Uncle Sam did not and will most probably never truly recognize the Armenian Genocide - Autumn/Winter, 2019

War criminals in Washington D.C. have finally "recognized" the Armenian Genocide. How wonderful! How amazing! We finally won! We finally scored a moral victory. We finally proved to the world that we indeed are victims. We finally proved to the world that Turks are a bad people. Finally, everything is going to be okay now. Finally, we can now all go home and rejoice. No folks, we are getting played, again.

And knowing us Armenians well, it won't be the last time. Uncle Sam and his Zionist handlers will not genuinely (i.e. to any politically meaningful degree) recognize the Armenian Genocide, nor will they genuinely embrace the Armenian state while there is even the slightest chance or hope of salvaging their very strategic relationship with Turks. And there is more than a slight chance that they will rekindle their romance with Ankara. I want to again remind the reader that the Anglo-American-Jewish problem is exclusively with Turkey's belligerent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NOT with the country of Turkey itself. Anglo-American-Jews will not sacrifice their strategic alliance with Turkey because of a mere mortal like President Erdogan. Everything will be done to maintain ties with Ankara. At the end of the day, Western powers and Israel need Turkey more than Turkey needs them. As soon as President Erdogan is out of the political picture, by forces of nature or otherwise, the West's love affair with Turkey will again resume as before, and Armenians will again be forgotten. Whatever was done in Washington D.C. recently was done simply to put pressure on Ankara over its dealings with Russia. Enjoy it while you can because it will not last long. For Anglo-American-Jews, Turkey is too big and too important to fail. It's that simple. This should have been obvious to us Armenians by now.

Nevertheless, as far as I'm concerned, even if Uncle Sam DID officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, what good is it?

What good would such a thing really do for us Armenians? Is the said recognition going to bring back any of the lands we lost? Is it going to put billions of dollars in Armenia's coffers? Is it going to stop Ankara from supporting Baku's aggression against Artsakh/Armenia? Is it going to force Ankara to lift its economic blockade of Armenia? The answers to these questions are a resounding no! Anyone that thinks otherwise is delusional. Some think, genocide recognition by Washington D.C. is a process that would, theoretically at least, lead to the reparations phase one day. Utter nonsense. Such a thing would, at the very least, require the total defeat of Turkey in a major war. Even if such a thing did happen, chances are, Anglo-American-Jews would NOT support Armenian claims, be it land, be it financial. If such a thing did not happen at the end of the First World War when the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, with the help of Armenians nonetheless, and when Turkey was on its knees, it definitely won't happen today, or any time in the foreseeable future. Kurds would most likely be the main beneficiary of Western largess in such a situation. Anyway, enough of the speculation and wishful thinking. In my opinion, not only is Washington's recognition useless, it may even be harmful. An official recognition by the United States will inevitably drive the North American Armenian Diaspora closer to the mouth of total assimilation. The struggle for genocide recognition is one of the main psychological factors keeping the North American Diaspora somewhat united and therefore alive. With that factor removed, the assimilation phase, already very rapid, will become even faster.

Recognition simply for the sake of recognition is counterproductive and
self-limiting. It's not in the interests of the Armenian Diaspora or Armenia.

Yes, and regardless of everything else, the passing of the Senate and House Resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide were indeed a public relations victory for Armenians. Yes, what happened felt good after decades of suffering outright rejection. But what the Senate and House did will not go beyond the category of a public display or show. Moreover, the White House has in-effect rejected both of them. Other than feeling vindicated and angering Turks in the process (which I admit is good in itself) there is however no real legal, political or financial benefit to what happened. Other than making headlines, which everyone will forget in a short period of time, Armenians and Armenia gained nothing tangible as a result of the House and Senate Resolutions - as they are nonbinding. In other words, they are mere expressions of sentiment as they carry no legal or political weight. In other words, they have no political teeth. Regardless, the Armenian Diaspora, the North American Diaspora in particular, had a collective orgasm over all this. And speaking of orgasms, who was one of the heroins of the day? Her Highness, Kim Kardashian of course. Her "good old Armenian ass", also known as "certified Armenian meat" appearing at the genocide memorial complex on the outskirts of Yerevan recently must have really helped in the pan-national effort to force high officials in the United States to recognize the tragedy that befell Armenians one hundred years ago as a genocide. What a sad state of existence we Armenians are in.

Using the Kardashian prostitution cartel to bring about "awareness" to the Armenian Genocide or to Armenia itself is like rubbing excrement on ones face to get attention from the public. The Kardashian whore cartel and how Armenian politicians, clergy and people in general put them on a pedestal is actually very symbolic of our people's civilizational decline.

Speaking of heroes of the North American Armenian Diaspora, there is also Adam Schiff. Although not nearly as sexy as Kim, Schiff is nevertheless revered by many Armenians. After all, the Neoliberal warmonger gives Armenians lip-service and he did play a role in the destruction of Syria and its Armenian community. Of course Armenians would love him. Actually, there is also the real possibility that Adam Schiff's not-too-distant relative was none-other-than Jacob Schiff, the Zionist financier from New York City. Jacob Schiff was instrumental in the rise of Bolshevism in the Russian Empire, which as we all know led to the utter destruction of Russia and the Turkish occupation of Western Armenia. In any case, Adam Schiff and his kin are NOT friends of Armenia or Armenians. The man is simply pandering to the significantly large American-Armenian community on the west coast purely for self-serving political gain. I have no doubt at all that had Adam Schiff been in power in the White House, he'd be among the first to veto or reject any effort to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Let's please stop fooling ourselves because this is not funny anymore. The  House and Senate Resolutions that were passed on October 29 and December 12 respectively are "nonbinding" documents (i.e not government policy). They are merely "expressions" of sentiment. Therefore, it's political fluff. Yes, it is better than nothing. My point however is, we should not make it into something that it is not. And let's not give any credit to a criminal system that does not deserve it. Most of the reptilians that supported these supposedly "pro-Armenian" Resolutions also support aggression against Syria, Iran and Russia. Our  "supporters" in Washington D.C. destroyed the Armenian community of Syria. Our "supporters" in Washington D.C. are - by intent, by action and in deed - anti-Armenian. What was done was done because it was politically expedient for them. What was done will also not benefit Armenia or Armenians in any actual/tangible way. Simply put: They exploited the memory of 1.5 million genocide victims to advance a political agenda that in reality has little to do with Armenia or Armenians.

In other words: Washingtonians are using us, "recognition" hungry Armenians as disposable pawns simply to put political pressure on Ankara over its dealing with Russia.


The two Resolutions were passed for reasons that had nothing to do with justice, moral obligation, democratic considerations or righting the wrongs of history. They also had little to do with the influence of Armenian lobbying groups. Speaking of lobbying groups, in my opinion, there is only one worthy of respect - the ANCA. The ANCA worked very hard for many years. Many decades of hard work by them however yielded no results. Then, suddenly, Turkey's one misdeed, purchasing Russian-made air defense systems despite Western objections, changed the calculus. This goes to show that everything we see in Washington D.C. is essentially a political circus put on by cunning populists clamoring for votes, that is until geopolitical factors (and powerful special interests) come into play and things begin to get serious. This is not an attempt to belittle the overall great work the ANCA does, although I am not always happy with the reptiles they promote (but I do understand the political reasoning/calculus behind such decisions). The ANCA does indeed deserve praise. In the big picture, however, they/we were simply in the right place at the right time.
There basically were two fundamental reasons behind the Resolutions: Put pressure on Turkey over Russia (which was the main Republican motivation) and make President Trump look bad (which was one of the Democrat's motivation). I don't even think we will be seeing high-ranking delegations from the United States paying official visits to the Armenian Genocide memorial.

For what it's worth, and again it's not worth much in real political terms, it's the Russian Federation that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide.

It's the Russian Federation that has very lucrative relations with Ankara (annual bilateral trade between the two states are nearly 1oo billion dollars and growing), it's the Russian Federation that is doing its best to maintain good relations with Ankara over the situation in Syria, and it's the Russian Federation that trying very hard to pry Turkey away from NATO's grip. Yet, it's the Russian Federation that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide, it's President Putin that attended the 100-th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide (despite strong objections from Ankara nonetheless), and it's Russian officials that regularly pay their respects to Armenian Genocide victims -



So, if Russians can officially recognize the Armenian Genocide despite their very important and lucrative relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, so can the United States - the world's "moral authority", "champion of freedom" and "beacon of light". The main point here being is this: Russia has NOTHING to gain by recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Armenia is already desperately dependent on Russia for survival and Yerevan has no real alternatives to Moscow. But, Moscow does recognize the Armenian Genocide. The United States has NOTHING to lose by recognizing the Armenian Genocide. It's recognition will neither speed-up or slow-down Turkey's departure from the West, if that is indeed what is happening today. But, Washington D.C. does not recognize the Armenian Genocide.

As of today, despite the political show/circus in Washington D.C., the United States has NOT officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. And it most likely will not in the foreseeable future. As long as the highest office on the land, the U.S. Presidency and powerful imperial entities such as Organized Jewry, Official London, Western Intelligence agencies, the Pentagon and the U.S. State Department does not want the Anglo-American-Jewish political/economic establishment to recognize the Armenian Genocide, the House's and Senate's expressed recognition are, in real political terms, both useless and worthless. As long as there is even the slightest hope of salvaging their alliance with Ankara, Anglo-American-Jews will not risk losing Turkey. Unless Ankara attempts to moves even closer to the Russian Federation by taking additional drastic steps, the House and Senate Resolutions will eventually be forgotten. I want to again remind the reader that President Erdogan is a mere mortal. He will eventually be out of the picture and Turkey will fall back in-line. That's where we are today.

Another bad side-effect of the recent Resolutions will be their exploitation by our professional Russophobes and neo-Trotskyites. They will use these Resolutions essentially as psy-ops to convince our politically illiterate and self-destructive peasantry that the United States is superpower that actually care about Armenians. Politically naive and emotional Armenians will of course believe every word of it. Large numbers of Armenians will therefore continue remaining vulnerable to Western manipulation and exploitation, because of the created perception that the United States is pro-Armenian and anti-Turkish. We seriously need to put a stop to this nonsense. We need to stop making the same mistakes over-and-over again. We need to understand that the political/financial entity that is the United States today is not Armenia's friend in any way, and will probably never be. 

Regarding friendships and alliances, Uncle Sam has only two in this world - Anglos and Jews. Americans, Anglos and Jews are three separate persons that dwell in one unified, unholy essence. Think of the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance therefore as an EVIL TRINITY. Anything major or strategic in the life of the aforementioned evil empire has to more-or-less be agreed to by the three elements of this unholy union. If a nation is not an integral part of this evil trinity, it is treated as a cheep and disposable pawn, something to be used and abused. Whether we Armenians realize it or not, we are being used and abused by this evil trinity.

The Armenian Genocide has been turned into a cheap and disposable political tool. And we have been down this road on more than one occasion before. I know the Western alliance well. I know Organized Jewry well. I know therefore that this recognition matter will never get too far in that imperial den of vipers called Washington D.C. I know that this matter is being used by Republican's to put pressure on Turkey's president (to force him to stop his flirtations with Russia) and by Democrats to similarly put pressure on Turkey over Russia but also to make President Trump (their archenemy) look bad. Both sides also know that their Resolutions are nonbinding (i.e. not government policy) and the highest office in the country will not reciprocate by recognizing the Armenian Genocide either. So, both the Senate and the House knows they basically have the freedom to play games and put on shows. More importantly, both sides know that Turkey will never be made to pay reparations, be it land, be it money, to the ancestors of genocide survivors.

It's a political show. It's not government policy. It's a politically motivated move that signifies absolutely nothing. Again, if land and money reparations are not part of the equation, then what good is it?

Armenians are like troubled little children who rather dwell in fantasy and feel-good rhetoric, than deal with unpleasant reality and listen to blunt honesty. Nobody in the Armenian community therefore wants me to ruin their orgasmic euphoria by hearing my criticism, pessimism and cynicism. Yet, it always happens exactly as I know it would. The latest example: The Turkish leader was in Washington D.C. soon after the House vote in October and President Trump (and I don't really blame him for doing it) was eagerly kissing President Erdogan's behind. As expected, the Trump administration almost immediately rejected any move to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, and I don't blame it for doing so because any U.S. presidency would have done the same. Geostrategic considerations always, pardon the expression, trumps everything else -
US State Department: Trump admin still does NOT recognize Armenian genocide despite Senate resolution: https://www.rt.com/usa/476114-trump-admin-rejects-armenian-genocide/
Turkey's behavior is 'deeply concerning,' but we need 'strategic patience' with them, ex-CIA chief says: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/11/14/david-petraeus-erdogan-and-turkeys-behavior-deeply-concerning.html
How Erdogan Played Trump (Again): https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/13/erdogan-played-trump-turkey-syria/
The U.S. Alliance With Turkey Is Worth Preserving: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/19/the-u-s-alliance-with-turkey-is-worth-preserving
Despite loveless marriage, NATO to keep Turkey close: https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1X41N9
Armenian genocide resolution reaffirms the ‘g-word’ is a tool for U.S. interests: https://countercurrents.org/2019/11/armenian-genocide-resolution-reaffirms-the-g-word-is-a-tool-for-u-s-interests
Rejection from the highest office is not all. Although not on the same level as their love-affair with Turkey, Azerbaijan also plays a significantly big role in the Anglo-American-Jewish geopolitical playbook. In a nutshell: Azerbaijan is seen by Anglo-Americans, Israelis, Europeans and Turks as a conduit of Central Asian energy that by-passes Russia and Iran. As long as Anglo-American-Jews and their allies have problems with Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan will figure greatly in their geopolitical formulations of the region. Needless to say, Anglo-American-Jews will continue having problems with Russia and Iran for well into the foreseeable future. Turkey and Azerbaijan will therefore continue play big roles in the West's geopolitical playbook. It is therefore not a surprise that Zionist activists again took their Shabbos Goyim from the large and influential "Christian Zionist" population in the United States to Azerbaijan to again spread anti-Armenian propaganda -
Jewish leaders applaud Azerbaijani multiculturalism at World Religious Leaders Summit: https://www.jns.org/jewish-leaders-applaud-azerbaijani-multiculturalism-at-world-religious-leaders-summit/
Why the West Needs Azerbaijan: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/28/why-the-west-needs-azerbaijan/
This is the bottom line all Armenians should understand for once and for all: In the eyes of the Anglo-American-Jewish political/financial establishment, their Turkish ally is simply too big to fail. The same also see Azerbaijan in similar terms, albeit to a lesser degree. As long as there is even the slightest hope of salvaging their crucially important strategic alliance with Ankara and Baku, Anglo-American-Jews will continue being pro-Turkish and pro-Azerbaijani, and they will continue toying with Armenians. Western officials will continue giving Armenians lip-service. Western powers will continue throwing pocket-change at Armenia. Anglo-American-Jews will continue exploiting the memory of the Armenian Genocide for short-term political expediency. None of what they do however will ever go beyond the superficial plane. Armenians have the urgent need to understand all this. Here is a good synopsis of the matter by famous Russian television host, Vladimir Pozner  -
Vladimir Pozner: It's all political games; in fact, the [Armenian Genocide] is not interesting to [American officials] at all: https://news.am/eng/news/545295.html
Yet, Diasporan Armenians are going wild. Armenian news agencies, social media and the blogosphere is virtually exploding with excitement. Self-styled Democrat Armenians are attacking self-styled Republican Armenians, who are in-turn attacking Democrat Armenians and making excuses for their beloved Trump. Both sides are cherry-picking information, playing verbal gymnastics and engaging in wishful thinking. Both sides are putting under a microscope words uttered by American officials. Both sides are trying to decipher intentions and meaning are behind such words. They are all feverishly and breathlessly scrambling to find explanations and hidden messages behind what has been happening. They are all firm believers in the "Democratic Process" and Uncle Sam's "moral authority", especially now that the "G" word was uttered in the imperial viper's nest. As such, the American empire gets a pass for all its crimes against humanity around the world, including against us Armenians. American officials are given the benefit of doubt - "American officials don't understand what they are doing, we Armenians therefore need to lobby and explain things to them" - even when their policies are blatantly anti-Armenian in nature. There are even Armenians today who are delirious enough to think that President Trump defeated ISIS in Syria. As usual, Armenians are fighting each other, chasing their tails, falling prey to war criminals and making excuses for a rabid empire. No one wants to see that the American empire could careless about Armenians or Armenia. No one wants to admit to themselves that the U.S. did not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. The thought of their favorite country in the world not recognizing the Armenian Genocide is simply too painful of a thought. So, why think it?

As it seems, Armenians wholeheartedly and unequivocally believe in the none-existent Democratic process in the United States. As always, Armenians are proving to be more Catholic than the Pope. As always, it's to our detriment as a people.

All I keep hearing is a growing chorus of excited voices saying: "This is it"... "America will kick Turkey out of NATO"... "Trump is now going to destroy the Turkish economy"... "Turkey will now be crushed by the United States"... These are all absurd political fantasies on the level of mental masturbation. I am often ridiculed for daring to say that the memory of 1.5 million Armenian genocide victims was/is being shamelessly exploited by Washingtonian reptiles for short-term political expediency and nothing more. No one seems to fully grasp it when I say these types of matters are geostrategic in nature and such matters therefore always supersede moral and/or democratic considerations. Stuck in their political illiteracy, victim mentality and debilitating emotions, no one wants to admit that Uncle Sam in reality is NOT going to unfriend the Incredible Turk anytime in the foreseeable future. 
Incidentally, the "Incredible Turk" was produced in the United States less than three years after this -
Trust me folks, at the end of the day, Western powers will appease Turks once again because they need Turkey more than Turkey needs them. As a result, Anglo-American-Jews will allow Turkey to get away with murder once again. United States will not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. But Armenians will continue getting hopeful every April 24. I reiterate: In the eyes of Anglo-American-Jews (as well as every other major power for that matter) strategic interests always outweighs ethical or even democratic or domestic considerations. Geopolitically, Turkey is simply too important to abandon, and Armenians are a nobody to embrace.

Will Armenians ever get around to finally understanding what geopolitics is all about and how realpolitik works? For a people that constantly boasts about being so intelligent, why are we Armenians so damn stupid when it comes to political matters? After all that we have been through, how can we Armenians not know that international law is written by the powerful to control the weak? How can we Armenians not know that there is no such things as democracy, morality or justice in politics, especially when you are a small and weak nation? How can Armenians after all these years not know that might makes right? After all we have been through, especially during the past one hundred-plus years, how do we Armenians not know any of this? When will Armenians begin learning from other people's examples? When will we Armenians learn from OUR history? -
Incidentally, what exactly are the "Iron Ladles" Khrimyan Hayrik was referring to? Here are a few examples: A large and powerful military. A large and self-sufficient economy. A large, stable, united, patriotic and political aware population. Control of strategic lands and natural resources. Stable political landscape. Complacent citizenry. Professional diplomatic corps. A record of military victories and political successes. Et cetera. I know Khrimyan Hayrik meant well, but the reality is that we as a people did not have any Iron Ladles to exploit on the international arena back then. This should have been obvious to our national leaders back in the 19-th century, back in the 20-th century, and this should be obvious to our national leaders today. We don't have Iron Ladles essentially because we have not worked on developing one, nor have we had the time and stability to develop one. Turks on the other hand do have Iron Ladles. In fact, they have many. The following is what we politically illiterate and overly-emotional Armenians need to understand: Unlike Armenia, Turkey is a major political power, with a major economy and a major military. Unlike Armenia, Turkey is geographically very large and it controls strategic territories and passages. Unlike Armenians, Turkish society is stable, disciplined, patriotic and religious. Unlike Armenians, Turks have centuries of political/diplomatic tradition and experience. More importantly, unlike Armenians, Turks are unconditionally faithful to their state (i.e. always ready to defend their country). These Turkish traits are the fundamental reasons behind how Turks controlled a massive empire for many centuries, and why 2o-th century Turks survived the total collapse of their empire one hundred years ago and went on to gradually develop one of the world's largest economies and militaries.

The aforementioned is why Turkey is a major political, economic and military power today that Anglo-American-Jews will do their best not to lose.

At the end of the day, Western powers need Turkey more than Turkey needs Western powers. Westerners know this. Turks know this. As long as Western powers are in competition with Russia and Iran, and as long as Organized Jewry wants leverage against the Shiite Arc, prevent the rise of pan-Arab nationalism and secure oil/gas from non-Arab and non-Iranian sources - Western powers will never risk losing a useful monster and an Iron Ladle like Turkey from their arsenal. This love affair with Turks among Western powers is deep, and it's not new. Western powers have enabled the Turkish monster for centuries. Western powers were the main reason why the Russian Empire and Soviet Union were not able to defeat the Ottoman Empire in the 18-th century and the modern republic of Turkey in the 19-th century -
Had Western powers - Britain and France in particular - not come to their aid, the Ottoman Empire, which was under constant military pressure by the Russian Empire, could have collapsed in the second half of the 19-th century. The Russian Empire at the time was eagerly seeking to expand south to the warm-waters of the Mediterranean Sea basin. The plight of all Christians under Ottoman rule (generally speaking Armenians and Greeks) was being used as a legitimate excuse by the Imperial court in Saint Petersburg to realize this geostrategic agenda. Stalin's Soviet Union also wanted to expand its holdings down to the Mediterranean Sea basin at the end of the Second World War. Unlike the Russian Empire, however, Stalin did not need any religious, humanitarian or even ideological excuses to pursue geostrategic goals; he only needed an opportunity. End of the Second World War was such an opportunity. 

I had an uncle who was a soldier in the Red Army during the Second World War. It was through him that I first learned that in the summer of 1946 the Red Army was mobilized in Armenia and Georgia and was getting ready to invade Turkey. I remember my relative telling me, "we went to sleep after having our last supper before the planned military invasion of Turkey. We were woken up in the middle of the night and told that the operation was canceled." My relative did not know it back then, but the invasion was cancelled by Moscow because the President Truman of the United States had threatened the Soviet Union. It was rumored that the threat in question involved the use of an atomic bomb which the Soviet Union did not possess at the time. These is very limited information in the West on this topic -
Historically, the Western rush to save Turkey from Stalin's Red Army set the foundations of NATO. And the moral of this story is basically this: As the above mentioned two historic events, one in the middle of the 19-th century and one in the middle of the 20-th century, reveal to us, had Western powers not directly come to their aid, the Ottoman Empire and its successor the Turkish state would not have existed today. Although this is pure speculation, it would nevertheless also be fair to conclude that had the Russian Empire in the 19-th century been allowed to defeat the Ottoman Empire and expand down to the Mediterranean Sea basin, there would not have been an Armenian Genocide. Without a genocide, many millions of Armenians would have continued living on their native lands in the Armenian Highlands, even if as Russian subjects. No matter how one looks at it, the Western world has in fact been Armenia's number one enemy on the world stage and a reason for many of its sorrows. We as a people continue suffering political repercussions/consequences not only because we do not yet fully comprehend this but we as a people continue blindly looking to the West for sustenance, guidance and salvation.

Western powers pose an existential threat to Armenia. This threat is political, financial, military and, perhaps more importantly, cultural.

This threat to Armenia as well as the disdain with which Western powers actually look at Armenians is nothing new. Anglo-American-Jews have been looking down at Armenians for a very long time. For a better understanding of where the Western establishment's mindset/attitude regarding Armenians was one hundred years ago (and where in my opinion it remains to this day) ignore all the feel-good fluff we are periodically shown to convince us how benevolent and humanitarian Western powers have been towards Armenians and instead read the following two articles that first appeared more than one hundred years ago. These are not the feel-good fluff meant to warm hearts-and-minds and win electoral votes for imperial officials. What they are is a candid, honest and a genuine look at Armenians by representatives of the Anglo-American-Jewish establishment a century ago -
Armenians Are Impossible: Interview with Lawrence of Arabia in 1919: http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/05/2471-armenians-are-impossible-interview.html
A Word About the Armenians a pre-genocide report: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2972&context=ocj
If you carefully read between-the-lines of what they have to say, you can clearly see that the authors of the two articles I posted above (both early servants of the today's political/financial establishment in the Western world) knew all along that Armenia was to be abandoned at the end of the First World War. The fact is Armenia did not have any genuine friends in the Western world at the time, nor does it now. With the Russian Empire destroyed, Armenia was essentially left to die by the victors of the Great War.

Trust me, not much has changed in their mentality towards us. After reading Hester Donaldson Jenkins' comments about how "oriental", "swarthy" and "Jewish-like" Armenians are and how Armenians don't deserve sovereignty in their homeland because giving Armenians land is tantamount to giving it to Russia, please examine in particular "Laurence of Arabia's" scathing insults against Armenians. His comments are actually rabidly racist and even genocidal in nature. So, isn't it therefore strange that when Armenians produce films and documentaries about Westerners and the Armenian Genocide, they somehow omit these kinds of documents? As I said, disregard the "benevolent American or European" nonsense. Instead, read articles like the ones presented above to better understand where the political mindset in the West was at the time regarding Armenia and Armenians - and everything that happened to Armenians during and after the First World War will make better sense. And realize that other than the general tone of the rhetoric, which is much more sophisticated, manipulative and racially sensitive today towards Third Worlders like us Armenians, not much has changed. We also need to disregard the writings of individuals like Henry Morganthau. Simply put, Morganthau was an official of a nation that was in-effect at war with Ottoman Turkey. He therefore had no choice but to be highly critical of Ottoman-Turkish officials. The Armenian plight was therefore used as a geopolitical tool against Istanbul. To assume a genuine, pro-Armenian or pro-Armenia bent in Washington D.C. or even on Morganthau's part because of his writings would be foolish to say the least.

Moreover, we also need to disregard the silly fairytale known as "Wilsonian Armenia".

Our beloved "Wilsonian Armenia", which was in discussion during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, was most likely a contingency plan or even perhaps a clever ploy prepared by American officials in case there was a geopolitical necessity/need to create an Armenia. For a number of geopolitical reasons that need never materialized. The so-called "Wilsonian Armenia" was not accepted by the main governing apparatus at the time which were France and Britain. It was therefore not ratified. In other words, Wilsonian Armenia was a stillborn concept. In my opinion, similar to what the West has been doing with the Armenian Genocide vis-à-vis Turkey in recent years, Wilsonian Armenia was most likely was a ploy at the time to convince post-Ottoman Turks to ally with Western powers instead of Bolshevik-occupied Moscow. Interestingly, a Christmas day New York Times article briefly touched upon this very subject matter. The article however requires some reading between-the-lines as it is quite whitewashed and sterile -
A Century Ago, the Modern Middle East Was Born: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/25/opinion/middle-east-world-war-i.html
Despite the best face these types of articles like to put on the Anglo-American-Jewish system, the sad/tragic reality of the matter is that their "Little Ally", as Armenia was called by Entente during the First World War, was left for dead not only by Anglo-American-Jews but also by the French, our people's favorite Western people. Despite what President Wilson may or may not have thought about Armenia, traditionally, Westerners have felt much more affinity and respect towards Turks -
The story of the Armenian Legion is finally being told – and it is a dark tale of anger and revenge: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/armenian-legion-genocide-first-world-war-susan-paul-pattie-new-book-a8590236.html
The ‘Stolen Province’: Why Turkey Was Given A Corner Of Syria By France 80 Years Ago: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202002291078432455-the-stolen-province-why-turkey-was-given-a-corner-of-syria-by-france-80-years-ago/
British War Time Pledges, 1917-18: The Armenian Case: https://www.jstor.org/stable/260207?seq=1
Instead of helping Armenian arms themselves to fight genocidal Turks and Kurds at the time and win the right to remain on their lands, the only thing the British, French and Americans were willing to do for Armenia was evacuate Armenians to countries around the world. This action in-effect depopulated historic Armenia of its aboriginal inhabitants and, as Jenkins admits, help develop Western businesses. In any case, just imagine, fledgling Armenia's inexperienced leadership - before and during the time when the First Republic existed - was eagerly expecting to see the Western cavalry come to Armenia's aid. None of course would arrived. Expecting imminent Western help (which our national leaders thought was inevitable because Armenians were faithful allies of the Entente during the war) is one of the fundamental reasons why at the time they didn't make peace with the Bolshevik leadership that had just come to power in Russia. In my opinion, this political rigidity and shortsightedness was at least one of the underlying factors behind the harsh treatment Armenia got from the early Bolsheviks. 

Just imagine, even today, a vast majority of Armenians in the world, particularly those living in the United States, naively think that if they can just somehow "convince" American officials that a genocide did happen, as if they don't already know, it will be officially recognized by Washington D.C. Many Armenians actually think Uncle Sam's refusal to recognize the genocide is simply due to the lack of "knowledge" in Washington D.C. Just imagine, American missionaries who were in the Ottoman Empire to essentially convert Armenians to foreign faiths and in-effect help empty historic Armenia of its native sons and daughters (with the official approval of Turkish authorities nonetheless, for why else would Ottoman leaders allow American missionaries freedom of operation in the Armenian provinces) are celebrated and revered heroes, and of course enthusiastically applauded by our idiots in all genocide related events. Armenians are not only politically illiterate, they are also delirious.

Armenians at the time were mobilized and ready to fight for independence on their native lands. Armenians knew the terrain well. Armenians had very competent military leaders. Armenians had proven to be able to defeat Turks on the battlefield. Armenians had even successfully participated in British and French battles against Ottoman Turks. All Armenians needed at the time was a little bit of military support and some political backing. Armenians were in fact begging for Western military assistance at the time to better defend themselves against genocidal Turks and Kurds. Military aid never arrived. What arrived instead were missionaries to convert Armenians to Protestantism and Catholicism, and of course evacuate Armenians to other lands. Instead of evacuating our people to other lands and opening orphanages for genocide survivors, if they really cared about the plight of Armenians, Western powers could have easily helped Armenians at the time defeat an already defeated Turkey - as they had done with other nations during the First World War - so that Armenians could have instead remained on their lands. As the sadomasochistic/homosexual British agent "Laurence of Arabia's" words clearly suggests, the creation of an Armenia was obviously not in their plans.

Politically, the main point of Western activity within the Ottoman Empire, which Ottoman officials obviously allowed, seems to have been the evacuation Armenians (and Greeks) from their historic homeland. I reiterate: Had Ottoman Turks refused to allow them in, not a single American or any other European would be able to step foot in Ottoman Turkey at the time, let alone roam unsupervised the eastern regions of the country in search of Armenians to help. The point here begin is that Turks were more than happy to allow Westerners evacuate Armenians from the Armenian Vilayets and elsewhere. After all, Armenia without Armenians was their ultimate plan. Western relief agencies like the Near East Relief, the U.S. agency Armenians swoon over, were essentially serving this genocidal plan. The time, money and effort Western powers spent on helping Armenians evacuate historic Armenia could have easily been spent on helping Armenians remain on Armenian lands. Western powers at the time could have easily created an Armenia on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire by taking direct control over at least some portions of Armenian populated territories, similar to what France and Britain did for Arabs in Syria and Lebanon for example. It was not done and in my opinion it was not done intentionally.

