Notes from the Armenian Blogosphere
I seem to be starting off this weekly roundup of posts in the English-language Blogosphere in much the same way of late, and this week is no exception. Really, there have been many good posts on almost each of the main blogs, but there’s no doubt that there can only be one place to start this week’s roundup — Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia. Yesterday, Raffi Niziblian posted some significant and historical news.
On a second note, there was a buzz in town about the sudden arrival of the MFA of Turkey. He arrived this morning for a special meeting. Some people are speculating that it has something to do with NKR, others are saying it is about the Genocide issue. But I heard from a very reliable source that the real purpose – are you ready for this? – is to finally open the border between Armenia and Turkey - ASAP. It seems that there has been some confidential discussions for months now. I think tomorrow morning, if all agreements go well, the Government should be announcing some formal procedure to travel across the border. Anyhow, I am hoping that this is not just a rumor and soon we will be going back and forth and having more Turkish products sold at our friendly grocery stores for even cheaper… note, I am not a consumer of these goods.
Later, Raffi Kojian, Alex Sardar and Arina followed the entry up with more details.
Wow, this is some huge, crazy news. Even in this slow to wake-up town, the place is abuzz. I went on an early morning walk and people are stunned, excited… it’s the end of an era. I was in Republic Square and crowds of ppl were gathered, talking, celebratory. They apparently opened the borders at midnight, without any fanfare, or even an announcement yet, which is coming. The borders have always been ready to open at a moments notice, and you’ve got to give the rumor mill and Raffi N’s sources credit, they knew what was going on. I might try and arrange a trip even for today to visit Kars… drive by Ararat…
I’m trying to figure out why they’re showing the Armenian-Turkish border constantly on TV this morning–my damned Super System is not functioning again and I have no sound for some reason.
Wait a minute…I didn’t even look at the logs before posting, is the border really open? I have to get myself together, and get out there and figure out what’s up.
Leave it up to the Turks to open the border on a Saturday–the only day we have for rest. They couldn’t have done it on a Monday or Tuesday, no, a Saturday it had to be.
http://www.cilicia.com/2006/04/ive-finally-had-it-with-super-system.html
Woke up a bit late this morning and immediately took Rocky for a walk… in the ten minutes outside I noticed a few cars with turkish plates… is this really happening??
News of this magnitude and significance of course travels fast in a country as small as Armenia, and Myrthe at Life As I See It also heard the news and posted details of how she first heard the news.
Well, you know with the border open and all. What border? I asked. Haven’t you heard yet? The border with Turkey is open. WHAT?!?! When I continued my way down to the shop to get my coffee, people were talking about the same thing there as well. What I heard in the shop basically confirmed what my neighbor had told me on the stairs. One man said that he had heard that they had been working on this deal for a while in secret.
Perhaps now I should say that I ran into Raffi Kojian at Yerevan’s Stop Club on Friday night and Raffi told me that Cilicia.com was going to play host to a very clever April Fool’s Day joke. He wanted to tell me the details, but I said much better to let me wait and see. No wonder then that when Nessuna sms-ed me and also sent me the links to all the posts by ICQ I didn’t exactly fire up Firefox and check out the news so quickly. Nessuna, of course, was taken in, as was Global Voices Online, and to be honest it’s difficult to say whether I’d have fallen for it had I not spoken to Raffi the night before. I guess I do have to admit that I did google the news just in case. It really was a good one.
Well, with that let’s stay with Myrthe as I’ve mentioned her already. Unfortunately, it does appear as though police corruption continues in Armenia. No surprise there really, but always a pity to hear.
Near the bus station we were approaching a police officer who was obviously waiting for the extra dram to be earned (or paid to his chef). The car driving in front of us was an inconspicuous looking dark red Opel Vectra with an equally inconspicuous numberplate (and without tinted windows). As this car passed him, the police officer turned to face the car and bowed. Is this the new way of acknowledging that a passing driver / car is in the “better not flag down for a handshake and a dram” category?
Corruption is also a theme that Ara Manoogian at Martuni or Bust continues to cover. After news that a Los Angeles based architect will design a new hospital to be built in Nagorno Karabakh by the All-Armenian Fund, Ara posts a fictitious entry about what he thinks will eventually happen to the hospital in three years time.
