Hagop Nalbandian and the American University of Armenia

It was sometime in 1915, in Marash, Cilician Armenia. The Armenian death marches were being held up for unknown reasons. They were waiting for newly discovered Armenians who were hiding from Turkish authorities. Sobbing mothers, entire families, young girls in groups were being betrayed. The Turkish authorities were running around like children finding hidden toys. There was an Armenian man who was betraying his fellow Armenians. The Turks were promising him riches and anything he wanted from the newly emptied Armenian homes. When the Turks were satisfied that they had found enough Armenians hiding from certain death, or worse, the Turks took the Armenian traitor and put him prominently at the front of the deportation group. The man violently protested to his Turkish overlords, yelling, “I did what you wanted.” The Turks said, “Yes you did, but how can we ever trust you again if this is what you do to your own people.” It's not known what “his” people did to him.

Hagop Nalbandian is not a traitor, but, wittingly or unwittingly, his statements seem identical to those that might be made by an agent provocateur. Twenty years ago he accomplished what no Turk could have. Using email and access to the Unix UseNet User Groups he single handedly killed a near decade-long effort to educate Turkish students and others on the genocide of the Armenians. At the time, it was the single longest-running debate on the internet (today those User Groups are called Google Groups). Nalbandian wanted that education done his way or no way. It ended up no way for he didn't have a way. Today, we find Nalbandian demanding education in Armenia be done his way or he will slander the Armenian higher education system. In an era of fake news, fake analysis, photoshopped images, this narcissist has found a new calling.

Nalbandian is now spearheading a campaign against the American University of Armenia (AUA). His charges are very serious and require a response. This is not an official AUA response, by any means. It is my response based on facts and references. Nalbandian posts his hatred of this institution on Facebook. He calls the AUA a pro-CIA/US/NATO nest of spies serving a Turkish agenda. He makes such claims with no proof to an otherwise unsuspecting audience.

Hagop Nalbandian claims, among other things:

1. The AUA is a CIA/US/NATO hub. As the basis for this claim Nalbandian says the idea for an AUA was initiated by Americans as well the western funding of reports and studies by the Political Science and International Affairs (PSIA) Program of the AUA. Even if the idea of the creation of the AUA were suggested by Americans – which it was not -- so what! I would ask Nalbandian for a list of those American AUA progenitors and have them state that it was their idea and not one which was suggested to them by local prominent Armenians. The following quote is taken from Wikipedia and has been there long enough for it to be edited and corrected. This information can be verified by contacting Armen Der Kiureghian, the current president of the AUA.

“In 1989, Yuri Sarkissian, then rector of the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute, suggested to Armen Der Kiureghian, Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, that an Armenian technical university based on the Western model ought to be established to foster educational progress in Armenia.” Thus, Nalbandian is wrong.

Why shouldn't the AUA accept funds for projects and studies that come from western sources? Has Nalbandian demonstrated that the AUA has rejected funding from non-western sources which could be evidence of pro-western bias? No, he has not. Nalbandian also needs to show that AUA's publications are used to influence the thinking of Armenians or the Armenian government. Nalbandian may claim the AUA has such influence, but we need to see his detailed survey data. Where is it?

Does any of what I have written just above prove that the AUA is not a nest of western spies? No, it does not. Nor has Nalbandian demonstrated that the AUA is a nest of spies. I would ask Nalbandian to compare the number of anti-Armenian studies and reports that come out of western institutions and compare that number to what he claims the AUA has purportedly generated. Part of the AUA record can be viewed here.

2. The AUA is anti-Yerevan State University (YSU) and anti-other Armenian universities. One need only review the number of professors and lecturers who teach at both the AUA and places such as YSU to begin countering this Nalbandian claim. A convenient place to start is here. Nalbandian should compare the cooperative record of the AUA, the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University and the French University in Armenia before stating foolish conclusions. One can also look at an article on AUA-YSU cooperation on the YSU's own website: Clearly, Nalbandian does not know what he is talking about.

3. The AUA receives donations from American-Armenians whereas if the AUA didn't exist such donations would go to other institutions. We would need to see a double-blind survey of donor intention regarding this issue and salary spreadsheets of pay scales of the respective universities as a requirement to reach such a conclusion. Without such documents, Nalbandian's claims are again, baseless.