Incidentally, we see Westerners doing something very similar in Syria today. As we all know, Anglo-American-Jews used proxies (like Al Qaeda, ISIS and a number of other violent Islamist groups) to completely destroy Syria. And now, the same people who ordered the destruction of Syria are crying about the "tragic plight of Syrian refugees". Therefore, ask yourselves this question: Should Syrians praise "Western relief organizations" (like the pro-terrorist "White Helmets" group) that are for the most part run by Western intelligence services for saving Syrian lives by sending war refugees to Europe and the United States, or should they be blaming Western powers for destroying Syria in the first place? Should Syrians thank Western powers for collaborating with terrorists to destroy Syria, who then cry reptilian tears over the destruction that was caused? -
The White Helmets: How the U.S. Has Sponsored Terrorists in Syria: https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-u-s-has-sponsored-terrorists-syria/5695886
Behind the Sudden Death of a $1 Billion Secret C.I.A. War in Syria: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html
The following is the ultimate geostrategic goal of sponsoring Islamic radicalism around the world, in the words of a well-known CIA operative -
"The policy of guiding the evolution of Islam and of helping them against our adversaries worked marvelously well in Afghanistan against [the Russians]. The same doctrines can still be used to destabilize what remains of Russian power, and especially to counter the Chinese influence in Central Asia" - Graham Fuller
What Graham Fuller said is essentially why Uighurs have an office in Washington D.C. This is why through their intelligence agencies, Anglo-American-Jews support Islamic terror groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. It's an inherent part of the Western world's hybrid war against rising powers and troublesome/nonconforming governments. It's all about undermining geopolitical competitors around the world by using an easily manipulated yet powerful tool like Islamic extremism. Periodic attacks by the said extremists against Western targets is seen as a price well worth paying to keep nations like Serbia, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Iran, China and Russia embroiled in problems. Let's for once recognize that everything in the West today is weaponized: Language, culture, banking, trade, industry, journalism, sexuality, medicine, academia, religious cults, television, entertainment... the same applies to Islamic terrorism. These are seen as weapons and tools of manipulation, exploitation and meddling.

Similarly, "humanitarian aid" for people in need of help around the world is also weaponized and used as a tool of propaganda, manipulation and meddling. Perhaps it's not so ironic that "refugees" and "people in need of help" around the world are generally speaking those that were made homeless and destitute by Western powers.

We Armenians need to wake-up from our sill fantasies and begin seeing things as they really are. 

In reality, the political displays and shows we periodically witness by bloodthirsty reptiles in Washington D.C. do us Armenian no real service. At best, these provide us with some degree of emotional and psychological satisfaction as well as some closure. That in itself is good, but that's all that it does. Therefore, it's superficial. Putting this much hope, this much effort and this much emphasis on a worthless "recognition" by Uncle Sam tells me that the Armenians, the traditional Diaspora in particular, suffers from collective psychosis and seriously misplaced priorities. The Diaspora also famously suffers from cognitive dissonance. To me, this entire ordeal reveals how out-of-touch the Diaspora continues to be with the Armenian homeland. This ordeal also reveals how misplaced the Diaspora's priorities continue to be. Armenia today is in a decline, yet the only thing the Armenian Diaspora (the North American Diaspora in particular) is concerned about is "recognition". Where are our ethnic/national priorities in the Diaspora? What happened to the Diaspora's calls to "repatriate" to the Armenian homeland? What happened to nation-building? What happened to curbing the flood of Western toxins in Armenia? What happened to not allowing foreign-backed traitors to come to power in Yerevan? What happened to doing our best to preserve our ethnic/national identity? It's as if the Diaspora does not care if all Armenians assimilated and Armenia burned to ashes. The Diaspora is in fact largely assimilated and the homeland is in fact on the verge of burning.

The millions strong Armenian Diaspora, the million-plus North American Diaspora in particular, continues to prove that it is for the most part worthless and hopeless, and its very existence may in fact be having a destructive/negative net influence on Armenia. Other than obsessively, and for the most part exclusively, pursuing genocide recognition in Washington D.C. and importing Western toxins into Armenia - what good is our Diaspora? It's built a road here and renovated some schools there? That's very nice. But, compared to what the Diaspora is actually capable of doing, what it has done is not essentially nothing. Forget 10%, imagine the rapid economic growth Armenia would enjoy even if a measly 1% of the Diaspora repatriated to their homeland and put a little bit of their money in Armenian banks. Worst yet, the Armenian Diaspora, the North American Diaspora in particular, has also become a willing pack-animal for Anglo-American-Jews. Armenia can ultimately survive the lack of good roads or renovated schools and hospitals, but it wont survive the Western toxicity and mercenaries being imported into the country  by the "proud" Diaspora. Western powers are using our largely assimilated, English-speaking North American Diaspora in particular as a stepping stone to invade Armenia. The leverage Western powers have in Armenia today was in large-part installed by Diasporans. The destructive/toxic Western fetish Armenians in Armenia have today is also in-large part a by-product of the traditional Diaspora.

This pursuit of genocide recognition by the Diaspora (which has really become a form of collective hysteria and obsession among decedents of Ottoman-Armenian genocide survivors) has done more harm to our people's collective subconscious/psyche than good. Our Diaspora's unhealthy obsession with "Genocide Recognition" has produced generations of insecure individuals with victim mentalities who look to the Western world for justice. It has programmed us as a people to constantly cry and beg at the feet of Western officials - which is exactly what the ladder want. The only thing our obsession with recognition has been good for is to keep the North American and Western European Diasporas somewhat alive. The said Diasporas are actually barely alive and if we begin calculating the damaging effect/influence it has actually had on Armenia (the North American and European Diasporas in particular have been acting as pack-animals and catalysts for various Western agendas in Armenia), perhaps the homeland would have been better off if the said dying Diaspora was already dead. In the big picture, wealthy/influential Diasporan families like the Hovnanians, the Manoogians, the Hovhannisians, the Kardashians; individuals like Richard Giragosian, Serj Tankian, Van Krikorian, Ara Manoogian, Vartan Oskanian, Laura Aharonyan, Jirayr Sefilian; and organizations like the Gulbenkian Foundation, the AGBU, Policy Forum Armenia, Armenian Bar Association, Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian Missionary Association of America - and all of the followers, supporters and sympathizers of the aforementioned - have done more harm to post-Soviet Armenia than good. The aforementioned have been in various degrees acting as catalysts and pack-animals for various Western social engineering projects in Armenia. Such organizations and individuals can clearly be seen behind various toxic agendas in-play in Armenia today. It is in fact through such individuals and organizations that we today see in Armenia the unprecedented spread of Russophobia, Turcophilia, Western cults, Western agents, Turkish/Azerbaijani agents, Open Society social engineering projects, Gay propaganda, Street culture, Monsanto, American vaccinations, IMF loans/debts, Liberalism, Globalism, mob rule and of course exploitation of natural resources.


But as long as the Diaspora gets to hear Western officials say the magical words "we recognize" all is deemed well in the Armenian world.

My one and only concern is the health and longevity of the Armenian state, not empty words from Western war criminals or the worthless pursuits of the Diaspora. I reiterate: Even if the planets miraculously lined-up in perfect order someday and the Diaspora's wet-dream became reality (i.e. Washington D.C. did officially recognize the Armenian Genocide), what good would it really do for us? Has anyone really thought about that? What good is any recognition if it is not going to bring back our lands and put considerable wealth, as reparation, into Armenian coffers? Who today is foolish enough to think that Western powers will force Ankara to give up large tracts of territory and large sums of money for us Armenians? Even if Turkey was destroyed in a major war today, Anglo-American-Jews would make sure Armenians were not the beneficiary of it. Western powers would quicker back Kurdish land claims in such a situation.

Allow me to also add this: If Turks were not as politically rigid and fanatically patriotic as they are, they would officially recognize the Armenian Genocide; throw a few billions dollars at Armenians as reparation; open their border with Armenia to flood the country with their economy; and do some other symbolic gestures like giving descendants of Ottoman-Armenian subjects Turkish citizenship and perhaps turn-over some territory, like the sparsely populated and arid region of Ani and/or Ararat. Other than some hardcore Dashnaks, most Diasporans will literally swoon if Turks ever did any of this. Afterwards Turks can just sit back and watch the traditional Diaspora disappear in a generation or two, and turn Armenia itself into an exclusive Turkish economic zone.

But don't worry folks, Turks will not do any of this because they are after-all "Anatolians" for the most part. And just like aboriginals of Asia Minor, Armenians and Greeks, Turks are also stubborn and proud and not very flexible. There is another reason why Turks won't open up to Armenia with the intent of swallowing it (which it can easily do) and it is this: In my opinion, there is sort of a gentlemen's agreement between Ankara and Moscow that Armenia is, pardon my expression, Russia's bitch. As long as Russia remains strong, Turks will honor this agreement. If Russia falls weak, however, Turks will surely make a move on Armenia. They do in fact have contingency plans for such situations. It's normal, especially for a nation that espouses both pan-Turkish and pan-Islamic political ideology. In fact, this is all basically the very nature of geopolitics and Realpolitik. Nevertheless, Armenians are once again ignoring Uncle Sam's true nature and character and are once again singing Uncle Sam's praise, simply because they are getting smoke blown up their behinds once more. After-all, who today remembers the Kurds?

Uncle Sam abandoned Kurds and threatens Iran with a war, are Armenians paying attention?

President Trump may be a pompous asshole, but he is not a fool. He must have known that his recent move vis-à-vis Syrian Kurds and Iran would be attacked by both friend and foe alike. His reluctance to start a full-scale war against Iran has been frustrating his Right Wing, Zionist supporters. His decision to abandon Syria's Kurds and pull American forces out of northern Syria was not only extremely unpopular among Democrats and Republicans, but also among Right Wing, Zionist supporters. Western and Israeli intelligence agencies and special forces have been working very closely with Kurds throughout the region for around 20 years. Kurds are seen by them as yet another convenient tool in their now century long effort to keep the Middle East divided and conquered. With American troops now effectively out of the picture in the Syrian conflict, Uncle Sam no longer has a significant military presence in the war-torn country and therefore can no longer directly impact political events on the ground. This frustrates the imperial designs of Anglo-American-Jews. President Trump withdrawal from Syria will allow Damascus, Moscow and Tehran more room to maneuver in Syria. And that is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. Nevertheless, Kurds were abandoned by Uncle Sam yet again -
Trump Has a ‘Peace Plan,’ but His Mideast Policies May Be Bad News for Israel: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-has-a-peace-plan-but-his-mideast-policies-may-be-bad-news-for-israel  
The U.S. Is Now Betraying the Kurds for the Eighth Time: https://theintercept.com/2019/10/07/kurds-syria-turkey-trump-betrayal/
By abandoning Mossad-backed Kurds, how could President Trump go against Zionist interests, a people he has so persistently serviced and pandered to throughout his entire life? For now, it's hard to tell why he pulled-out of Syria. Perhaps there is a grander plan for a war against Iran which required the redeployment of U.S. forces that were vulnerable to attack. We know that special interests in the United States, as well as Israel and Saudi Arabia are actively seeking hurt Tehran. We also know that President Trump is surrounded by Right Wing, Zionists. Iran for its part is preparing for such a war. A major war therefore remains a real fear in the region. If one has not started yet, it's only because Iran has proven to be a formidable foe. The moment they find the right opportunity in Tehran, they will no doubt attack. This is why when President Trump first became president, I feared that one of his main objectives as president would be to start a war against Iran. The following were my feelings on the matter back then -
Is the Trump administration trying to drive a wedge between Russia, China and Iran? (2017): https://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/2017/02/trump-administration-trying-to-drive.html
During his time in power, however, President Trump showed that he is indeed serious about decreasing U.S. military presence in the Middle East. As noted above, he did pull U.S. troops out of Syria against the wishes of not only his political foes but also of friends. Moreover, he did stop U.S. funding for Islamic terror groups in Syria. He did stand-down when Iran destroyed one of the U.S. military's most expensive war toys, the $200,000,000 spy drone. He also famously fired John Bolton, the Zionist warmonger that has been relentless in his effort to draw the United States into a major military confrontation with Iran. These were all good signs. Nevertheless, knowing the kind of people President Trump continuous to be surrounded with - and knowing how manipulative and cunning they are - I still have concerns. I still fear that a major war with Iran is inevitable. It's only a matter of time. Such concerns came to the forefront very recently when on January 02, 2020, the Trump administration ordered the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, Iran's legendary military leader -
Iran Quds Force commander killed in strike on convoy at Baghdad Airport: https://www.rt.com/news/477353-iran-quds-commander-killed-strike/
I feared that the assassination of Iran's top general, which also killed a couple of other important Shiite officials from Iraq, was carried-out by the Trump administration to set the stage for a full-scale war against Iran. However, events that followed soon after the assassinations suggested that the killings may have been carried-out not to start a war with Iran (at least for now) but to merely appease President Trump's war-hungry Zionists handlers and to  scare Tehran.

General Qassem Soleimani had caused much grief to Anglo-American-Jewish imperial designs throughout the region for decades. He was instrumental in convincing Moscow to militarily intervene in Syria.  And he may have also been involved in the 2012 assassination of a top CIA operative in Libya that was transferring arms to Islamic terrorists in Syria. General Soleimani was a threat not only to U.S. interests but also to Israeli and Saudi Arabian. I suspect the thinking in the Trump administration was therefore this: General Soleimani would be killed because he was a major obstacle to U.S. plans and because doing so would also appease President Trump's Zionist backers and Saudi friends. However, by carrying-out the said assassination in Iraq, it would not be seen as a direct assault on Iranian soil. Moreover, immediately after the assassination, Tehran would be threatened with a major war if it retaliated in any way. The Trump administration's reckless gamble or hope seems to have been this: Facing a major war, Tehran would not retaliate in any way to the killing of its famous general and the Trump administration would come out victorious on several fronts. The timing of the assassination was such that it may have also been an attempt to divert attention from President Trump's political troubles at home and boosted his ratings among his support base. There may therefore have been a convergence of interests. Time will tell the real reason or reasons. But, as events following the assassination showed, the no-war alternative seems to be the one most favored by President Trump. Tehran did not allow President Trump's reckless gamble and adventurism go unanswered -
Iran Fires on U.S. Forces at 2 Bases in Iraq, Calling It ‘Fierce Revenge’: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/world/middleeast/iran-fires-missiles-us.html
Iran claims Al-Asad missile strike as revenge for Soleimani, demands US withdrawal from Iraq: https://www.rt.com/news/477678-iran-irgc-soleimani-revenge/
Satellite images show minor but pinpoint damage to US-Iraqi bases from Iranian missile attack, suggesting limited show of force: https://www.rt.com/news/477773-satellite-iran-attack-damage/
US troops knew Al-Asad air base would be attacked and sheltered in bunkers, exclusive tour reveals: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/11/middleeast/iran-strike-al-asad-air-base-exclusive-intl/index.html
US troops in Iraq knew of Iranian attack 2.5 hours ahead of time – report: https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-troops-in-iraq-knew-of-iranian-attack-2-5-hours-ahead-of-time-report/

34 troops suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iranian rocket attack according to Pentagon update: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/24/34-troops-suffered-traumatic-brain-injuries-in-iranian-rocket-attack-according-to-pentagon-update/
Iranian media: Russia stood by Iran in showdown with US: https://iranian.com/2020/01/27/russia-stood-by-iran-in-showdown-with-us/
And in a brilliant, if I may "Trumpian" move, Tehran also threatened to attack Haifa, Israel and Dubai, UAE if President Trump responded to Iran's retaliatory missile strike -
Iran threatens to 'unleash Hezbollah' in Israel and Dubai: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/iran-threatens-to-unleash-hezbollah-in-israel-and-dubai
Operation Kayfabe: How Trump and Iran avoided war while both claiming victory: https://www.rt.com/op-ed/477763-trump-iran-wrestling-kayfabe/
Although the Trump administration and Main Stream News Media organizations (both sides of the political divide) initially did their best to make Iran's retaliatory strikes look like they had missed their targets and that there were no U.S. military casualties, it soon because obvious that not only were the missile strikes highly accurate, they also caused extensive damage. There were also several dozen casualties among U.S. military personnel. There would have been many deaths had the U.S. not been warned of the attack more than two hours before it occurred. There is the possibility that there were also a couple of deaths that were covered up -
With ballistic missiles hitting targets with pinpoint accuracy, Tehran's retaliation was calibrated to look like a spectacular show of force. But, by sounding a warning more than two hours before the attack and by not directly targeting U.S. military personnel, the Iranian missile strike also gave the Trump administration a face-saving way out of a very volatile situation. In other words, it can be said that both the U.S. assassination of General Soleimani and Tehran's retaliation were calibrated to essentially be a show of force. Both succeeded, in my opinion. That said, I have no doubt that the ballistic missile strikes on the two U.S. military bases will not be the end of Tehran's retaliation. The attack was planned as a quick retaliation and a show of force. Its main intent was to simply scare its foes with its accurate missile strikes on high-value military targets - as well as of course placate its citizenry. Tehran will no doubt seek further revenge for the assassination. But it will happen at a time and place of its choosing. The recent rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad and the downing of a CIA command aircraft in Afghanistan may very well be part of the process -
Top CIA Officer Behind Soleimani Assassination Died In E-11A Crash In Afghanistan: Media: https://southfront.org/top-cia-officer-behind-soleimani-assassination-died-in-e-11a-crash-in-afghanistan-media/
Tehran is proving to be a very capable opponent. By hijacking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, by shooting down one of the most sophisticated spy drones in U.S. arsenal, by bombing of Saudi Arabian oil refineries with cruise missiles, by bringing the fight to Israel's borders, and now by hitting U.S. air bases with ballistic missiles and by assassinating high ranking CIA officials, Tehran, may have actually prevented a major war against it for a long time to come. Unlike what Anglo-American-Jews and their Paper Tiger militaries have been used to in recent decades, Iran is not a country that can be pushed around easily. Unlike what Uncle Sam's Paper Tiger military is used to, Iran can actually hit back hard. Finally, for once in a very long time, U.S. military personnel were on the receiving end of U.S. style shock-and-awe and CIA operatives are rotting in hell.

So, did President Trump order the killing of General Soleimani to set the stage for an eventual war? Perhaps. Perhaps not. President Trump took embarrassing hits on two major U.S. military bases which caused extensive damage as well as casualties but stood-down. The Trump administration stood-down perhaps because they in reality do not want a war with Iran. Or, they stood-down simply because they realize they are not yet ready for a war with an opponent as capable as Iran. Similarly, did President Trump order the troop pull-out from Syria in preparation of a war against Iran? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps, the Trump administration is actually serious about down-sizing the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Perhaps not. Thus far, arguments can be made to support both theories. Nevertheless, and regardless of everything else, the killing of General Soleimani set a terrible precedent that U.S. officials will yet come to regret, and it showed the world just how reckless and dangerous Western powers can be. In any case, for whatever reasons, President Trump decided to pull-out of northern Syria (thereby reneging on all the assurances and promises Kurds had gotten from Washington D.C.) and decided to not retaliate to Iran's retaliatory missile strikes on two U.S. bases in Iraq (which as noted above caused extensive damage as well as U.S. casualties). These moves by the Trump administration basically gave Syria back to the Syrians, Russians and Iranians, and showed the world that Iran is a formidable power. Tehran has stood-up to the combined might of Anglo-American-Jews and Saudis and has thrown their plans into disarray.

The decision to abandon Syria's Kurds was obviously a concession to Ankara as well. President Trump's troop withdrawal came at the worst possible time - in face of an imminent Turkish incursion. The move therefore also made the U.S. look weak, incompetent, unreliable and duplicitous. Yet, President Trump's move also seemed very deliberate and calculated. Again, assuming of course that his move is not connected to a tactical redeployment of forces in preparation of a larger war against Iran - I would even call what he did wise. Knowing President Trump, however, it would be fair to assume that he is indeed serious about decreasing the U.S. military presence in the Middle East one way or another. President Trump had been signalling his desire to pull U.S. troops out from Syria and even Iraq. In fact, before he abandoned Syria's Kurds, he abandoned the Western-backed Islamic terror groups fighting in Syria -
Trump Ends Covert Aid to Syrian Rebels Trying to Topple Assad: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/world/middleeast/cia-arming-syrian-rebels.html
None of this however means President trump is not interested in starting a war with Iran to placate his "Christian-Zionist" voting base, Right Wing Jewish supporters and Saudi friends. It simply means that war planners in Washington D.C., London and Tel Aviv are still looking for the right time to start it. And it also means that the war in question will most likely be an aerial and naval assault.

Nevertheless, with the U.S. troop withdrawal from northern Syria, the Syrian tragedy may be nearing its final stages. Despite protests from Washington D.C. and Ankara, Idlib, the last major hotbed of Islamic/Turkic terrorism in Syria, is about to fall to Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces. After so many years of severe destruction and loss of lives, the country however will never be the same again. Most likely the country will be partitioned in some form. I don't think Ankara will claim any lands in Syria. Syria will not allow it. Iran will not allow it. Russia will not allow it. And now, abandoned by Anglo-American-Jews, Kurds themselves will make sure that Russia, Syria and Iran will not allow Turkey to remain inside Syria. Moscow is already taking steps to make sure that Ankara is contained. Despite Moscow's warm ties with Ankara, Moscow is pressing forward with the agenda to destroy Turkish-backed terror groups in Syria.

All in all, I am glad that President Trump's decision to move U.S. troops out of northern Syria has given legitimate players on the ground there more freedom of movement. And by assassinating General Soliemani, the Trump administration has played right into the hands of Moscow. By doing what he did, President Trump elevated Moscow to a position where it is now being seen as the main power-broker in the Middle East. Therefore, thank you President Trump -
Amid Iran Crisis, Russia’s Mideast Presence Just Keeps Growing: https://www.thedailybeast.com/amid-iran-crisis-russias-mideast-presence-just-keeps-growing
US Withdraws From Syria With Tail Between Legs! Russian Troops Move In to Keep the Peace! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3MmXcMlNOw 
Turkey seizes key highway in Syria, complicating U.S. troop withdrawal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFRnOOz2MoA 
Turkey's Syria offensive: Russia steps into void left by US - DW News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpoabnN-OXw 
Kurdish commander: Trump OK'd deal with Moscow, Damascus: https://www.yahoo.com/news/kurdish-commander-trump-approved-deal-075554398.html 
In Syria, Russia Is Pleased to Fill an American Void: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/middleeast/kurds-syria-turkey.html 
VESTi: Alliance Between SAA and Kurds Prevents Turkish Invasion! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcozz_e3Piw
Russia and Turkey strike deal to take control of part of Syrian border - ITV News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNIX6ygJjws
Russian and Syrian forces to deploy to northeastern Syria outside Turkey operation zone: https://www.rt.com/news/471529-putin-erdogan-sochi-talks/
'Trump betrayed us': Fleeing Kurds condemn U.S. decision to leave Syria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz-WKu881Yc
The Kurds’ commander in chief explains why his forces are finally ready to partner with Assad and Putin: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/13/kurds-assad-syria-russia-putin-turkey-genocide/
Pax Russica: as Trump abandons Syria’s Kurds, Russia is ready to expand its empire - The Spectator: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/pax-russica-as-trump-abandons-syrias-kurds-russia-is-ready-to-expand-its-empire/
Russia’s new base in Qamishli is a message. But for whom?: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1584731/middle-east
With parks, saunas and churches, Russian soldiers in Syria to stay: https://www.yahoo.com/news/parks-saunas-churches-russian-soldiers-syria-stay-000352917.html
Here's why the Russian Orthodox Church is deeply connected to the Syrian War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTElnqJNtIk
 And of course who can forget these memorable ones -
'Thank you, Russia, Thank you, Putin' - BBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNTgL82D4Xo
Военная приемка. Авиация в Сирии. Самолеты. Часть 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZEqC6gax3M 
Военная приемка. Авиация в Сирии. Самолеты. Часть 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnB0hZfE-Go 
It’s Finally Over: What Do The Russians Who Saved Syria Have to Say About the War Now?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWivIcQltyo
The Western and Israeli backed Kurdistan experiment in Syria is now officially dead. Similar to what the French did to Cilician Armenians in the same region of the world almost exactly 100 hundred years ago, American troops unexpectedly (although not the first time) abandoned their Kurdish "allies" and basically fled in the middle of the night. Russians, Syrians and Turks have now of course quickly filled the void created by the American withdraw. Moscow, in particular, has come out as the main beneficiary in all this. The Kremlin's execution of statecraft has been absolutely brilliant. I don't think there currently exists a nation on earth that can rival Russia politically, diplomatically or militarily. Yes, I said militarily. Look at it this way: Several thousand Russian troops in Syria have done more in several years than hundreds-of-thousands of American troops (not to mention trillions of US dollars) have done in the past 18 years in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Nevertheless, what we saw in Syria recently is, in essence, yet another example of how realpolitik works among the major powers of this world.

In a nutshell: Big powers made a deal and politically incompetent peoples (like Kurds, similar to us Armenians) got trampled in the process. In other words, Kurds got played again, just like how Armenia will get played as soon as we Armenians lose our Russian protection. I don't however expect Armenians to draw any lessons from any of this. Armenians are like overly emotional, hyperactive children - not only do they not learn from other people's mistakes, they also do not learn from their past mistakes.

We Armenians love ignoring reality and we love pursuing fantasy, and the Armenian heart and mind remains fixated on the Western world. Armenians are therefore easily manipulated and led astray. This is why many in Armenian society were not too long ago praising the budding American-Israeli-Kurdish alliance in Syria. Many were saying: "Look everybody, such an alliance with the U.S. can also happen to Armenia!" I fully agree! What happened to the Kurds can and WILL happen to Armenia the very moment our peasantry - of course goaded by our CIA agents, Sorosites, Democratizer and Westernizers - manage to "free" Armenia from Russian "control". In fact, the damage to our tiny and landlocked homeland in such a case would be incomparably worst than what Kurds are suffering today. Speaking of Armenians not drawing lessons from history and pursuing fantasy, I'd like to say a few word s about the so-called "Government of Western Armenia" founded by former ASALA members:
This organization, which is based in France (and clearly seems to be led by French Intelligence services) had been collaborating with Syrian Kurds with the intention of establishing a joint, Kurdish/Armenian state in north-western Syria since 2011. It obviously was a Western-led or supported project because "Government of Western Armenia" members were easily going in-and-out of the Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq under the very noses of Anglo-American-Jews, Turks and of course the French. The organization's Armenian head wanted to establish, in his words, a new Western-backed "Cilician" republic for Western Armenians (Ottoman-Armenian descendants) and what he described as "hundreds-of-thousands of Kurdified Armenians". This so-called Western-backed "Kurdo-Armenian" state was to have it's own government, national anthem, flag and it was to carry itself totally independent of the Armenian Republic in the south Caucasus. The man in question actually had a deep hatred for Russians, "Russified" Armenians of Armenia and the ARF organization. This so-called "Kurdo-Armenian" state was obviously envisioned to be yet another tool of destabilization in the Middle East in the arsenal of Westerners and Jews. Thank God and President Putin of Russia of course, the Russian involvement in Syria basically put an end to this absurd wet-dream of former ASALA members.
In any case, it may be obvious by now that I am not a big fan of Kurds. In my opinion, Kurds are not any better than Turks. As far as I'm concerned, Turks and Kurds are the same excrement. On the human evolutionary ladder, Turks can be placed a bit higher than Kurds. Kurds have the Turkic barbarity without the Turkish sophistication. The only good thing about some Kurds is their hostility towards the Turkish state. So, as President Trump said in a recent interview: "let them fight". I also say let them fight, let them kill each-other. In any case, American-Israel backed Kurdish insurgency in northern Syria had to be crushed - not for Turkey but primarily for Syria and Iran. This is why all the legitimate players on the ground in Syria - Russia, Iran and of course Syria - gave Ankara the green-light to do the dirty work for them. And it worked. Americans are out of the way and the Western/Israel backed Kurdistan experiment in Syria is now dead. Good. When it comes to politics we Armenians somehow need to learn to stop thinking with our emotions. Just because Turks are bad, that does not mean Kurds must be good. And the adage, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" does not work in this case either because both Kurds and Turks claim Western Armenia as theirs. In fact, the region in question is mainly populated by Kurds, not Turks. We all know Kurds were instrumental in robbing and killing Armenians during the genocide years. 

Kurds were in fact the main beneficiaries of the genocide. Their "apologies" today therefore ring hollow. They have also not paid the price for their crimes against Armenians. So, as far as I'm concerned, Turkey is bad, Kurdistan is bad. Therefore, let Turks and Kurds fight and kill each-other.

Nevertheless, the Western and Israeli backed Kurdistan experiment had to be crushed. One more time: A Kurdistan in Syria or Iran is not in Syrian, Iranian, Russian or even Armenian interests. Let's not forget that Turkey has a Kurdistan in northern Iraq to contend with, as well as many millions of disgruntled Kurds inside Turkey itself. Therefore, there is no need to worry, Ankara's problem with Kurds is far from over. In fact, it may have gotten worst because Kurds are also a very spiteful and vengeful people. Again, Armenians need to stop looking at this subject from an emotional or even an ethical angle. The only place a Kurdistan can or should exist is northern Iraq and south-eastern Turkey, and only so that it causes internal problems for Turkey.

At the end of the day, the main take-way from all this for us Armenians is this: We need to wake-up and finally admit to ourselves that Western powers have never been and can never be reliable allies or partners.

Armenians also need to understand that the Ottoman Empire of yesteryear and Turkey of today exists primarily because of Western powers. Armenians need to understand that if you are not part of the Anglo-American-Jewish world, you are nothing to them, especially when you are a small, poor, remote and landlocked nation without energy reserves. In the eyes of the West, Turkey is a useful giant, whereas Armenia is a useless midget. The West's problem is not with Turkey per se but with the belligerent government of President Erdogan. Anglo-American-Jews will therefore do what they can to put pressure on the Turkish  president without ever risking the loss of Turkey as a geopolitical hedge against Russians, Persians and Arabs. We Armenians need to end our day dreaming and simply recognize that Anglo-American-Jews are strategic allies of Turkey and will remain so - and that's not going to change because of bunch of disorganized and backward Kurds or Armenians. The Anglo-Americans desperately need Turkey. Jews and Israel desperately need Turkey. That's why Russians have been trying to pull Turkey in the opposite direction. While Anglo-American-Jews are not going to stop their limited support for Kurds, at the same time, however, they are not going to seriously oppose Turkey either because doing so would only push Turkey into Russia's arms.

I have been saying the following for over ten years now, repeating it one more time would not hurt: Distant Western powers are in the south Caucasus region purely for political adventurism and energy exploitation. Nearby Russia, on the other hand, is in the south Caucasus to protect the Russian homeland from regional dangers (e.g. pan-Turkism, Western expansionism and Islamic fanaticism). So, ask yourselves: Who would be the more reliable and invested player in the region, especially from an Armenian perspective?

If things get difficult in the region or if the political climate in the U.S. changes for some reason, as it does from time-to-time, Westerners will leave immediately without suffering any serious repercussions as a result. Due to the region's very proximity to the Russian nation itself, Russia, unlike the West, has no choice but to remain and FIGHT in the region. The only way Russia will leave the south Caucasus is if it is defeated, as in 1917. Other than that, Armenia can count on a very strong Russian presence. After Armenians, Russia is the ONLY nation on earth that would willingly fight and die for Armenia. For the far-way West, Armenia is a pawn to be used/exploited against Russia and Iran. For Russia, Armenia is a vitally/crucially important piece of real-estate that she is willing to spill the blood of her sons over. This is the fundamental difference between Russia and the West. Even Stalin's Soviet Union was rational/sober enough to recognize that an Armenia was needed in the region. The point here is, after 1921 Armenia could have been easily erased from the map but it wasn't because even early Communism understood the strategic value of an Armenia.

In any case, let's look at what Russians have done for Syria, a country far from Russia's borders, and imagine what it would be willing to do for Armenia.

