the border at all—this is fairly obvious by now to the international community, and for me at least it was a long time ago.
Also regarding speculation being expressed in the media, I don’t see how the OSCE would allow a Turkish diplomat to become a member of the Minsk Group given that the reconciliation process is frozen, and how Armenia would ever go along with Ankara becoming a player in the peace negotiations to begin with. Then again, I am not a political analyst nor am I a politician looking for a future role to play in government.

Oskanian, the Congress and other opposition parties can say what they want, but rather than simply cast blame, let them propose new initiatives in the National Assembly for the governing authorities to consider moving forward. You see both sides criticize each other separately in press conferences and written statements, but very rarely do you see them engage each other in the public eye through debate and an exchange of ideas.

The Sarkisian administration and the opposition need to see eye to eye on the future steps towards reconciliation, because the longer they ignore one another, the ever more confused and disillusioned the public will be. Without some practical consensus on the Turkish-Armenian state of affairs the Armenian position will never appear to be very strong. The Armenian government needs to weigh the position of its foes on this issue before it makes any more decisions.

Photo credit: Andrew C.

It makes no sense for Yerevan to continue talking about ratification any longer. However, [...]]]> Well, President Serge Sarkisian did it–he suspended the Turkish-Armenian protocol ratification process indefinitely. He pointed out the fact during his televised speech last night that Ankara is simply not ready to devote to ratifying the protocols and forming constructive relations with Armenia.

It makes no sense for Yerevan to continue talking about ratification any longer. However, he was smart to announce that Armenia remains committed to “normalization” and will not withdraw its signature from the protocols, much to the chagrin of some of the opposition parties (one of which several weeks ago conceded that it would indeed go along with the ratification of the protocols assuming Turkey ratified them first–I won’t name which party because it should be obvious).

And what is strange is that the US and France praised him for it. Philip Gordon,  US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, today said “We applaud President Sargsyan’s decision to continue to work towards a vision of peace, stability, and reconciliation.”

This obviously means that the US and France–and probably Russia, no word yet about what Moscow thinks–are also not happy with how Turkey has been behaving since the protocols were signed last October, by insisting that ratifying the protocols/opening the border be contingent upon a Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement in Azerbaijan’s favor. They are also undoubtedly fed up with Turkey causing a scandal every time an international lawmaking body decides to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The Obama administration has spent a lot of time on the protocols and making sure they not only get signed but are ratified without preconditions from either side. President Obama met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for nearly an hour during the arms conference last week and also spoke with President Sarkisian separately, discussing rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia during some of that time. I am sure Erdogan mentioned that he didn’t want President Obama to use the “G-word” on April 24, but no one can say whether the president outright promised he wouldn’t.

Anyway, the point is that Turkey has placed both President Obana and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a “jack-ass’s place” as the Armenian saying goes. They undoubtedly are not pleased with Ankara’s adamant stance about having a Karabagh peace deal signed first and willingness to compromise, and despite Secretary Clinton’s previous comments that the most recent Armenian Genocide resolution will not make it to the House floor, President Obama may be peeved enough to use the “G-word” as I and millions of other Armenians round the world are hoping for in his April 24 address. The Turks are not going to close the Incirlik air base because they simply can’t defy the US, and fears that Turkey will pull out of contracts to buy new F-35 fighter planes from the US are also unfounded since too much has been invested in the development program by Turkey. The Turks are not about to renege, and they need to buy their Patriot missiles and helicopters from somewhere. In 2009 Turkey bought $7 billion worth of military equipment from the US, and they will likely spend that much this year.

Quite honestly, I will be surprised if President Obama doesn’t use the “G-word” on the 24th. In previous years it was understandable–wars were being raged with Turkey’s support, the Turkish lobby has always been strong, Turkey has always been a valuable NATO ally, and so forth. Now, in light of recent events there doesn’t appear to be any excuse. This year, Turkey had the golden chance to reconcile with Armenia, fully supported by US, Europe and even countries in Asia like Japan, and Ankara blew it. Not one country can say that Armenia is at fault. And Turkey finally has to understand that it must face up to its own history, not to mention play ball with Armenia.