4. The AUA receives proceeds that would have gone to the AGBU Melkonian School in Cyprus, shutdown in 2005. Again, Nalbandian offers no proof for this claim. We would need to see AGBU's accounting records. If Nalbandian has them, we need to see them. There are news reports on the subject, but the conclusions made do not follow AGBU's statements made in this specific article. Nalbandian cannot base a claim on a guess and then have us assume his claim is accurate.

5. The AUA is corrupt and is a reflection of the general decadence in Armenian governance. I demand Nalbandian produce an example of a bribe or similar transgression indicative of systemic corruption at the AUA. There is a reason the AUA is a western accredited institution associated with the University of California system. If one wants to see a 2004 Wikileaks document on the subject, it is here or a study by Michigan State University. Nalbandian's claims fall short, again.

Finally, I am a lecturer at the AUA. One of the courses I teach is The Scientific Method and Critical Thinking. At less than half of Nalbandian's age, my students could easily rip Nalbandian's anti-Armenian arguments to pieces and be proud of doing so. Another self-serving Armenian, a reporter for the Kyiv Post, Armine Sahakyan, who also has nothing good or accurate to say about Armenia, was challenged to a debate by my students. She declined claiming she is not an expert. In her case, the goal is not to inform but to obfuscate and perhaps to pick up a convenient paycheck.

I ask members and readers of Nalbandian's Facebook page to ponder his motives. Why would he do this? What could he gain from such massive misinformation? In this era of mainstream media propaganda and fake news, knowledge and thinking is required, not jumping on some bandwagon.

I would invite Hagop Nalbandian for a debate in my class and take his place prominently at the front of the class and see what “his” people do to him.

David Davidian
Yerevan, Armenia

Arsinee Khanjian: Open Letter to the Armenian Diaspora

The response below was not published by Massis Post even though it was send via their article submission page and directly to its editor. This response was in reaction to an article in Massis Post entitled Arsinee Khanjian: Open Letter to the Armenian Diaspora.. Freedom of expression is demanded in Armenia, but California-based Massis Post seems to have another policy.

Arsinee Khanjian: Open Letter to the Armenian Diaspora

David Davidian
September 29, 2016

In 1968, John Lennon wrote in a song, “You say you got a real solution, well, you know we'd all love to see the plan”. This refrain in one form or another has been heard throughout human history. The solution to Armenia's problems as enacted by the Pre or Founding Parliament group was to attack a police station, kill Armenian policemen, and take Armenian medical and negotiator personnel hostage. This was the operational definition of their “plan”. I would not want any of these people and their “plans” governing Armenia. Not only has this group been completely discredited, they achieved nothing politically. This is worse than bad planning; it is not an expression of human rights advocacy, and, moreover, does not demonstrate a path to replacing the existing plutocracy in Armenia. To the contrary, it became the group's political suicide.

The naive among us, especially diaspora Armenians, erroneously viewed and justified this armed action as political protest. It was not! It was a crime scene, just as it would be a crime scene if an armed group attacked a police station in downtown Toronto. At the scene, people milled around, taking photos and yelling (including at the police) in support of the armed actions. These people would be considered violators of police lines or even co-conspirators in many cities in the democratic “west”. I was in Boston when the Tsarnaev brothers were running through east Watertown, Massachusetts. I assure all readers here that any overt public expression of support for the marathon bombers would have resulted in immediate arrest. Anybody who dared leave their house would immediately be apprehended by the police in east Watertown. It was indeed a police state lock-down. Yet, when the equivalent takes place in Armenia, everybody's human rights is claimed violated, the government is faulted unequivocally for everything, and its elimination demanded.

I am sure it was humiliating for Arsinee Khanjian to both be arrested by the Yerevan police and not be recognized as a Canadian-Armenian actress. However, this is not a movie scene, it is reality. Reality must take into account the possibility of getting what one wishes for. I, for one, do not wish for an armed group to dictate the future of the state of Armenia. One need only view how the overthrow of the Shah of Iran by secular revolutionaries was usurped by a theocracy. Yes, the Shah was overthrown, the wish granted!

If one thinks critically about the two-week standoff, minus all the romantic notions, a leading hypothesis explaining the event is that it both enabled Armenia to suspend further negotiations with Azerbaijan and to discredit the Pre or Founding Parliament group and its supporters. We do not know if this was planned by the Armenian government or not; however, the results speak much louder than this armed group purportedly representing Armenia's salvation.