Again, all this is a moot point for Armenians. When it comes to Western powers, Armenian memory is very short. I have no doubt our sheeple will quickly forget about this latest American-style backstabbing because the American Empire always gets the benefit of the doubt. In the eyes of our self-destructive peasantry, the American Empire never commits crimes, it only sometimes makes "mistakes", for which it of course "apologizes" much later and asks for "forgiveness". Armenians today who are outraged at what Washington D.C. has done with the Kurds or with their genocide recognition efforts will enthusiastically start kissing American buttocks again as soon as American officials start blowing smoke up their buttocks again. It's only Russian "crimes and aggression" (never mistakes, mind you) that the world's peasantry, especially our very own, holds a grudge against and does so for hundreds of years. In fact, to this day, Russia and Russians are directly blamed for crimes committed by the Bolshevik regime that destroyed the Russian Empire from within... for that is the power of Anglo-American-Jewish propaganda, mental conditioning and social engineering that permeates the world today.

In any case, as noted above, the Russians were the main beneficiaries of President Trump's wise decision to abandon Syria's Kurds and move U.S. troops eastward to Iraq. President Trump's move vis-à-vis Syrian Kurds effectively made Russia the only major power with boots on the ground in Syria. Not only are Arab nations now increasingly recognizing this, many are also openly welcoming it. Having waged numerous wars of aggression throughout the region and its unabashed and aggressive support for Israel, the United States squandered its political legitimacy and moral leadership in the Middle East a very long time ago. Uncle Same long lost his legitimacy in the region. Russia is therefore merely filling the void. Having garnered respect - as well as fear - throughout the region in recent years, Moscow today is increasingly looking like the ideal power-broker in the Middle East.

Russia steps into world leadership role

With its historic military intervention in Syria (which saved Syria's Alawite and Christian populations from total annihilation) and the political patience it showed in the face of a number of very serious provocations against it as a result (incidents that could have easily triggered a much larger war in the region), Moscow proved to the world that it is a rational power, a reliable partner and a competent leader on the global stage. This is why President Putin's recent visit to the Arabian peninsula was truly historic - 
Putin Secures 2 Billion Dollar Saudi Investment Into Russian Economy in Exchange For a Bird!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZCd01VMeSg
Putin Brings Home the Bacon! UAE Crown Prince Promises 1.5 Billion in Investments Into Russia!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuShRMZL-74
Moscow Feels Coordination With Riyadh Necessary Element to Ensure Security In Middle East, North Africa: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201910141077046006-russian-president-putin-meets-saudi-king-crown-prince-in-riyadh/
Russia’s balanced diplomacy in Middle East on rise as US policy crashes: https://www.rt.com/op-ed/470991-diplomacy-russia-middle-east-putin/
Russia has indeed stepped into world leadership role. Back in 2013, it began to do so from afar. Today, it is doing so from the epicenter of the single most volatile spot on earth. As the American Empire under President Trump slowly retreats, Russia is making a triumphant entrance into the Middle East. Naturally, there was very little media coverage in the West of President Putin's historic visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Make no mistake about it however as it was a historic Russian victory in the very heart of Middle East. As noted above, this was made possible by Moscow's very successful military campaign in Syria, as well as Moscow's amazing restraint after a number of very serious provocations against it. Moscow showed great focus, resolve and restraint after the ambush of a Russian warplane by the Turkish air force; the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey by a Turkish assassin; the bombing of a commercial Russian airliner over Egypt; the accidental downing of a Russian surveillance plane because it was being used as a cover by the Israeli air force. Any one of these incidents could have triggered a much wider conflagration. Thankfully, it did not happen.

Thankfully, Official Moscow proved to the world that unlike Uncle Sam, Russia does not suffer from imperial hubris. The Russian Federation and President Putin took these very embarrassing and very painful hits but remained steadfast and focused on the ultimate prize. The prize of course was victory in Syria. Moscow's cunning, patience, perseverance, strength, resilience, farsightedness, political maturity, sober-mindedness, diplomatic agility and a masterful execution of statecraft, as well as warcraft, has now begun paying dividends for the Russian Federation.

Not only is Russia today the main power-broker in the Middle East and not only has Russia won the war against terrorism in Syria, President Putin has also masterfully maneuvered an important NATO member like Turkey and put it on a collision course with the Anglo-American-Jewish world. With the United States long discredited, and now under President Trump increasingly disinterested in the region, Russia today is practically the only superpower of note in the Middle East. President Putin has done an amazing job and done so in face of great adversity. All in all, what an amazing leader, what an amazing country. Russia has indeed stepped into a global leadership role. Even desert Bedouins are now beginning to notice the writing on the wall.

Let's therefore compare how the great leader of the Russian Federation was treated by Arabs with how our self-destructive peasants regularly greet him during his visitations to Armenia -


Allow me to remind the reader that despite the empty (and suicidal) bravado seen by the character named Babgen Ter-Grigorian in the photo above, our tiny, impoverished and landlocked country surrounded by enemies in the south Caucasus is DESPERATELY dependent on Russia - and President Putin - for its very survival.
 

Allow me to recap once more for those who have not given this subject much thought: Russia today is Armenia's only reliable provider of affordable (and sometimes free) modern weaponry, military training and military intelligence. Russia is Armenia's only reliable provider of affordable energy. Russia is the only country that willingly helps Armenia operate its strategic atomic power plant. Russia provides hundreds of thousands of Armenians good paying work opportunities annually throughout the Russian Federation, from where the migrant work force sends back to Armenia over one billion dollars worth of remittances annually. Russia is by-far Armenia largest trade partner, largest investor and largest importer of Armenian goods. In fact, Armenian goods, which are all but rejected by Western/European markets, are very well received in Russian markets. Russia is by-far Armenia's largest source for tourism. Russia is home to the largest and most successful Armenian Diaspora in the world. In fact, not only are Russian-Armenians are very affluent, they also have a disproportionately large representation in virtually all layers of high society in the Russian Federation. Most importantly, the Russian military's presence inside Armenia keeps western Turks on their side of the border, allowing Armenia's small military to concentrate its limited resources on keeping eastern Turks on their side of the border.

As the reader can (or should) clearly see, Armenia lives as a nation-state in a very bad neighborhood like the south Caucasus today NOT because of Armenians per se or the big talking and always underperforming Diaspora but precisely because of Yerevan's close ties to the Russian Federation. Armenia lives because of Russia. Moreover, despite Western efforts to stop it, Russian power and influence continues to grow throughout the world.

Yet, as we can see clearly from the photo posted above, Armenia today has a politically illiterate and self-destructive population. For this situation we all can thank the many dozens of Western financed NGOs and institutions - as well as an army of activists from North America and Western Europe - operating freely throughout the small and impoverished country. These have been working for decades to westernize and dumb-down us Armenians, and convince us that our only lifeline in the world, Russia, is our enemy. It's been working to a discernible degree. Incidentally, Babgen Ter-Grigorian, the London "educated" idiot holding the anti-Putin sign above is an "official" in Nikol's government today. I guess generally speaking this is what happens when Armenians get an American/English education.

On that note, stuff like this is essentially what the American University of Armenia (AUA) exists for. The "learning" institution in question is in-fact partially funded by the USAID (i.e. CIA). The reasons for this should be obvious. The AUA is being actively encouraged in Armenia because it is a nest of anti-Russian, pro-Turkish, pro-West, pro-Liberal and pro-Globalist toxicity. The institution is ultimately a tool of Western propaganda and social engineering, and it only helps in the country's brain-drain to the West. All in all, it's a cancerous cell in the country. The AUA should be shutdown and replaced with an Armenian or Russian alternative. Even an Iranian institution in its place would be far better for the country.  In any case, as we can clearly see, we Armenians continue being Armenia's number one enemy on the world stage and the main reason for many of the black pages in our history. As we can clearly see, our burning desire to live like Westerners has us again turning our backs to our only natural ally.

Politics is an exact science, a high form of art, a master-level game of chess and martial arts fight to the death all rolled in one, and it takes hundreds of years to develop it and master it. Those who understand the game and play it well thrive, those that don't die or just barely survive. This is ultimately why we Armenians are survivors not thrivers. This is ultimately why despite great adversities Russia has continued to thrive as a major power for many centuries.

Moscow today is showing the world how the game of politics is played. Armenians need to stop and try to learn. Armenians somehow need to learn that politics is not a domestic dispute or a bar fight. Armenians somehow need to learn that in politics there is no right or wrong and there are no friends or foes. There is no room in politics for mistakes, inexperience, emotions, pride, egos, arrogance, stubbornness, vendettas or maximalism. This is why Armenia is where it is today. This is also why Russia is thriving despite serious adversity. Russia is thriving because Russians, as a collective group of people, are deeply patriotic, unconditionally faithful to their state, disciplined, politically literate, culturally aggressive and they exhibit a distinct attraction/penchant for war.

As the great German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder once said, and as the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance found out much to their chagrin in Syria, "no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force." 

In other words, the Field Marshal was saying that many years can be spent on meticulously planning a war, but once the first bullet is fired anything can happen afterwards. Western powers (as well as Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia) had very ambitious plans for Syria. Moscow basically ruined their plans when it unexpectedly entered the war in late 2015. The same can be said about Ukraine. The Western-led effort to drive a wedge between Kiev and Moscow saw Russia doing the unthinkable - annexing Crimea. Another unintended development or rather consequence of the Western-led destruction of Syria has been the warming of relations between Russia and Turkey. Needless to say, this particular matter is being hijacked and of course exploited by professional Russophobes throughout Armenian society.

Better Russia-Turkish-Azerbaijan relations does not mean the demise of Armenia or Artsakh

Armenian society's Western-funded political activists always do their utmost best to try to convince Armenians that Russia will abandon Armenia one day and that Moscow's deepening relations with Ankara in recent years spelt doom for Armenia and/or Artsakh. We are also told by them that Russians and Turks somehow are a "brotherly people". However, those of us who understand politics, history and the nation of Russia, know that Russia and Turks have always been enemies and the "friendship" that exists between Moscow and Ankara is superficial and temporary at best. Armenians who have a healthy understanding of history and politics also understand that the Kremlin would protect Armenia from all regional dangers (i.e. Turkic peoples and Wahhabi Islamists, and potentially Iran) as it would protect Russia itself. Regardless of how close they may seem at times, Russians and Turkic peoples are natural enemies and competitors and nothing will change that. Starting as far back as the 15th century, the two Eurasian giants have fought each-other dozens of times. Rivalry and competition between Russians and Turks can therefore be said is coded in their genetic/cultural makeup. They are destined to be opponents. Moreover, it's always Western powers that have stepped in to save Turkey from Russia's anger, essentially because Western powers have long recognized Turks as an effective buffer and hedge against Russians, Arabs and Iranians. This recognition is more-or-less why Britain and France joined forces with Ottoman Turks in the mid 19th century to stop the Russian Empire from conquering Ottoman Empire and did so again in mid 20th century when the Soviet Union was getting ready to invade Turkey. Not much has changed. The Western world still has a great affinity towards Turks, even if they are extremely frustrated with Erdogan, and they see still Turkey as a key strategic partner and ally -
Turkey and Russia: History Fuels Rancor: https://eurasianet.org/turkey-and-russia-history-fuels-rancor
Idlib Escalation Is Slowly Pushing Turkey Towards Open Conflict With Russia: https://southfront.org/idlib-escalation-is-slowly-pushing-turkey-to-open-conflict-with-russia/
Erdogan has made terrible mistakes, but it’s time for the West to help Turkey in Syria: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/04/erdogan-has-made-terrible-mistakes-its-time-west-help-turkey-syria/
The Syrian theater, the situation in and around the city of Idlib in particular, where Turkish-backed terrorist forces were defeated by Russian-backed Syrian forces, is an excellent showcase revealing the actual nature and character of Russian-Turkish relations. We Armenians in particular should closely watch the interaction between Moscow and Ankara in Syria, and realize that despite Russia's desire for better political and trade relations with Turkey, Moscow is not willing to "sell" or "backstab" its Syrian ally. In fact, Moscow has sacrificed quite a bit to help the Assad government rebound and prevent another genocide of Christians in the Middle East.

Because there is a severe lack of understanding when it comes to matters pertaining to geopolitics and warfare, I would like to express additional thoughts about recent events in Syria: Foremost, Russians are NOT going to fight the war for the Assad government. Syrians - and Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiites and Iranians - have to fight this war. Russia is not in Syria to start a war with Turkey or Israel, nor should rational people want it to. Russia has a relatively small force stationed in Syria. Because Russian forces lack defensive depth in Syria, they are very vulnerable to attack from all sides. The primary task of Russians forces in Syria to protect Russian troops and bases in the country, ensure the Assad government's survival and militarily ASSIST Syrians and Iranians in their fight against Western-Turkish-Saudi backed Islamic terrorism. The key point here being is ASSIST. Nonetheless, Russian assistance starting late 2015 has been the difference between life and death for Syria. The following map says it all -

Map Comparison: Military Situation In Syria In 2015 And 2020: https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/23feb_Syria-.jpg
At the end of the day, however, we need to realize that Syria is not absolutely vital to Russia's national security, for example, as Armenia is. At the end of the day, Syria is just a strategic piece of territory for Russia. This is why Russia is doing all it can to avoid direct confrontation with Turkey - and Israel. Turkey is a powerful nation and it has proxies throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Moreover, bilateral trade between Russia and Turkey is nearing 100 billion annually. Engaging Turkey in a direct military confrontation over Syria would be a very-very stupid mistake by the Kremlin on MANY levels. Moreover, doing such a thing would undoubtedly make the situation much worst for Damascus. I admit this is indirectly helping Turks and Israelis by giving them some freedom of operation inside Syria but Moscow does not have a choice in this matter. As long as Turks and Israelis are not deliberately targeting Russians troops inside Syria, Russians will not directly oppose them. What Russians will do instead is use their political and military capabilities (financial aid, diplomatic cover, military intelligence and air strikes) to help Damascus. Nevertheless, all sides in this conflict (including Turks and Israelis) realize they need to tread carefully, lest they ignite a larger war that will also consume them all. Right now the path forward in Syria is exactly what Russia, Syria and Iran have been doing: Slowly and gradually move forward and avoid serious international confrontations be it with Turkey, be it with Israel. Moscow is playing the long game to avoid an international crisis. Ankara is slowly being guided by Moscow's sticks and carrots. Russian patience, resilience, wisdom, statecraft and military prowess made Erdogan's Turkey, host to NATO's second most powerful military, kneel in from of President Putin -
In Moscow, Erdogan kneels to Putin: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/in-moscow-erdogan-kneels-to-putin

Ceasefire in Syria's Idlib comes at a cost for Turkey's Erdogan: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ceasefire-syrias-idlib-comes-cost-165923893.html

Erdogan’s dance with Putin: Humiliating, but face-saving: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/turkey-russia-syria-idlib-deal-erdogan-accepts-regimes-gains.html

Ceasefire in Syria's Idlib comes at a cost for Turkey's Erdogan: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-ceasefire-idUSKBN20T2DJ

Erdogan’s Syria Deal With Putin Leaves Turkey Bases Besieged: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/erdogan-e2-80-99s-syria-deal-with-putin-leaves-turkish-military-besieged/ar-BB10PtzO?ocid=opal0003

Erdoğan is reaping what he sowed: Turkey is on the brink of disaster in Syria:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/erdogan-turkey-syria-assad?CMP=share_btn_fb
The situation in and around Syria has shown us that Russians and Turks are simply incapable of being allies. This is because Russians and Turks are natural competitors in Eurasia. Thus, Russians and Turks will always remain potential enemies. At best, Russian-Turkish relations will be cordial and at an arms-length. In other words, Moscow will want to disarm and placate Ankara through dialogue and trade, but Moscow will also remain suspicious and distrustful of Ankara. At worst, Moscow will actively conspire against Ankara's interests in places like the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East. If need be, Moscow will also wage war against Ankara. We are seeing all this actually taking place concurrently in Syria (and Libya). Moscow is doing its best to mediate and manage a very volatile situation in Syria. Moscow is trying its best to maintain warm/cordial relations with Ankara, as it also slowly pushes Syrian forces forward against Turkish-backed forces.

What we are seeing take place in Syria is actually the very parameters of what Russian-Turkish relations has always been like and will always be like.

Those well versed in Eurasian history know that Russians and various Turkic nations have been historic rivals for many centuries. Due to their respective cultures, sizes and locations, Russia and Turkey are natural competitors in Eurasia. As noted above, the Libyan and Syrian theaters are actually very good showcases of the nature/character of Russian-Turkish relations. Russians and Turks will never be genuine allies. During the past two hundreds years, Russians and Turks fought around a dozen major wars. Virtually all of the wars in question were won by Russians. More recently, Turkish volunteers and special forces fought alongside Islamic insurgents against Russians in southern Russia, and were again defeated by Russia. Russia today continues to contain Turkish interests in the Crimea, the Black Sea region, the south Caucasus, the Levant and more recently in North Africa. Despite the growing economic and political cooperation between Moscow and Ankara in recent years, Moscow and Ankara continue to conspire against each-other. 


All Armenians need to do is look at the sacrifices Russia has made in Syria, a friendly nation far from Russia's borders, and imagine what Russia would be willing to do for Armenia, an allied nation that is practically on its southern border. As long as Russia remains in the hands of Russians, Moscow will never sacrifice Armenia for any political and/or financial gain. It just won't happen. Armenians must therefore understand that Russians and Turks are natural enemies, not friends. This has always been the case -
Russia and Turkey: a long history of turbulent relations: http://theconversation.com/russia-and-turkey-a-long-history-of-turbulent-relations-51424
Turkey and Russia are Bitter Frenemies: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/28/turkey-and-russia-are-bitter-frenemies/
Fyodor Lukyanov deems Russia-Tukey-Azerbaijan alliance as ‘impossible’: http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/03/13/Lukyanov-Russia-Tukey-Azerbaijan-alliance/1743484
Shifting Geopolitics- The Rise of Russia and Turkey: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article9509.html
Putin Tells Turkey To Drop Karabakh Linkage: http://asbarez.com/76049/russia-tells-turkey-to-drop-karabakh-linkage/
Lavrov: Armenia doesn’t need to fear Russian-Turkish rapprochement: http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/foreignpolicy/22632/
Moscow Sees War Threat if Outsiders Act in Karabakh: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-21-mn-337-story.html
Trying to explain the above to a growing number of Armenians, especially Diasporans and millennials is often an exercise in futility. Political ignorance and naivete is so pervasive in Armenian society that there is actually an Armenian saying for describing politically ignorant Armenians engaging in serious political analysis. It's called: կոշկակարների քաղաքականութիւն. Translated into English it means politics according to shoemakers. In other words, common folk trying to make sense out of political matters that is well above their heads. For such people politics is like a domestic dispute or a street fight. It's therefore on a very "personal" level. And when you add to this kind of political irrationality and illiteracy , Armenian-style ego, pride, arrogance, rigidity, emotions and maximalism, all of a sudden politics becomes unstable, volatile, directionless and visionless. Ultimately the most worrying thing is that in Armenian society today it's not only common folk or shoemakers that engage in կոշկակարների քաղաքականութիւն but also doctors, professors, journalists, clergymen and even politicians. Not surprisingly, there is another related Armenian saying: Հայերը արթնանում են երբ դանակը ոսկորին է հասնում. Translated into English is say Armenians wake-up only when the knife reaches the bone. In other words, Armenians wake-up politically only when they are in very serious danger, which is usually too late. 

Consequently, Western and Turkish and Azerbaijani intelligence services and their lackeys embedded throughout Armenian society are on the constant lookout to hijack complex geopolitical matters, like the issue of Russian arms sales to Turkey and Azerbaijan and events in recent history like the Treaty of Moscow. The intent is to fit such political issues into their political narratives. That narrative, a poisonous cocktail of misinformation, half-truths and outright lies about Russia, is then fed to Armenian society through a well-financed and well-organized network of Western NGOs, social activists, "Peace Corps" volunteers, internet activists, politicians, "political experts", historians, "freelance journalists" and of course news media outlets. We as a people need to therefore always keep reminding ourselves that there is an active agenda and full-scale campaign to undermine Russian-Armenian relation, and it is not being done for Armenia's benefit.

With that in mind, let's recognize that all the rhetoric we keep hearing from our professional Russophobes about Russians selling weapon systems to Ankara and Baku and recognizing Turkey's and Azerbaijan's borders in the south Caucasus as some kind of hateful conspiracy against Armenians - is nothing but pure and unadulterated bullshit. Let's also recognize that the sources for such kind of disinformation and propaganda is Washington D.C., London, Tel Aviv, Ankara and Baku. The intent is to mislead Armenians and drive a wedge between Russia and Armenia. The ultimate intent is to make Armenia dependent on Turkey. Have no doubt that Armenia's "independence" from the Russian Federation, which is what our professional Russophobes are relentlessly striving for, will by-default make Armenia dependent on Turkey.

From a political, military and geostrategic standpoint, Armenia has been one of Russia's (as well as the Soviet Union's) most vital strategic strongholds for the past two hundred years. As long as a Russian state remains alive and Armenia remains allied to it, Armenia's importance to Moscow is simply not going to change for any foreseeable reason. I am therefore not too concerned about better Russian-Turkish relations. In fact, I think a lot of good (primarily better regional economic cooperation and lesser threat of war in the region) can come out of it. But seeing that many Armenians today, misinformed, misled and incited by professional Russophobes, are once again terror-struck at the prospect of better Russian-Turkish relations, I'll make a renewed effort to once again provide my assessment on this most contentious of matters for us Armenians.

Despite the wildest fantasies of our professional Russophobe's Moscow is not about to "sell" Armenia or Artsakh to Turks/Azeris. Moscow is not about to sell anything in the Caucasus (let alone Armenia) to anyone (let alone Turks). Actually, Russia is still not done reversing the major geostrategic setbacks it suffered as a result of the Soviet collapse thirty years ago. It is well known that the Caucasus region is one of Russia's most vital strategic areas of concern. Accordingly, no Russian leadership will tolerate a foreign political presence anywhere in the Caucasus - let alone a Turkic-Islamic one. It is also well known that Russia's strategic alliance with Armenia is one of the major pillars of Russia's national security and one that transcends money matters and, as we have seen, ruling regimes.

Consider this: Russian-Turkish annual bilateral trade may soon reach 100 billion dollars. Russian-Armenian annual bilateral trade currently is something around 2 billion dollars. Therefore, had it really been money matters at stake here, Moscow would have sold Armenia and/or Artsakh to Turks many-many years ago and our "nationalists" would not be able to do anything about it. Finally, also consider this: Despite very lucrative relations with the large and powerful Turkish world, not only does Moscow make sure the south Caucasus remains Turk-free via it's military presence in Armenia, Moscow officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide as well. Think about that for a moment. And tell that to the "powerful Armenian lobby in the United States". We Armenians have two fundamental problems today: One, an abundance of traitors and hired mercenaries in our society. Two, a dumbed-down and an easily mislead and politically illiterate population. It's a very bad combination and it is why post-Soviet Armenia is in the shape that it is today.

Better Russian-Turkish relations, while it lasts, can potentially benefit the region. Ankara will be less likely to politically and militarily meddle in the south Caucasus and better regional economic cooperation can be realized. Better Russian-Azerbaijani relations can pacify the south Caucasus. A bigger role for Moscow in the south Caucasus will eventually translate into a Pax Russica. Pax Russica in the south Caucasus is what Armenia needs to develop its economy and grow its population. Moreover, warmer relations between Russia and Turkey would inevitably mean a lesser pan-Turkic threat for the greater region in question. The Kremlin's ultimate desire is to place all nations of the south Caucasus - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - into its political, economic and military orbit (i.e. CSTO and EEU). And, unlike mentally challenged characters like Saakashvili and Hayrikyan, I fully support the policy -
Saakashvili: Russia wants to annex Georgia, Armenia, other countries and create the USSR: https://news.am/eng/news/535829.html
Hairikyan believes that Putin wants to restore the Russian empire: https://www.aravot-en.am/2013/09/18/161688/
Saakashvili and Hayrikyan are psychotic. Saakashvili and Hayrikyan are agents of the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance. Saakashvili and Hayrikyan are toxic. With all that said, Saakashvili and Hayrikyan are not always wrong. Moscow does indeed desire to put regions it lost after the unexpected and hasty breakup of the Soviet Union (with the exception of perhaps a few) under one political, economic and military umbrella again (i.e. under another Moscow-led union). In my opinion, Belarus, Ukraine (eastern Ukraine at the very least), all of the south Caucasus and Central Asia definitely need to go back home to mama. I have spoken about this in the past. Such a Moscow-led multi-national union has the potential to be a wonderful thing, especially for a tiny, impoverished, remote, landlocked and embattled nation like Armenia. In a sense, such a Russian-led union would essentially be the Soviet Union without all the Communist/Marxist nonsense. Such a union promises to be a closer and a more efficient economic union among former Soviet nations under Russian leadership. 

This however may potentially pose some problems for Artsakh, because such a Moscow-led union would naturally envision bringing Baku back fully into the Russian orbit. For such a thing to occur, Baku will inevitably have certain conditions. And we all know what those conditions would more-or-less be. Therefore, as I see it, the only danger, albeit a significant one, that can at least theoretically come about as a result of sustained/long-term closer and warmer relations between Russia and Azerbaijan and Turkey would be Moscow putting too much pressure on Yerevan and Stepanakert over the Armenian controlled territories outside of the internationally recognized borders of Artsakh. The Kremlin will do its best however to keep internationally recognized borders of Armenia and Artsakh intact and alive. Let's recognize that for Russians (and Iranians for that matter) the "territories" in question (be it 5 or 7) are merely technical issues, as well as bargaining chips to be used in final negotiations.

Let's also recognize that we as a people have failed miserably to lobby Armenian interests - both in Moscow and Tehran - because our "չտես" peasantry's attention has been too fixated on the razzle/dazzle of the Western world for the past 30-plus years.


As noted above, for major powers, including our allies, it's just territory. For us, those territories are a matter of survival. Russia (and Iran) don't want Armenia defeated but they do want to control/manage the entire region under their terms. If Baku agrees to enter the EEU and CSTO, Moscow can be expected to pressure Armenia. That's just the nature of  Realpolitik. Again, which territories and how much of it will be ceded will ultimately depend on our people's political/diplomatic abilities. In all honesty can't blame Russians, who for centuries have had more land than they could possibly use/need, for being insensitive and not fully understanding what "territory" means for us Armenians on so many levels. That said, it is ultimately our fault for not putting all our resources together to lobby Armenian interests/causes in the deepest, most secretive chambers of the Kremlin.

With the help of our self-destructive peasantry, Nikol was put into power by individuals behind-the-scenes to do the bidding of the "international community". In my opinion, Nikol now has three problems to solve: 1) Settle the Artsakh dispute 2) Allow the looting of Armenia's gold 3) Turn Armenia into an Americanized/Westernized cesspool. My hunch is, Moscow is allowing/tolerating all this because it may be seeing some strategic opportunities in it. Nevertheless, my thoughts on the dispute over Artsakh are plastered all over this blog.


At the risk of upsetting our brave nationalists, most of whom reside in the Diaspora of course, I have made my feelings on this topic well known. 

Under right conditions (i.e. Moscow stations troops in the region and Baku officially recognizes Artsakh's independence or its union with Armenia) some of the Armenian controlled territories outside of Artsakh's internationally recognized borders can be given back in exchange for peace. Details such as what is given back and how much of it is given back will ultimately depend on our people's unity and political/diplomatic skills. With that said, however, seeing who is running the political show in Yerevan today, we unfortunately can't get too hopeful in this regard and therefore need to do what we can to maintain the status quo in Artsakh. In any case, difficult times may be coming. In my opinion, the current regime is in power today to oversee a settlement deal that will work best not for Armenia or Artsakh but for the international community. As Baku arms for a major war, Nikol's government is thinking of innovative ways to downsize Armenia's already minuscule military -
Bill Would Allow Military Draftees to Pay $21,000 and Serve One Month Instead of Two Years: https://hetq.am/en/article/110668
Nevertheless, even with a Western financed/inspired "internationally minded" Globalist government in power in Yerevan, Moscow will continue ensuring Armenia's and Artsakh's survival in a complex and hostile place like the south Caucasus. Even if Saakashvili came to power in Yerevan, not much would change in this regard. Armenia continues to be recognized by senior level policymakers in Moscow as Russia's only natural ally, as well as a strategic buffer in the largely Turkic, largely Islamic and largely Russophobic region. As long as Armenia is in an alliance with the Russian Federation, Moscow will never endanger the life of Armenia or Artsakh - because by doing so Moscow would be endangering itself. Russians know this well. It's a good thing that Russians have sober-minded political experts and a professional diplomatic corps that genuinely understand Armenia's situation -
CSTO mechanism will be launched in the event of Armenia coming under attack, says Russian senior MP: https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/116379/
Head of Russia’s Institute of Oriental Studies: Russia won’t allow anyone to attack Armenia: https://www.armenpress.am/eng/news/882120/russia
Russian defense adviser 'urges for Armenia’s vigilance' as he comments upon US report: https://www.tert.am/en/news/2019/05/29/ilnitsky/3011194
Fyodor Lukyanov deems Russia-Tukey-Azerbaijan alliance as ‘impossible’: http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/03/13/Lukyanov-Russia-Tukey-Azerbaijan-alliance/1743484
Lavrov: No Peace Agreement Possible Without Consent of Karabakh: http://asbarez.com/188073/no-peace-agreement-possible-without-consent-of-karabakh-says-lavrov/
Moscow Sees War Threat if Outsiders Act in Karabakh: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-21-mn-337-story.html
Ռուսաստանը երբեք թույլ չի տա, որ Արցախի խնդիրը ուժով լուծվի. Վլադիմիր Սոլովյով: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr_0q9Tcvkw
Հայ-ռուսական համատեղ մարտավարական զորավարժությունը «Ալագյազ» զորավարժարանում: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1qU3_acLno&list=UU4lSkT4s1RJ8EK4nZ7pPgqA
Սերգեյ Մարկեդոնով. Հայաստանի կախվածությունը Ռուսաստանից ավելի կմեծանա: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pipV3ZLAz5I&feature=youtu.be
I understand that all this is a moot point for a vast majority of Armenians today. The thing that Armenians generally speaking have a very hard time understanding is geopolitics and realpolitik. It does not matter how wealthy or how educated an Armenian is, when it comes to serious political matters, the Armenian acts like overly emotional and irrational adolescent. An Armenian can be brilliant in science, medicine, literature, art, business, sports, finance, etc. Somehow, when it comes to political matters, the Armenian suddenly turns into a self-destructive peasant, regardless of his or her social status. I personally think this very serious matter has its roots in culture (parenting, up-bringing) and genetics (racial makeup, breeding). I'm afraid that on a deep genetic/cultural/spiritual level we Armenians do not know how to achieve and/or handle victory. I'm afraid that we only know how to weep, complain and beg - and of course commemorate defeat and tragedy. Said otherwise, we as a people are excellent protestors but terrible nation-builders. I don't expect many of you reading this to understand or agree with any of what I am saying. Some of you will come to this sobering conclusion eventually. The rest of you however will go on, as usual, blaming others (primarily Russians) for all our failure.

For now, what we all need to understand is that there is an active agenda to undermine Russian-Armenian relations, and it is not being done for Armenia's benefit. Increasing numbers of Armenians today, whether they realize it or not, are falling victim to this anti-Russian campaign that is designed not only by Western powers but also by Turkey. We as a people therefore have the serious need today to better understand history and politics, differentiate between patriotism and irrationality.