By late tomorrow evening Yerevan time the current official US position on the Genocide issue will be clear. Let’s hope it is pro-Armenian for a change.

Both leaders have been tight-lipped about their meeting and their own separate sit-downs with President Obama, and there really isn’t a lot of [...]]]> Seems there’s nothing positive that can be said about the Sarkisian-Erdogan meeting in Washington, DC that took place on April 12 on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit hosted by President Obama.

Both leaders have been tight-lipped about their meeting and their own separate sit-downs with President Obama, and there really isn’t a lot of information available regarding what was said. RFE/RL however wrote this:

According to the Turkish daily “Sabah,” Erdogan told Sarkisian that the existing “political atmosphere” does not bode well for their ratification by Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. He blamed it on recent decisions by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers to recognize the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

“If the protocols are brought to the agenda of the parliament while U.S. and Swedish parliaments are taking decisions on the issue, they will be rejected,” he reportedly said. “Sabah” also quoted Erdogan as also linking protocol ratification with decisive progress in international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

I think it became clear last autumn when Turkish leaders started insisting that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict be settled first before the protocols be ratified that Ankara was backtracking from its commitments for establishing formal diplomatic relations. Perhaps they thought that Yerevan was so desperate it would cut a quick and dirty deal with Azerbaijan just to get the Turkish-Armenian border opened, or else they wanted to show just who’s the boss to foreign powers with interests in the region. Lately, the Turks have been indicating that they want direct involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and have some role in the Minsk Group. But I don’t understand why Turkey would think that Armenia would unquestionably go along with its preconditions.

Meanwhile, Yerevan is playing hardball, insisting that there is no way worldwide Armenian Genocide recognition efforts can be suppressed. The Armenian leadership is still adamant that no preconditions can be attached to ratifying the protocols, namely regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. It’s also absurd that Turkey actually thinks Armenia would sever ties with the Armenian Diaspora, its main support base, just because it wants that to happen. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured Sarkisian in their meeting on April 13 that the US was still pressing for normalization of relations without preconditions.

Quite honestly, I believe this whole charade between Turkey and Armenia that’s been playing out for well over a year now has been a grand chess match. And eventually, it was going to end in a stalemate. I don’t think Sarkisian really had any intentions to open the border at all costs and by whatever means necessary, as he led many to believe last year. He was simply trying to prove to the world that he was indeed a legitimately elected, relevant president and was willing to appease his neighbors, but not to the point of selling out his nation’s geopolitical and strategic interests. Many in the diaspora and Armenia who were taken aback by the protocols last August, myself included, started to panic. Maybe that’s what Sarkisian wanted–the protests in the diaspora served an effective way to ruffle Turkey’s feathers and see how it would react. And as we remember, it went on the offensive.

Now it’s a question of who is going to look more noble in the eyes of the world when this impasse is declared deadlocked–Erdogan or Sarkisian. President Obama’s address to Armenian-Americans on April 24 will be telling.

On Tuesday at the Armenian National Congress rally in Yerevan, [...]]]> There is unsubstantiated speculation that President Serge Sarkisian may join political forces with Levon Ter-Petrosian in a political alliance to thwart any chance of Robert Kocharian’s return to power. Although Kocharian has repeatedly denied intentions of returning to political life, there are indicators that suggest otherwise.

On Tuesday at the Armenian National Congress rally in Yerevan, Ter-Petrosian made mention of a “seance” recently being held in Dubai– Kocharian had assembled various oligarchs there to hold a secret meeting. But Ter-Petrossian didn’t elaborate on the details.

However, according to rumor he purportedly told his supporters that it was necessary to get rid of Sarkisian for making perceived foreign policy blunders, and that he needed their backing to overthrow him once the time came. Among them was Hovik “Moog” Abrahamian, the president of the National Assembly and a member of the Republican party of which Sarkisian is of course the leader.  Purportedly, Abrahamian, who is rumored to be backing Kocharian, agreed to lend his support so long as he in the mix of things became President of Armenia for at least four days, as the president of the National Assembly is second to the throne until a new president is elected according to the Armenian constitution.

Since these revelations were brought to light several of Abramahian’s relatives working as public servants were dismissed from their positions in various administrative and governmental departments, like the Customs House where one of them had a senior position, according to a source which I can’t reveal.

