You cannot find a people in the world that will not say they have lost lands. Perhaps, this is true. So in what context does Armenia's right to be united is valid against others' claims?

This question may seem rhetoric to some, especially to non-Armenians. Perhaps I have a romantic, yet accurate answer.

Armenians lived in Armenia for at least (even most Azerbaijani liars admit this fact) 2,500 years. They lost it many times to foreign invaders, regained again, lost again. One thing that Armenians did not lose was the culture and the Armenian identity: this until 1915, when the Genocide started.

As a result of the Armenian genocide, the Armenian identity of what is now eastern Turkey was wiped off the Earth: identity, traditions, material and non-material culture of over 2000 years.

I don't know how foreigners feel by thinking about the above, but it really hurts me. It hurts to see an old civilization wiped off, it hurts to see west Armenia destroyed.

Some people will still argue that Native Americans have faced the same. But I will tell to this some that Native Americans have about 5000 local governments in America, they are exempt from taxes and even if they chose to leave the reservoirs and go to school, they will get 100% financial aid for higher education. This is not the same for the few Armenians left in Turkey. Moreover, many of them have to hide their Armenian identity, as BBC reported lately.

Others will ask, who will return to west Armenia if the land is returned? Who will go there? Two hundred people?

I really don't want a war. The last thing that I want for my children (to come) and for myself. But I still believe in Armenia's right to be united. I still and will always believe that Ararat belongs to the Armenians, that we are the owners. And I will always dream of Armenia's unification.

These random and unorganized thoughts came after reading Appo Jabarian's latest "Foreign Minister Oskanyan May Avert Resignation By Heeding His People’s Advice" (received via e-mail). It appears Armenia's Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan has said to agree to return Karvachar (Kelbajar) to Azerbaijan, and the locals of Karvachar are not happy.

I don't really know what to say. All the lands that Armenia has taken from Azerbaijan are Armenian. This is not the dispute. But where is the border? Do we really want a war? Is Jabarian going to fight for Karvachar if the war starts? Why did so few Diasporan Armenians participate in the Artsakh (Karabakh) war? Fifty people out of six million Diaspora? Is this the Armenian "pride"? Is this the Armenian "unity"?

I am not blaming anyone. Just some thoughts.

Foreign Minister Oskanyan May Avert Resignation By
Heeding His People’s Advice

July 14, 2006

By APPO K. JABARIAN
Executive Publisher & Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
Hye Kiank Armenian Weekly

According to Lragir.am, recently, Armenia's Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan stated that he would give
Karvachar in Northern Artsakh (Karabagh) to Azerbaijan
after the OSCE Minsk Group-proposed referendum.

Lragir.am also reported: "People in Karabakh have a
very negative attitude towards proposals involving
return of territories. They were deeply shocked to
hear the foreign minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanyan's
(proposal)."

Apparently Mr. Oskanyan has forgotten that Mr.
Elchibey, the former President of Azerbaijan, had
boasted during the initial stages (late 1980's-early
1990's) of the Artsakh Liberation War, that he would
"soon bathe in Lake Sevan" (Armenia proper).
Politically speaking, to his dismay, Mr. Elchibey
couldn't even cross the Kura River. He "drowned" in
military-political chaos.

Mr. Oskanyan has also forgotten that his former chief,
Mr. Levon Ter Petrossyan, the first President of
Armenia, lost his job in early 1998 for his eagerness
to return Artsakh. Mr. Ter Petrossyan had authored an
infamous article titled "War or Peace?" in September
of 1997. He had also declared that the national
ideology is a false category.

Is Mr. Oskanyan receiving advice from the same
elements that misguided Mr. Ter Petrossyan? It would
be wise if Mr. Oskanyan heeded the advice emanating
from the only legitimate source of advice on Armenian
state affairs: the Armenian people. He could also do a
major service to himself and his people by
comprehending that advice coming from the very
Armenian citizens of Artsakh as reported by Lragir.am
correspondent:

– G. Sahakyan, 73: Apparently, the minister did not
study the map properly. How does he imagine life in
Karabakh without Karvachar? Would he live in Karabakh
without Karvachar?