There is an active agenda in Armenian society to undermine Russian-Armenian relations

We are living in times of lies, disinformation and deception. When it comes to the general public, perception is more important than reality. In fact, perception IS reality for the masses. When a lie is repeated often by many mouths, it eventually becomes accepted as truth. To convince the general public of something that is entirely untrue, just keep repeating a lie over and over and over again, and make sure history books, cinema, literature, television programming and news reports also reflect the lie being promoted. Regardless of where the truth lies, if a lie is perceived by the general public to be the truth, the actual truth is rendered irrelevant. Speaking about lies put forth by the British government during the Second World War, Germany's Joseph Goebbels is said to have made the following comment -
We are seeing our professional Russophobes fully engaged in this process of deception today. Having seeded Armenian society with their paid assets, Western (most probably as well as Turkish and Azeri) interests are able to create perception, manipulate the public's mood and determine the tone of political discourse throughout Armenian society. They are able to make Armenians of Armenia, who are generally speaking pro-Russian, look at a natural ally like Russia and see an enemy, and look at a natural enemy like Western powers and see a friend. After decades of anti-Russian propaganda, the lies, the disinformation and the half-truths disseminated by our professional Russophobes are slowly beginning to be accepted by increasing numbers of Armenians as reality.

But, just as light remains the greatest enemy of darkness, truth still remains the greatest enemy of the lie. Just like an effort needs to be made to turn the light on in a dark room, an effort also has to be made to dethrone deception and empower truth. Ironically, we are at a point now when truth also has to be repeated over and over again to finally be re-accepted for what it is.

With that in mind, understand that the influence our professional Russophobes have on the Armenian population's ability to see or perceive reality is so powerful and so pervasive that the most popular and most trusted news organization in Armenia today (since Soviet times in fact) is none-other-than the CIA-founded Radio Liberty operating out of Prague. And, according to some polls more than half of Armenians in Armenia today think that Russia, the country that actually keeps Armenia alive in a hostile environment like the south Caucasus, is not an actual ally but an enemy to stand up against. And an increasing number of Armenians today are also being made to think that Russians were responsible for the genocide of Armenians during the First World War -
Poll Shows RFE/RL Most Trusted Online Media Resource In Armenia: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30269624.html
Less than half of polled Armenians consider Russia an ally
27.6% of Armenians would gravitate towards Russia, while 36.1% of Armenians would gravitate towards European Union and United States: https://jam-news.net/survey-in-armenia-reveals-most-pressing-public-concerns-popular-officials-and-sources-of-discontent/
Lragir: Russia and The Armenian Genocide
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/35244
The list of professional Russophobes and Trotskyites is actually very large and seems to be growing, and this for a very small country that is dependent on Russia for survival. It's a very dangerous trend. I expose some of them further below in this section. Keep in mind that the individuals I expose are only a small sampling. Armenian society today is replete with anti-Russian activists. All this I guess is inevitable for a nation full politically illiterate, materialistic, egotistical and yet poor, unemployed, օտարամոլ and չտես people. In any case, as I keep noting, their goal in all this is to drive a wedge between Armenia and Russia by convincing Armenians that Russia is Armenia's enemy and has been from the beginning. As crazy as it may sound, increasing numbers of Armenians are actually beginning to believe this lie of biblical proportions. The lies are now so ubiquitous that the general public, even intelligent people, simply accept them as truth. Not many Armenians know that the brother of the famous war hero Monte Melkonian wrote a stinging article several years ago addressing this very troubling matter -
Markar Melkonian: Return of the Russophobes: https://hetq.am/en/article/72236
Placing our trust in our enemies and distrusting our friends: This is the power of Western-style propaganda, social engineering, brainwashing and mental conditioning - coupled with of course Armenian-style Western fetish, political illiteracy, shortsightedness, emotions, tribalism, maximalism, rigidity and naivete. In essence, Anglo-American-Jews control the volume, flow and nature of information we Armenians are exposed to and consume these days, whether we realize it or not. This information is naturally filtered and distilled through an Anglo-American-Jewish political and cultural prism. Their political spin, their half-truth, their lie thus becomes common knowledge for the sheeple. Consequently, anti-Russian hysteria and general Russophobia become normal disorders in a society that is not only generally speaking pro-Russian but also desperately dependent on Russia for survival. All in all, this is why we see great noise being made in Armenian society today over complex geopolitical issues like treaties signed between Bolsheviks and Turkey one hundred years ago and Russian weapons sales to Turkey and Azerbaijan today. Disinformation, half-truths and lies about these very complex geopolitical matters is saturating the Armenian atmosphere today. Consequently, there is a reoccurring fear among Armenians that Russia cannot be trusted because Moscow is once again going to "sell" Armenia and/or Artsakh for better relations and trade deals with Ankara and/or Baku.

The following are a sampling of professional smut-peddlers (financed by Anglo-American-Jews and most likely Turks as well) trying to muddy the water, mislead the citizenry and drive a wedge between Russia and Armenia -
Jirair Sefilian calls for the armed liberation of Western Armenia, the ouster of Russian troops from Armenia and a revolution in Artsakh: https://www.1tv.am/hy/video/
Decolonization (Armexit) or the Beginning of the Life Road: https://pfarmenia.wordpress.com/2017/12/30/decolonization
Richard Giragosian: Russia to betray Armenia: https://news.am/eng/news/1249.html
Paul Goble: Russia will betray Armenians, if needed: http://news.am/eng/news/290706.html
Armenia is under Russian occupation - Tigran Khzmalyan: https://www.turan.az/ext/news/2019/2/free/Interview/en/78760.htm
Garegin Chugaszyan: Armenia should review presence of Russian military base in the country: https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2018/09/29/garegin-chugaszyan/1471394
Newspaper: Armenia authorities try to test public mood over Russian military base: https://news.am/eng/news/543467.html
Hairikyan believes that Putin wants to restore the Russian empire: https://www.aravot-en.am/2013/09/18/161688/
Lragir: Russia and The Armenian Genocide: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/35244
«Ռուսները եղել են ու կմնան նույն սպիտակ թուրքերը». Մկրտիչ Իսրայելյան : https://newstime.am/?p=20474
Հատուկ հսկողության տակ առնել 102-րդ ռուսական ռազմաբազան. բողոքի ակցիա Գյումրիում: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzCm_uSFcQ0
«Ռուսական բանակ, դո՛ւրս ՀՀ-ից». Տիգրան Խզմալյանը Գյումրու ցույցին: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osSB9N0vbPk
Այդ բազան թողնելու են մեզ նվեր ու հեռանան. մեզ անակնկալ է սպասվում: https://www.lragir.am/2019/11/06/491550/
Կրեմլը կորցրել է Հայաստանը և մեծ էներգիա է ծախսում Արցախը մեր երկրից պոկելու համար․ Ժիրայր Սեֆիլյան: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOHBTNIRQy8
Արկադի Վարդանյան․ Պուտինն ու Քոչարյանը ոչ թե ընկերներ են, այլ հանցակիցներ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LokJHjg9vag
Ռուսաստանը մեզնից կախված է, կարող ենք բարձրացնել Գյումրիի ռազմաբազայի հարցը. Լևոն Շիրինյան: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzfiNBNvii8
Ռուսաստանի հետ մենք ռազմավարական գործընկեր լինել չենք կարող. Վարուժան Ավետիսյան: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQWYp_XvYhM
Ռուսական ռազմաբազայի հզորացումն ընդդեմ Հայաստանի․ «Այլ երկրների համար դառնում ենք թիրախ»: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG0LscBdG5E
The gaggle of individuals featured above, regardless of who they say or think they are, they are today's Trotskyites. As with Trotskyites of yesteryear, they suffer from virulent forms of anti-Russian hysteria and delirium. These individuals and their well-organized/well-funded network of supporters from around the world are responsible for the unprecedented and dangerous spread of anti-Russian sentiment inside Armenian society today. For the politically ignorant common folk, a lot of what they say sounds/seems convincing. That said, any Armenian today that wants "independence" from Russia or wants to shutdown Russia's military bases in Armenia is a traitor to Armenia regardless of his or her intentions. Russia's military presence in Armenia is the single most important factor contributing to Armenia's existence as a nation state in the south Caucasus, and the only deterrence Armenia's has against regional predators like Turkey. Intelligent people understand this -
Ռազամաբազան պետք է լրացնի անվտանգության համակարգը. Վահան Շիրխանյան (տեսանյութ): http://www.panorama.am/am/news/2015/01/24/v-shirkhanyan/126807
In order to not fall victim to their propaganda we as a people simply need to constantly keep reminding ourselves that there is a full-scale campaign to undermine Russian-Armenian relation, and it is obviously not being done for Armenia's benefit. The anti-Russian disinformation and Russophobia seen in the links above are sourced from a common source (e.g. Western think tanks and intelligence agencies), they therefore have similar/common rhetorical threads running through them. The three most common messages we are exposed to are these: 1) Russia is actually an enemy of Armenia. 2) Russia needs Armenia just as much, if not more, than Armenia needs Russia. 3) Armenians, if united, are a powerful nation that can stand-up to Russian aggression and bullying.

The obvious intent here is to convince our politically illiterate and emotionally charged population that they are an "independent people" and a "powerful people" and that Armenia accordingly needs to "play tough with Russia". I don't know if all of those involved in this kind of anti-Russian messaging are doing so deliberately, intentionally or maliciously, what they are doing nevertheless is extremely dangerous to Armenia's well being and longevity. In the case of some commentators and journalists engaged in anti-Russian rhetoric, I suspect it may simply be a matter of political illiteracy, an overall lack of critical thinking/perception and of course a means of making a living. However, in the case of others - like Sasna Dzrer foreign funded mercenaries, Open Society social engineers, Civilnet pseudo-journalists and Lragir propagandists - I believe it's ideological, intentional and, in the big picture, very malicious.

In any case, regardless of why it's being done and who is doing it, what's being done poses a great danger to Armenia. As a result of all this, we today are standing on the verge of losing our centuries old survival instinct. The very survival instinct that made Armenians look north for salvation and set the foundations of Armenia's rebirth in modern times is being gradually eroded.

Foremost, it should not take a rocket scientist to realize that Russia, a massive nation with a very powerful military, highly skilled diplomatic corps and a virtually limitless reserves/supplies of natural resources will survive losing a tiny, landlocked and impoverished nation that is surrounded by enemies - even if it has to set fire to all of the south Caucasus to do so. It also should not take a great genius to realize that Armenia today survives as a nation-state in a neighborhood full of hungry predators because of its close ties to the Russian Federation. Therefore, it also should not take a great genius to realize that severing Armenia’s umbilical cord with Russia will by-default put the country at the mercy of Turks, Azeris, Georgians, Wahhabi Islamists and Western energy interests. Moreover, regarding the silly question of whether Russia is a friend or foe?

If Russia was really Armenia's enemy, as our professional Russophobes want us all to believe, Armenia would have disappeared from the political map a very-very long time ago.

It's actually quite funny listening to "concerned voices" and "nationalists" demanding the ouster of Russian forces from Armenia, knowing full well that such characters will be nowhere in sight when the Turkish army crosses the Arax River. If the dreams of our professional Russophobes come true and Russia for some reason retreats from the south Caucasus and the region descends into another major war, Armenia - as tiny, poor, remote and depopulated as it is - will, inevitably finds itself faced with a war on two fronts. Then, we will quickly see that all of our professional Russophobes are suddenly nowhere to be seen and our "nationalists" are either lying dead on the battlefield, seeking shelter in "LA", falling at the feet of Western officials or begging Russians for help. At the end of the day, if Russia for some reason decided to listen to the demands of our Captain Americas, Westernizers and Russophobes and pulled its military presence out of Armenia (lucky for us it won't happen but that is exactly what many of our proud "nationalists" want these days), Armenia would not survive the inevitable Turkish onslaught. Turks are always ready to pounce. The moment Russia retreats from the south Caucasus, they will make their move  -
Leaked memo reveals Turkish military operation plan against Armenia: https://armenpress.am/eng/news/996991
Moscow Sees War Threat if Outsiders Act in Karabakh: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-21-mn-337-story.html
Do our idiots masquerading as nationalists, activists, political experts and historians and journalists seriously think that Russians do not properly understand what’s going on in the south Caucasus? Do our idiots seriously think that Russia needs Armenia as much as Armenia needs Russia?! This is an attempt to dangerously mislead people. If these professional Russophobes in our midst were really worried about Armenia's security and well-being, they would stop lying to our overly boastful, very reactionary, highly emotional and politically illiterate population and they would stop giving them false hope. Because our peasantry is easily manipulated and therefore easily misled, our society's professional Russophobes are the reason why Armenia today is hopelessly stuck in the middle of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia and the West, and why Armenia is becoming a center for Western and Globalist operations. As noted above, the dissemination of nationalistic propaganda throughout Armenian society, as well as covert support for extremist groups like the so-called "Sasna Dzrer" is being done by Western/Globalist/Internationalist interests, and it is being done to encourage Armenians to break-free from Moscow. The following is one such lunatic from Lebanon who thinks Armenians can force Russia out of Armenia and then go on to liberate all of historic Armenia, with Western support nevertheless -
Կրեմլը կորցրել է Հայաստանը և մեծ էներգիա է ծախսում Արցախը մեր երկրից պոկելու համար․ Ժիրայր Սեֆիլյա: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOHBTNIRQy8
If the strange character seen in the link above is an accurate reflection of Armenian nationalism, I rather renounce by nationality. What we see here however is not nationalism, it's suicidal madness being encouraged from abroad. The intent is obviously anti-Russian in nature, but it is also ultimately anti-Armenian as well. If left unchecked, these "nationalists" may again be the cause of Armenia's demise. This kind of manipulation of Armenian emotions/sentiments is essentially why the Armenian house cat is seeing a reflection of wild lion in the mirror. This cat better not go out to play in the wild, where packs of grey wolves roam, without the accompaniment of the bear - lest it gets devoured alive.

Tiny, poor, landlocked and blockaded, with a small population that continues to get smaller every year, Armenia may or may not have a fighting chance against an oil rich Azerbaijan. Against enemy like Turkey, however, without direct Russian support, Armenia will be defeated in less than a week at most. Against Baku and Ankara together, Armenia , on its own, will be erased from the map in very short order. At the end of the day, there is only ONE reason why Baku has not made a serious move on Artsakh, and that reason is called RUSSIA. At the end of the day, there is only ONE reason why Ankara has not made a serious move on Armenia, and that reason is also called RUSSIA. Weaken the Russian factor in the south Caucasus (what many of our "independence" minded "nationalists" want today) and we'll be saying goodbye to Artsakh, if not also to Armenia. Therefore, instead of spewing dangerous nonsense and misleading our population, if our "nationalists" were really concerned about Armenia's well-being and longevity, they would sober-up and begin preaching better Russian-Armenian relations, as well the strategic importance of lobbying inside Moscow in order to fix any flaws that may exist in Russia-Armenia relations. Some have been warning us about the lack of political activism in Moscow among Armenians. Ara Abrahamyan, the representative of perhaps the largest body of Armenians on earth, Russia's two-three million Armenians and a very prominent player in Russian politics, but also one who is unsurprisingly shunned by Armenians around the world, made stinging comments during the recent Eursian Economic Union's (EEU) annual Summit held this year in Yerevan -
Union of Armenians of Russia President: Armenia is passive: https://news.am/eng/news/536531.html
Ara Abrahamyan's comments about the lack of Armenian activity in Moscow is not new. He has for many years been warning about the lack of Armenian lobbying efforts in the Russian Federation. He has for many years been warning that it's Turks and Azeris that are doing all the lobbying in Moscow -
In fact, even Russians have been complaining about the lack of Armenian political  presence inside Moscow -
Ո՞վ է Ռուսաստանում Հայաստանի դեսպանը, ես չգիտեմ․ Սոլովյով: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03mJkpA3I4M
Armenian political lobbyists and delegations of businessmen are absent not only in Moscow but also in Tehran -
Azerbaijan is ahead of Armenia in Iran: http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2016/04/23/Vardan-Voskanyan/1567871
Alexander Gusyev: “Iran is building a road through Azerbaijan because of Armenian leadership’s indifference”: http://rusarminfo.ru/alexander-gusyev-iran-is-building-a-road-through-azerbaijan-because-of-armenian-leaderships-indifference/
Iranologist: Armenia has no plan for development of relations with Iran: https://news.am/eng/news/516853.html
Armenian authorities 'too preoccupied’ with maintaining power to address foreign policy concerns: https://www.tert.am/en/news/2019/08/24/Hambaryan/3077400
Armenia needs to step up efforts to bridge 'deficit of trust' with Russia - analyst: https://www.tert.am/en/news/2020/01/04/hrant-meliq-shahnazaryan/3178621
Tevan Poghosyan: Not the friendship and genetics but interests matter in international politics: https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2019/05/25/Tevan-Poghosyan/2119740
In real terms, nothing is getting done by the Armenian side in this regard essentially because Nikol and his cohorts are too busy taking selfies with whores. With this year's EEU summit in Yerevan, we saw Russia again providing Armenia with an international platform to build on, and the following picture is what more-or-less came out of it, thanks to the sheeple's choice -

EAEU selfie 

Instead of concentrating resources on building on the economic and political opportunities provided by Moscow, what have we been doing instead is inviting more Western agents into the country, as well as tens-of-thousands of Indians, but that's another story. We as a people do not understand politics nor do we know how to nation-build. As a collective, we also don't have political wisdom, foresight or vision. It's cultural as well as genetic, in my opinion. Like typical "չտես" merchants, peasants and gypsies, Armenians are stunned and mesmerized by the glimmer of Western lights. Since ancient times, our people's collective attention has been drawn to the Western world (Hellenism, Rome, Crusaders, Europe, U.S.A. etc.), while our survival as a nation has generally depended on the Eastern world (Persia, Russia, Soviet Union, Iran, etc). When it comes to Russia (and Iran) we remain passive, we remain indifferent, we remain politically illiterate. And then we don't understand why we are in the situation we are in. We Armenians have mastered the art of sitting back and complaining about things we don't like, as we ignore important, strategic matters that are very crucial to the health and longevity of our state, essentially because our attention as a people is always drawn to the bells and whistles and the razzle-dazzle of the Western world. This is why we as a people remain vulnerable to Western machinations and their agents of influence.

Russian arms sales to Azerbaijan or Turkey is not an anti-Armenian move

Getting back to what our professional Russophobes,
Trotskyites and shoemakers are saying about Russian arms sales to Turkey and Azerbaijan: I have lost count of how many times I have reflected on the very topic. I guess one more time won't hurt. Throughout the years I have learned that repetition helps when trying to explain things to Armenians. So, allow me to remind all once again that our anti-Russian activists search for complicated political matters in which Russia can be made to look bad and exploit it to its fullest. The very sensitive geopolitical matter of selling arms to Baku and Ankara is therefore being hijacked by our anti-Russian activists and presented to the "Armenian Street" as proof that Moscow is indeed Armenia's enemy. In the following articles, we see genuinely concerned Armenian patriots trying to put pressure on Moscow over its weapons sales to Baku and attempts by professional Russophobes using the same matter to convince Armenians that Russia is Armenia's enemy -
Sleeping with Our Enemy: Russia Sells Weapons to Azerbaijan: http://hetq.am/eng/news/58661/sleeping-with-our-enemy-russia-sells-weapons-to-azerbaijan.html
Is Russia Really Armenia’s Ally?: http://armenianweekly.com/2016/04/19/boyajian-russia/
Armenia: Feeling Betrayed by Russia?: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71031
Armenia's Fair-Weather Allies: https://www.stratfor.com/geopolitical-diary/armenias-fair-weather-allies
With Friends Like Russia, Who Needs Enemies: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/72616
Russia’s Double Dealing in Armenia and Azerbaijan: https://intpolicydigest.org/2016/12/07/russia-s-double-dealing-armenia-azerbaijan/
In response to the anti-Russian hysteria constantly being whipped-up by our professional Russophobes and our well-meaning but politically naive patriots, the Russian Prime Minister commented about this most contentious of matters for us Armenians some time ago. It's worth taking another look at what he said -
The Russian prime minister basically said this: Once Moscow breaks its ties with Baku, Western, Israeli, Chinese, Pakistani, Turkish and/or Islamist interests will inevitably fill the void left in Azerbaijan. In the end, the region will not be any less militarized and Armenia's safety will still not be guaranteed because a wealthy Azerbaijan has the money to purchase what it wants from other powers around the world. In such a case, Moscow will lose control of the situation in the region. 

It's actually quite simple to understand why Russian officials: Arms sales to Baku is one of the things that the Kremlin uses to keep Baku from drifting too far away from the Russian camp/orbit. It gives Moscow leverage over Baku, and it also makes large sums of money in the process. It makes perfect sense to me. From an emotional perspective, I also would not like to see our "strategic ally" selling weapons to our historic enemies. However, from a level-headed, political perspective, I fully agree with the comments made by the Russian prime minister. I think the overall situation in the south Caucasus, including in Artsakh, would have been much worst had Russia not been in the picture in Azerbaijan. Moscow primary concern is to keep Baku within its political orbit while concurrently ensuring Armenia's and Artsakh's security. In essence, Moscow is executing a very sophisticated political approach to a very complex land dispute between very problematic nations in a very volatile region of the world. And our Western-financed activists and politicians, like the filthy, opportunistic smut-peddlers that they are, are exploiting Moscow's geopolitical predicament in the south Caucasus to incite Russophobia inside Armenian society.

Let's be rational and recognize the fact that Baku has the petrodollars to purchase whatever it wants from whoever it wants. If Russia does not sell it the weaponry it is seeking, there are a number of nations that are more than willing to do so. Moscow would be foolish not to use the opportunity to gain leverage over Baku and make a lot of money in the process.

Western powers, China, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Israel have been providing Baku with billions-of-dollars in arms and training. The US and Britain even train Azeri sharpshooters and special forces, those responsible for killing Armenian border guards. Russian arms sales to Baku is therefore not directed against Armenia. Military specialists and political analysts agree that Russian arms sales to Baku and Yerevan are designed to maintain the balance of power between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It may of course also be a pressure tactic by the Kremlin to ensure Yerevan's allegiance to Moscow as well as allow Russia a greater role inside Armenia and/or Artsakh. This is somewhat similar to how Washington D.C. tries to keep its influence over Turks and Greeks and Israelis and Arabs by selling the conflicted parties U.S. made weaponry and mediating between them when problems occur. This was why Azerbaijani forces did not used any of their newly acquired modern weapons systems against Armenian defense forces in Artsakh during the four day war in April of 2016. 

While Russia sells weaponry to Turkey and Azerbaijan at market prices, it gives weaponry to Armenia at domestic (insider) prices, and sometimes for free. Azeris have had the luxury - the petrodollars - to purchase whatever they want from whomever they want. Armenia on the other hand does not have the resources for maintaining military parity with Azerbaijan. Russia is therefore giving Armenia whatever arms it needs to counter the Azerbaijani threat. The recent provision of the Iskander ballistic missile system to Armenia is proof of this. We also know that Armenia has a tiny military (so tiny that yearly recruitment quotas aren't even being met). By militarily covering the entire length of Armenia's vulnerable border with Turkey, Russia is giving Armenia the ability to concentrate its meager resources on its more manageable border with Azerbaijan. This is how Russia's military presence in Armenia is the single most strategic factor contributing to Armenia's existence as a nation-state in the south Caucasus. And this cannot be stressed enough.

We also need to recognize that Russia has normal relations with Azerbaijan. Moscow is also trying hard to lure Azerbaijan into its orbit and by selling it the weaponry that Baku wants, Moscow realizes it gains leverage over Baku - which is good for Armenia. Russia will therefore do its best to maintain good relations with Baku while making sure Armenia is protected from Baku. I should also add this: Even though Armenia is allied to Russia and Armenians in general are very pro-Russian, Kremlin officials know very well that Armenians in positions of power can be easily bought by Western money and that Armenia and Armenian society in general is rife with Western operatives. A quick look at Armenian society these days is enough to show one that Russians cannot trust Armenians, even if there was a thing called “trust” in politics. Therefore, Russia will protect its only strategic ally in the south Caucasus but it will also make sure to also have some leverage over Yerevan by arming Baku, just in case. Russia is thus managing the situation on the ground between Yerevan and Baku by making sure that the current status quo, that which benefits the Armenian side, is maintained. 

At the end of the day, for Moscow, there is also something called realpolitik: The necessity to keep both Yerevan and Baku dependent on Russia. In any case, Baku seems more rational in this regard -
President Aliyev: No allergy in Azerbaijan for Russia's selling arms to Armenia: http://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/2543191.html
Russian arms sales to Baku is not a serious threat to Armenia because, as already noted, Moscow provides Armenia with countermeasures to such arms, and also because most of the weapons systems Moscow sells to Baku, such as warships and anti-aircraft missiles, are in fact not directed against Armenia. Russians have gone out of their way to explains these things to us -
Russian MP considers military balance a guarantee for peaceful settlement of NK conflict: https://armenpress.am/eng/news/999297.html
Moscow’s arming Azeris beneficial to Armenia: Russian news agency chief: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/234333
Moscow maintains parity in arms trade with Yerevan, Baku: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/217213/
Russian expert: Armenia should be interested in Russian-Azeri arms deals: https://arminfo.info/index.cfm?objectid=DC40C210-47E2-11E4-980E0EB7C0D21663
Analyst: Amount of Russian arms sold to Azerbaijan provides balance of weapons in region
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/amount_of_russian_arms_sold_to_azerbaijan_provides_balance
Most of Baku's recent arms purchases from Russia are by nature defensive weapons meant for their air and sea warfare. One also finds quite a bit of Chinese, Western and Israeli made weaponry in Azerbaijan's arsenal. In fact, most of the damage inflicted on the Armenian side during the "four day" war came as a result of Israeli made weapons. More importantly, as noted above, for every weapons system Russia sells to Baku it gives Armenia weapons that can counter it on the battlefield. This is show Moscow maintains the balance of power between Yerevan and Baku, as it makes sure to keep control over both Yerevan and Baku. Simply put, what Moscow is doing is a careful execution of realpolitik and conflict management.

Basically, Moscow is macro-managing the situation on the ground by keeping leverage over both nations and making sure neither nation slips away from its political influence. At the end of the day, the big bad Russian Bear is Armenia’s one and only ally and thank God for that because without Russia, all of the south Caucasus has the potential to be overrun by Turks and Muslims. What Armenians need to be worried about instead is the military support Anglo-American-Jews are giving to Turks and Azeris -
Azerbaijan Deepens and Expands Its Partnerships With International Arms Suppliers: https://jamestown.org/program/azerbaijan-deepens-and-expands-its-partnerships-with-international-arms-suppliers/
Azerbaijani lieutenant colonel killed in Karabakh was trained in USA: https://horizonweekly.ca/am/86300-2/
American military contractors MPRI Inc is training Azeri marksmen: http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/contract_detail.asp?contract_id=81
US Naval Special Ops Demos Training in Azerbaijan: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=26294
The Sunday Times: British special forces carried out secret trainings in Azerbaijan: http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/10/21/sunday-times/
Is a US-Financed Azeri Satellite A Threat to Armenia’s Security?: http://asbarez.com/94756/is-a-us-financed-azeri-satellite-a-threat-to-armenia%E2%80%99s-security/
Azerbaijan Has Advantage Over Armenia In U.S. Military Aid: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/78831
Azerbaijan Makes Massive Israeli Weapons: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65053
Israel Signs $1.6 Billion Arms Deal With Azerbaijan: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-signs-1-6-billion-arms-deal-with-azerbaijan-1.414916
Israel’s Role In The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: http://www.mintpressnews.com/israels-role-nagorno-karabakh-conflict/215684/
Israeli Drone Maker Signs $13 Million Deal with Azerbaijan
Karabakh Fighting Highlights Azerbaijan's New Israeli Weapons: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/78181
Azerbaijan and Israel’s Aerospace Industry. A Worrying Concern for Armenia or Iran?: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-world/2015/05/04
Revealed: how UK technology fuelled Turkey's rise to global drone power:  https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/nov/27/revealed-uk-technology-turkey-rise-global-drone-power
Turkish Jets to Deliver American Nuclear Warheads: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-given-possession-of-nuclear-warheads
The above is what we Armenians really need to worry about. These  powers are supplying Baku with massive amounts of armaments WITHOUT also helping the Armenian side maintain a military balance of power that currently exists between Yerevan and Baku. So, it's not so much about weapons supplies per se, as it is about maintaining the balance of power that exists between the two conflicting parties. This is the main difference between what Russia does (maintain the peace through maintaining military parity between Yerevan and Baku) and what the rest are doing. Again, if Russia stopped it arms deals with Baku, others (Western powers, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, China, Ukraine, etc.) would quickly fill the void and Moscow would quickly lose control over the situation.

To recap: Russian arms sales to Ankara and Baku does not mean Russia is abandoning Armenia. Moscow would sooner occupy Armenia than abandon it to Turks or anybody else for that matter.

Russia is not taking sides against Armenia. Had Russia taken sides against Armenia, we would not have an Armenia. Remember that we are talking about a tiny, impoverished and blockaded nation that would not be able to defend itself against any of its predatory neighbors had it not been for the military and economic support it receives from Russia. The same actually applies to Artsakh. Had Russia actually been against Artsakh being under Armenian control, the situation there would have been a whole lot different today. Russia has been the only reason why an impoverished, landlocked and blockaded Armenia has been able to survive economically and maintain military parity with an oil rich Azerbaijan. Moreover, Russia is the only factor keeping western Turks on their side of the border, thereby allowing us Armenians to concentrate our limited resources on eastern Turks. This cannot be stressed enough.

This is the bottom line: Oil rich Baku has the money to purchase whatever it wants, from whoever it wants. As we all know, Armenia does not have that luxury. Russia therefore sells to Baku what its military wants to purchase and Moscow more-or-less gives to Yerevan what Armenia's military needs in order to counter what Baku has purchased. And, in doing so, Moscow maintains control levers over both parties and can therefore have a say for the situation on the ground. It's conflict management. It's realpolitik. It's that simple. Alienating Baku will only result in Azerbaijan getting closer to Turkey, Israel and Western powers. Russia can't allow that, nor should it. In fact, an Azerbaijan in a Turkish, Israeli and/or Western orbit is more of a threat to Armenia and Artsakh than an Azerbaijan in the Russian orbit. 

I fully understand the fear and emotions-based argument against Moscow supplying modern weapons systems to Turkey and/or Azerbaijan. However, I also fully understand the sound geopolitical calculations and formulations behind such Russian policies. Simply put: With regards to Turkey, it's merely a Russian attempt to drive a wedge between Ankara and Anglo-American-Jews. The net result can potentially be a much weaker Turkey. It can work. Remember the Wall Street saying: Past performances do not guarantee future results. The failed attempt by the Bolshevik government to draw Turkey into its orbit one hundred years ago does not mean Moscow today is cursed to fail in all its policies vis-à-vis Turkey. That was a different time period with different geopolitical players and factors. All of Eurasia was in chaos at the time. Empires were falling and nations were rising. Politics were in a flux. Turkey at the time, which had a substantial Marxist movement of its own, could have realistically gone into the Bolshevik camp. However, through the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it instead joined the Anglo-American-Jewish camp. In any case, that was then, this is now.

If Moscow today is able to cause a rift between Turkey and the West through megalomaniacs like President Erdogan, Turkey can run the real risk of collapse in the process because much in Turkey today is still controlled by Anglo-American-Jews. Moreover, closer Russian-Turkey relations would inevitably mean less Turkish ambitions in Russian spheres of influence like in the south Caucasus. At the end of the day, however, we must all understand that Russians and Turks are natural competitors, not friends.