On May 9, 2009 the Nagorno-Karabagh office of state property, privatized the hospital found in the city of Martagert, which was built from funds donated by the All-Armenia Fund, Inc. which were collected during the 2005 Telethon as part of the Martakert Regional Development plan.
The deal was finalized behind closed doors, during a national holiday and was reported by reliable sources that the new owners include former president of NKR, Arkady Ghoukasian and former first lady of Armenia, Bella Kocharian, both of who own hospitals in the Republic of Armenia which were privatized under similar questionable deals.
[…]
During a protest to appose the sale of the Martakert hospital, one protester, a veteran of the Artsakh liberation war said, “It’s very sad for me to see such a beautiful hospital which was intended as a gift from our bothers and sisters in America to fall into the hands of criminals who have no interest in helping the people and are only interested in getting rich from our misfortunes.”
The deal resembles the $5 million cold storage facility donated by the AGBU following the 1987 Armenia earthquake, which was privatized to high ranking official due to back taxes, as well as the main Yerevan general hospital which in 2005 was privatized by a group of officials, including former president of NKR Arkady Ghoukasian, ignoring a formal protest from the Japanese government who had donated million of dollars of equipment to said hospital.
Meanwhile, talking of money, Arsineh at Cilicia.com’s Life in the Armenian Diaspora attended events marking the signing of a $235 million compact between the U.S. Government’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and the Armenian Government. She writes about it and posts some pics online.
With a cognac toast, we celebrated the opening and heard ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian speak along with Oskanian and the Ambassador. Without a break, we all funneled into a row of taxi cabs and were off to the State Department for the MCC Signing Ceremony. Of course as we all know, the sentiment between Ambassador Evans and the State Department is on the rocks and thus the tension was felt in the room. After much catching up with strange faces and old friends, reconnecting with peers and networking, everyone shifted their focus on the highlight of the day, the signing. Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice, Millenium Challenge Corporation CEO John Dalinovich, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, both Ambassadors Evans and Markarian and other members of the Armenian delegation collected on stage to speak on the historic event.
Jeff at Voch Me Ban isn’t so impressed and sums up what most Armenians here probably feel about the event.
It’s payday! Armenia gets a nice check for $235 million. Sec of State Rice says, “These are important commitments and the United States stands ready to help Armenia to ensure that its upcoming elections are free and fair,” Kocharian is laughing all the way to the bank.
Interestingly, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s Armenia Service says that Armenia will not receive most of the money until next year which means if the 2007 parliamentary elections are not democratic it might not receive anything at all. Here’s hoping that what I fear might happen doesn’t.
Both Voch Me Ban and The Artyom Reader also post details of the scandal that has hit Armenian-American U.S. Congress Hopeful Howard Kaloogian. Boy does he seem to be in some hot water.
How far will critics of media coverage of the Iraq war go to prove reporters are wrongly focusing on the negative? One answer came this week, in a shocking if amusing episode featuring one Howard Kaloogian, a leading Republican running for the seat in Congress recently vacated by indicted Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Kaloogian posted on the official Web site for his campaign a picture taken in “downtown Baghdad,” he said, during his visit to the city, which supposedly indicated that the media was wrong about the level of violence there. “We took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq,” he wrote. “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.”
Jeff also covers this fiasco and posts a picture of Kaloogian in front of Mount Ararat and ask if this is Baghdad too?
And talking of politics, Tim Russo continues his excellent serialization of time spent working for the National Democractic Institute in Armenia. This week he again remembers the 1998 presidential elections that brought then Prime Minister Robert Kocharian to power. Interestingly, he recounts how the French Embassy in Armenia tried to downplay the falsification in the election, but how one French official was soon shown how things really were.
The NDI crew in Yerevan quickly became the loudest international critics of the progress of the election, and strongest supporters of the OSCE. Edmund and I continued flying in more and more NDI staff from other countries in the region. Our expat friends stayed reluctantly deputized NDI teammates; simply wanting to turn away from witnessing the death of democracy twice in two weeks, the OSCE’s unexpected honesty kept their eyes open.
But the whitewash was still in the works. A movement gained momentum among the embassies to dilute the earlier impressions of the first round observers, and whatever impact their angry and experienced second round observations might have on the overall assessment. Higher ups within the embassies that sponsored the OSCE, and in the international NGO community (UN, IFES, others) began to coalesce around a milder version of events for the second round, despite evidence to the contrary. Our beefed up NDI crew saw it coming.