– Svetlana, 43: Perhaps they are hopeful that Baku
will reject the idea of referendum and Karvachar will
remain ours. But what if they agree?

– Andrey Ghulyan, pensioner: Most inhabitants of
Shahumyan, who remained in Karabakh, live in
Karvachar. What will their fate be? Frankly speaking,
I am surprised at Oskanyan. Who gave him the right to
speak on our behalf? He has never lived and will never
live in Karabakh, will he?

By heeding his people’s advice, Mr. Oskanyan may avert
the same fate that befell his former boss, Mr. Ter
Petrossyan: resignation. He may avoid facing
widespread demands for his resignation.

World Armenians Determined Not To Lose, But Liberate
Turkish-Occupied Lands

During the last few months, the worldwide public
discussion of legitimate Armenian demands for complete
restitution from Turkey has regained momentum.
Contrary to the denialist Turkey’s anticipation, the
dwindling number of the survivors of Armenian Genocide
at the hands of Turkey in 1915-23 has not caused the
weakening of the Armenian Cause. But the opposite has
been taking place. The new generation of Armenian
activists and friends are at the helm of a
still-growing movement to recover what ancestral land
was lost as a direct result of their parents and
grandparents’ annihilation and deportations during the
1915 genocide.

Even the first president of the newly independent
Republic of Armenia, Mr. Levon Ter Petrossyan has lost
his position because, 1) his weak foreign policy
vis-à-vis Turkey regarding the Armenian Genocide; and
2) his mishandling of the territorial issue with
Azerbaijan, the Turkic neighbor from the East.

In April of this year, an unprecedented number of
Armenians worldwide took their demands to the streets.
In Armenia, over one million Armenians flocked to the
Armenian Genocide Monument. In Tehran, over 200,000
Armenians overwhelmed the central square of the
Iranian capital. In Middle East and West Europe more
than 500,000 mobilized. In Los Angeles alone nearly
75,000 demonstrators presented their just demands.

On April 4, Armenpress news agency reported: "A survey
conducted by Sociometer polling center among 1000
young Armenians revealed that the overwhelming
majority was against normalization of relations with
Turkey if this is to be done by ignoring Armenians'
territorial claims to Turkey and without its
acknowledgement of the 1915 genocide."

Millions of Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and around
the world followed the news, and moved on with
contentment. Can the reader guess as to who tried to
discredit not only the news but also the survey
itself? Several denialist Turks and their cronies!
Some of them even claimed that only the Dashnaktsutiun
party "in the Diaspora makes such claims." These
denialists are setting themselves up for a major
disappointment. The followers of Dashnaktsutiun party
are not alone in their quest for justice. Several
Armenian political and civic organizations and
individual leaders in Armenia-Artsakh and the Diaspora
are firm believers in their just demands for
reparations, and return of Turkish-occupied ancestral
lands in Western Armenia. Here’s a partial list:

* His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All
Armenians;
* His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia;
* Armenian National Committee of America and
around the world;
* Federation of Armenian Organization of Europe;
* Nakhichevan Compatriotic Union, Armenia,
Artsakh, the CIS, and elsewhere
* Armenian Youth Federation in USA and around the
world;
* Armenian Students United;
* Armenian Student Associations (on university
campuses around the world);
* Armenian Popular Movement (Europe);
* Dashnaktsutiun Party;
* Ramgavar Azadagan Party;
* Hunchakian Party;
* Association of Armenian Veterans of Artsakh
Liberation War;
* A.B.B.A. Int’l.

Despite denialist Turkey’s desperate attempts to
divide and conquer, the world Armenians are determined
not to lose, but liberate Turkish-occupied lands.