During the past two hundreds years, Russians and Turks fought around a dozen major wars. Virtually all of the wars in question were won by Russians. The last major war between the two powers was the Caucasus Campaign during the First World War. This was when the Czar's Imperial army, with the help of Caucasian Armenians, totally decimated the Ottoman Army at Sarikamish. Imperial Russian  forces eventually reached as far west as the Western Armenian cities of Erzinjan and Bitlis. Russian-Armenian forces had in fact liberated virtually all of Western Armenia as late as autumn, 1917. The Bolshevik revolution in Moscow suddenly and drastically reversed the situation practically overnight. Russians were forced to retreat back to Russia. The rest is history as we say. Increasing numbers of people, including Russians, are beginning to understand the negative impact the rise of Bolshevism (which was in fact primarily an anti-Russian movement) had on the entire region. More recently, Turkish volunteers and special forces fought alongside Islamic insurgents against Russians in southern Russia, and were again defeated by Russia. Russia today continues to contain Turkish interests in the Crimea, the Black Sea, the south Caucasus, the Levant and more recently in North Africa. Despite the growing economic and political cooperation between Moscow and Ankara these days, it is inevitable that Russia and Turkey will sooner-or-later clash again. As long as Russia remains in the hands of Russians, Moscow will never sacrifice Armenia for short-term political and/or financial gains. It just won't happen.

So, don't mind the nonsense about Russians "selling Armenia to Turks again", supposedly like what they did one hundred years ago. Just realize that it is pure and utter nonsense meant to sow anti-Russian sentiments inside Armenia's pro-Russian society. Armenia's enemies are doing this via individuals and organizations - Sasna Dzrer, Lragir, Gala TV, Civilnet, Stepan Grigoryan, Tigran Khzmalyan, Levon Barseghyan, Levon Shirinyan, Paruyr Hayrikyan, Ara Papyan, Arkadi Vartanyan, Artur Sahakyan, Vahan Badasyan, Azat Arshakyan - to name only a few. The aforementioned come across as patriotic Armenians, but in reality their work directly and indirectly serves the interests of the West and Turkey. After 30-plus years of being subjected to a persistent and relentless disinformation campaign and Western propaganda, there are many misled and brainwashed people throughout Armenian society today. Russophobia in the traditionally pro-Russian country is therefore on the rise -
2011 - Global Poll Finds Strong Pro-Russian Sentiment In Armenia: https://www.rferl.org/a/pro_russia_sentiment_in_armenia/24291052.html
2017 - Majorities in Orthodox countries look to Russia to counter the West: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/10/9-key-findings-about-religion-and-politics-in-central-and-eastern-europe
2019 - Less than half of polled Armenians consider Russia an ally: https://www.mediamax.am/en/news/foreignpolicy/32095/
2019 - 27.6% of Armenians would gravitate towards Russia, while 36.1% of Armenians would gravitate towards European Union and United States: https://jam-news.net/survey-in-armenia-reveals-most-pressing-public-concerns-popular-officials-and-sources-of-discontent/
Armenia: Return of the Russophobes: https://hetq.am/en/article/72236
Lragir: Russia and The Armenian Genocide: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/35244
I personally don't trust what polls say as they are also tools of manipulation and disinformation. Poll can indeed be tweaked so-to-speak to say whatever the sponsor of the poll wants it to say. However, anti-Russian sentiments, especially among Armenia's younger and more under-educated populations, is indeed rising today. It's rise is clearly discernible. We now hear a chorus of complaints about the Russian Federation, as well as insults directed towards Russian officials. Many of Armenia's problems, past and current, are being blamed on Russia. The chorus conductors are of course Western agents and organizations operating inside Armenia today. We as a people have become too accustomed to blaming others for all our problems, flaws, setbacks, defeats and mistakes. What we need to do is to better understand who we are, who our friends are and who are our enemies are. We need self-reflection and self-scrutiny. What we also need to do is to better understand the political world we live in. More importantly, we need to better understand Russian society, Russian culture, Russian mentality - as well as the inner workings of Russian politics. We need to rally our assets in the Russian Federation and get active in Moscow's political life. Turks and Azeris are the ones doing this, not us. We need to become an important part of the political and cultural landscape in Russia. We supposedly are the intelligent ones and Turks/Azeris are the stupid ones, but they are the ones acting intelligent and we are the ones acting stupid. By concentrating our collective efforts on kissing Western behinds - to make few dollars and supposedly show Russia that Armenia has "options" which in reality Armenia does not, who are we therefore fooling(?) - we are in-effect not improving our alliance with our strategic partner to the north, as well as Iran.
 
By neglecting to deepen our relationship with the Russian Bear, we are in-effect making matters worst for ourselves.

With all that said, as in any relationship, there obviously are some flaws in the relationship between Russia and Armenia. The following in my opinion are some of the reasons why we have such flaws: As noted above, Armenians as a collective body have failed to become a noticeable presence within Moscow's political power-centers. Perhaps we foolishly/naively assumed that lobbying efforts in Moscow was not necessary since the Russian Federation is a strategic ally. Perhaps because Russia, underdeveloped compared to the Western world, is not as attractive for our Chobans-in-Armani suits and Neo-Bolsheviks. The ladder is in my opinion why our idiots have mostly concentrated on establishing closer relations with the Western world. It's about personal enrichment, materialism and "shopping". Russians, for their part, have also somewhat neglected their little ally in the south Caucasus. Perhaps because Russians assume that Armenia is a very dependent ally and will therefore remain an ally no matter what Moscow does. Perhaps also because Russia has so many other serious problems to contend with that they are not giving priority to their alliance with Armenia. Essentially, both sides may be sure of each others fidelity, both sides may therefore be neglecting each other as a result. Therefore, both sides are fundamentally wrong in my opinion. That said, I think Armenians are more at fault because the Armenian side is the much smaller and much weaker side that cannot afford to make such mistakes. Armenia must place all its emphasis and its limited resources on establishing an effective and permanent presence inside the walls of the Kremlin. We as a people need the foresight and wisdom to fix these flaws that exists between our peoples instead of aggravating them and making them worst.

While Armenia's military is Yerevan's tactical advantage on the battlefield, Armenia's alliance with the Russian Bear has to be made Yerevan's strategic advantage on the world stage. Russians for their part must realize that Armenia's internal problems are being exploited by Western and Turkish interests and are being used against Russia's presence in Armenia. Russian officials must realize that the situation in Armenia may get worst in the future because Western propaganda machine is targeting Armenia's "independence" generation (i.e. its Westernized youth).

Yes, there are flaws in the relationship between Russia and Armenia as there are flaws in any relationship. But instead of complaining, panicking and fear-mongering and running to Western powers for protection - which is becoming a popular pass-time in Armenian society today - Armenians should embark on a pan-national effort to fix whatever flaws that exist between Moscow and Yerevan. Instead of getting emotional or hysterical or hateful or fearful, Armenians should instead seek to embark on a pan-national lobbying agenda in Moscow designed to offset any potential negative outcomes that may result because of, say, better Russian-Turkish or Russian-Azeri relations. We Armenians have the intelligence as well as the human assets on the ground in the Russian Federation to do this. It's simply not being done. It's simply not in our DNA. Knowing our people, Armenians will just sit back and panic and complain and of course fall victim to Western manipulation. Knowing our people, Armenians will wake-up and get serious when it's too late. And speaking of waking up too late, Cold War relics like the Mirror Spectator's Edmond Azadian seems to have just woken-up. For a long time Azadian's weekly newspaper regularly fear-mongered about Russians and Russia. Now, after the unexpected rise of Western-backed Russophobes in Yerevan, Azadian is finally recognizing that it may not actually be a good idea to piss-off Russians -
"Armenia Could Be Left in the Cold with Growing Turkish, Russian Ties": https://mirrorspectator.com/2019/01/31/armenia-could-be-left-in-the-cold-with-growing-turkish-russian-ties/
Azadian, and many others like him, are living proof that Armenians wake-up when it's too late. Like a troubled child that does not want to listen to advice from elders about the dangers of putting one's hand into fire, Armenians will play with fire until the fire burns them. Like the Armenian saying goes - Հայերը արթնանում են երբ դանակը ոսկորին է հասնում (translated: Armenians wake up when the knife reaches the bone).

Generally speaking, Armenians (regardless of education and/or wealth) can't see past their hate, jealousy and/or egos... that is until they hit rock bottom. Our people's general lack of political literacy, farsighted and pragmatism is why we as a people will remain at the mercy of historical circumstances and tendencies. We will not therefore have the country that we want, we will have a county that will be given to us. The only thing that will keep our nation-state alive for the foreseeable future in a nasty place like the south Caucasus is Armenia's geostrategic importance to the Kremlin (i.e. how Russians assess Armenia's alliance). Once we as a people lose Russia's interest or favor (i.e. once Armenia's Western fetish becomes a serious problem for Russia) we will lose our statehood once again. Not saying this to upset anyone. This is simply our reality. Let's fully understand it. Let's accept it. Let us as a people work on making the best of it.

Many of my readers mistakenly think that when I talk about deepening or improving Armenia's ties with Russia, I am talking about total appeasement and servitude to Russians. No, I'm literally talking about deepening, improving, developing, nurturing Armenia's ties to Russia. I am talking about creating a situation in Moscow where Armenia's prosperity and strength will be seen to also benefit Russia. Unfortunately, very few Armenians alive today seem to actually understand this. When it comes to Russian-Armenian relations, there are two fundamental types of Armenians today: Servants, who sit back and wait for orders from the Kremlin and Western agents, who are doing their best to drive a wedge between Moscow and Yerevan and destroy Armenia. We today do not have a society that is rational, farsighted, pragmatic and genuinely nationalistic. And our pathetic state officials -  all of them from 1991 to today - are a close reflection of this 30 year old post-Soviet civilizational decay.

In any case, the Russian Federation today is intentionally, by actual design, making sure Armenia survives in a dangerous place like the south Caucasus. This Russian factor in the south Caucasus is the fundamental reason why we have an Armenia today. This is the fundamental reason why we have had a significant Armenian presence in the south Caucasus during the past two hundred years. The aforementioned cannot be stressed enough. Once we begin suffering serious political setbacks and defeats on the battlefield, we will see our self-destructive peasantry again start crying and complaining that things are not going our way. We will go on, as usual, blaming others (primarily Russians) for all our failures. In fact, Nikol has already started blaming Russia for any future setbacks in Artsakh. On more than one occasion Nikol has insinuated that any major military attack against Armenia by Azerbaijan will ultimately be Russia's fault -
Russia Can Prevent Karabakh War, Says Pashinian: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29378782.html
And then, he suddenly turns around and basically tries to provoke a war -
Armenia’s prime minister controversially declared that “Karabakh is Armenia - period”: https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-escalates-punctuation-war-with-armenia
In American idiom, Nikol is basically preparing his field of play and covering his ass. Nikol may in fact be meticulously preparing Armenians for setbacks in Artsakh, which he will then of course put the blame on Russia. I think his recent comment "Artsakh is Armenia, period", which surprised many, may somehow be connected to such a plan. This so-called Prime Minister of Armenia is either an imbecile (which is very dangerous for Armenia) or something sinister is in the works (which is equally dangerous for Armenia). Nevertheless, Nikol's comment about Artsakh which expectedly titillated many of our politically illiterate and hopelessly emotional patriotic peasantry was both politically irresponsible and dangerous. We all know that Artsakh is Armenia, so do Westerners, so do Russians, so do Turks, so do Azeris. But that is not how it works in international politics, negotiations or diplomacy. By publicly claiming Artsakh, Nikol is basically validating Baku's claims that Armenia has designs on Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory. By doing so, Nikol is undermining Official Yerevan's twenty-plus year effort to maintain the current status quo which, in the big picture, is favorable for Armenia.

In any case, to see where his heart and mind really were, Nikol should have been asked the following question right after he made that populistic yet politically risky statement about Artsakh: "Mr. Prime Minister, are the Armenian controlled territories outside of the internationally recognized borders of Artsakh also part of Armenia?" That, folks, would have been an answer to behold. In any case, let's recall that Nikol has also made many contradictory and downright confusing statements regarding Artsakh. Therefore, anything this man says about Artsakh should be taken with a significant amount of suspicion and skepticism.

Let's also never forget that the “Russian presence in Armenia is bad for Turkey”

Until very recently, it was quite common to hear from our professional Russophobes and neo-Trotskyites (e,g, Gary Kasparov, Igor Muradyan, Tigran Khzmalyan, Garegin Chukazyan, Paruyr Hayrikyan, Arkadi Vardanyan, Stepan Grigoryan, Hakob Badalyan and others) that serious geopolitical changes would be taking place in the world in the next ten years or so and that Russia will be defeated in the end. Incidentally, I believe that those behind clowns like Gary Kasparov, who is associated with the Council on Foreign Relations, are more-or-less the same Western/Globalist/Internationalist interests that are also behind all of our professional Russophobes and Trotskyites today. Like spiritually dead members of an utterly evil cult that has tentacles all around the world, our Trotskyites (many of whom are of course Russian speaking) are convinced that the Russian Federation, which under President Putin broke from the Western-backed Globalists that had come back to power in the 1990s, will be defeated once again. To neo-Bolshevik/Trotskyites of the world today, President Putin is the reincarnation of Joseph Stalin. This is why it is common to hear them say their problem is not with the Russian nation per se, which they claim to love, but with President Vladimir Putin and his Russian imperialism. These neo-Bolshevik agents therefore claim to want to save Armenia by making Yerevan break its ties with Moscow. Incidentally, many of these anti-Russian neo-Trotskyites are also very critical of Nikol's government. The reason for this is quite obvious. Although Russian-Armenian relations are at a low point today, not only has he not even attempted to breakaway from Moscow, Nikol has in-effect made Armenia even more dependent on Russia. There would naturally be some push-back -
Although there are a shitload of Western and Turkish agents running around Armenia today, there is nothing in Official Yerevan to even remotely suggest that there will be any changes in Armenia's pro-Russian geopolitical vector/orientation in the foreseeable future. As we can see with the link above, Yerevan's inability to break with Moscow is the reason why our Western and Turkish agents, as well as some of our neo-Trotskyites, dislike Nikol. Nikol's inability to break with Moscow has also given rise to a number of rumors and conspiracy theories suggesting that Nikol may be a Russian agent. Personally, I remain open to such suggestions. Time will tell who or what Nikol really is. We don't need time however to know exactly who our professional Russophobes are and what they really want. We know exactly who our anti-Russian activists are. And what they are advancing is basically a Western and Turkish backed agenda that is at its very core an anti-Armenian agenda. 

That Anglo-American-Jews and their servants are steering the world toward uncharted territory and that we are in the midst of a hybrid world war today is well known to many political observers. What's obviously not known however is whether Russia (or Western powers for that matter) will be destroyed in the end. Call me biased, call me a Russophile, call me a Russian imperialist, but I am pretty confident that Russia won't be the one destroyed in the end. Signs on the ground validate my claims - 
Let's remember that Russia has faced much tougher challenges in the past and it has come out stronger every time. After severe setback in the 1990s, Russia has in recent years been registering one success-after-another all around the world. The Kremlin was able to secure Abkhazia and Ossetia and, more importantly, annex Crimea. Russia has won the war in Syria. Russia today has in fact become the main power-broker in the Middle East. What's more, panic about "Russian meddling" and political manipulations has been in the daily news cycle in the United States since 2016. Russia is resurging - politically, militarily, culturally. Russia's national church is making a historic comeback. Russia is driving a wedge between NATO and Turkey. Russia is making inroads in Africa. Russian-China relations have never been better. Russia is wining the sanctions game. Russia is winning the information war. Russia is now the number one topic in the United States. In fact, Russia is becoming self-sustaining with each passing year. It's the West that is a decline. It's the American empire that is in decline. It's the all might U.S. Dollar that is in decline. It's the U.S. that has an incoherent foreign policy. Don't let the still glimmering lights in the West or our agents of Western influence fool you, it is in fact the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance that has been in a decline. In fact, not only is the American empire in decline, it is, as more-and-more Americans are realizing it, an evil empire -
In any case, all this talk about "Russia will be defeated","Russia will be destroyed" is a moot point anyway because Armenia does not have choice in the matter. Surrounded by Turkic and Islamic predators, Armenia has no choice but to firmly remain within Russia's political. economic and military orbit, for better or for worst. Armenians would do well to recognize that if Russia was somehow forced to retreat out of the south Caucasus, the area will turn back into a Turkic/Islamic cesspool overnight regardless of how close or warm Armenia's relations are the Western world. No Western official is going to lift a finger to save Armenia from any of the region's predators. That's a fact. After Armenians, Russia is the ONLY country on earth that will willingly shed the blood of its young men and women to protect Armenia from regional predators. Let me put this another way: Look at all the military, political and financial sacrifices Russia has made for a relatively faraway country like Syria and imagine how much more it would do for an allied Armenia that is practically right on its vulnerable southern border.

As it has been for the past two hundred years, it is today: The Russian factor in Armenia helps the country survive in one of the most complex and hostile political environments in the world. At the end of the day, not the Diaspora but Russia is the single most important factor in Armenia's life today. This cannot be stressed enough. This should be recognized by all Armenians, including Diasporans and this should be worked on. In other words, we need organized lobbying efforts in Moscow to deepen the alliance. Yet, all we hear from the "Armenian Street" in recent years is calls to oust the Russian military presence from within Armenia. Such suicidal calls has gained momentum since Nikol's NED and Soros funded rise to power. Here are some of the professional smut-peddlers (some of whom are often quoted in the Turkish/Azeri news media) preaching virtues of Russophobia to Armenians -
Tigran Khzmalyan: Armenia is under Russian occupation: https://www.turan.az/ext/news/2019/2/free/Interview/en/78760.htm
Jirair Sefilian calls the ouster of Russian troops from Armenia and a revolution in Artsakh: http://www.1tv.am/hy/vide
Garegin Chugaszyan: Armenia should review presence of Russian military base in the country: https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2018/09/29/garegin-chugaszyan/1471394
Լևոն Շիրինյան. Ռուսաստանը մեզնից կախված է, կարող ենք բարձրացնել Գյումրիի ռազմաբազայի հարցը: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzfiNBNvii8
Արա Պապյան. Ռուսական ռազմաբազայի հզորացումն ընդդեմ Հայաստանի․ «Այլ երկրների համար դառնում ենք թիրախ»: https://www.newsinfo.am/arm/article/view/4kxOE97SqP
Whether they realize it or not, our anti-Russian activists, who of course almost always portray themselves as Armenian nationalists, are in reality anti-Armenian activists. Whether they realize it or not, what they are doing is psychotic and suicidal. Whether they realize it or not, our professional Russophobes are actually advancing a very old Turkish agenda vis-à-vis Armenia: They are encouraging Armenians in Armenia to breakaway not only from the Diaspora but also from Russia -
George Friedman: “Russian presence in Armenia is bad for Turkey”: http://theriseofrussia. blogspot.com/2010/11/arye-gut- israeli-jewish-expert-in.html
Turkish Advice: Armenian diaspora, focus on Russia rather than Turkey! http://www.hurriyetdailynews. com/armenian-diaspora-focus- on-russia-rather-than-turkey
Paul Goble: ‘Russia has De Facto Occupied Armenia,’ Yerevan Expert Says: http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/10/russia-has-de-facto-occupied-armenia.html
Leaked memo reveals Turkish military operation plan against Armenia: https://armenpress.am/eng/news/996991
As Stratfor's George Friedman candidly says: "Russian presence in Armenia is bad for Turkey". And as the Hürriyet's Barcin Yinanc slyly advises: "Focus on Russia rather than Turkey!"

They can't make it any clearer. They want Armenians to expel the Russian presence from Armenia. Why would Turks and their supporters in the Anglo-American-Jewish world want to see this? Is it not obvious? Pushing Russians out of Armenia will inevitably make Yerevan subservient to Ankara. Amazingly, many Armenians today do not seem to comprehend this. While Western officials keep our peasantry preoccupied with silly things like "gay rights", "war on corruption", "civil society" and "free elections", driving Russia out of Armenia and keeping Armenia politically and economically isolated has been their ultimate goal. Therefore, it would be wise to look past the lofty rhetoric of Western-financed Russophobes in Armenia and realize that their main goal is and has always been to pull Armenia out of the Russian orbit and make Yerevan subservient to Anglo-American-Jewish and Turkish interests. Listening closely to Armenia's professional Russophobes one immediately recognizes this Turco-Western agenda. Keep this in mind for the next time you hear similar nonsense.

Westerners and Turks know (obviously a lot better than Armenians today) that Armenia simply can't survive without Russia. They know that once Russia is forced out of Armenia, Armenia will be at their mercy. They also know that Armenia's "independence" from Russia will mean Armenia's dependence on Turkey. Russians have been warning us in this regard -
NGOs, mass media “fed” by West are trying to destroy age-long Russian-Armenian relations: Russian embassy: https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2019/10/31/russian-embassy/1623746
Russian General Leonid Ivashov: Turkey Seeks Separation Between Russia and Armenia: http://news.am/eng/news/36696.html
This common knowledge among high-level officials and policymakers in Western capitals and Ankara is essentially why many politicians, activists and news agencies in Armenia and in the Diaspora are encouraged to disseminate anti-Russian rhetoric throughout Armenian society. The power of Western propaganda in Armenia is so great (largely thanks to Yerevan's so-called Complimentary Politics) that Western (and Turkish) operatives planted throughout Armenian society can take any political matter today and effortlessly spin it to fit their self-serving narrative and our "Street", generally speaking, accepts it as truth. Despite Armenian intelligence, because of Armenian emotions, materialism, pride and arrogance, Armenians remains one of the world's most easily manipulated and mislead sheeple. Due to such unique Armenian traits (which are also better recognized by Armenia's enemies) Armenians are proving very susceptible to self-destructive behavior. Times like this remind me that we Armenians may not be ready for statehood. Armenians also better take a good look at Cypriots, Greeks, Serbs, Ukrainians, Georgians and Kurds to name only a few and realize that Anglo-American-Jews can never be a security guarantee for Armenia. When it comes to matters pertaining to its national security, Armenia's only option is to firmly maintain its strategic alliance with Russia, better understand the geopolitical calculus of the region Armenia is located in and be prepared for a major war.

If however Armenians insist on acting psychotic and self-destructive and continue recklessly playing with the health and well-being of the Armenian republic - in a Turkic-Islamic environment nonetheless - I would much rather Armenia become a province within the Russian Federation instead.


In closing this topic of discussion, I'd like to say that the current warming of Russian-Turkish relations is definitely something for us Armenians to monitor closely but nothing to fear. It will not last long. It will remain superficial while it lasts. In the meanwhile, the more dependent Ankara becomes on Moscow, less likely will it have a Pan-Turkic or Pan-Islamic appetite in the Caucasus. There are a few Armenians that understand this. The more dependent Ankara becomes on Moscow, the less threatening will it be, at least in former Soviet territory. The more dependent Ankara becomes to Moscow, less likely will it pose a direct threat to Armenia itself. This topic of Russian-Turkish relations should also help Armenians realize/recognize the fundamental need to embark on a pan-national lobbying effort within the halls of the Kremlin on behalf of Armenia's national interests - instead of simply hoping or praying that things go our way. Instead of fear-mongering and sowing panic over warming Russian-Turkish relations, we should be attempting to exploit our human assets throughout the Russian Federation for the benefit of the Armenian state.

Armenians are disproportionately represented in the highest and most important sectors of Russian society today. There are nearly three million Armenians living in Russia. Russian-Armenians are by-far the most affluent Armenian Diaspora and they have direct ties/links to the Armenian homeland. We need to tap into this. We can become in Russia what Jews are in the United States.


At the end of the day, while we as a people need to recognize that Russia is our natural ally as well as the civilizational orbit we need to be a part of, we also need to recognize that technical details such as the "territories" outside of the internationally recognized borders of Artsakh and nation-building in Armenia is OUR responsibility and not that of Russians or anybody else's. Similarly, while Russia protects our border against a large and powerful enemy like Turkey, it is OUR responsibility as a people to create a professional and powerful military to protect Armenia and Artsakh at least against Azerbaijan. As I see it, when it comes to such matters, we are being incompetent. And speaking of political incompetence, the Foreign Minister appointed by Nikol recently had an embarrassing appearance on the world stage.

F.M. Mnatsakanyan's embarrassing appearance on BBC ultimately because of "complimentary politics"

We Armenians have been whoring ourselves to the Anglo-American-Jewish world for nearly 30 years, and all we have been getting in return is insults and rejection and an occasional bribe thrown our way (of course packaged as aid/grant) to make us keep coming back for more insults and rejections. Official Yerevan's "Complimentary Politics" - the stupid idea that a tiny, landlocked and impoverished Armenia located in a traditionally Russian sphere can somehow serve two rival superpowers, Russia and Western powers, at the same time - has essentially pushed Armenia into a position of a desperate prostitute torn between two competing pimps. The following is little parable for those who have difficulty understanding geopolitics and international relations:
There once lived a little, ambitious prostitute called Armenia. She was a petite girl, who would constantly daydream about living the good life. She was also a bit emotionally unstable. Being that she lived in a very poor and violent town, she naturally had a pimp to watch over her and manage her services. Her pimp was a strong, burly guy named Rusa. They two had known each other their entire lives. In fact, they had practically grown up together. Armenia felt confident that Rusa was strong enough and well connected enough to protect her from all the criminals and thugs in the poor town that they lived in. Armenia also knew that Rusa had feelings towards her. Rusa had actually wanted a relationship with her. He even told her this on more than one occasion. Armenia however preferred to keep Rusa at an arms length. Why? Because Armenia was not very satisfied or impressed with Rusa's demeanor, looks and wealth. Rusa basically looked and acted like a redneck. He was not very wealthy, liked to drink, drove around in a used SUV and he was at times a bit rough with her. However, she knew that he truly cared for her. As time passed, Armenia eventually ran into another pimp that was visiting her neighborhood from a far way town while Rusa was away because of some problems he had gotten into. The new pimp's name was Amero. He was very wealthy, cunning, flamboyant, lived life lavishly and he gave out a new type of drug for free. Armenia loved it. Unlike Rusa, Amero also drove a fancy car, dressed well and acted very sophisticated around the ladies. Armenia soon found herself increasingly enamored with Amero. She also soon got hooked on the new drug Amero had brought to town. She really wanted to work for him, and even dreamed of being his lover. Amero however didn't care much about Armenia. For Amero, Armenia was just another street girl he could exploit to make a little extra money and push out his competition, which in Armenia's poor neighborhood was Rusa. Commitments or special treatment towards Armenia were out of the question as far as Amero was concerned. In other words, Amero was in town strictly for business. Moreover, Amero had a large number of other whores at his disposal that were much more attractive than Armenia. Why should he have chosen a little whore with mediocre looks, emotional issues and a drug addition to be his lover? Amero therefore rejected all of Armenia's sexual advances. Armenia thus found herself torn between what she had, a friendly but rough pimp who lived inside her dangerous neighborhood and really cared for her and what she desired, a wealthy pimp with a fancy car and sophisticated mannerisms that lived far away but had no intentions of taking her seriously. More importantly, Armenia refused to admit to herself that Amero could not protect her from the criminals and thugs that lived in her neighborhood not only because he lived far away but also because he actually had business relations with the criminal elements in her town. In other words, Armenia was literally a nobody for Amero. Yet, she still tried to gain his favor. And Amero rejected every attempt. Immediately after returning to town, Rusa found out what was happening between Armenia and Amero. Needless to say, he was very upset and felt deeply betrayed. He had after all known Armenia his entire life, and on several occasions he had saved her life. However, with Armenia's constant antics, temper tantrums, complaining, materialism, and her emotional instability in general, Rusa grew increasingly angry and disillusioned, and eventually lost his interest in the little prostitute called Armenia. The end...
Armenians have turned Armenia into a desperate and confused whore that can't find her place in this world because she can't decide which pimp to provide her services to. Her competing pimps are now also becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her antics, her instability and her indecision. By foolishly trying to service both pimps, she is now beginning to realize that not only are the pimps not happy with her, she is not happy about her situation either. As we can see with the following, so far, it has been a lose-lose situation for the little prostitute called Armenia -
Interview of Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to BBC HardTalk’s Stephen Sackur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJTGRiBCRkw
In my opinion, BBC's Sackur did a brilliant job of making our Zohrab Mnatsakanyan look like a clueless amateur. The appearance of Armenia's Foreign Minister on the BBC proved to be a miserable failure for Official Yerevan. With his timidity, incompetence and obvious lack of preparedness, Armenia's FM made Baku look indeed like the innocent and victimized party in the conflict. Artsakh's real story/history was thus utterly betrayed on an international stage. Sackur ran circles around Mnatsakanyan throughout the entire interview. He also made two metaphors that I really appreciated. First metaphor: He said, "if you try to ride two horses [at the same time] you run the risk of a very grave injury". Second metaphor: He said, "the problem with [walking] tightropes is you do yourself a great deal of damage if you fall off, you might fall off"...

Exactly!!!

This is exactly what I have been telling our idiots for over 10 years now. You can't serve two masters, especially when the masters in question are competing against each-other. You can't stand in the middle of the road, especially when you are a small, weak, inexperienced, poor, remote and landlocked nation surrounded by enemies. All in all, our Foreign Minister should have understood that rejection and ridicule is what you get when you stand in the middle of the road and try to serve two competing masters. All in all, it was a well deserved public relations disaster for Nikol's government. I'll let others talk in detail about technical/tactical issues regarding Mnatsakanyan's very embarrassing performance -
BBC-ի հարցազրույցում նախարարն ի ցույց դրեց ՀՀ արտաքին քաղաքականության սնանկությունը. Արմեն Այվազյան
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLvMlxpL4w
Մնացականյանը պարտավոր է վերադիտել իր հարցազրույցը և հրաժարական տալ, այսպիսի ԱԳ նախարարի շռայլություն թույլ տալու իրավունք չունի Հայաստանը. Հայկ Մարտիրոսյան (տեսանյութ)
https://www.tert.am/am/news/2019/10/26/martirosyan/3126462
Մնացականյանը ոչ թե Փաշինյանի, այլ Ալիևի արտգործանախարարն է
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zAvtKDhVqU
I will approach this matter my way. As we now keep seeing over-and-over again, Yerevan's so-called "Complimentary Politics" is NOT working. In reality, it was doomed to failure from the very beginning. A small and weak nation cannot serve two, competing superpowers at the same time. It will NOT work. It is in fact anti-Armenian in nature. We need to chose a side, and we know exactly what side we need to chose. By foolishly opening up Armenia to the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance, as a way to "counterbalance Russian influence" in Armenia, Official Yerevan is allowing armies of Western financed activists and agents to pour into Armenia and set deep roots in the country. This is a serious long-term threat to the very existence of Armenia as a nation-state. These Western assets now deeply embedded in the country are already starting to bare toxic fruit. This overexposure to Western powers is ultimately why Armenia's strategic ally Russia, most probably Iran as well, are developing serious apprehension towards Armenian officials. Opening Armenia up to Western interests has also resulted in the decline of Armenian culture.