Particularly interested in sweeping the whole thing under the rug were the French observers. The French embassy in Yerevan and its staff were unconvinced that anything “deeply flawed” or otherwise had occurred during the first round. My meeting with the French ambassador one morning between the first and second rounds was an out of body experience, as if we’d been observing elections in two different countries.
“We do not agree with the term ‘deeply flawed’, the French ambassador said to me in the pastel yellow sitting room of the French embassy, lifting cafe au lait to his lips.
[…]
Gilles had spent the first round observing the election with his ambassador, an aging, grey-haired sophisticate who was not about to go rummaging through voter lists or stuffed ballots, seek out trouble spots to identify patterns, or spend much time in any one place very long. They were assigned to a targeted group of non-problem precincts, woke up not particularly early, went to an uneventful count that evening, ending their night early without much troubling them at all about what had just happened. A tea and crumpet style of election observation. The French theory for the second round held that if Gegham and I were teamed with Gilles, Gilles would be able to temper the observations of the team, yielding a kinder, gentler, less stark report to the mission.
http://democracyguy.typepad.com/democracy_guy_grassroots_/2006/03/dg_1803_deeply_.html
Our Columbo style of observation the polar opposite of an ambassador’s, Gilles’ attitude to the whole affair reversed completely. Each merry-go-round instance, each police presence noted, every forged voter list, every intimidated proxy hit Gilles as if he was just now learning that Santa Claus didn’t really exist. By the end of the day, he was dumbfounded, his embassy’s intentions scuttled by reality. Gegham and I continued to document every irregularity we could, now with our new ally Gilles, whose newly opened eyes egged us on more than held us back.
http://democracyguy.typepad.com/democracy_guy_grassroots_/2006/03/dg_1805_the_gil.html
It’s anyone’s guess how the 2007 parliamentary and 2008 presidential elections will be held in Armenia, but I think that most people expect them to be falsified. As control of the parliament will determine either the successor to the incumbent or a possible unconstitutional third term for Kocharian, it’s likely they’re going to be as dirty as hell regardless of MCA funding. Likely the methods of falsification will become more sophisticated instead.
Zarchka at Life Around Me writes more on this now she’s returned from Ukraine where she observed their parliamentary elections. Sounds like she was impressed and asks when Armenian will finally hold transparent and democratic elections?
But in general in the shade of local elections, parliamentary elections were secondary, and falsifications occurred mainly regarding local elections. Elections, at least where I have observed, were carried out in peaceful atmosphere. Everything was well organized and even the voters were ready for elections, demonstrating a great will to vote. Again I want to say my subjunctive stand point, Armenians are never ready for elections. The public displays great apathy and doesn’t attend polling stations. They do not care who will win and they reiterate that their voices do not change anything, as the results are predicted beforehand. And yes, don’t get surprised when the number of voters is extremely exaggerated, because with their apathy and not attendance they give pleasure opportunity to those people who are eager to vote instead of them. The attitude they hold is used by the others, who, instead of challenging people to vote, brake all their hope, and later, they use their voices to their heart content. This is another way of will and self expression. Then why not to use it? Even when you are sure that it’s going to be a fraud, why do you let the others poll instead of you. No one gives them that right, and it’s you who must vote, it’s your choice.
To end, the biggest event of the week must have been the solar eclipse that Nessuna blogged about earlier on in the week. I’ve just discovered that expat Melissa also posted an entry.
As pretty much everyone knows, there was a total solar eclipse yesterday. I didn’t even know it was supposed to happen, until one of the women I work with came into my office holding the inside of an old floppy disk, and I asked her why. She told me it was so she could see the eclipse, and I asked her what she was talking about, so she dragged me up to the top floor and showed me. I was floored. I’ve never seen a solar eclipse, let alone a total eclipse, and it was amazing! (Our tech guy took a bunch of pictures, including the one here) I don’t know if it’s that I just never knew when they were, or if they don’t happen at the right time for us to see in the US. But I don’t think we get eclipses like this there. We kept going up to the top floor every few minutes to see the moon’s progress, and you could see it getting a little darker outside. Not really dark, but almost like a lot of clouds were covering the sun. (duh, something was covering the sun genius…) I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
I’d also like to thank Maral Der Ohanesian of The Armenian Affairs for doing something smart by creating an Armenian Genocide wristband and asking all Armenian bloggers to use it on their sites. Actually, it will work for any web site so if you want to use it this is the code she sent us. There are some issues with Wordpress, but thanks to Hakob Gevorkyan I’ve managed to add it and include his walkthrough for Wordpress users below.