To address those who will inevitably claim I am nothing but a lackey for the current Armenian government, I am not. This is just as incorrect as claiming that Arsinee Khanjian supports armed attacks on police stations. I doubt she advocates attacking police stations in downtown Toronto.

Yerevan, Armenia

David Davidian lives in Armenia, is an Adjunct Lecturer at the American University of Armenia, and a former Technical Intelligence Analyst for major international IT firms.

Nuclear facility in Armenia

An article appeared in the English-language Korean Times entitled, "Nuclear facility in Armenia". I emailed the Korean Times inquiring how to submit an Opinion or Letter to the Editor. Their web site does not provide a way to respond to Opinion pieces other than a very limited, 150 word length reader comment. The Korean Times never responded to my simple inquiry.

I subsequently forwarded the Opinion piece below to the Korean Herald, a competitor of the Korean Times. The Korean Herald clearly provides an email address for Opinions/Letters to the Editor. The Korean Herald, also, never responded to my submission email or published my submission. While my Opinion perhaps is not as important as the Samsung S7 recall, the article I am responding to was published with massive errors. I am left with posting my response in this blog.


Pyongyang is not in Armenia

David Davidian*

An English-language newspaper in Korea, that doesn't seem to respond to email, published an Opinion on 2016-09-12, entitled “Nuclear Facility in Armenia”. The author was attempting to equate the recent nuclear weapons test in North Korea with unsubstantiated claims that the country of Armenia has nuclear weapons and is a major trafficker in nuclear materials. These are baseless claims.

Just a little research, such as a quick glance at http://www.sipri.org/research/disarmament/eu-consortium/publications/non-proliferation-paper-39 Table 2, shows less than 1 nuclear transport incident a year associated with Armenia or Azerbaijan, 2/yr for Georgia, 4/yr for Turkey, 6/yr for Ukraine, and 15/yr for Russia. These numbers alone call into question the reason for such an Opinion piece being written with Armenia as the target and not Russia or Ukraine.

If Armenia has somehow magically “gone nuclear” or has old soviet nuclear weapons, it would not be a secret regardless of what some disgruntled former PM said. The lack of veracity in his claim is having made it at all, and further, he has not been able to prove what he claimed. Yet the author of the Opinion uses that as a basis for his article.

Among other things, the author claims Armenia's only nuclear plant is the source of such material, yet neglects to note that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has deemed safety at the Armenian nuclear plant as adequate. Read what the US government's RFE-RL Armenia service had to say on the subject: http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24213743.html.

In addition, it is claimed the Armenian nuclear reactor is a Chernobyl carbon-moderated design. It is not. It is a pressurized water nuclear reactor, the same primary technology used in the Kori, Hanul, Wolsong, and Hanbit power plants in Korea.

The author claims that some unnamed Armenian group was attempting to sell a quantity of U-238 without noting that natural Uranium ore is composed of 99.284% Uranium-238, none of which are used in fission weapons or dirty bombs.

Perhaps the reason the Opinion piece in The Korean Times appeared was due to a request by Azerbaijan, now in a frozen conflict with Armenia. Azerbaijan has extensive hydrocarbon and real estate dealings with Seoul.

If the Korean media wishes to extol the benefits of trade between Korea and Azerbaijan, or any other country, that is great. However, there is no reason to engage in baseless anti-Armenia propaganda. Good Armenian-Korean relations need not suffer.

Yerevan, Armenia

* David Davidian is an Adjunct Lecturer at the American University of Armenia.

Armenian monument to Nazi collaborator draws criticism

The Jerusalem Post declined to post my reader response, with reasonable content, while allowing other posts with nasty comments in response to Armenian monument to Nazi collaborator draws criticism. Below is what was declined by Jpost:

Perhaps the Armenians are playing catchup with Azerbaijan. One finds the face of Mahmad Amin Resulzade on the Azerbaijani 1000 manet bill, a statue of him in Baku, Baku State University is named after him as is a high school in Ankara, Turkey. Resulzade was in Berlin during WWII, encouraging Azerbaijani POWs to fight for Nazi Germany after the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Hussein, approved the formation of Muslim Turkic battalions. This resulted in the formation of the Kaukasisch-Mohammedanische Legion as part of Htler's Osttürkischer Waffen-Verband der SS, which was sent to Poland where it fought the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw uprising, being attached to the SS-Regiment Dirlewanger.