Kocharian’s press office released a statement in reaction to Ter-Petrosian’s speech on Tuesday which has appeared on various news sites in Armenian. A1 Plus managed to translate it into English. Here’s an excerpt.

Ter-Petrosyan and the Armenian National Movement diverted me a lot. They are involved in a strange activity. They decide that I dream about returning to politics and then start fighting against my return. After a while, they find out that I haven’t returned, are shocked and say their actions stopped me. Each of my trips or speeches becomes an occasion to break into an outrage.

I would advise those men not to be so tense, or else they may acquire an aging hemorrhoid by not being accustomed to the overload.

The last statement alone just shows how precarious Kocharian’s intentions and even emotional stability are. The disastrous events of March 1 are still fresh on people’s minds; no one can dare forget about what happened and how it was covered up. If society ever allows him to take power again, there’s something dreadfully wrong.

But if there is a power struggle, it will most likely mean a war between oligarch clans. Serge has already announced his intentions to run for president in 2012, so he’ll be ready to put up a fight to thwart any attempts at being overthrown. There have already been clashes reported in the news between the Republican party and Prosperous Armenia–which is backed by Kocharian–over who has the most clout on the Yerevan city council. These clashes of course were denied in news reports but nevertheless, the news is out there and there’s no reason to doubt it. Now it’s just a question of where allegiances truly lie.

Another separate rumor claims that if Serge does not cut a deal to appease Turkey and Azerbaijan in a supposed, behind-the-scenes package deal to ratify the protocols and agree to a final Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement, he will be forced to resign by the foreign powers that be. That would leave room for Kocharian to potentially take power again, or else Ter-Petrossian somehow since there’s no one else powerful enough and supported internationally to take the reins at the moment.

I think it’s safe to say that no one can accurately forecast what’s really going to happen in the near future, but one thing’s for sure–all this speculation is certainly intriguing.

The New York Times quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying [...]]]> UPDATED–Well, history is repeating itself–the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee once again voted to condemn the Armenian Genocide on Thursday, and the Turks are unsurprisingly furious. The last time this happened was 2007, but the measure never reached the House floor for obvious reasons.

The New York Times quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying “We condemn this bill that denounces the Turkish nation of a crime that it has not committed.” And he recalled the Ambassador to the US, Namik Tan.

The question now is whether the resolution will reach the House floor anytime soon. That’s not clear as of yet, but it might very well happen. And the bill could very well pass this time around. Legislators are getting fed up with Turkey’s repeated denials, and it’s becoming more difficult for them to speak out against Armenian Genocide recognition, especially with all the publicity–60 Minutes just did a piece on the Genocide.  Congressmen can’t afford to look like hypocrites in front of their constituents on this issue. People know more and more about history these days, and they’re going to expect their congressman to understand and accept historical facts.

People are probably wondering whether President Barack Obama will actually say the “G-word” this year. It could happen. Some believe that Washington may be trying to pressure Turkey to move forward with the protocols by properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide. After that happens, Turkey is likely to fess up and go through with opening the border, despite its reservations.

I doubt that Turkish officials want to look like absolute hypocrites by walking away from the protocols at this point. The protocols are already up for discussion in the Armenian parliament. They already look bad by demanding that a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict be resolved first before the shared border with Armenia is opened. Naturally the international community (with the exception of Azerbaijan, of course) thinks that doesn’t make much sense. Then again, Ankara is too proud to let anyone boss them around, including Washington. Nevertheless, in the end Ankara can’t do much about Genocide resolutions and condemnations. The Genocide has been recognized by national legislative bodies around the world, and that’s not about to stop. Sweden is also about to bring up the topic for discussion in parliament soon.

Even if the House ends up passing a resolution accepting the Genocide, Turkey won’t be able to do anything about it because it needs America too much militarily and financially. In 2009, Turkey spent $7 billion on military equipment that it bought from the US aerospace and defense industry. It has already invested heavily in the $300 billion F-35 fighter program and intends to buy several planes. Turkey also needs the US for bailouts as has been the case time and time again whenever its currency is heavily devalued because of financial blunders. At the start of the decade 1 million Turkish lira equaled one dollar at one point, and the US was there to pick up the pieces of a shattered economy.