Equally concerning is the significant rise in anti-Russian attitudes - in a country nonetheless that is DESPERATELY dependent on Russia for survival. Although Nikol is doing his best to appease the Russian Bear through lip-service, he has allowed the country to actually be overrun with professional Russophobes, including George Soros agents. Since Nikol's rise to power, a persistent and ubiquitous anti-Russian disinformation campaign can be heard throughout Armenian society. Russian officials have been warning us about this -
NGOs, mass media “fed” by West are trying to destroy age-long Russian-Armenian relations: Russian embassy: https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2019/10/31/russian-embassy/1623746
Russian Embassy in Armenia comments on desecration of Griboyedov's statue: https://news.am/eng/news/547754.html
Russia Wants to Curtail Western Military Presence In Armenia: http://asbarez.com/176801/russia-wants-to-curtail-western-military-presence-in-armenia/
Revolution is the new black: How Western money funds overthrow-your-government classes: https://www.rt.com/news/451372-camp-yerevan-protests-us-money/
Russia concerned that pro-Westerners will dominate next Armenia parliament: https://news.am/eng/news/483700.html
Armenia: Return of the Russophobes: https://hetq.am/en/article/72236
Lragir: Russia and The Armenian Genocide: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/35244
Nikol is giving the Kremlin lip-service as he floods Armenia with Western agents. There will most likely be blow-back as a result of all this at some point in the future. In time, this will have negative repercussions for Armenia. Official Yerevan seems oblivious as of now to such dangers. The Armenian attention is still fixed on the glimmering lights of the Western world. Armenians continue thinking that with enough expressions of subservience as well as an ample amount of ass kissing in Western capitals, Anglo-American-Jews may finally begin looking favorably upon Armenia/Armenians. It's a false hope. Despite Nikol's efforts to gain the favor of Western powers by flooding Armenia with North American and European interests, the Anglo-American-Jews will NOT embrace Armenia and they will NOT divorce themselves from Turkey or Azerbaijan for Armenia - 
Western powers will never be Armenia's friend or ally, and all that Nikol and friends will only have managed to accomplish in the end is to sour Armenia's relations with Russia and flood Armenia with Western toxins. Foreign Minister Mnatsakanyan should be removed from his post for his miserable performance. He is obviously not ready for this kind of work. Actually, the entire government of Armenia should be removed from their posts, simply for being agents for neo-Bolshevik/Trotskyite interests. Armenia won't last very long in the current political climate. Moreover, I still don't understand how our idiots automatically assume that "Democracy" and "Geopolitical choices" can be exclusive of each-other. I have news for our idiots: They can't be! Democracy is a tool of invasion, control and exploitation, similar to what the Vatican's Catholicism was in the centuries past. Do we really still have leaders that don't understand this? Do we really still have leaders that don't understand history? Do we still not understand that the real reason why nations are inflicted with Western-style Democracy is simply to subjugate them politically and culturally and exploit them economically and financially? Are our leaders really this clueless about the world they live in? 

For me, the tragedy we have been watching take place in Armenia in the post-Soviet period is related to our age old desire to establish close relations with Rome (i.e. the Western world). As was Rome in its time, Western powers today are a toxic entity and they remain far away from the Armenian highlands. In all reality, the Western world could careless if Armenia disappeared from the world map today. This burning desire among Armenians however to "join the Western world" is seriously hindering our ability as a nation to build closer, deeper, more meaningful and more efficient relations with the two most important countries for Armenia today - Russia and Iran. Russia and Iran are two friendly countries right within Armenia's neighborhood. Russia and Iran are two friendly countries that actually have a vested interest in Armenia's survival in the south Caucasus. Armenian-Iranian relations go back thousands of years. Relations between the two neighbors have generally been warm and friendly. More importantly, Iran's border with Armenia is one of merely two routes Armenia has to the outside world. Russian-Armenian relations go back over two hundred years. Russia today is Armenia's only real lifeline, politically, militarily and economically. Russia in fact one of the few countries on earth actually interested in Armenia made products -
Footwear, textile, food products: demand for Armenian goods remains high in Russian market: https://armenpress.am/eng/news/998597/
Russia is Armenia's main provider of affordable modern military hardware and combat training; Russia is Armenia's largest trade partner and investor; Russia is Armenia's main provider of affordable energy (gas, oil and atomic fuel); Russia provides hundreds-of-thousands of Armenian migrant workers seasonal employment opportunities from where they send back to their families in Armenia hundreds-of-millions of dollars annually; Russia hosts the world's largest and most affluent Armenian Diaspora; Russia protects Armenia's western borders with Turkey, giving Armenia's small military the ability to concentrate all its limited resources on countering the Azeri threat on its eastern borders.

So, yes, Artsakh is Armenia. Period. But without Russia there is no Armenia or Artsakh. Period. 

Russia and Iran provide Armenia with a historic opportunity to protect Armenia's borders from regional predators, insulate it's culture from Westernization/Globalization as well as develop and grow Armenia minuscule economy at the same time. Despite all this, Armenians as a people/nation continue looking to the West for guidance, inspiration and sustenance. I guess for Armenians the appearance of Kim Kardashian's big shiny ass at the genocide memorial is too alluring, the prospect of hosting a McDonald in Yerevan is too fascinating and enjoying the sights of large numbers of Indians and homosexuals on the streets of Yerevan is too important to actually secure Armenia's future by distancing Armenia from Western toxicity and deepening Armenia's ties to Russia and Iran. Someone please remind me, what does the West have that Armenia actually needs or vice-versa? Whatever it is - and I really can't think of anything important - is it really worth not properly developing Armenia's ties with Russia and Iran for it? Our fetish with the Western world is distracting us from securing Armenia's future. Armenia is a nation of very limited resources.

Our efforts to establish closer relations with the Western world is diluting our abilities as a people to deepen relations with strategic partners such as Russia and Iran.

The south Caucasus is a Russian sphere of control. No Russia in the south Caucasus means no Armenia in the south Caucasus. Period. Armenians would do well to look at the plight of Kurds and draw some conclusions. "Kurdistan's" existence in Syria ended overnight. Their Western allies abandoned them in the middle of the night. Why? Essentially because Kurds are a group that also does not understand geopolitics. I'm afraid we Armenians are not much better. The reason why we Armenians have a republic and a national cultural to speak of today, and Kurds, Yezdis and Assyrians for example don't, is because we Armenians were lucky enough to have lived closer to Russian borders than the aforementioned and because over two hundred years ago some Armenians were smart enough to look to Russia for help. Simply put: Our proximity to the Russian nation during the past two hundred years gave us the opportunity and the ability to reestablish ourselves as a nation after hundreds of years of living as second class subjects in Islamic lands. Had we lived a little further way from Russia, we today would most likely be in the same situation as Assyrians and Kurds, that is if we still existed.

The fundamental/elemental problem we have today is this: We are being torn apart essentially because we are a country that lives because of its ties with Russia but we are also a country that is enthusiastically allowing Western interests to establish a firm foothold in the country. Armenian officials need to understand that one CANNOT serve two masters at the same time. We today are sowing the seeds of Armenia's eventual defeat on the world stage. At the end of the day, my concern is Armenia. As I have said in the past, I am  pro-Russian because I am pro-Armenian. Period.

Memorial to Garegin Nzhdeh has no place in Russia, and thank God for Russian chauvinism

We recently saw a very good example of how politically immature, illiterate and irrational we Armenians can be as a people. There is a memorial plaque honoring two famous Armenian military leaders, Andranik Ozanyan and Garegin Nzhdeh, in the Russian city of Armavir where large numbers of Armenians live. Perhaps goaded by Azeris, Garegin Nzhdeh, the great military leader and nationalistic philosopher caught the attention of local Russian nationalists. And this is the problem: While Garegin Nzhdeh is one of our great nationalistic figures in Armenian history and a man solely responsible for saving the strategic Armenian province of Syunik from the Bolshevik cutting board, he would nevertheless also be considered  a very controversial figure in Russian society because he (along with other exiled leaders like General Drastamat Kanayan) openly collaborated with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. They collaborated with Nazi Germany for one fundamental purpose, to free Armenia from Soviet rule. It was a very risky move, but Garegin Nzhdeh and his exiled comrades hoped to be given charge of Armenian affairs in case Nazi Germany succeeded in driving the Soviets out of the south Caucasus. Until early 1943, this was a very real possibility. The well known Battle of Stalingrad however turned the tide of the war and by 1945 Nazi Germany was totally destroyed.

That being said, it is totally understandable that the actions of men like Garegin Nzhdeh and Drastamat Kanayan would NEVER be appreciated, accepted or justified by any self-respecting segment of Russian society, a society that suffered years of utter deprivation and tens-of-millions of killed due to the Nazi invasion. Therefore, it is the very height of stupidity to put up a memorial to Garegin Nzhdeh in Russia and expect Russians to accept it, especially since similar characters and vandalism of Soviet monuments are constantly being used by Western interests to stoke tensions between eastern Europeans and Russians. Therefore, it came as no surprise that a local Russian official recently vandalized the memorial to Garegin Nzhdeh. It should also be noted that the adjacent memorial to General Andranik Ozanyan was left untouched. See articles below for details. The local official apparently did what he did after the municipality wanted the memorial to Garegin Nzhdeh removed and the Armenian community responsible for the memorial seemed to be ignoring them. Needless to say, Azeris have been very happy about all this -
Russian MP Vandalizes Garegin Njdeh’s Memorial In Russia: https://zartonkmedia.com/2019/11/14/russian-mp-vandalizes-garegin-njdehs-memorial-in-russia/
Мемориальная доска Гарегина Нжде в Армавире временно демонтирована: https://arcakh24.info/memorialnaja-doska-garegina-nzhde-v-armavire-vremenno-demontirovana
As if all this was not enough, a memorial in Yerevan to a very famous Russian was vandalized in response by a self-proclaimed "nationalist" -
Son of Armenian nationalist party head dumps paint on Griboyedov monument in response to act of vandalism in Russia: https://jam-news.net/son-of-armenian-nationalist-party-head-dumps-paint-on-griboyedov-monument-in-response-to-act-of-vandalism-in-russia/amp/
Russian Embassy in Armenia comments on desecration of Griboyedov's statue: https://news.am/eng/news/547754.html
The memorial statue that this idiot in Yerevan vandalized was none-other than the great Russian composer, playwright, poet and statesmen who in 1829 was killed by a Persian mob because he was trying to protect two Armenian women who had just escaped from a Persian harem and were being sheltered in the Russian Embassy in Tehran -
In 1829, Alexander Griboyedov became the first Russian ambassador to be assassinated when he sheltered Armenian women who had escaped from the Shah’s harem: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/12/23/in-1829-alexander-griboyedov-became-the-first-russian-ambassador-to-be-assassinated-when-he-sheltered-armenian-women-who-had-escaped-from-the-shahs-harem/
Incidentally, a memorable scene from a well known Russian film depicts the time when the Persian Shah sent an official delegation to Saint Petersburg to apologize for the murder of the Russian ambassador by the Persian mob -
A Monumental Scene from Russian Ark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04oFN8D6IO0
In any case, if any of this is what "Armenian nationalism" is all about, I rather renounce my nationality. The "nationalists" we have running around the country today are generally speaking either Western mercenaries or simply a disgusting bunch of self-destructive peasants. These two kinds of "nationalism" poses a greater threat to the health and longevity of Armenia than the standing armies of Turkey and Azerbaijan combined. And regardless of what they now have to say about this incident involving the monument to Ambassador Alexander Griboyedov (Nikol for his credit did speak well about the matter), Nikol and company are ultimately at fault here. Ultimately, mentally disturbed Russophobes and Western mercenaries are growing in number throughout Armenian society and are now beginning to feel emboldened because of today's government and because Armenia has been turned into a playground for Western interests. This is not so much about Nikol himself (he may as some have theorized yet prove to be a Russian asset), this is ultimately about the multitude of professional Russophobes that Nikol and company have brought into government and the freehand they have given Western activists and agents operating inside Armenia. 

Nevertheless, this is my question: Why are we erecting monuments to OUR national heroes who for whatever reason collaborated with NAZI Germany and doing so IN RUSSIA of all places?!

This makes absolutely no sense. And when Russians object these kinds of Armenian excesses, as they should, as they have the right to do in their country, we Armenians quickly act indignant and insulted. And some, as usual, begin shouting, "with friends like Russians we don't need enemies". And of course the other popular slogan, "Russians are white Turks". I'm just wondering as an Armenian. Would we Armenians want non-Armenians in Armenia erecting monuments, say, for an individuals (regardless of what that individual means to those non-Armenians living in Armenia) who at one time or another fought for Turks and/or Azeris?! Would we? Of course not! Then why should Russians? How can we expect Russians to accept an individual that fought alongside Nazi Germany regardless of why and regardless of what that individual means to us Armenians?! It should however be mentioned that some Russians out of largess have publicly sympathize with the Armenian community in this matter -
Нжде - безупречный офицер, герой Армении и Русской Кавказской армии: Васьков: http://russia-artsakh.ru/node/3482
Գնացեք գրադարան, կարդացեք ու իմացեք, թե ով է եղել Նժդեհը. ռուս պատգամավորը հոդված է հրապարակել: https://www.iravunk.com/news/100050
This was most likely a noble attempt to calm tensions on both sides of the community in Armavir. I am of course glad that there are Russians, even Russian officials, that are trying to make excuses for our people's irrationality. Nevertheless, I was actually surprised to learn that such a memorial was allowed on Russian soil in the first place. I, as an Armenian, would be the first one to say that Russia is NOT the place to erect any kind of memorial to an individual who - regardless of what he means to the Armenian nation - collaborated with Nazi Germany. Period. There can be no explanations, no justifications or excuses for such a deeply irrational and utterly stupid move. Had I not known how irrational and self-destructive Armenians can be, I would have suspected that Turks or Azeris were secretly behind the decision to erect a memorial to Garegin Nzhdeh in Russia in order to cause strife between Russians and Armenians. But, knowing Armenians well, I have no doubt that this utterly stupid and self-destructive act was exclusively an Armenian one. And Azeri state media wasted no time in painting this ordeal as blatant anti-Russian acts by Armenian extremists -
Armenian Nazi collaborator stirs Russian society: https://www.azernews.az/region/158512.html
Is “friendship” between the Russian people and Armenian Nazi executioners possible: http://en.kavkazplus.com/news.php?id=2281
Armenians desecrated great Griboyedov’s statue in Yerevan: https://azeridaily.com/reality/52447
It's times like this that I am reminded that Armenians are like troubled little children that every-so-often need a good spanking to make them calm down and think about what they are doing. Times like this also remind me that inside all Armenians today lives an ignorant peasant, a petty merchant or a wondering gypsy. For the life of me I have never understood why/how Armenians compare themselves to Jews. We love comparing ourselves to Jews but we don't learn anything from them. Yes, let's learn from Jews. Let's end all the shallow Arab-like boasting and all the backward chest pounding and let's learn how to penetrate powerful and influential societies in order to embed our core national interests in them. Let's therefore penetrate the Russian Orthodox Church. Let's penetrate the Kremlin. Let's penetrate Russian news media outlets. Let's penetrate Russian academia. Let's penetrate the defense apparatus in Russia. Let's penetrate into powerful families in Russia. We can, theoretically at least, do all this. We can at least begin the process. Some of it is already happening naturally, on its own. We can take steps to set-up conditions to give birth to more marital unions such as this -
Сын Дмитрия Медведева встречается с армянкой: СМИ: https://rusarminfo.ru/2019/11/11/syn-dmitriya-medvedeva-vstrechaetsya-s-armyankoj-smi/
Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev's son is to marry an Armenian. Most Armenians do not know about this. Imagine the noise in the Armenian world however had an Armenian married into the family of a high ranking American or European official. My point is, the Armenian attention is always on the West, as a history opportunity in the North goes unnoticed.

We have the numbers in Russia. We have the wealth in Russia. We have the experts in Russia. We have the well placed individuals in Russia. Armenians can be in Russia what Jews are in North America. Armenians in Russia need to be collaborating with governing elements in Russian society. Armenians need to be manipulating Russian nationalism (i.e. helping Russians see our enemies as theirs and vice versa) by embracing them. We however are not doing any of this. It's simply not in us to do so. We simply don't have the genetic and cultural refinement to do so. We are in fact doing the opposite. We are taking steps to actually hurt Russian-Armenian relations. We see our compatriots even in Russia - the largest and most affluent Armenia Diaspora in the world - doing their best to alienate Russians. And for what, to have the right of planting a little memorial to a controversial figure on Russian soil?! What we are doing is incitement and provocation against our ONLY ally on earth. What we are doing is utter stupidity. And what we are doing is being fully exploited by Azeris and other enemies of the Armenian people.

Some Armenians are even crazy enough to lament/complain that Russians in general are racists and chauvinists and therefore not sensitive to the feelings of others living in the Russian Federation. First of all, why should Russians be sensitive to other nationalities living in their country, especially when those nationalities refuse to assimilate into Russian society? It's their country. They decide. Some Armenians are even crazy enough to complain that Russia is not "Democratic" enough. I am actually hearing about the need for Russia to be more "Democratic" a lot lately. Folks, let's be serious about this. Do we REALLY want a Russia that is "democratic", "liberal" or "open"?! Do we really want "softer" Russians?! Have we really given this any thought? Do we Armenians understand that a softer, more liberal and a more Democratic Russia would inevitably turn into a more Turkic and a more Muslim Russia?! Do we realize that some twenty million Russian citizens today identify as Turkic or Islamic?

Are we Armenians really sure that we need "Liberalism", "Democracy" and "Multiculturalism" in Russia?!

I have a news flash for our idiots: Russia did not become the largest county in the world, in perhaps the most difficult geographic location on earth, by being soft or nice. And Russia is not maintaining that status-quo today in a highly volatile place like Eurasia by being soft or nice. A little history lessen: About one thousand years ago Russia started off as a relatively small principality around the city of fortress city of Kiev. Within a few centuries, Russians became the largest and one of the most powerful nations in the world. This did not happen by chance nor did it happen by hugs, kisses and flowers. Russians conquered the land they own today by continually defeating enemies larger and more powerful than them. Barely one hundred million ethnic Russians today control a bountiful land that stretches from the Baltic Sea in Europe in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Circle in the north to the Caucasus in the south. And they are still surrounded by powerful enemies on all sides, and they still have a significant Turkic/Islamic factor inside their country to contend with. Simply put, Russians cannot let their guard down. They would be devoured if they did. In his most recent marathon press conference, President Putin touched upon this subject -
Putin: Russia has over 2,000 sore points regarding ethnic and territorial issues that sprung up back during the Soviet era: https://tass.com/politics/1101279/amp
Russia is a massive landmass encompassing hundreds of diffrent ethnicities. Bolsheviks essentially created a massive mess. It's now a monumental task to keep the peace and order. Neverthleess, for centuries Russians have been able to maintain their superiority over their enemies both inside and outside their country not by being Democratic or Liberal but by being patriotic, chauvinistic, religious and warlike. These national traits are essentially why the Russian nation produces a higher rate of alpha males today than perhaps any other people. This is why despite immense hardships and tragedies of biblical proportions, Russia continues to be a global superpower. When Russian society loses these powerful and unique traits by adopting Western "values", they will lose everything, and we Armenians will lose Armenia. Love them or hate them, Russians are the last great European nation -
Russian Counter Terror Confidence Drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI01qKAqYts
Выступление группы экспертов Концерна «Калашников» по случаю дня оружейника: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xObykrVBGD0
How Putin’s killing machine is in overdrive after vowing to hunt ‘traitors’: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10460427/putin-critic-mystery-death-vlads-killing-machine-overdrive/amp/
Putin's Little Soldiers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0D1zZKby3I
You're in the army now или Mortal fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLWOjfHm_4
Spectacular drone footage shows Battle of Borodino reenacted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtyxJDthX0
British campaigner's assault ignored by police: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP9I04MFgDw
Russian hooligans in Marseille fight English hooligans:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oliYYfQwLoI
Russian hooligan back from Marseille riot: 'English are girls': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4bAh173Gk
Russian Paratrooper Priests Jump with Mobile Cathedral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YydsERpie-4
Russian military to build 3rd tallest Orthodox Church in the world near Moscow: https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/329083-russian-military-orthodox-church
Slap Off Contest KO Full Video 2019 HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h0ehc0P7oE
Ойся ты ойся. Кубанский казачий хор. Казачья лезгинка: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFjlYyYEGx0
Praying for Palmyra: Russian orchestra performs concert honoring victims of Syria war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b0hFIf4Zaw&feature=emb_title
Here's why the Russian Orthodox Church is deeply connected to the Syrian War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTElnqJNtIk
''Stand up for faith, Russian land'' - Kuban Cossack Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rxLFtOYzfY
The national/cultural traits seen above is why Russians have a history book with pages such as this - 
And we Armenians have a history book with pages such as this -
There is hope in the world, and it's found in Mother Russia. The world's first military cathedral opens near Moscow. Behold its magnificence, admire its beauty. Glory to Russia! (Այս աշխարհում դեռ հույս կա, և այն գտնվում է Ռուսաստանում: Ավարտվեց Ռուսաստանի զինված ուժերի գլխավոր տաճարի շինարարությունը: Ահա ձեզ հոյակապ շքեղություն: Նայեք, ցնծացեք, նախանձեք, եւ փորձեք սովորել իսկական ազգ, իսկական ժողովուրդ լինելը ոնց է եւ ինչ է նշանակում: Փառք Ռուսաստանին՜, Слава России!) -
Строительство Главного храма ВС РФ завершено: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_lDNvwTx6Q
Again: The day Russians lose their warlike traits, they will lose everything, and we Armenians will lose Armenia. It's that simple. So, as an Armenian, I say thank God for Russian racism and chauvinism. Russian racism and chauvinism and aggressiveness is the ONLY thing standing between Turks and their Pan-Turkism. One more time: What business do we Armenians have erecting monuments to our national heroes, regardless of who they are and what they did for Armenians, in other nations? Unless we are ready to admit that we are indeed a bunch of restless gypsies, where is the greatness in that? We Armenians have a serious need to grow up finally and start acting like a real nation instead of like a bunch of hyperactive gypsies.

There was a similar situation some eight years ago with a monument to General Andranik Ozanyan in Sochi. Do our idiots who call themselves "community leaders" in Russia and elsewhere realize that there are many millions Turkic/Muslims in Russia and that they should be refraining from provoking/inciting them and essentially giving them ammunition to use against us? Do our idiots realize that Russians make special effort, painstaking effort, to keep the peace among Christians, Muslims, Slavs and Turkic peoples that live in the territory of the Russian Federation? Instead of wasting time and effort in putting up such memorials, our idiots who call themselves "community leaders" in the Russian Federation (and elsewhere for that matter) should instead be building Armenian schools, community centers (inside which they can enjoy whatever memorial they want), organizing lobbying groups and embracing political elements in regions they live in.

This whole situation is really indicative of how politically illiterate, irrational, arrogant, unscrupulous, troublesome and immature we are as a people. As I have been saying, Armenians resemble spoiled children who must have their way with everything or else they will throw temper-tantrums. Armenians are so "nationalistic" that they proudly and stubbornly erect monuments to Nazi collaborators IN RUSSIA... and Armenians are so greedy, so unethical and so unscrupulous that they illegally import Turkish products into Armenia and export prostitutes and cheap labor to Turkey -
Increasing amounts of  Turkish and Pakistani tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes appear in Armenian markets: https://news.am/eng/news/545162.html
Armenian Prostitutes in Turkey: https://hetq.am/en/article/9518
Personally, I am a big fan of Garegin Nzhdeh. I think he was one of our greatest figures in history. But, I also have a rational mind and I fully understand that if I was a Russian I would not accept a memorial to him in my country. Even if I was a Russian-Armenian, I would support taking down the monument and place it somewhere in Armenia where it naturally belongs.

Armenians once resembled the great nations of the Caucasus and the Armenian Highlands. In antiquity, Armenians were knows as warriors, nobles and priests. Today, however, scratch the surface of an Armenian (regardless of education or wealth) and you'll find either a petty merchant, a backward peasant or a wondering gypsy. We as a people today are a product of one thousand years of cultural and genetic decline. This decline is reflected in the way we handle ourselves and, by extension, our national issues. We as a people, as a collective, are far from rational thought when it comes to politics and nation building.
We Armenians admire Jews... We Armenians are jealous of Jews... We Armenians always compare ourselves to Jews... We Armenians are always complaining that we are not successful like Jews... But, when the time comes for Armenians to actually learn something from Jews and begin acting like Jews, we Armenians instead resort to acting like a bunch of Kurds and Arabs. Go figure.


In final thought, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union brought devastation of biblical proportions to Russian lands. What every self-respecting Russian knows and remembers is that they lost tens-of-millions of souls as a result. Hatred of Nazis and all those who collaborated with them is in their blood and in their culture. Let me put it another way for the reader to better understand the psychology behind this: Russians hate the Nazis more than they love the Bolsheviks. And no one is going change that overnight, especially not by shoving it in their faces, as in the case of this monument. Russia is gradually reverting back to its classical Czarist, Orthodox and imperial ways. Most Russians today are fully aware of the foreign and Jewish factor in the rise of Bolshevism. But, we must understand that several generations of Russians were bred under the Soviet system and positive sentiments regarding the Soviet system (post-war communism to be precise) is very strong in Russia. Every Russian alive today remembers that they were part of massive global superpower where the most important things in life (education and medical care) were free, virtually everyone was employed and the cost of living was very low. Positive attitudes towards the Soviet Union will not change overnight, and it certainly will not change by our Chobans erecting monuments to Nazi collaborators on Russian soil.

I want to see Russians one day rejecting their Bolshevik past. I want to see Russians differentiating between pre-war Bolshevism and post-war Communism. I want to see Russians going back to their Czarist and Christian Orthodox roots. I am glad that the process has begun. In fact, a well known Russian monarchist is one an Armenian compatriot -
Will Russia ever revert back to a monarchy?: https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/330680-russian-accept-return-tsar
How Putin Uses Russian Orthodoxy to Grow His Empire: https://www.heritage.org/europe/commentary/how-putin-uses-russian-orthodoxy-grow-his-empire
Czar Vladimir? Putin Acolytes Want to Bring Back the Monarchy: https://www.wsj.com/articles/czar-vladimir-putin-acolytes-want-to-bring-back-the-monarchy-11544732680
Russia’s ‘Orthodox Tycoon’ Is Bankrolling a Monarchist Movement: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/25/russias-orthodox-tycoon-is-bankrolling-a-monarchist-movement-but-where-does-he-get-his-money-a68301
Putin and the 'triumph of Christianity' in Russia: https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2017/10/putin-triumph-christianity-russia-171018073916624.html
Why Putin Won’t Be Marking the Hundredth Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-putin-wont-be-marking-the-hundredth-anniversary-of-the-bolshevik-revolution
Russia inherited myriad of ethnic ‘sore points’ after USSR collapsed, says Putin: https://tass.com/politics/1101279/amp
These process to return to Russia's past glory has begun. However, it will take time and it won't be an easy journey. Let's recognize the fact that Organized Jewry is still very influential in Russia, although no way near how influential and in control they are in the Western world. In any case, breaking the Russian mindset from Communism will be a slow, evolutionary process. We need to be cognizant of this. What we Chobans-Gone-Wild are doing instead is agitating Russian society by toying with their emotions and feelings, and rubbing salt on their still open wounds. Ultimately, we need to understand that the Second World War was as very traumatic (even if ultimately victorious) experience for Russians as the Armenian Genocide was for Armenians during the First World War. What we are doing with this monument is irrational, inconsiderate, insensitive, counter-productive and just plain ol' stupid. We need to come out of our tunnel vision, emotions, rigidity, arrogance and self-righteousness.

Instead of erecting silly monuments, I want to see Armenians living in the Russian Federation get serious about politics and begin trying to figure out a way of collaborating Russian nationalism. I want Armenians to begin fully recognizing that Russia is the world's last front against pan-Turkism, Islamic extremism and Globalism. I want Armenians to start understanding that Armenia's well being and longevity starts with Russia's well being and longevity. I therefore want to see Moscow victorious in eastern Europe, in Central Asia, in the Middle East and, of course, most of all in the greater Caucasus region. I want to remind all that a Russian defeat will spell disaster for Armenia. We Armenians went through such a disaster almost exactly one hundred years ago. Another Russia retreated from the south Caucasus will again result in chaos, destruction and serious bloodshed. Our statehood in the south Caucasus is in no position today to survive such a calamity. I also want to remind the reader that no amount of ass kissing in the West will save Armenia in such a scenario. This is why I always ask Armenians, our proud and arrogant "nationalists" in particular, to say a prayer every night for the health and well-being of Mother Russia. That being said, I don't expect to see any kind of Russian defeat in the foreseeable future. Thank God, there is absolutely nothing on the horizon to even suggest or hint that Russia will be or can be defeated.

If Russia survived the Bolshevik revolution and the Nazi invasion - and came out even stronger as a result every time - today's nuclear armed Russia, a Russia that is also becoming increasingly self-reliant and self-sufficient with each passing year, will no doubt survive current hardships. Unlike Armenians, Russians are unconditionally patriotic towards their motherland, more religious and have the ca they learn from their past mistakes. I actually expect Russia to flourish in the coming years. As I have said on numerous previous occasions: Russia will be in the driver's seat in the twenty-first century, I want to see Armenia at the very least on its passenger seat. The matter regarding the monument in Armavir reminded me of the urgent need to revisit history and relearn some basic truths that we have forgotten for a number of reasons not the least of wish Western propaganda.

We need to revisit our history books with an open mind and devoid of Western conditioning

Ever since Nikol's rise to power in the spring of 2018, anti-Russian activists have been very active throughout Armenian society. It sometime feels as if they are everywhere, especially on social media. Professional Russophobes are saturating the landscape with anti-Russian rhetoric. Essentially, an ati-Russian narrative is devised in power-centers in the Anglo-American-Jewish world (usually by major think tanks staffed by neo-Trotskyites) and this Russophobic fable is then passed on to their assets (e.g. think tank members and their "visiting fellows", intelligence operatives and their network of activists, "political experts", "nationalists", "freelance journalists", "historians", etc.) who then disseminate such propaganda throughout Armenian society using mass media. This is essentially why we see a lot of similarities in the anti-Russian rhetoric we are exposed to. The roots of their anti-Russian propaganda and scare-tactics actually go back well-over one hundred years. The historic turmoil in the world at the time that led to the tragic collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the rise of Marxism and Bolshevism, and the horrible devastation it brought upon Russian and Armenian lands, is being shamelessly exploited by our professional Russophobes with the specific intent of undermining Armenia's historic ties with Russia. In a nutshell: Bolshevik crimes are being blamed on ethnic Russians. As a result, Russophobia is gaining strength throughout Armenian society. As a result, Armenians are increasingly becoming worrying about Russian betrayal and backstabbing. Let's therefore take a another look at the dark time period in question.

In the big picture, I am therefore not talking about the ignorant foot-soldier or the lowly peasant, those that overthrew the Russian Czar and put an end to the Russian Empire one hundred years ago were not ethnic Russians.

The Marxist/Bolshevik movement was imported into the Russian Empire by Western powers and Organized Jewry with the primary intention of destroying Russia's Christian Orthodox society, which was seen by them as a major threat for a long time. The Russian Empire at the time was already in decline and after is suffered a terrible military defeat at the hands of Germany in the opening stages of the First World War, the Czar's empire suddenly fell very vulnerable. Marxist-Bolsheviks used the increasingly weak empire's growing internal turmoil to foment sociopolitical unrest. By late 1917, they succeeded and the the Russian Empire succumbed. Soon afterwards, the Czar and his entire family were murdered in cold blood. What ensued afterwards was one of the darkest periods in human history. Russia and Russians suffered by-far the most as a result of the Bolshevik revolution. Armenia and Armenians also suffered terribly.