Yerevan, Armenia

Note: The Garegin Nzhdeh "event" has been posted on various Azerbaijani embassy sites, thus, the tone of my response.

Turkey's Islamists, nationalists both silent on Israeli weapons flow to Azerbaijan

Al-Monitor continues ignore, not ban, any of my reader comments while posting trash from others. Since my attempt to comment, other posts have been approved. No problem, you can read my comment here:

This is my comment on: Turkey's Islamists, nationalists both silent on Israeli weapons flow to Azerbaijan

David Davidian • a few seconds ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East.

A correction to "Israel is Azerbaijan’s main arms supplier". Israel is Azerbaijan's main high technology weapons supplier, but I believe Russian arms make up the bulk of Azerbaijan's arsenal. Indeed, EurasiaNet http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72581 reported that 85% of Azerbaijan's weapons are from Russia. Of course one has to define what weapons are. Is Azerbaijan's large contract with Israel to update their T72 tank fire control systems a weapon or just an upgrade? Yerevan, Armenia

Separatist forces lose 50 troops in four days of Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

This is yet another one of my reader comment that never passed moderation. Several hours ago I posted the only reader comment on Separatist forces lose 50 troops in four days of Nagorno-Karabakh fighting, published in Pakistan's Daily Times.

Below is that comment:

David Davidian • a few seconds ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Daily Times.

It is interesting how there is no mention at all of Azerbaijanis losses, which at a minimum are in the hundreds, and if if you believe "separatist" Armenian sources it is in the thousands (including dead, wounded or missing). At a minimum, one can count at least 50 Azerbaijanis dead in publicly available photos that have been released by the "separatist" Armenians. Curiously, Azerbaijan hasn't updated their losses in days.

Since we are talking about complete information I also note the Daily Times of Pakistan neglected to mention reports of unknown numbers of Pakistani mercenaries killed fighting against these "separatist" Armenians in the north of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Yerevan, Armenia

Turkey-Russia: The inevitable clash of the titans

This is a reader comment that never made it past Al Jazeera's moderators. I attempted to post this and for two days while other comments appeared, including some with profanity, this never made it past Al Jazeera moderators. This reader comment has nothing so profound as to upset the government of Qatar, but in any case here it is. The original Opinion piece is Turkey-Russia: The inevitable clash of the titans.

While one could conclude the current belligerence as being sourced by the personal leadership of Turkey and Russia, this is the view at 1000 feet. At 50,000 feet the situation is rather different.

The Su-24 shoot down was an offensive political act, with a hypothetical spectrum of outcomes ranging from declarations of war to some back room deal, each with its calculated probable outcome. The actual result: Russia upped the ante, Syrian airspace in Russian control. It was only after the ante was jacked up that London decided to start bombing ISIS.

Obama and the Pentagon provided somewhat better than tepid support for the Turkish downing. This was entirely expected as anything less would prove lack of resolve for Washington's allies especially coming only days before Montenegro's NATO invitation. Ultimately, these are not the designs of local titans, just as the creation and nurturing of ISIS were not parochial actions.

Turkey won't blink first because it has more to lose than Russia, due to the depth of its institutions as suggested by the author. The stakes are not defined by an Ottoman revival or not. Bernard Lewis's rehash of Huntington's Clash of Civilizations was not a venture in historical determinism but rather a convenient blueprint.

Yerevan, Armenia

ISIS Fighters Returning to Azerbaijan Seen Creating Serious Problems for Baku

Having submitted a reader commentary on ISIS Fighters Returning to Azerbaijan Seen Creating Serious Problems for Baku on Paul Goble's blog, it soon became clear that no comments submitted are posted, even though I saw a "Your comment will be visible after approval". One need only view the scores of other postings to note the lack of comments. My comment is below:

An interesting overview. It seems Baku has itself a problem. Azerbaijani authorities are very good in incarcerating political and media opponents yet somehow allowed over 1500 jihadists to leave the country to destabilize Syria. This no doubt pleased their brothers in Ankara. The Baku Sultanate has to: eliminate these jihadists, face the possibility of plunging the country into an unwinnable war with Armenia or an internal conflict, prevent the formation of an insurgent alliance with other Caucasian jihadists just over its expansive northeastern border or any and all of the aforementioned. In addition, these 1500+ jihadists can easily enter the Azerbaijani-populated Marnueli and even Adjar regions of Georgia.