tag.Right Banner / Website wristband
After <style type=”text/css”>
Code:
img#wristband {
position:absolute;
top:0;
right:0;
display:block;
border:none;
}And the corresponding HTML…
to be placed anywhere after
HTML Code:
<!– It doesn’t really matter where you put this in your source since it’s positioned absolutely–>
<img id=”wristband” src=”http://i2.tinypic.com/sm7trr.gif” alt=” ” />
OR
< — If you want to link it to any website of your preference you can use this code–>
<a href=”http://www.armenian-genocide.org/” ><img id=”wristband” src=”http://i2.tinypic.com/sm7trr.gif” alt=”" />
</a>For Larger Banner, use the following image http://i1.tinypic.com/skvt37.gif
In WordPress (this does not work with wordpress.com accounts):
Login
1 From the Dashboard go to Presentation
2 Select Theme Editor (Remember, you need to chmod template files to writable 777)
3 Select the style.css file and add the CSS code provided by Maral
4 Update the style.css file
5 Select the header.php file and add the HTML syntax (the URL and the Image) right after
6 Update the header.php file
Anyway, help popularize the English-language Armenian Blogosphere by linking to this week’s round up although yes, I do know I probably missed some posts. In particular, the following sites should be included in the future if I can find the time. They are the excellently entitled Basturma Chronicles which features a post on Armenian schools in Lebanon, Azad Hye on Armenians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Esoteric Alchemy.
I might also have some news relating to another young Armenian contributor to this blog, but until then, poka.
Raffi’s come clean about the April Fool’s Joke. It was good. Fantastic, in fact.
http://www.cilicia.com/2006/04/april-fools_02.html
Comment by Onnik — April 2, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
Now this isn’t an April Fool’s Joke, and not least since its 2 April here in Yerevan, but I’ve literally just come back from my local grocery store and was surprised to see TRT1 (Turkish TV) on. Nobody batted an eyelid, just as they don’t when Tarkan is played or when you can buy his posters in the underground. This in addition to the multitude of Turkish goods in Armenia and the free and unrestricted travel of Turkish trucks down from Georgia to Yerevan.
Whatever the ARF-D (Dashnaks) might say about such things, for most Armenians it doesn’t matter at all. Of course, that doesn’t mean they don’t care about the Genocide. They do. However, they also know that a closed border doesn’t help the economy much. In the Shirak region of Armenia that borders Turkey that’s especially true. Interestingly one smart young Armenian I know who works on a Cafesjian funded enterprise put it simply.
“We need the border open for the economy to develop, but for our own peace of mind to know that it can’t happen again, we need Turkey to acknowledge the massacres as Genocide,” he said. Basically, most level headed Armenians want the border open, and some probably without Genocide recognition although they will still commemorate it on 24 April. Simply it’s the nationalists who don’t, and they constitute a minority in Armenia.
Comment by Onnik — April 2, 2006 @ 6:03 pm
BTW: Ara, the Armenian Earthquake was in 1988.
Comment by Onnik — April 2, 2006 @ 6:49 pm
lol nice joke about opening the borders! I ALMOST sent it to Armworkshop lol I am glad I did not…
Comment by Blogian — April 2, 2006 @ 7:47 pm
How can you do business with people who deny the wiping out of an entire group of people ????? That’s like saying to these same people, do business with Azerbaijan while it denies the Karabakh Armenians the right to self-determination, and seems to be getting ready for war. I can see how such a statement would be “welcomed” by these same people…. Yeah…. I guess it’s true, they just want our money and when it comes to having a say, they want us to shut up. They want the diaspora only when it comes to money? Tough words, and I’m sure many if not most of you will not like it, but it’s my take on this issue.
Comment by Freedom — April 2, 2006 @ 9:31 pm
There are good and bad people in any nation. Bascially, I don’t like Turkish fascists, but to be honest, I’m not to keen on Armenian fascists either. On the other hand, what you said it is pretty much what this local Armenian said to me. He wants the border open, but feels that for Turkey to recognize the Genocide is a necessary step as well. As for the rest of the nation, when you’re really struggling to get by while those at the top milk the money that is going around, I guess nationalism becomes something of a luxury.