Most of Western Armenia, which as a result of the successful Caucasus campaign was under the Czar's protection until late 1917, was completely lost after Russian troops were forced to retreat from the area after the Bolshevik revolution. The following map shows how much of Western Armenia had been liberated from Ottoman Turkey as late as 1917 -


In the early stages of the Bolshevism takeover of the Russian Empire it is estimated that some ninety percent of the Bolshevik leadership were not ethnic Russians. A vast majority of these were Jews. In fact, there may have been more Armenians in Bolshevik leadership than ethnic Russians. Vladimir Lenin, the Jewish leader of the movement, even seemed to have a deep disdain for ethnic Russians. It should nevertheless be stressed that not only were Bolsheviks responsible for killing millions of ethnic Russians, utterly decimating the Russian Orthodox Church, virtually eradicating Russia's Romanov aristocracy and thoroughly looting the empire’s massive wealth, they were also responsible for ceding lands populated by ethnic Russians. It therefore was not only Armenian lands that were given away, which is what our professional Russophobes want us Armenians to believe. In fact, the Bolsheviks leadership at the time was even discussing doing away with the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. Had it been left up to the early, mostly Jewish, Lenin-led Bolshevik hierarchy to decide, Russia would have been broken-up into smaller pieces and God knows what would have happened to Armenia.

Blaming Russians for the evils of Bolshevism is the same as blaming the murder victim for the actions of the murderer. Armenians that bring-up early Bolshevism to discredit Russians are either idiots or agents of Western influence. Under Lenin's and Trotsky's Bolshevism, territories of the former Russian Empire were ceded to various powers. Religion, Christianity in particular, was to be altogether destroyed. Nation-states were to be dissolved. Nationalities and cultures erased. Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan were fused into one Marxist entity. The following map shows the extent to which lands throughout the Russian Empire were mutilated and ceded as a result of the Bolshevik revolution -

Ghost nations of Russia's civil war: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/ghost-nations-of-russias-civil-war
It was Stalin that saved Russia (and Armenia) by rejecting the Marxist Internationalism that the Jewish led Bolshevik movement wanted and "Russified" Communism after the death of Vladimir Lenin. It was Stalin that also dissolved the so-called Transcaucasian Socialist Federated Soviet Republics in 1936 and made Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan into seperate republics. It could be said that Stalin saved the Russian Empire by putting it under new management, and in doing so helped preserve an Armenian state in the south Caucasus. Despite his brutality, Stalin was instrumental not only in saving Russia but Armenia as well. Armenians that bring up Stalin's purges to disredit the Soviet Union are either themselves supporters of neo-Bolshevik-Trotsyites or simply mindless victims of their propaganda.

Although it is not generally speaking voiced in public, essentially because Organized Jewry still yields great influence in the country, this knowledge about Stalin is more-or-less why Russians remain faithful to his memory to this day, and why Vladimir Putin enjoys great popularity throughout Russian society. Naturally, until very recently this kind of information on the man we know as a brutal killer was totally absent in the West. The Western/Jewish narrative, that which is relentlessly fed to the sheeple around the world, is that Stalin was simply a madman bent on destruction and bloodshed. Truth, as always, is much more nuanced and complicated, to say the least. Stalin ruthlessly crushed the anti-Russian agenda of the early Bolsheviks, as well as various independence movements (including Armenian ones) that had begun to manifest themselves on the territory of the former Russian Empire and saved the Russian nation - and Armenia - from total annihilation.

In the big picture, by preserving Russian hegemony in Eurasia, Stalin also saved Armenia from a very uncertain fate. As noted above, early Bolsheviks had ceded Armenian lands to Turks and Caucasian Tatars and fused the remaining territories of Armenia to Georgia and Azerbaijan. An Armenia therefore did not exist after 1921. Soviet Republic of Armenia came into existence with Stalin's approval in 1936. Several years ago, Vladimir Zhirinovsky said that had it not been for Lenin, there would not have been a Turkey and Armenia would have been a powerful nation today - 
Չլիներ Լենինի սխալը, այսօր չէր լինի Թուրքիան, իսկ Հայաստանը կլիներ հզոր պետություն: http://asekose.am/am/post/cliner-lenini-sxale-aysor-cer-lini-tourqian-isk-hayastane-kliner-hzor-petoutyoun
Error “Lenin”: how the Soviet Union lost the mountains of Ararat: http://www.globaldomainsnews.com/error-lenin-how-the-soviet-union-lost-the-mountains-of-ararat
Communism acquired a "Russian" face and the Soviet Union turned into a renewed form of the Russian Empire only as a consequence of Stalin's political purges (which decimated the foreign-controlled Jewish hierarchy in Bolshevism) and also as a result of the patriotic fervor brought upon Russian society as a result of the German invasion of Russian lands during the Second World War. In his most recent marathon press conference, President Putin very interestingly touched upon this very sensitive subject. The president even hinted about the ideological struggle that came forth after the Bolshevik revolution between Joseph Stalin (who espoused Russian Imperialism under the cloak of Communism) and Lenin (an avowed Marxist-Internationalist) who desired to break-apart the Russian Empire. President Putin's comments were a not so subtle attack on early Bolshevism -
Russia inherited myriad of ethnic ‘sore points’ after USSR collapsed, says Putin: https://tass.com/politics/1101279/amp
The Russian Federation and the territories it controlled for hundreds of years is a massive landmass encompassing hundreds of different ethnicities, most of whom are natives of the land they live in. Bolsheviks essentially made a massive, bloody mess of it, a mess Russians (and us Armenians actually) are still grappling with today. As noted above, until very recently, very little was written in the Western world about this subject matter. Strangely, the following book review came out within days after I initially posted this blog commentary. It's a rare English-language look at what in my opinion was Stalin's monumental struggle to preserve Russian hegemony in Eurasia from an anti-Russian, Marxist-Internationalist Bolshevik agenda -
A magnificent account of Stalin’s opponents in the USSR: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/21/rogo-d21.html
As far as I am aware, the following is perhaps the only other English-language book that looks into Stalin's brutal war against early Bolshevism and Trotskyites -
Some years ago I came to the sobering realization that we have been taught from childhood to hate Stalin NOT because his security services, the NKVD, were responsible for the deaths of countless people throughout the Soviet Union but because he was responsible for single-handedly, albeit brutally, ruining the Western-backed, Marxist-Internationalist plan to smash the Russian Empire into small pieces. Stalin's fault was the brutality with which he used his security services to crush all opposition to him, both real and imagined. He was ruthless against all those who opposed his effort to keep the territories of the former Russian Empire as intact as possible. In hindsight, knowing who and what he was up against, I now realize that he had no choice but to be extremely violent. In a nutshell: Stalin was feared and hated by the Anglo-American-Jewish world because he used harsh methods to save what had remained of the Russian Empire after the Bolshevik revolution. He was feared and hated because he brutally persecuted Marxist-Internationalists and Trotskyites. He was feared and hated because he Russified Communism, began expanding the Soviet Union and preserved Russia's national traditions -
Did Hiroshima Save Japan From Soviet Occupation?: https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/05/stalin_japan_hiroshima_occupation_hokkaido
Why did Stalin rehabilitate the Russian Orthodox Church?: https://www.rbth.com/history/331371-stalin-orthodox-church
All this is why Stalin was a major target not only for Anglo-American-Jewish propagandists but also for assassins -
New Study Supports Idea Stalin Was Poisoned: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/05/world/new-study-supports-idea-stalin-was-poisoned.html
After Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, Marxist-Internationlaist-Trotskyite influence once again began growing in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was eventually imploded in 1991. It could be said that Western-backed Globalists were back in power in Russia during the 1990s. It could also be said that President Putin put an ubrupt end to it. Hence why the man is hated today by Anglo-American-Jewish world. Similar to how President Vladimir Putin saved Russia from the toxicity of Western-backed Globalism in the 1990s, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Joseph Stalin saved Russia from Western-backed Marxist-Internationalists in the 1920s and 1930s. By rejecting their ultra-liberal tenets and waging a ruthless war against Trotsky's supporters, Stalin not only in-effect Russified Communism, he also "nationalized" it. Although the Soviet Union did indeed suffer from many of the Bolshevik poisons it had been infected with during the early 20-th century, it was nevertheless spared the worst of it due to Stalin's ruthless purges. In the 30 years he was in power, Stalin not only single-handedly reject their ultra-liberalism, he also preserved Russian hegemony in Eurasia and even expanded it. This is why Russians to this day respect the man.

This is why when Russian forces entered Georgia in the summer of 2008, they made sure to pay a visit to Joseph Stalin's birthtown of Gori. The symbolism was inescapable -
Russian Soldiers Occupying Stalin’s Birth City Are Buoyed by Battle With Georgia: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/world/europe/14gori.html
This is also why governments under Anglo-American-Jewish control are taught, encouraged, bribed and/or forced to hate Joseph Stalin -
In Joseph Stalin's birthplace, tyrant is finally toppled: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/25/georgia-gori-topples-joseph-stalin-statue
The above, in a nutshell, is Stalin's real legacy. And this is why the Anglo-American-Jewish world hates Stalin to this day, and why the same also fear and hate President Putin. From a historical/political perspective, the above is what the reader needs to know about the man called Stalin. Everything else we are told about the man is more-or-less the by-product of Anglo-American-Jewish psyops, propaganda and bullshit.

It should be emphasised here that after their brutal/bloody rejection from the Soviet Union by Stalin and his henchmen, Marxist-Internationalist-Trotskyites - with their sacred tenets of sexual liberation, promotion of sexual perversions like homosexuality, promotion of modern art, encouragement of abortions, promotion of atheism, discouragement of marriages, internationalism, multiculturalism, militant feminism, militant class warfare and open borders, to name only a few - gradually came to infest Western Europe and North America. After their defeat in Russia at the hands of Stalin, Marxist-Trotskyites turned their attention to the United States. The cultural/sexual revolution that took place in the United States in the 1960s is their progeny, so Western Liberalism, so is Multiculturalism, so is Neoconservatism, so is Neoliberalism. The following links contain information pertaining to the ideological movement Stalin brutally fought to crush in Russia for most of his adult life -
Globalization or Finance Capitalist Trotskyism? https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/1306-globalization-or-finance-capitalist-trotskyism.html
Neo-Trotskyism: Globalism in All Countries: https://www.unz.com/isteve/globalism-in-all-countries/
One World Governance and the Council on Foreign Relations.“We Shall have World Government… by Conquest or Consent”: https://www.globalresearch.ca/one-world-governance-and-the-council-on-foreign-relations-we-shall-have-world-government-by-conquest-or-consent/5541363
Trotsky the Jew: https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/80739/trotsky-the-jew
Why the Brookings Institution and the Washington Establishment Love Wars: https://www.globalresearch.ca/why-the-brookings-institution-and-the-washington-establishment-love-wars/5552624
The old-style Marxists knew all about transnational capitalism: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/the-old-style-marxists-knew-all-about-transnational-capitalism
A merger between Anglo-American imperial interests and Judeo-Marxist-Globalist interests began to gradually emerge after the Second World War. Since then, this unholy union of Anglo-American-Jews and Western European elites have been using each-other to advance their Imperial/Globalist agendas worldwide. For over  70 years now they have sown the seeds of cultural destruction worldwide. They first kill the spirit (the nation's culture, beliefs, traditions, family values) through a cultural invasion and propaganda, they then kill the body (the state and its national institutions) through either an internal uprising, a coup, economic warfare or military invasion. The plan was and continues to be the mixing of races and nations, erasing national borders, killing conservative religions and more recently, blurring the lines of gender identity - all this of course under Anglo-American-Jewish supervision. Their ultimate intent seems to be the creation of an easily controlled society of hybrid humans that are intentionally dumbed-down, racially mixed, nationless, familyless, borderless, genderless, Godless, apolitical, violent, nihilistic, individualistic, materialistic, morally ambiguous and addicted to entertainment, drugs, pornography and of course shopping. Their intent is to also create a global society that communicates exclusively in English, works for Western mega-corporations, consumes Western products and trades in Western currency. Men like George Soros are essentially cogs-in-the-wheel of Global Marxism, he is merely one of the more visible ones. When Moscow banned George  Soros from working in Russia, it was essentially exacting revenge on Marxist-Internationalists of today -
Europe is finished. Nothing can save it now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA8fgaBSDUw
34 years ago, a KGB defector chillingly predicted modern America: https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/34-years-ago-a-kgb-defector-described-america-today

How the New World Order “Globalists” Are Dividing Americans: https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-new-world-order-globalists-are-dividing-americans/5483941
SOROS: 'The dominant ideology in the world now is nationalism': https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-george-soros-liberal-agenda-2018-1
Russia’s war on George Soros goes global: http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1491771331
Soros Foundation in Armenia - Independent Study of the Country’s System of External Governance: https://www.stalkerzone.org/soros-foundation-in-armenia-independent-study-of-the-countrys-system-of-external-governance/
Cardi B - WAP feat. Megan Thee Stallion [Official Lyric Video]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohD6cyB8RI4
Despite it all, post-Soviet Armenia has again fallen victim to Bolsheviks. What Stalin's Soviet Union shielded us against is now gone. Armenia is today fully exposed and vulnerable to the agendas of todays "Cultural Marxists".  Armenia today is in fact run them.
\All this should reveal to the reader that when it comes to history, politics and very complex time periods like the period after the Bolshevik revolution, we the sheeple all too often have tunnel-vision and a shallow, even twisted understanding of it. This is naturally due to Armenian traits (emotional, rigid, maximalistic, arrogant, proud, shortsighted, naive, politically illiterate, reactionary, etc.) coupled of course with the Anglo-American-Jewish mental conditioning we have all been exposed to throughout our lives. Consequently, when it comes to history and political matters, we can’t see past our emotions, our arrogance, our biases, our illiteracy and our mental conditioning. Consequently, Armenians to this day continue blaming ethnic Russians for the evils of Bolshevism. And a reoccurring topic of discussion among our professional Russophobes is of course the "Treaty of Moscow", the official document signed in 1921 between the Bolshevik government in Moscow and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's Turkey.

This historic event is naturally portrayed by our anti-Russian activists as Russians once again backstabbing Armenians and ceding Armenian lands to Turks. Hence the popular slogan among our professional Russophobes, "Ռուսնները սպիտակ Թուրքեր են" (Russians are white Turks).

We are also increasingly hearing from our professional Russophobes today that the Treaty of Moscow is legally not valid because "Armenians were not present at its signing". And what's legally valid according to the same is "Wilsonian Armenia", the fairytale constantly brought-up by Western financed "political experts" like Ara Papyan. These kinds of empty rhetoric by agents of Western influence are primarily meant to distract, misinform and mislead the Armenian nation. This so-called "Wilsonian Armenia" was never accepted by the U.S. government, it was therefore never ratified. In my opinion, it's not even worth the paper it's written on. It was in my opinion a contingency plan and a ploy to convince Turks to ally with Western powers instead of Bolsheviks in Moscow. Similar to the never-coming "Armenian Genocide recognition" in the United States, "Wilsonian Armenia" is yet another red herring, another distraction for the Armenian community today to perennially chase after. But, our Western financed agents still bring it up to keep us political naive Armenians excited and hopeful about Western powers. And it's working to a discernible degree. We are now lucky to have two fairytales we can perennially chase our tails around with.

To briefly address the time period in question: Armenians were a comprehensively defeated people. Armenia's national leadership at the time actually wanted to remain with Georgians and Tatars/Azerbaijanis in the so-called Transcaucasian Federation which was hastily put together towards the end of the First World War. After Georgians and Azerbaijanis broke-away from this federation and declared independence, Armenians had no choice but to also proclaim Armenia's independence. In other words, the First Armenian Republic was reluctantly founded by Armenian leaders in late May 1918. The motivation/reasoning behind the Armenian reluctance was obviously the realization that without allies an independent Armenia would have for all intents and purposes been a stillborn child. Armenia had no hope for survival.

The much heralded "Battle of Sardarapat", which our naive and ignorant sheeple constantly points out to prove Armenian unity and military prowess, was in the big picture a small skirmish that went our way at the time for a number of reasons none of which had to do with "Armenian prowess" or "unity" or "miracle" or anything like that. Purely from a military perspective, the Turkish invasion of Armenia in May of 1918 was very limited in size and scope. As a general rule in military operations, to be successful attacking forces need to be several times larger than defending forces and be backed up with reserves. In this case , however, forces on both sides were more-or-less evenly matched. The Turkish force was therefore not large enough to forcibly take and hold land in a hostile territory that was also mountainous. Moreover, let's also factor in the fact that Armenians were desperately fighting for their very survival, whereas war-exhausted Turks were not.  For whatever reason, the Turkish military incursion into Armenia was ill prepared and it also did not seem to have full political backing by Ataturk's government. Perhaps it was a political ploy. In my humble opinion, winning the battle for Sardarapat was indeed a major historic event for us Armenians, but it was no great military victory nor was it a miracle from above. Ultimately, had Bolsheviks not stepped into the political void in the south Caucasus after the Russian retreat, the entire region would have eventually been annexed by Turkey and/or Persia, and the newly created Armenian republic would have disappeared from the map. Since we Armenians are a defeated people, we love bringing up ethical/moral questions as well as "international law" to validate our claims and feel ourselves secure in this ruthless world. What we need to understand however is that ethics/morals have never had a place in politics, nor will it ever. And the thing we call "international law" only works for the world's majors powers who created it.

This is the bigger point we are missing: Had it not been the Bolshevik government in 1921 that recognized Turkey's eastern borders with the Treaty of Kars and the Treaty of Moscow, I have NO DOUBT that it would have been an Armenian delegation (as we saw with the Treaty of Alexandropol) that would have done the same thing, if not something much worst. In other words, if it wasn't the "Treaty of Moscow", it might very well have been the "Treaty of Yerevan" and Official Yerevan would STILL be recognizing it today.

With the Russian Empire totally destroyed and having been abandoned by the English, French and Americans at the end of the First World War, we all know that Armenia at the time was in NO POSITION to demand anything from anyone. This is why when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (who since 1919 was embarked on a military campaign to preserve what he could of Turkish populated lands in Asia Minor) rejected the terms and conditions of the European treaties and turned his army's attention to Armenia in the autumn of 1920, Armenia was in no shape to fight. This is why when the Turkish military offensive began an Armenian delegation quickly signed the Treaty of Alexandropol with Ataturk's military in the winter of 1920. This treaty basically agreed to cede to Ataturk's Turkey much of what little had remained of Armenia. In a strange yet very lucky twist of fate (maybe it was by design, maybe it was just a result of incompetence and disarray among Armenia's governmental structures at the time that coincidentally worked in Armenia's favor) the day before the Armenian delegation signed the Treaty of Alexandropol, the Armenian government in Yerevan had already agreed to officially transfer political power in the country over to the Bolshevik government in Moscow. With Armenia officially ceded to the Bolsheviks government by the embattled leadership in Yerevan, the Treaty of Alexandropol (signed merely a day later) was therefore legally null and void. With Bolsheviks claiming full ownership of Armenia, Ataturk inevitably took a step back.

Was the Treaty of Alexandropol a case of Armenian incompetence or was it clever ploy to stop the Turkish invasion of Armenia? I don't know the answer to this question, and, to be honest, it really does not even matter. The point here being, Armenia was a thoroughly defeated and an utterly impotent state between 1918 and 1920. A tiny, landlocked, remote, abandoned, desolate, poverty-stricken and a war-ravaged nation hosting hundreds-of-thousands of sick and hungry genocide survivors from Western Armenia, Caucasian Armenia was generally speaking a stillborn state in 1918. Close examination of historical record plainly reveals that the Armenian leadership at the time were not only not ready for independence, they did not even want it. Geopolitical circumstances during the late stages of the First World War basically forced independence onto Armenia in 1918, and geopolitical circumstances during the post-war period took it away in 1921. The Armenian republic''s founding was indeed a major historic milestone for the Armenian people who had not had a state of their own in historic Armenia since 1045 A.D. But, it was obvious the country would not survive on its own under those conditions at the time despite our people's best efforts. In the big picture, after what had transpired in the region in several years prior, it was better for the country to fall under Bolshevik rule than Turkish rule. In other words, better Red than dead.

In any case, I'll be the first to say thank God Armenians were not present at the signing of the infamous Moscow Treaty. Had Armenians been there, we wouldn't be blaming Bolsheviks or Russians for signing the damn thing, we would be blaming ourselves instead. Let's look at it this way: At the very least, we now have a Bolshevik/Russian punching bag to make our people's Քաջ Նազար-s feel good about themselves. Besides which, although Bolsheviks were not very sensitive to Armenian interests to say the least (nor were they sensitive to Russian interests for that matter), they did nonetheless in-effect help Armenians preserve a significant piece of territory that eventually became a highly advanced Soviet republic.

Bolshevik Armenia, which was initially incorporated in a Transcaucasian Socialist Federated along with Georgia and Azerbaijan, eventually became a full-fledged Soviet Republic with Turkish-occupied Mount Ararat on its  in 1936 - thanks to none-other-than Stalin. 

Not only do Armenians these days are quick to blame ethnic Russians for wantonly ceding Armenian lands to Turks and Caucasian Tatars one hundred years ago, they also blame ethnic Russians for helping Azerbaijan's war effort against Artsakh some thirty years ago. Allow me to therefore shed some light on this topic as well.

In the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev's attempted deep reforms had quickly begun backfiring and the Soviet Union suddenly feel terminally ill, the Politburo in Moscow was doing its best to preserve the borders of the Soviet Union in various theaters that had descended into inter-ethnic conflict. The multi-ethnic south Caucasus was one such location and Artsakh was one such flashpoint. Until the official collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the Soviet Politburo could not be expected to support the Armenian liberation effort in Artsakh because as noted above the Soviet Politburo was trying to preserve borders of the Soviet Union as it existed at the time. This is basically why the Soviet Union's political and military leadership at times assisted Azerbaijan's war effort against Armenians of Artsakh. It had nothing to do with the mythical "anti-Armenian sentiments of the Russian nation" that our professional Russophobes want us to believe. It was merely realpolitik. It should be noted that the geostrategic calculus in the south Caucasus changed drastically by early 1992 because the Soviet Union by then had officially ceased to exist and a newly formed Russian Federation with a new, evolving set of geopolitical formulations and national interests had come into existence. It was no coincidence therefore that Armenia's war effort in Artsakh only began gaining momentum after 1991, that is when post-Soviet Moscow gradually began supplying Armenia with heavy weaponry as well as military trainers. It is also no coincidence that a tiny, impoverished, landlocked and blockaded Armenia - with a tiny and still shrinking population nonetheless - has been able to maintain military parity against an oil rich and much larger Azerbaijan.

Imperial Russia as well as the Soviet Union intentionally and deliberately preserved and maintained a territory, however small and/or mutilated, for Armenians in the south Caucasus. If for instance, Stalin hated Armenians so much, as we Armenians are thought to believe from childhood, why then did he not displace Armenians en-masse and erase Armenia all-together from the Soviet map, like what he did to so man  other groups of people in the Soviet Union? Why did he approve the creation in 1936 of the Soviet Social Republic of Armenia (which also included Turkish-occupied Mount Ararat on its state emblem) when he could have easily dissolved Armenia into Georgia or Azerbaijan -
So, ask yourselves: Could there be two sides to every story? Of course there could. Could it be that we Armenians have a very limited (even twisted/warped I would say) understanding of our history? Of course we do. Could the presence of men like the Mikoyan brothers and Ivan Baghramyan in the Soviet Union have a net positive effect on Soviet Armenia? Of course it could have. Did the West write the history books that created the general public's understanding/perception of history? Of course it did. Do authors, historians, political experts, journalists, professors, intellectuals, etc., incert their personal biases into the works they produce? Of course they do. Were Bolsheviks bad? Of course they were. Were they "anti-Armenian" to a exceptional degree? Of course they were not. Was Stalin responsible for the murder of many Armenians? Of course he was... but Stalin also helped create the Soviet Armenian Republic. Stalin had also planned to invade Turkey at the end of the Second World War but was stopped by Western powers. Anyway, the point here being is this: Nothing in politics or in history is ever black and white. Every dispute has two sides. Every story, every historic event has more than one explanation. Those were extremely difficult and complex times. The world was in turmoil. Powerful empires were falling. New nations were being born. There was a lot of bloodshed. There were stories within stories, governments within governments, conspiracies within conspiracies, deals within deals, nuances within nuances... We as a people need to be mature enough to understand this.

Each historical event, each political system and each time period needs to be looked at and assessed thoroughly and approached separately. So, with all this in mind, we need to understand that Russia today is not the Soviet Union of yesterday. The Soviet Union of yesterday is not the Russian Empire of the day before. Each historical event, each political system and each geopolitical landscape had a unique political climate along with a unique set of geopolitical calculus. We as a people need to have the collective wisdom, the clarity of vision and the foresight to look at and assess each time period separately and derive the necessary lessons from them. Our understanding of politics and certain historical periods however is often twisted and warped, not only because of our bad traits and the fog of time but also because of the persistent and ubiquitous anti-Russian disinformation campaign being waged by Anglo-American-Jews.

Closing thoughts

Let's please we wise enough to disregard the political show taking place in Washington D.C. Yes, I know it feels good at some superficial level, but such games played by corrupt imperial officials will only do us Armenians harm in the end
. Let's keep in mind that Uncle Sam will NOT recogize the Armenian Genocide if there is even the slightest chance of salvaging the West's alliance with Turkey. Let's keep in mind that the West's problem is with Turkey's president, not Turkey itself. Let's also keep in mind that President Erdogan will be gone some day. We cannot allow our professional Russophobes to use these kinds of events to convince our political naive/illiterate sheeple that American officials are Armenia's friends. We as a people can never trust or rely on Anglo-American-Jews. The same applies to European powers. Not only are their civilizations not compatible with ours, they are also physically distant from Armenia. Western interests are in the south Caucasus currently only out of political expediency; they are looking for energy exploitation and they are looking to undermine Armenia's only friends in the region, Russia and Iran. Being in the south Caucasus is not vital for their national security. Once things get too difficult for them they will leave. The situation Syria's Kurds found themselves in very recently should be a vivid reminder to us all that one can never trust Western powers.

What happened to Syria's Kurds will happen to Armenians - but much worst - if Armenians are stupid enough to distence themselves from the Russian Bear. Can anyone in their right mind imagine the existence of an Armenia in the south Caucasus without the protection of Russia? No rational person who cares about Armenia can. Yet, that is exactly what our professional Russophobes are trying to convince us of doing.


Let's not forget that there is a well-financed and well-organized campaign inside Armenian society to spread anti-Russian disinformation in order to undermine Armenia's crucially important ties with the Russian Federation. Nikol's government has flooded Armenia with Western operatives. Our professional Russophobes and traitors used to be on the very fringes of Armenian society during previous administrations. Today, they are every where; including in the Armenian Parliament, including on public television. The artificially orchestrated anti-Russian hysteria is so prevelent in Armenia today that the country's tradtionally pro-Russian citizens are beginning to exhibit signs of Russophobia. It is true what they say about repeating a lie over-and-over again. Our professional Russophobes are indeed beginning to have a negative impact on the mindset of our general pubic, even among those who generally speaking are pro-Russian. Even those who do not think they are immune to Western propaganda are regurgitating information that has arrived to them through an Anglo-American-Jewsh political prism. This is a very dangerous trend for a people and for a ccountry that is desperately dependent on Russia for survival.

The "complimentary" route Armenians have chozen for Armenia is a road to hell. We stand the risk of losing our national culture. Westernization, Americanization and Globalization poses a threat to Armenia that is actually much greater than Communism. Armenia has already begun suffering serious cultural and civilizational ailments as a result of its 30-plus year exposure to the Western world. Post-Soviet Armenia pales in comparison to Soviet Armenia. Alas, I came late to this realization but Soviet Armenia was a nation-state we all could be proud of. Soviet Armenia produced an abundance of world-class scientists, academisions, writers and artists. Post-Soviet Armenia is producing an abundance of trash, both literally and figuratively. If Armenia continues on its current route indefinitely, the country will stand the risk of being devoured by regional predators.

In all fairness, I should add here that Armenia's cultural decline is beyond political parties and invdividual politicians. It is also beyond corruption and Oligarchs, beyond Russia and Western powers, beyond Turkey and Azerbaijan. Therefore, this matter is not about Nikol. It is not about Serge, nor is it really about Levon. Armenia's cultural decline is about us as a people. The fault lies within all of us. This is a cultural and civilizational matter, and it is ultimately related to the genetic/cultural makeup of us Armenians. It's about who we are by nature.
Armenia is what it is today (with its good and its bad) because of the collective body called Armenians. In looking for people to blame for our miserable state today, we therefore need look no futher than ourselves. In my next blog commentary I will delve further into addressing Armenia's civilizational/cultural decline in the post-Soviet/Russian period. I have come to the sobering realization that what Armenia needs today is not independence but closer, more efficient relations with Russia, not only politically, economically and militarily but also culturally.

I say let Russians come back and establish a larger presence inside Armenia. Under current circumstances, that would be the safest choice for the country.

The south Caucassus is too violent and too complicated and we as a people are too self-destructive and too politically illiterate for full sovereignty. Some 30 years ago we inherited world-class industry and top-notch institutions in education, academia, medicine and science, and in 30 years we turned it all into rust and dust. We more-or-less gutted and dismantled everything and sold it all at scrap metal prices. Iran was one of the main beneficiaries of our people's barbarity. The country's Soviet/Russian inheritance - and in a sense its future - was essentially town-down sold for chewing-gum and cigarettes from Iran. Yesterday, we produced world-class artists, composers, scientists, professors, actors, physicians, academicians, intellectuals... as well as rockets, computers, heavy machinary, lasers, electronic devices, textiles, chemicals, construction materials, aircraft parts, submarine parts, generators and automobiles. Yesterday, our population was well-fed, well-educated and growing. Today, we are allowing "street culture" to represent Armenian culture. Today, we are selling our children to foreigners, our women are prostituting themselves in Turkey and the UAE, and families are selectively aborting female fetuses. Today, majority of Armenians are either unemployed or underemployed, and crime rates are rising. Today, our population is rapidly shrinking, our economy is comatose and transvestites are discussing gay-rights in the national parliament. Today, our independence generation speaks better English than Russian, Armenian television is a showcase for Western-style stupidity, imorality, criminality and Afro-American song and dance. Today, Armenians are abandoning their homeland en masse, as masses of Indians fill the void they leave behind. Today, neo-Bolsheviks are in power in Yerevan -

Soros Foundation in Armenia - Independent Study of the Country’s System of External Governance: https://www.stalkerzone.org/soros-foundation-in-armenia-independent-study-of-the-countrys-system-of-external-governance/
The ruins of the industrial Armenian city of Kirovakan-Vanadzor: https://jam-news.net/industrial-kirovakan-vanadzors-ruins/
Increasing amounts of Turkish and Pakistani vegetables appear in Armenian markets: https://news.am/eng/news/545162.html
Seventy Armenian women charged with prostitution in Turkey: https://news.am/eng/news/506208.html
The Armenian network in the Dubai sex trade: https://hetq.am/en/article/8940
Armenian immigrants look for a better life in Turkey: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/armenian-immigrants-life-turkey-150420070803126.html
‘We lose 1,400 girls a year. Who will our boys marry?’: Armenia's quandary: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/feb/22/sex-selection-armenia-quandary
Why is Armenia facing a demographic crisis?: https://jam-news.net/why-is-armenia-facing-a-demographic-crisis/
Gallup Poll: 40% of Armenians Desire to Leave Armenia: http://www.gallup.com/poll/161591/desire-leave-fsu-ranges-widely-across-countries

Indians In Armenia: https://armeniadiscovery.com/en/articles/indians-in-armenia
Armenia’s Crime Rate Keeps Rising: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30073616.html
Cancer rate soars by 70% in Armenia in 20 years - chief oncologist: https://www.tert.am/en/news/2018/04/09/tananyan/2658026
Armenia roiled by transgender woman’s speech in parliament: https://eurasianet.org/armenia-roiled-by-transgender-womans-speech-in-parliament
Armenia needs to step up efforts to bridge 'deficit of trust' with Russia - analyst: https://www.tert.am/en/news/2020/01/04/hrant-meliq-shahnazaryan/3178621
This is NOT the independence I dreamed about Armenia having in my youth. Post-Soviet Armenia is a filthy mess, and the stinking mess is for the most part being created by none-other than us Armenians. The post-Soviet situation in the south Caucasus (blockade and war) has of course not been helpful to say the least, but we Armenians were the ones that systematically and barbarically dismantled our entire Soviet/Russian inheritance and sold it all, at scap metal prices nonetheless, to Iranians. It was also us Armenians that enthusiastically lifted our Street culture to national prominence. It was also Armenian society as a whole that engaged in severe corruption and lawlessness. It is also us Armenians that opened-wide the country's doors to Western interests. We therefore can't blame anyone for Armenia's civilizational decline today except ourselves. Our seemingly inherent inability as a people to nation-build and recognize what is good for the long-term health and well-being of our homeland (and what is not) is why post-Soviet Armenia is in a political and civilizational decline today. It's more than obvious that Armenians are not ready for independence. Yes, I fully understand that we have been a people without a state for hundreds of years. I therefore fully understand that we as a people need time to develop a collective mindset (a cognitive culture) that is actually conducive to nation-building. I also understand that Armenia needs to develop national institutions as well as a national political/financial elite that is educated, established, experienced, professional, pragmatic and patriotic. All this requires peace, stability and a lot of time. My fear is that we just DON'T have the time to hone such skills without risking serious irreparable damage or collapse.