Given the amount of intensely bellicose anti-Armenian rhetoric that has been pumped into its people for almost a generation, Baku should have expected somebody might actually believe the propaganda. Perhaps Baku can ask its oft-noted strategic partner, Israel, to provide identification information on these 1500+ jihadists.

Azerbaijan once tried recruiting Chechen warriors and Afghan mujaheddin, among others including Ukrainians, to fight the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Chechen warriors walked away noting Azerbaijanis didn't want to fight. Shamil Basayev stated that he and his Chechen battalion had only been defeated once, and that came in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenians sent the Afghan mujaheddin back to Kabul in kafan shrouds.

For an ISIL cell(s) to exist in Azerbaijan, beyond the reach of its omnipotent security services, is somehow doubtful.

Yerevan, Armenia

Gaming Out Nagorno-Karabakh

I provided the following feedback on Stratfor's article, Gaming Out Nagorno-Karabakh. The article ends with "Send us your thoughts on this report.". I obliged them with:

I don't know who wrote your Gaming Out Nagorno-Karabakh article, but while appearing to be an analytic piece, in reality it accommodates what Azerbaijan demands and assumes that Azerbaijan has some kind of upper hand in events associated with Nagorno-Karabakh. You might recall Azerbaijan lost the right of sovereignty over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, notwithstanding having more fighters, foreign fighters, armament, and the support of powerful international oil investment structures.

While you suggest and generally state that Azerbaijan has some kind of intrinsic dominance in these affairs, I am sure you noted how yesterday Azerbaijan snipers killed three Armenian women – in Armenia proper – two of them very elderly, 84 and 90 years old. If soldiers killing old ladies at a distance is indicative of a strategic advantage I would suggest Strafor think again. What you perhaps didn't know is that the Armenian retaliation rendered the destruction of the Azerbaijani base and casualty count estimated on the order of 15:1. Perhaps Baku cares less about how many of their soldiers and civilians die, but Armenians do. This is not a “Game”.

I would suggest, rather than pleasing George Friedman and DC's Beltway with the tone of your analytic piece, you might give a moment of thought of the reaction to the quality of the risk analysis you undoubtedly provide your hydrocarbon-centric subscribers when Azerbaijan's transport pipelines are summarily destroyed in an escalation of hostilities. Armenia's rockets can also hit Baku's oil fields. Why these simple facts are ignored is telling. Ask yourself who would gain with the destruction of Azerbaijan's oil extraction and transport capabilities, and the tone of your analysis would change.

Yerevan, Armenia

‘To walk in an Islamic country and feel safe like I was in Tel Aviv was amazing'

The article in question,‘To walk in an Islamic country and feel safe like I was in Tel Aviv was amazing' appeared in the Jerusalem Post on September 20, 2015. The following reader comment was never posted. Even though it was posted via Disqus, and JPost states that Disqus reader comments are automatically posted, it never saw the light of day.

David Davidian • a few seconds ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by The Jerusalem Post.

Jpost made an interesting juxtaposition – on the same web page – of the corruption associated with MK Hazan and his visit to Azerbaijan. Maybe Hazan is looking for a new job. He would be in good company considering Azerbaijani president Aliyev was designated “Corrupt Person of the Year”. See: http://www.rferl.org/content/a....

I also note with interest that in the Azerbaijani press, Hazan's Baku visit was associated with an announcement by both Oran Hazan and Mendi Safadi of coordinated action to help Azerbaiian in its PR war against Armenia and Armenians, something that Jpost didn't state. In any case, such efforts have already begun and seen in various English-language sites.

One would think the Israel Knesset and any associated lobbies in the US have more important issues to address than to engage in unnecessary anti-Armenian rhetoric.