Personally, I think Turkey needs to recognize the Genocide not just as a matter of historical justice, but also because it’s necessary for them to put their own house in order as well.
Comment by Onnik — April 2, 2006 @ 10:55 pm
Onnik, I don’t think there’s anything “fascistic” about demanding that the Genocide be recognized before having meaningful (economic or other) relations. I am probably the most extremist leftist and anti-fascist out there, and I still say that there needs to be a recognition before economic ties because Turkey has already put an end to economic ties for fascistic reasons. Had their attitude on the Karabakh conflict been different I would’ve looked at it a bit differently. But it seems they have chosen the fascist road and to submit to them unconditionally is to reward them for their fascism. Moreover, what does eating Turkish sunflower seeds have anything to do with economic needs? Also, most of the importers of goods are actually from the bourgeoisie, and not the lower-class workers… so who’s really benefiting?
As for Armenian leaders who milk all the money, well, that is indeed very sad, but to make such a compromise as unconditional submission to Turkish demands (what’s next, closing Armenia’s “border” with Karabakh just to suit Turkish interests?) cannot be justified by it… Instead people should work on changing the system, getting rid of those corrupt people, etc. Actually it is these corrupt people who advocate unconditional economic ties with Turkey, and they do so both for their own benefit as well as to divert the people’s attention from the real problem and instead put a bandaid on the wound…
Comment by Freedom — April 3, 2006 @ 1:26 am
No, right. Which is why I said that your logic about Genocide Recognition and an Open Border makes sense — just as this guy did in Yerevan. I suppose my point is that it’s wrong to generically stereotype any member of a country as being this or that. I know good Kurds, Turks and Azeris, and I have no problem in saying that. Likewise I also know some very bad people from every nation under the sun, including Armenia.
Comment by Onnik — April 3, 2006 @ 1:44 am
Interesting to see that bloggers responding to the joke about the Turkish border opening on the sly were estatic only so that they could visit Akhtamar, Kars or drive around Ararat. Still no one wants to address long-term issues regarding the supposed benefit to Armenia’s economy (no real studies can show that an opened border will do so in the long term besides speculation) or long-term cultural influence on modern Armenian society, language, and general culture. Never mind insisting that Turkey officially recognize the Genocide as a precursor for diplomatic relations.
In terms of an opened border benefitting regions along the border such as Shirak–when I went to the Gyumri open market the last time I visited in 2002 nearly all the goods on sale were Turkish. So if selling such cheap goods which are in plentiful supply are benefitting people there now, I really don’t understand how the opened border would help them more, besides the fact that the goods they buy would probably be cheaper and sell cheaper. Really, so what? Who can really say that prices would fall on Turkish goods? Given the paradoxes that exist in Armenia’s supposed booming economy, I can’t say I believe that.
I’m sounding like a broken record regarding this topic. Really, if the only thing Diasporans are happy about is being able to drive across the border for a closer look at Mt. Ararat or visit Ani, they need to seriously weigh the long-term pros and cons. But everyone should know that there are flights a couple of times a week to Istanbul from Yerevan, then connecting flights to Eastern Turkey, which I’m sure are pretty reasonable. All you need is a US or European passport I would imagine to enter. In terms of seeing Ararat up close, just drive out to the Ararat region and park along the road, have a picnic, talk to farmers, or whatever.
Anyway, the border will open soon enough because Armenia has repeatedly stated it has no preconditions for doing so. Turkey on the other had has some, including Armenia relenting on the Genocide issue as well as Armenia making drastic concessions regarding the NK conflict. If the Diaspora and Armenian citizens are OK with that, which Onnik argues they are, then by all means, let’s open the border. I can’t wait. No, really.
Comment by Christian — April 4, 2006 @ 11:30 am
“Basically, most level headed Armenians want the border open, and some probably without Genocide recognition although they will still commemorate it on 24 April. Simply it’s the nationalists who don’t, and they constitute a minority in Armenia.”
I don’t know what this means, but whatever. I guess people who are against the border unconditionally opening are not “level headed.” I suppose I must be a “nationalist” then.
Comment by Christian — April 4, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
Perhaps we should ask the people in Gyumri what they think, and certainly the Diaspora lobbying groups should not oppose the new Turkey-Georgia-Azerbaijan railway that will bypass Armenia.