So will Turkey sever relations with the US and go gun shopping elsewhere? No way. Europe is not about to sell them weapons and is weary about accepting Turkey into the European Union. Israel could accommodate Turkey with arms purchases but their relations have been rocky lately. Not everyone in the world community is happy with Erdogan, he doesn’t have a good reputation at the moment for being a blatant hothead.

Anyway, things are becoming more and more interesting. Incidentally, on March 2 the Washington Post published a scathing commentary about the resolution written by Henri J. Barkey, in which he sharply criticizes both Armenians and Turks for their “cynicism,” as he perceives. He lambastes Armenia for fostering its good relations with Iran, a view that is unreasonable not to mention unpractical, especially for a professor of international relations at Lehigh University who should know better to understand that Armenia has no alternative.

Incidentally, there’s another interesting take on the Armenian Genocide resolution by New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof. As much as I respect him as a journalist, and I am an admitted fan of his column, I can’t say I agree with him on his stance, although he does make some valid points.

This resolution indeed needed to be passed, now more than ever. There’s absolutely no question in my mind. Turkey simply has to acknowledge and publicly repent the inflicted terror of its past so it can indeed move on to reconciliation efforts with Armenia. Logic and human morality dictate this.

Hetq Online reports the following:

An article in Today’s Zaman, entitled “Normalization with Armenia at risk, says PM Erdogan”, states that during yesterday’s phone call between foreign ministers of the two nations, the [...]]]> Seems that Ankara is not happy with last week’s Armenian Constitutional Court decision regarding the protocols, and they’re letting the whole world know it.

Hetq Online reports the following:

An article in Today’s Zaman, entitled “Normalization with Armenia at risk, says PM Erdogan”, states that during yesterday’s phone call between foreign ministers of the two nations, the Turkish Foreign Mnister Davutoglu told his Armenian counterpart that right after the documents were signed, a public awareness campaign was launched in Turkey and the Protocols were sent to Parliament, whereas Armenia has not yet done so.

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement on Jan. 18, the Armenian constitutional court’s “grounds for decision” over the conformity of the protocols to their constitution “contain preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the protocols” and “undermine the very reason for negotiating these protocols as well as their fundamental objective.”

Burak Özügergin, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told Today’s Zaman that Armenia has taken the heart out of the protocols and created a new, restrictive situation. He further explained that on the one hand, the court had ruled to approve the protocols, which call for the establishment of a joint commission of historians to better understand past events, but on the other it refers to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia.

Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence states, “The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.”

“Then why establish a commission of historians?” Özügergin said.

In the fifth paragraph of the Armenian court’s ruling it says that the protocols “cannot be interpreted or applied” in a way that would contradict the provisions of the preamble to Armenia’s constitution and the requirements of paragraph 11 of its Declaration of Independence.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Özügergin pointed out another issue of concern for the Turkish side — the main limitations the Armenian court has placed on the protocols in that the court made all clauses of the protocols conditional on the implementation of two main obligations: “establish diplomatic relations” and “open the common border.”

On Wednesday, Hurriyet quoted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying, “We took it directly to our Parliament, without making changes. We didn’t employ a mediator on the text. We didn’t carry out any read-between-the-lines operations. This is a proof of our sincerity. Armenia has tried to change the text.”

Now it is Turkey who is playing the blame game about preconditions attached to the protocols. Wasn’t it Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who repeatedly stated to the Turkish and international pressafter the protocols had been signed that the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia cannot be established without a Nagorno-Karakagh peace deal in Azerbaijan’s favor? They have been saying this repeatedly and unabashedly for months now. There is not one provision in the protocols that alludes to a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict in exchange for an opened border. Last week when Erdogan visited Moscow Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated essentially that Turkey had to back off and not confuse the two issues, and Washington has alluded to the same, although in more vague language.