Yerevan, Armenia

Nakhchivan: Its Splendid Architecture Reflected In Bridges And Fortresses – OpEd

Even though EurasiaReview has an area for reader comments, almost none have ever appeared, certainly none of mine. So, I don't bother to wasting keystrokes. An article, dated July 20, 2015 and posted on EurasiaReview entitled, Nakhchivan: Its Splendid Architecture Reflected In Bridges And Fortresses – OpEd requires a response. Its author expects his readership to assume that Nakhichevan is some natural wonder that Azerbaijani culture has created. The author tries to accomplish this by the selective deletion of facts. Let's take a look at one BIG fact missing.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science published a study, updated July 17, 2015, showing clear proof that Azerbaijani authorities destroy Armenian cemeteries in Nakhichevan, the last known major cultural destruction took place in December 2005. I would have my readers look at High-Resolution Satellite Imagery and the Destruction of Cultural Artifacts in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan

If that is not good enough, perhaps a live video of Azerbaijanis destroying the Armenian culture of Nakhichevan. See: Azeri soldiers destroying Armenian Khachkars at Armenian cemetery Based on clear actions directed by the government of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani culture is typified by the elimination of the culture of others and calling what remains Azerbaijani.

Yerevan, Armenia

First east Ukraine, and now Armenia

This reader comment was not posted by Today's Zaman, June 26, 2015, regarding an article First east Ukraine, and now Armenia

David Davidian • a minute ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Today's Zaman.

One item that never seems to be noted by reporters and analysts is that at the first sign of destabilization in Armenia, Azerbaijan will attack Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia with full fury, without waiting for Moscow's approval. Armenians know this well. This protest is over simple thievery! Even in this article there no mention of Azerbaijan or Karabakh, but the word Ukraine is mentioned 17 times!

Yerevan, Armenia

Europe’s Caspian gas dreams – a nightmare come true for human rights in Azerbaijan

Several days ago I posted a reader comment on article, Europe’s Caspian gas dreams – a nightmare come true for human rights in Azerbaijan. After several days the comment us still under moderation. Perhaps commentary was restricted due to the subject.

Here is that reader comment:

David Davidian says: May 18, 2015 at 4:30 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

If Azerbaijan is an embarrassment to the EU, what difference does it make. Nobody is holding their breath waiting for BP and others to sell their interest in the BTC pipeline simply due to HR conditions in sovereign Azerbaijan. Apparently, Azerbaijan is not as bad as Nigeria, yet.

Easily predicted HR and oligarchic corruption were “non- issues” when the BTC and Southern Caucasus pipelines were being proposed, built, and as hydrocarbons began flowing to key customers. Now Azerbaijan is a nightmare? Is this hypocritical, probably, but this doesn’t make any difference either. NATO, EBRD and EIB representatives still flock to Baku, some bestowing praise, others bringing loans! All carrots. Perhaps Baku’s HR issues will magically disappear when it’s time to re-negotiate energy contracts.

Yerevan, Armenia

Today's Zaman: Armenia’s oligarchy in trouble

My comment regarding: Armenia’s oligarchy in trouble

David Davidian • a few seconds ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Today's Zaman.

Everything is relative -- Armenia has its oligarchs and Turkey its megalomaniacs. The level of corruption in Turkey's construction industry alone makes Erdoğan's thousand room palace look inconsequential.

Yerevan, Armenia

Вестник Кавказа: Спорный геноцид. Армяне в Османской империи в XIX веке Vestnik Kavkaza: A Disputed Genocide. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century

I tried commenting on A Disputed Genocide. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the Nineteenth Century as posted on Vestnik Kavkaza. I discovered that the Azerbaijani-centric Vestnik Kavkaza, purposely pushes comments on "selected topics" to a totally different article in a different section. Since off-topic, it would never be approved. In my case it was to be posted under Iranian business enters Turkmenistan. What a nice trick. So, I have posted my comment here:


David Davidian • 5 minutes ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Vestnik Kavkaza.

Vestnik Kavkaza is providing a disservice to its readership by blindly posting chapters from a known genocide denier, Guenter Lewy. Clearly, the choice of posting his work was not random as his text also appears on the Foreign Ministry of Turkey's web site

Lewy also claims Native Americans were not subject to genocide and would have us believe the only real genocide was the Holocaust.

We must conclude that Vestnik Kavkaza is not interested in the objectivity of the articles on its site.

Yerevan, Armenia

Today's Zaman: Armenian Oligarchy in Trouble

My comment regarding: Armenia’s oligarchy in trouble

was never published by Today's Zaman David Davidian • a few seconds ago Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by Today's Zaman.