But let’s face it, the problems of the local economy is down to the Government and closed borders. That I don’t see a huge amount of Turkish goods in Georgia seems to indicate that, and let’s also admit the number one issue.
Economic issues used against the opening of the border are not based on fact, but rather an individual’s opinion of Turkey and whether that person harbors dreams of the return of territory. Then arguments against the opening of the border are created to hide a nationalist agenda.
Otherwise there have been plenty of studies on the long term implications of opening the border with Turkey and not least, one fact most of all. Armenia is TOO SMALL a market for foreign investors and local businessmen. They need open borders to export their goods, and some are even having to consider investing in Georgia as a result.
Again, I repeat. The situation with imported Turkish goods apears greater in Armenia than in Georgia whichhas an open border with Turkey as well as sea ports to the outside world, so what’s the reason for that?
So, I would argue that the influx of cheap Turkish goods has as much to do with the state of the local economy, and manufacturering base in particular, as wellas poverty. Of course, Armenian logic defies the concept of openborders that most countries follow, I was forgetting that…
Basically, it’s a political and NOT economic issue, which is why while the ARF-D opposes the opening of the border because its agenda is to see the return of lands in Eastern Turkey, the same party’s lobbying wing uses the closed border to bash Ankara at any given opportunity. For example:
Perhaps ANCA should just keep their mouths shut or at least stop pretending that their real line is the opposite to what they say in Washington?
Comment by Onnik — April 4, 2006 @ 5:27 pm
Onnik, I have heard first-hand accounts (from more than one person) of people eating Turkish sunflower seeds on the way to and at the Genocide Memorial on April 24….
Comment by Freedom — April 4, 2006 @ 7:48 pm
You mean that they were bagged sunflower seeds and obviously from Turkey rather those sold loose in a folded paper cup thing by some dadik? That does strike me a bit odd on 24 April, I have to admit. While I will buy Turkish products if they’re the only ones available, I wouldn’t if given that chance on 24 April.
Comment by Onnik — April 4, 2006 @ 10:53 pm
Yes, Onnik, I mean the bagged ones. I believe the most popular one is “Tadim”. I even took photos of Tadim vans going around Yerevan, when I was there last summer. The streets are littered with Tadim bags. I have not had the chance to be in Armenia on April 24, but others have, and that’s what they said. I mean, not that the very idea of eating sunflower seeds while walking to the Memorial is acceptable for me, but there is something ironic when the seeds happen to be proudly “Made in Turkey”, probably also from the Armenian-depopulated areas, and not only that, but just when the Turks have closed the border with Armenia. I mean, do Armenians really need the Turkish border to be opened that badly? I for one have doubts. I am wondering though, why does the government continue to parrot the same line (”economic relations with Turkey will benefit Armenia”) and has not, so far, undertaken to research this issue? I mean, many say that it will be the same if the border is opened because there already are products coming through Georgia, but that’s not true, it will probably be worse, because the products would then be cheaper and “cut” the Armenian market. And then we’d have our beloved politicians to thank for turning Armenia into a mini-Turkey. If one is to look at this from an Armenian perspective then opening the border can actually have tragic long-term effects on Armenian economy and industry….. Just my $0.02.
Comment by Freedom — April 5, 2006 @ 11:22 am
There is no Armenian industry and there’s not going to be one until the borders are open. The internal market is just too small for investors and businessmen and they need to export. IT and diamonds are the only genuine area of real growth in the economy, but obviously, they are not going to employ many people and also, not across the entire country. As Armenia’s only real resource is its people the argument is that we need to have Armenia as a cheap regional manufacturing hub for export to surrounding countries and beyond.
I still believe that the economic “reasons” for not opening the border are really political dressed up. Besides, it isn’t Armenia keeping the border closed, it’s Turkey so maybe ANCA, the ARF-D and everybody else should be applauding Turkey for its “kindness” and interest in “developing” Armenia. Is that what you’re saying?
Instead, however, someone I know who says that the opening of the border would result in a flood of cheap Turkish goods into Armenia even thought that an “open border” meant that Turkish trucks and cars could cross over at any point whenever they felt like it. Turks would flook enmasse to Yerevan and buy everything up and take over Armenia. This is total paranoia, and not least because they didn’t do that in Georgia and they won’t do that here. Why?
