It’s unfortunate that some people are stupid. This stupidity can be intellectual, political, or integrity-based (i.e., lacking it). It’s just as unfortunate that these people are everywhere, among Armenians, Turks, and everything in between and beyond. A sampling of the latest in the realm of stupidity follows. (In all this, let’s also grant the benefit of the doubt to my paragons of stupidity, in that they are not acting cynically. That may be a stretch, but let’s be kind to them.)
Let’s start with the most obvious target, a Turk named Emre Solak living in Los Angeles whose piece “Turks & Armenians: challenged to build joint future” was published by Anadolu, a Turkish news agency. In this, Solak cites the example of his Armenian friends, a restaurant-owning couple and a mechanic, with whom he gets along just swell. He ends his piece with what he says is a Turkish proverb—“old friends can never be enemies…”—neglecting what every introductory economics student learns about the fallacy of composition. Just because something is good when one person does it, does not mean it will be good if a large group does it. Solak also quotes other Turks, sounding oh-so-reasonable, saying that as long as “Armenia” “occupies” “Azeri” lands, borders can’t be opened and progress can’t be made. He waxes nostalgic for Ottoman days when Armenians and Turks got along famously. Yes, I suppose they did, in the same way a slave and a slave-owner get along. The oppressed, second-class subject (not even citizen) status of Armenians in those days seems to elude Solak. So does the difference between the state-planned genocide of the Armenians and the suffering of Muslims during the same time period, brought on by the very bad foreign policies of the same government of the Ottoman Empire. Can he be that stupid?
Let’s move to the pup-Turks’ ongoing stupidity. Azerbaijan, or at least its officials, continue to harbor, and honor, a convicted axe-murderer. The guy, Safarov, has been made into a national “hero.” This is even while we solemnly honor Lt. Margarian on the 10th anniversary of his brutal murder as he slept. Can the Azeris be so stupid as to see how murderously bloodthirsty and foolish this makes them look?
Let’s move on to Azeri-inspired stupidity. You may have read about the pro-Azeri resolutions of two Hawaiian state legislators. Of course, these two “only wanted to recognize an ally” and “injustice” committed against people. Did they bother to do the slightest bit of research into the context of the incident at Khojaluh? Had they, it would have become quickly evident that the Azeris killed their own people and that the whole thing happened while Armenians were finally throwing off the yoke of the Azeris, who had committed pogrom after pogrom. That’s not to mention the services provided by Armenia to U.S. interests while Azerbaijan was utilizing the services of (likely jihadist) Afghan mercenaries. Here, we have to believe that the trip of these two deluded legislators to Azerbaijan had nothing to do with their ill-advised legislation. Can they be that stupid?
And now, we’ll move from legislators to other, quasi-governmental officials—this time, sadly, in Armenia. You are probably aware of the heated response to the recently imposed and poorly conceived pension system in Armenia. Many are protesting it, even taking to the streets. Among those are transit workers. Regardless of what you think of this system, I will assume that you do not object to citizens taking public action against what they deem is a bad policy of their government. So you will probably find it reprehensible that three employees of Yerevan’s metro system, a state-run enterprise, were fired just two days after being active participants in a demonstration against the new pension system. In time-honored fashion, a spokeswoman for the metro agency said the men’s firing had nothing to do with their demonstrating. Rather, we are told, it was because their supervisor was unhappy with their work. Quite the coincidence, isn’t it? This is nothing but indirect, government-condoned intimidation of those who dare to act as true citizens. Are the metro’s upper echelons so stupid as to think that we’re going to believe their excuses?
Keep an eye out for stupidity, anywhere. It’s quite prevalent. Speak out against it, forcefully. Otherwise, the quality of all our lives will be compromised, everywhere.
Garen Yegparian
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That Turk’s conception of things is very TARC-like and pro-reconciliation.
And let’s not be so politically correct that we are afraid to use the word “stupid.”
Now this is a truly stupid comment, —“old friends can never be enemies…” but then, it comes from a Turk who obviously just doesn’t get it.
My grandmother was tied to the pillar in her own house and visciously beaten until left for dead by “old friend” neighbors who had eaten at her table for years. They wanted to know where she had buried her “valuables.” The poor woman could not convince them that she had no valuables. Her other neighborly “old friends” had already pillaged everything. Her “old friend” neighbors cleaned out the entire village, including all the animals, and divided the spoils among themselves.
The Ottomans wanted to be sure that their “old friends would never become enemies,” so they murdered them.
Well, Perouz I am sorry to hear what your poor grandmother went through. That kind of mentality was apparently widespread among these uncivilized medieval brutes unfit to be counted as even a ‘society’.
I recall Margaret Ajemian’s book about her parents during the Genocide which had this passage… this is apparently the “Turkish definition of friendship”:
The Turkish husband said to his Armenian neighbor, “Don’t worry, your family and mine have been friends for years. Your children and mine are playmates. Your wife and my wife are best friends. I will not let any of you suffer. I will hone and sharpen my knives every day so that when the order comes, I will slit all of your throats swiftly and cleanly. You and your family will not experience any pain or suffering. This I vow to you as a friend.”
I would call them animals, but that would be giving them too much credit.