Everything is relative -- Armenia has its oligarchs and Turkey its megalomaniacs. The level of corruption in Turkey's construction industry alone makes Erdoğan's thousand room palace look inconsequential.

Yerevan, Armenia

Times of Israel: A Day When Peace Was Born

My comment regarding an article in the Times of Israel, A Day When Peace Was Born:

It is indeed sad how with Azerbaijan being Israel's largest oil supplier and Israel Azerbaijan's second largest arms supplier -- arms that will be used to kill Armenians, again – how politics trumps any regard for the truth and context. So, would a somber tribute to the massacre in Deir Yassin also be appropriate?

Yerevan, Armenia

...was posted, then disappeared after an hour or so.

STRATFOR - Belarus and Armenia Re-Evaluate Relations with Russia

STRATFOR claims in report, Belarus and Armenia Re-Evaluate Relations with Russia, "and on Jan. 27 Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian admitted that the helicopter that was shot down had deviated from its course and said that officials were dismissed as a result." STRATFOR asks for feedback comments (internal only) in association with their reports. I submitted the following comment:

STRATFOR wrote, "Seyran Ohanian admitted that the helicopter that was shot down had deviated from its course and said that officials were dismissed as a result." Clearly, I have not read everything that exists in print and in every language, but I would like to see a reference for this as I have not even heard even a rumor of such an admission. Is this claim from an Azerbaijani source?

I live in Yerevan, Armenia.

Let's see what STRATFOR responds with, if anything.

The Guardian published an article, Jewish leaders call for Europe-wide legislation outlawing antisemitism

On January 26, 2015 The Guardian published an article, Jewish leaders call for Europe-wide legislation outlawing antisemitism

In that article it stated:

"The yardstick, say the drafters, should be that if an international tribunal has ruled genocide has taken place, it should be accepted everywhere in Europe as criminal conduct to contest that in public. The Holocaust, the Rwanda genocide, and the mass murder of Muslims by Serbs in Srebrenica, Bosnia, in 1995 would be covered. The Turkish massacre of Armenians in 1915, for example, would not be covered."

This article was subsequently picked by at least two other outlets: http://www.wpxnews.com/business/jewish-leaders-contact-for-europe-wide-legislation-outlawing-antisemitism-h6938.html and http://www.uniongazette.com/business/jewish-leaders-get-in-touch-with-for-europe-wide-legislation-outlawing-antisemitism-h15659.html

I posted the same reader comment text to both sites:

d.davidian

Apparently, Jewish leaders specifically reject the genocide of the Armenian as not worthy. Raphael Lemkin specifically highlighted the Turkish genocide of the Armenians when his coined the term genocide. What kind of anti-Armenian legislation is this! Frankly, it is an outrage!

Yerevan, Armenia

Later on in the day both of these non-Guardian sites pulled the article. What remains is the original Guardian article, providing no reader comments

Armenia can't count on Russia any more

Al Jazeera refused to post my reader comment (twice attempted, 24 hrs apart) on an Opinion piece they published. I am posting that reader comment here, using the same title as the original article: Armenia can't count on Russia any more. Sending feedback to Al Jazeera asking what possible reason this comment wasn't posted resulted in a standard template reply. Below is my comment:

David Davidian
Your comment is awaiting moderation
The title of this article is in contrast with its content. Little of the content provides evidence that Armenia cannot count on Russia. Clearly, there are issues with operations at the Gyumri base and legal jurisdiction overall, brought to the surface through the horrible murder of an entire family. None of this demonstrates to Armenia that Russia cannot live up to its agreements, which are far reaching.

It is sometimes easy to become complacent. Russia operates Armenia's nuclear plant providing almost half of the county's electrical power, it supplies gas so cheaply that the vast majority of vehicles in Armenia have converted from gasoline to gas. This list goes on. The part of this list that doesn't get much notice is that every morning Armenians wake up to another day of peace, enough so that enterprises such as the author's think tank can write these opinion pieces. This only comes from the Russian military patrolling the Turkish-Armenian border. Turkey has made direct military moves across many of its other borders, but has not threatened its Armenian border. This is no accident. If there is an equal or better replacement for this condition, we would all love to see its plan and execution.

Yerevan, Armenia