Because you have only one or two border crossings controlled by the military and customs. Like other countries you’d also have immigration control. Besides, if they wanted to do what most Dashnaks say they would they could do that via Georgia. Instead, the official policy is to keep the border closed because it harms the long term economic future of Armenia. If not, someone better start protesting outside ANCA’s office in Washington and tell them to shut the f*** up when it comes to putting pressure on the State Department to force Turkey to open the border.
But nobody does because the argument against opening the border is not economic. It’s simply politics. For Turkish nationalists it’s to try to get Genocide Recognition off the Armenian agenda as well as out of solidarity for Azerbaijan who actually protested to Ankara the last time we seemed close to opening the border. For Armenian nationalists it’s just a way of saying we don’t like or trust the Turks and in no way do we ever want “normalized” relations whatever the cost to Armenia.
Otherwise, I’d say that both Turkey and Azerbaijan would have agreed to open the border long ago if the Armenian nationalist argument that it would destroy Armenia was correct. However, they haven’t and don’t seem particularly keen to do so anytime soon. Now, Armenia might not benefit at all in the short term, but long term opportunities will be there as long as the Armenian Government fights corruption and promotes the local economy including foreign direct investment.
Comment by Onnik — April 5, 2006 @ 11:51 am
Onnik,
Of course the issue is a political one as well. You cannot separate the economic from the political; you’re talking about relations between two states (economic or otherwise), and states are political units. Had it been from a purely economic perspective (which it NEVER is) I would have advocated open relations between the two countries (so long as one does not dominate the other and create hierarchies of course). With regards to being grateful to Turkey, not really, Turkey is using it as a leverage for the genocide issue (mostly has to do with that, and less to do with the Karabakh issue and Turkey’s attempts to get the region under its influence) and mark my words, soon enough the Armenian position will shift from a “neutral” one to a “positive” one (positive that is for the Turkish government). While it is true that the closing of the border is actually hindering economic growth in eastern Turkey, Armenia’s position on this issue (and its constant bashing of Armenian lobbies for pushing the Armenian Genocide issue) is no better and is doomed to fail in the long run, given geopolitical realities and considerations. The Genocide issue needs to be pushed now more than ever, especially by the Armenian government, before it’s too late . A stronger, economically developed Turkey (in terms of its eastern regions) would be more bold in attacking Armenia (politically - well, even militarily). Genocide recognition on the other hand, if it happens now (or in the very near future, which I cannot really see happening, thanks to our beloved government’s willing impotence when it comes to that) will place Armenian-Turkish relations on a different level.
As for Turks buying Yerevan (??), I never talked about buying. My point was strictly in terms of trade and products/production, not real estate or whatever…
Anyway, if the Armenian government is going to only speak on behalf of its citizens (I guess that is the whole point of citizenship), then it shouldn’t expect anything (no money, no lobbying, nothing) from the diaspora. At the moment it’s demanding both money, lobbying, etc. and in return it’s saying, “keep your mouths shut, we will do whatever is to the best interest of our citizens”. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. It’s that simple. So Mr. Oskanian should shut the hell up (I posted something on that a few days ago). If it’s that easy for the Armenian government to give up on the diaspora, then I can assure you, it’s doubly easier for the diaspora to give up on Armenia, and at the end of the day, it’s not the diaspora that will suffer, because the diaspora is mostly living a luxurious life. Keep in mind that even the most patient person (and I think the diaspora has been very patient so far - I recommend that you post about that instead of bashing Tashnags - although mind you, I am not a supporter of Tashnagtsutyun) will finally wake up and realize that he’s just being used.
I am disgusted by the elitist attitude of the Armenian government towards the diaspora. Well if they are so proud of “being the ones in control” (to the extent that they flaunt it in our faces every time we criticize them), let them “prove themselves”, and let them do it without our help.
A disgusted diasporan
Comment by Freedom — April 5, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
Freedom, I wasn’t referring to you about bying up Armenia or Yerevan. As for Dashnaks, the number of u-turns they’ve made on many issues means they’ve opened themselves up for some well deserved criticism. They sold their souls.
Comment by Onnik — April 5, 2006 @ 3:23 pm
I don’t know why you get the impression that I am defending Tashnags (I get the impression that you have that impression). My point is, your criticism seems to be one-sided and singles out the bad sides of one side without seeing the good sides of that side, and what’s worse, you don’t seem to see the bad sides of the government’s policies regarding this.
Comment by Freedom — April 5, 2006 @ 4:41 pm