I think, given the rhetoric that Turkish diplomats have been reiterating, the Constitutional Court’s ruling is certainly helpful to the Armenian side, because it clearly shows that Yerevan can also play hardball. Naturally, Ankara is demonstrating that it isn’t happy, just as it has all along, which is good. I’m looking forward to a derailing of the protocols quite honestly. I thought it was foolish for Yerevan to sign them in the first place, and given the recent bickering, both sides are probably regretting having been pressured to get on with the diplomatic fence-mending process.

I really don’t think that the Turks and Armenians are anywhere close to resolving their differences in the spirit of peace and mutual understanding, which is evidently absent.

First and foremost are statements made by the president of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh), Bako Sahakyan. He was in Moscow where he made an appearance in a telethon held there to collect money for reconstructing/rebuilding Shushi. President Sahakyan said that “the development of Shushi [...]]]> I’m just catching up with some headlines printed on Hetq Online that stood out.

First and foremost are statements made by the president of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh), Bako Sahakyan. He was in Moscow where he made an appearance in a telethon held there to collect money for reconstructing/rebuilding Shushi. President Sahakyan said that “the development of Shushi is a matter of national honor.”

Shushi has been under Armenian control for 17 years now, since the town was secured by Armenian troops. But during these 17 years very little has changed there. A modern hotel was built catering to Armenian tourists from the diaspora, and the church that was standing there was completely restored and is in working condition. The streets in town have been repaved and new curbstones as well as sidewalks were installed, back in 2005 when I was there to attend a wedding. But bombed-out buildings stand, and a scant 5,000 residents (at that time, who can say what the population is now) remain, with no opportunities for work. I remember speaking with someone who told me that he was obliged to travel to Stepanakert every day. It’s only a 20-minute drive there by car, but he shouldn’t have to go there at all. Not when so many Armenians take pride in the town as a beacon of Armenian cultural heritage and a symbol for the change in tide that lead to Armenia’s ultimate victory in the war.

So what I want to know is–why hasn’t Shushi already seen development during these 17 years? Why are there no job opportunities there? How is that the NK government, or Armenian society for that matter, left it ignored all these years? I haven’t been back there since 2006, but I am fairly certain that the town is stagnating and people are still leaving. The fact that Armenians seem to be uninterested in the town’s prosperity doesn’t make any sense, especially when thousands of people died to secure Artsakh’s independence.

Here’s another oddity–Nikol Pashinian, the editor of the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak and firebrand spokesman of the “Aylentrank” oppositional movement which backed former president Levon Ter-Petrossian in the 2008 presidential race is on trial for apparently no reason. He was on the run for well over a year, wanted by the authorities for his presumed role in the March 1, 2008 attacks, but there is no real evidence to show that he had anything to do with the violence waged by protesters/agitators on scene. He came out of hiding a few months ago and was promptly arrested. Yet how can he be held on trial if there are no solid charges against him?

One more headline to discuss. Turkey’s Ambassador to the US, Nabi Sensoy, recently made a critical public statement in response to the introduction of a resolution in the US Congress that calls for President Barrack Obama to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. He called the bill’s introduction “wrong and sad” and went on to say, “I am hopeful that [the resolution] will not reach the [Senate] floor.”

told Al Jazeera in a recent interview that the subcommision would eventually accept the Turkish line (of denial). The agreement to form such a subcommision was portrayed as an act of goodwill, brotherly love and whatever other nonsense by the Armenian side. Now these bastards are shoving genocide denial in Armenia’s face before the entire world, and President Serge Sarkisian has shamelessly refused to comment about these remarks.

With each passing day, Armenia is looking more idiotic before the entire world for agreeing to sign the protocols. The Turks continue to laugh on a diplomatic level at Armenian (and American!) calls for genocide recognition, even in the act of good faith and trust-building that these absurd protocols were supposedly all about. Yerevan in the meantime is mute. I can’t wait to hear what President Sarkisian will eventually tell the press, if he even dares to.

Presidents Sarkisian, left, and Gul

What the presidents are thinking in this photo (AFP):

Serge—“See, I’m a fun loving, congenial guy who only wants peace along with new opportunities to make more money for myself and my buddies. What’s so wrong about that? Everyone will benefit. Honest (not!).”

Abdullah—“In 50 years there won’t be an Armenian republic once the border opens with our preconditions. Keep laughing, pal.”

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