I want to remind the reader that Armenia is located in a very violent and unforgiving region of the world. The south Caucasus is by nature Turkic and Islamic. Armenia will therefore not have the peace or the stability to develop proper national institutions and/or elite either. This is why I say the secret to Armenia's longevity lies in Moscow.

In front of our very eyes, post-Soviet Armenia is gradually turning into a Third World cesspool and a dangerous playground for all kinds of Anglo-American-Jewish social engineering agendas. Time is therefore working against us. The current so-called independence generation is already heavily inoculated by Western toxins. Time will only make matters worst. This toxic process needs to be stopped and reversed before it's too late. Our people's political illiteracy and self-destructive behavior is essentially why a great man like Karen Karapetyan, who needed to become Armenia's leader, is instead providing his professional services to the Russian state, and why a Western-financed street scoundrel like Nikol is Armenia's Prime Minister. My next blog commentary will concentrate its attention on Armenia's civilizational decline in the post-Soviet period and the need our homeland has for a bigger Russian presence in Armenia before it's too late; that is before we as a people and civilization reach the point of no return. I believe dark and difficult times lie ahead. God bless Armenia. God bless Mother Russia. May God help us preserve and strengthen our centuries old friendship with our Russian allies.

Arevordi
Autumn/Winter, 2019


***

Armenian Genocide Resolution Reaffirms the ‘G-word’ is a Rool for U.S. Interests


Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in an overwhelming bipartisan majority to officially recognize the Armenian genocide more than a century after the atrocities were committed. The motion was a departure from decades of U.S. government refusal because of its ‘realpolitik’ considerations of regional ally and fellow NATO member, the Republic of Turkey. The Ottoman Empire’s successor state and the Turkic state of Azerbaijan remain the sole nations in the world that explicitly deny the mass extermination and expulsion of 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians constitutes “genocide.” While the U.S. had previously acknowledged that war crimes were committed beginning in 1915, Washington refrained from using the ‘g-word’ to avoid fallout with Ankara despite the international community consensus. President Donald Trump would be the first commander-in-chief to utter the term if he follows suit, but that scenario is unlikely as the proposal came in reaction to his green-lighting a Turkish invasion of Kurdish-held Northeastern Syria with a U.S. troop withdrawal that was unpopular with lawmakers.

In 2015, WikiLeaks revealed Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton’s email exchanges on the issue with her foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, during the 100th anniversary. The disclosure gave a rare look inside the suspected cynical reasoning behind Washington’s longstanding lack of formal acknowledgement. Sullivan wrote:
“Friday is the 100th Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. I presume the Armenian groups will be looking for a statement or a signal from the campaign on whether she will call it a “genocide” if she is elected president. As a Senator and candidate, she was unequivocal in recognizing the genocide. As Secretary of State, she did not use the term genocide but rather focused on future reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. The White House has studiously avoided using “genocide” so far. There is an internal debate now about whether to change that posture given that it is the 100th anniversary. But in all likelihood they won’t change. Two questions: Do you all agree that she should embrace the position she took as Senator and candidate, even though she did not take it as SecState? Do you all agree that we should just wait until we are asked as opposed to doing something proactive? Sorry to bother with this, but as you all know this matters enormously to Armenian-Americans.”
Campaign manager John Podesta replied, “quote the Pope.” Just two years into his papacy, Francis had described the mass killing of Armenians as the “first genocide of the twentieth century” which drew Turkey’s ire, but Clinton would never recite the Argentine holy father’s words despite her team’s encouragement. Her decision speaks to the power of the Turkish and Azeri lobbies which have spent millions bribing and extorting U.S. politicians for decades to prevent recognition of the Ottoman crimes against humanity by the legislature and any such proclamation by an American head of state. What an insult to the Armenian-American community which waited generations only to see the step finally taken under such dishonest circumstances. The measure has since been blocked in the Senate by neocon warmonger Lindsey Graham of South Carolina shortly after his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but the changes that brought about the ill-fated resolution should not go unexamined.

Turkey is often said to be the ‘bridge between East and West’, as its transcontinental territory extends across both southeastern Europe and western Asia. An ally during the Cold War with NATO’s second largest army, it was the U.S. placement of Jupiter ballistic missiles in Izmir which sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 after Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev retaliated by deploying intermediate-range nuclear missiles to Havana in an effort to thwart Washington from gaining the upper hand. Turkey has remained vital to geo-strategic interests as the point connecting Europe and the Middle East, but the rise of Moscow under Putin on the world stage has threatened to throw the Atlanticist alliance into disarray along with Washington’s reckless disregard for Ankara with its incorporation of the Kurds into the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition in the Syrian war. The U.S.’s arrogance that it could maintain an alliance while supporting Kurdish militants regarded as terrorists by Ankara marked a turning point in their relations with the prospect of Turkey exiting NATO suddenly no longer an impossibility.

When the neo-Ottoman sultan Erdoğan signed on with the U.S.-Saudi-Israeli attempt to oust the secular Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, he did not anticipate it facilitating a potential Kurdish state on Turkey’s doorstep. The likelihood of U.S. involvement in the failed 2016 coup d’etat attempt against him and Washington’s harboring of rival Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen did not help matters, nor did Turkey’s retaliation by purchasing Moscow’s S-400 missile defense system in noncompliance with its NATO commitments. It is ironic that it took Trump’s throwing the Kurds under the bus queueing the Turkish offensive to result in the house finally acknowledging the ‘other holocaust’, as many Kurds themselves were participants in the slaughter of the Armenians a century ago. Nevertheless, the resolution is further sign of the geopolitical alignment shifting and the inevitable decline of U.S. hegemony with its plans to redraw the Middle East derailed by Moscow. No one should be fooled into believing that Congress is motivated by anything other than a desire to punish Turkey for making the U.S. look bad while rebuking Trump for deviating from the bipartisan consensus of endless war.

Coincidentally, just as the row between the traditional allies of Washington and Ankara resulted in U.S. legislators affirming the Armenian genocide, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been mired in controversy for having awarded an accused “denier” of such atrocities in the Balkans. The Austrian-born playwright and novelist Peter Handke, perhaps best known for penning the screenplay to Wim Wenders’s art house classic film Wings of Desire, was the recipient of the 2019 prize for his body of work. Despite such career achievements, Handke has been plagued by scandal for his political activism, namely opposition to the NATO intervention in Yugoslavia during the 1990s. An Orthodox Christian convert, Handke was a member of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milošević when the former Serbian president was held for war crimes in the Hague Tribunal and even spoke at his funeral after he mysteriously died while in custody in 2006.

Long before the U.S. opportunistically declared what was done by the Young Turks to the Ottoman Armenians to be genocide, they were using the label to mischaracterize the Yugoslav wars as the basis for NATO’s Orwellian-styled ‘humanitarian intervention’ against Serbia. Even though ethnic cleansing was committed on all sides in what was fundamentally a civil war, the heroes and villains were preselected based on the Serbian alliance with Moscow and the time-honored anti-Russian strategy of aligning with Islamists designed by Zbigniew Brzezinski that began with the arming of the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets. After instigating the ‘USSR’s Vietnam’ in Afghanistan, the Atlanticists applied this same strategy to the Balkans and the North Caucasus to undermine post-Soviet Russia.

Winston Churchill famously referred to the Balkans as the “soft underbelly” of Europe during WWII when it was under Axis occupation. During the Yugoslav Wars, it once again become Europe’s ‘weak spot’ as the West supported the al-Qaeda elements in Bosnia and Kosovo against the Serbs. Mass media would never report the war crimes by the Bosnian mujahideen and Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) nor the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Serbs from Krajina in Croatia. When the Srebrenica massacre of military-age Bosniaks made international headlines in 1995, it became a PR-managed event designed to fixate world attention exclusively on one of many such killings that took place in the enclave by both sides in order to give grounds for NATO intervention without approval from the UN Security Council. The late, great media critic Edward S. Herman, who proved to be more principled on the matter than his Manufacturing Consent co-author Noam Chomsky, summed it up in his final column before his death in 2017:
“Milošević had nothing to do with the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serbs took revenge on Bosnian Muslim soldiers who had been ravaging nearby Bosnian Serb villages from their base in Srebrenica under NATO protection. The several thousand Serb civilian deaths were essentially unreported in the mainstream media, while the numbers of Srebrenica’s executed victims were correspondingly inflated.”
In the years since, the inter-ethnic war has been widely referred to in the West as the “Bosnian genocide”, with Srebrenica a microcosm to misleadingly summarize the entire conflict. Thankfully, Moscow has vetoed efforts by the UN Security Council to condemn it as such. The truth is that the dice were loaded from the very beginning, as NATO’s kangaroo court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was initiated as a U.S. policy option to disproportionately prosecute Serbs for war crimes with a clear bias against them, as revealed in a declassified CIA document from 1993 which states:
“11. Establish a War Crimes Tribunal. Serb paramilitary leaders charged with war crimes might attempt terrorist operations in the West. The Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian Governments might harbor some high-ranking war criminals while turning over those considered expendable. They may even rid themselves of war criminals to cover up war crimes. Most West Europeans — with the exception of Greece — probably woigld support this option. Muslim states would approve a War Crimes Tribunal and publicizing Serbian atrocitiesEven treatment of Bosnian transgressions, however, would be regarded as tilting in Belgrade’s favor.”
This would explain why a Bosnian war criminal like Naser Orić, who commanded the assaults on Serb villages that resulted in the retaliatory killings of Bosniaks in Srebrenica, was acquitted while Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladić received a life sentence. Meanwhile, the Bush administration made it clear that the U.S. would respond with military force if the Hague ever attempted to charge U.S. personnel with war crimes in the American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002, also known as the ‘Hague Invasion Act’, an astonishing display of bullying of the international community even for U.S. imperialism. The ICTY would be one of two rigged judicial organs created by the UN Security Council before the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the other being the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1994.

Although NATO did not directly intervene in the small African country’s civil war, it spun a similar one-sided account where the Tutsi heroes and Hutu villains were predetermined even as mass slaughter was committed by both factions. Rwanda had been a Belgian colonial territory following WWII where the favored Tutsi minority ruled the landlocked country under a monarchy that subjugated the ethnic Hutu majority until they revolted in 1959 and expelled more than 300,000 Tutsis to neighboring countries. Decades later, Tutsi refugees based in Uganda seeking to repatriate formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front army led by Paul Kagame and in 1990, the RPF invaded the small nation in a guerrilla campaign. The assault came following the assassination of Rwanda’s Hutu President, Juvénal Habyarimana, after his plane was shot down in a probable ‘false flag’ operation that was pinned on Hutu extremists. Despite the fact that the RPF started the armed conflict, the West transposed reality and painted the Hutus as pure villains in the violence that would follow.

No one disputes that anywhere from 800,000 to 1 million Rwandans were killed in the ensuing bloodshed. However, the figures of a “genocide” of Tutsis debunks itself, given that there were significantly less than a million of them in the country at the time with the highest estimate at 600,000. The simple fact is that the majority of the victims could only have Hutu, considering there were at least 400,000 surviving Tutsis in the country after the war was over, thus the remaining number of victims in all probability were Hutu. Since the war began with an offensive by the RPF, that the lion’s share of victims would be their opponents is only to be expected except perhaps to Western propagandists and their newspeak that Kagame was conquering the country to “stop a genocide” while committing one himself. Even though the Kagame regime would go on to commit further atrocities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), this would not prevent the media from maintaining its portrayal of him as a hero. However, the BBC of all news organizations would produce a must-see documentaryRwanda: The Untold Story, that challenged the official story in 2014 but not without stirring controversy.

Historically, the politicization of “genocide” began from its earliest implementations. Coined by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, he devised the term from the Greek word “génos” (group or race)and the Latin append “-cide” (killing), supposedly with the Armenians in mind. It was said that if the Genocide Convention of 1948 been ratified during the inter-war period following the annihilation of the Armenians, it could have prevented future atrocities against European Jews in WWII, citing a reputed quote by Adolf Hitler, “who after all, remembers the Armenians?” from a speech just prior to the invasion of Poland in 1939. Of course, for the Zionists this was at the exclusion of other, inferior groups victimized by the Germans whose sins the Palestinians are still paying for many decades later.

From the get-go, the g-word was a political football during the Cold War in order to legislate history with a pro-Western bias. In spite of having survived Nazi persecution himself, Lemkin argued in his writings that the Soviet Ukrainian famine of the 1930s qualified despite the myth of deliberate starvation having been concocted by their Ukrainian nationalist collaborators who fled to Western Europe and North America in order to escape penalty for their war crimes. Stories of the “man-made” hunger were then publicized in the pages of American sensationalist newspapers owned by media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, a Nazi sympathizer who ran columns by Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler himself, as well as the yellow press of his UK equivalent, Lord Viscount Rothermere, an open supporter of Nazi Germany and British fascist Oswald Mosley. Nevermind that Moscow had liberated both the European Jews and Armenians in both world wars, respectively. The post-war attempt to classify the Holodomor hoax as “genocide” instead of the mass destruction of indigenous peoples across the world by European settler colonialism was the beginning of the West’s conflation of Nazi Germany with the USSR in order to separate the former from its own legacy.

Ultimately, the Genocide Convention is as politicized with a pro-Western partiality as institutions like the Nobel Foundation. While its literature award is accustomed to controversy, so too is its peace laureate which has repeatedly bestowed its honor to questionable choices, if not outright war criminals. In 1973, it infamously awarded then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for negotiating a cease-fire between the U.S. and North Vietnam, even though he was by all accounts responsible for prolonging the Vietnam War, along with a laundry list of other destructive policies in his tenure that many feel warrant prosecution for crimes against humanity. This includes the secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War which facilitated the CIA-backed Khmer Rouge’s rise to power. The tens of thousands of deaths from Operation Freedom Deal would not be included with those attributed to the “genocide” by Pol Pot whose regime would be used to demonize communism, despite his Western support and that Phnom Penh was liberated by Vietnam. Later in 2009, just a year into his first presidential term Barack Obama became the Peace Prize recipient not for anything he had actually done but in a vacuous gesture as “a call to action.” The first African-American to hold the office would go on to drop hundreds of thousands of bombs on seven different nations. Then again, the accolade itself is inherently paradoxical considering that among Alfred Nobel’s list of accomplishments was success in arms manufacturing.

When Slobodan Milošević was being slowly murdered in custody in the Netherlands, Peter Handke was one of the few public figures brave enough to come to the former Serbian president’s defense, but he was not alone even amongst his fellow Nobel Laureates. The late British playwright Harold Pinter, one of the most influential dramatists of the 20th century, also lent his name as a signatory to the Slobodan Milošević International Committee. During a five decade career, Pinter was a dedicated anti-war activist in his private life and used the occasion of his accepting the literary honor in 2005 while still in poor health to deliver a powerful, scathing indictment of U.S. foreign policy in his Nobel Lecture. Since his name was announced, Mr. Handke has been the subject of relentless, unjustified attacks as a “genocide denier” and should be granted the same relative level of respect Pinter was paid when he was its honoree. It is likely geopolitical factors at play making Handke the subject of a smear campaign, with the restart of the Cold War and the need to demonize all things Russia-related with whom with the Serbs share a brotherhood. Be it the case of Mr. Handke or the congressional exploitation of the Armenians, it is clear “genocide” is nothing more than a political construct earmarked for the usage of empire.
 



Source: https://countercurrents.org/2019/11/armenian-genocide-resolution-reaffirms-the-g-word-is-a-tool-for-u-s-interests

Graham blocks House resolution recognizing Armenian genocide after Erdoğan meeting

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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked a resolution on Wednesday that would have formally recognized the Ottoman Empire's genocide against the Armenian people. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) asked for consent to pass the resolution that would have provided "official recognition and remembrance" of the Armenian genocide. "The United States foreign policy must reflect an honest accounting of human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide. We cannot turn our backs on the Armenian victims of genocide," he said. Menendez noted that he listened to President Trump's press conference Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Turkish president scolded a House-passed resolution recognizing the genocide and instead promised to "establish a history commission." Graham objected to passing the resolution in the Senate, saying senators shouldn't "sugarcoat history or try to rewrite it." Under the Senate's rules, any one senator can ask for consent to pass a bill or resolution, but any one senator can block it. Graham's objection came hours after he took part in a White House meeting with Trump, Erdoğan and a group of GOP senators. "I just met with President Erdoğan and President Trump about the problems we face in Syria by the military incursion by Turkey. I do hope that Turkey and Armenia can come together and deal with this problem," he added on the Senate floor. Graham added that he was objecting "not because of the past but because of the future." The resolution passed the House in a 405-11 vote. Turkey does not recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. The House vote came in the wake of Ankara's military incursion into northern Syria after the Trump administration pulled troops from the area.

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/470386-graham-blocks-resolution-recognizing-armenian-genocide-after-erdogan-meeting?amp



 US State Department: Trump admin still does NOT recognize Armenian genocide despite Senate resolution

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The White House has not changed its position on the Armenian Genocide despite the Senate resolution on the Ottoman Empire killings, the State Department said. President Donald Trump will keep using terms like “mass atrocities.”

"The position of the administration has not changed. Our views are reflected in the President’s definitive statement on this issue from last April," State Department spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, said on Tuesday. While Trump did not explicitly refer to the 1915-1923 events as a “genocide” in his April statement, he used the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghem,” meaning “big massacres,” and publicly honored the memory of some 1.5 million Armenians “who suffered in one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century.”

Ortagus’ statement poured cold water on the possibility that Trump would follow along with the unanimous resolution, passed by the House in November and by the Senate on December 12, which said that “it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance.”

The Senate’s vote came just a day after its Foreign Relations Committee approved sanctions against Turkey over its purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defense system and its military actions in northeast Syria, and the bill’s sponsors acknowledged it is intended to “change behavior” of the Turkish government.

Trump has previously stated he opposed the resolution because it would strain already-distressed relations with Ankara, which has called the vote “a political show” with “no validity whatsoever.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted they could retaliate with their own resolution recognizing the Native American genocide, while threatening to shut down the strategic US/NATO bases of Incirlik and Kurecik should more sanctions from Washington follow.
 


Trump's Total Capitulation to Turkey's Erdogan

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After a day of meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proved what a shrewd politician he is. He entered the eye of a hurricane of hostility directed against his domestic repression and international adventurism – and came out not only untouched, but a victor. He was hailed by Trump as "highly respected" and his "good friend," and protected by the U.S. president from any media questions that might discomfit him. Erdogan manipulated Trump - and Trump was more than willing to be manipulated. These days in the United States, it is hard to imagine a more despised and reviled international leader than Erdogan – except, perhaps Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.

From nightly comedy shows, to scathing editorials, America’s right and left have reached a general consensus: Erdogan is the bad guy who manipulated a seemingly willing Trump to withdraw U.S. forces in order to facilitate Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria and to attack the U.S.’s staunch ally, the Kurds. In the lead-up to his arrival in the U.S., Republican and Democrat members of Congress, led by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel issued a joint letter to President Trump urging him to rescind his invitation to Erdogan. The lawmakers stated that:

"President Erdogan’s decision to invade northern Syria on October 9 has had disastrous consequences for U.S. national security." It continued: "Turkish forces have killed civilians and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a critical U.S. partner in the fight against ISIS." There is rare bipartisan agreement, save for well-known outliers like Ilhan Omar and Rand Paul: Erdogan needs to be stopped. And the only one that can do that, yet refuses to do so, is Trump. (Let’s put aside the fact that up until two months ago, few Americans ever thought much about the Kurds, let alone felt so strongly about their well-being - or of any of the victimized groups within Syria).

With Congress’s hands tied, unable to hit at Trump - who had already basically gave Erdogan a free hand to do as he wanted in Syria - the House of Representatives pulled outs its biggest guns to hit at Turkey: an Armenian Genocide recognition bill. It passed almost unanimously: 405 for, just 11 against.

Americans have held formally recognizing the Armenian genocide hostage for decades, always caving into demands from Turkey to drop it: recognition, it was widely assumed, would bring relations between the two countries to a standstill. That didn’t happen. Erdogan made do with summoning the U.S. ambassador to Turkey for a dressing down. The Turkish president accused Congress of using the genocide bill to take "vengeance" for Turkey’s actions in Syria. Sadly and ironically, there is a ring of truth to this, though not in the spirit that Erdogan intended (after all, Turkey categorically refutes the framing of the 1915 mass deportations and killings as genocide. During Wednesday’s White House, press conference, Erdogan again suggested establishing a "historical commission" to find out what ‘really’ happened.)

The U.S. legislative body has had over 100 years to recognize the genocide. That they finally did so to use it as ammunition in a geopolitical slanging match with Erdogan trivializes the atrocity as just another tool of politics. In fact, what perturbed Erdogan and his political allies was far more the other House bill that had passed the same day calling for sanctions against Turkey. That bill called to end the sale of arms to Turkey for use in Syria, for sanctions on senior Turkish officials involved in the military offensive against the Kurds, and for further sanctions in response to Turkey’s purchase of surface-to-air missile systems from Russia. It too passed by an enormous majority: 403-16, with Republicans supporting the measure 176-15.


Before Turkey’s incursion into Syria, U.S.-Turkish tensions spiked this summer when Turkey announced its decision to purchase the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system. Officially, this should have been automatic grounds to boot Turkey out of its partnership in the F-35 fighter jet program. To add insult to injury, Erdogan then visited Putin to check out the possibility of purchasing Russian fighter jets – and for some well-publicized bonhomie.

Rather than slapping Turkey with the automatic sanctions that, by U.S. law, kick in for countries buying the Russian missile system, Trump outraged fellow Republicans when he stated that he frankly agreed with Erdogan’s decision: "I don’t blame Turkey because there are a lot of circumstances and a lot of - a lot of problems that occurred during the Obama administration. This dates back to the Obama administration, which was a disaster, okay?"

After the Trump-Erdogan presser, the White House put out a mostly enthusiastic summary which did, though include this one nonchalant line hidden half-way through: "In order to achieve progress on other fronts, it is vital that we resolve the issues involving Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, strengthening our defense partnership." No specific pathway to do that was mentioned.

But with Trump so wedded to finding workarounds for his increasingly close pal Erdogan, the actual imposition of sanctions, whether in the wake of Turkey’s Syria invasion or its S-400 purchase, will stall at the president’s door. He still has to sign off on them. And if Wednesday’s performance tells us anything, then it’s that a self-declared "big fan" of Erdogan won’t be signing anything. The two key Republicans leading the anti-Erdogan, pro-Kurdish push, Lindsey Graham and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, have also both realized there was no point taking the House bills to the GOP-dominated Senate, because of the domestic damage it would do to the president.

Whereas Senator Graham stayed on the warpath – pushing a bill for more punitive sanctions that include cutting off U.S. military assistance to Turkey - and even banning Erdogan from entering the U.S., McConnell has cycled back a bit. After the House vote, he declared: "We need to think extremely carefully before we employ the same tools against a democratic NATO ally that we would against the worst rogue states." The highly unusual tete-a-tete that Trump stage-managed Wednesday, for Erdogan to meet a core group of Republican senators, was perhaps intended to lower the temperature and even find common ground.

But Sen Graham did not hide his disgust: sitting with his back partially towards Erdogan he stated, pointedly, that the meeting’s purpose was "to have an American civics lesson for our friends in Turkey." He followed up with a veiled insult: the punchline from Ronald Reagan’s favorite joke: "There’s a pony in there somewhere." It refers to an optimistic farmboy searching for a pony in a pile of manure. But no matter senior GOP politicians’ repulsion, it wasn’t Trump who read the lesson to Turkey’s president, it was Erdogan who schooled Trump. And Trump completely capitulated.

There was not one single moment in front of the cameras where the U.S. president even whispered a comment critical of Erdogan. He wholeheartedly accepted Erdogan’s statement that "[W]e [in Turkey] have no problems with the Kurds, we have problems with terrorists," then making the strikingly naïve statement that Erdogan "has a greatly relationship with the Kurds." Trump completely bought into Erdogan’s plan to repatriate two million Syrians into a buffer zone on Syrian territory in a Kurdish-majority area - part of the ethnic cleansing his critics claim he is executing - without recognizing that the U.S. no longer has the last word there, but Syria and Russia.

Trump didn’t blink when Erdogan launched a tirade against the “terrorist” Gulen movement and its leader, Fethullah Gulen,self-exiled in the U.S., and warned he would be sending Trump incriminating materials on them - part of a long campaign for the U.S. to extradite Gulen, in which there has already been considerable under-the-table involvement by Trump administration officials and advisors. There was no mention of an uncomfortable issue for Erdogan: the fate of Halkbank, the Turkish state bank, currently under U.S. indictment for violating sanctions against Iran.

Erdogan got what he wanted. He shored up relations with the U.S. president without giving anything up at all. The two applauded each other on their joint aspiration to increase bilateral trade from $20 billion to $100 billion. Erdogan is probably hoping he can duplicate the two-track relationship he has with Israel: to let money be money, and politics be politics. Bombastic political relations, but uninterrupted trade. But what was most ironic, painfully so, was when Trump actually paid tribute to Erdogan’s own authoritarian playbook - in his presence, in the White House.

When Trump chose a Turkish reporter to ask a question, he demanded that it be "a friendly reporter from Turkey, only a friendly reporter please." As Sen Graham remarked dryly to a reporter, "There aren’t any others left." Unsurprisingly, he picked a staunchly pro-Erdogan reporter. Jokingly, he commented to her after her all-too-friendly question: "Are you sure you don’t work for Turkey?" After today’s unedifying and indiscriminate love-in, the question we should perhaps be asking is whether the U.S. president himself is working for Turkey. And if so, why.


Despite loveless marriage, NATO to keep Turkey close

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The U.S.-led NATO alliance has resolved to maintain military support for its ally Turkey despite anger over its operation in Syria and its ensuing border deal with Russia, five senior diplomats said. Spain had threatened to withdraw its Patriot missiles from Turkey in protest at Turkey's cross-border offensive that NATO allies say risked jeopardizing the fight against Islamic State militants but which Ankara said was to fight terrorism.

At a NATO defense ministers meeting on Thursday, the first high-level alliance meeting since President Tayyip Erdogan launched his operation in Syria on Oct. 9, Spain's Margarita Robles said Madrid would not withdraw. It would offer Ankara another six-month extension of the batteries, if requested. The shift was part of a change in tone that underscores how, despite alarm at Turkey's behavior in Syria, NATO is determined to keep Turkey close, diplomats said. In NATO's inner sanctum, the North Atlantic Council, Turkey's Hulusi Akar maintained a defiant tone on Thursday evening, maintaining his country had the same right to strike deals with Russia as it did with the United States. Yet only a small group of countries led by France were fiercely critical.

"There's a concerted effort not to make things worse," one NATO diplomat told Reuters. "Turkey, after (U.S. President Donald) Trump, has put a renewed strain on the alliance. But Turkey is too important to lose."

Host to U.S. nuclear warheads at its Incirlik air base and with the second-largest military in the alliance, Turkey gives the alliance a strategic presence, notably on the Black and Mediterranean seas. NATO is also seeking an image of unity when it holds a summit in London on Dec. 4 to celebrate 70 years since its founding in Washington, hoping to shore up confidence shaken by Trump's portrayal of the alliance in crisis, diplomats said.

Once seen by some as a Cold War relic until Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO needs Turkey on side as it confronts militant attacks in Europe and seeks to defend against the threat of ballistic missiles from Iran to North Korea. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had overcome differences in the past, notably during the U.S.-led Iraq War in 2003, which France and Germany opposed. "It's not the first time we have different views in NATO," he told reporters.

Still, Ankara's offensive against Kurdish forces, which once fought along side the United States against Islamic State, and an ensuing deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to patrol northern Syria, brought to a head a host of disputes.

"KEEPING THE FAMILY TOGETHER"

A purge of Western-educated Turkish military officers after a 2016 coup attempt, Ankara's purchase of a Russian air-defense system and authoritarianism under Erdogan mean Turkey would not meet alliance's membership standards if joining today. Erdogan's comments in September that it was unacceptable for Turkey not to have its own nuclear weapons also made allied diplomats uneasy. Turkey has signed two treaties that ban all nuclear detonations for any purpose.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told the amphitheatre-like North Atlantic Council chamber that Turkey's operation was "unwarranted" and the latest sign that the Ankara was heading in the wrong direction. However, in its 1949 founding treaty, NATO has no mechanism to expel an allied member. Turkey joined NATO in 1952. Some allied diplomats have lamented privately there is nothing that allows a suspension or sanctions against an offending member.

There is also a degree of confidence in the alliance that Russia, which Western leaders accuse of a covert campaign to destabilize the West, could never offer Turkey the kind of collective security guarantees that NATO can. Ultimately, allies agree that Turkey is crucial to the alliance, given its strategic position between Europe and Asia. "At NATO, you play the long game, you keep the family together. Historically that has worked," said Jamie Shea, a former NATO official now at the Friends of Europe think-tank.

Source: https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1X41N9

Turkey's behavior is 'deeply concerning,' but we need 'strategic patience' with them, ex-CIA chief says


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  • "This is a sensitive time in the relationship not just between Turkey and the U.S. but Turkey and its NATO partners writ large," General David Petraeus told CNBC.
  • Turkey's Incirlik airbase houses an estimated 50 U.S. nuclear bombs and 5,000 American military personnel.
  • Petraeus' comments come as Trump hosts Turkish President Recep Erdogan in Washington, a visit many U.S. lawmakers have called "shameful" in the wake of Turkey's invasion of Northeastern Syria.
David Petraeus, the four-star U.S. Army general and former CIA director who oversaw years of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been direct in his criticism of Turkey, calling the NATO ally's recent behavior "deeply concerning." But he still believes Washington needs Ankara as an ally, and must put in the work to mend strained relations, Gen. Petraeus, who is currently chair of the KKR Global Institute, told CNBC on Thursday. Asked by CNBC's Hadley Gamble how he felt about the Turkish government's foreign policy of late, he replied, "It is deeply concerning and we have to be very forthright with our Turkish allies about that."

"This is a sensitive time in the relationship not just between Turkey and the U.S. but Turkey and its NATO partners writ large," Petraeus said while attending the annual Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC). "The introduction of a Russian air defense system that will preclude Turkey from receiving the F-35 is obviously not welcome."

A major thorn in U.S.-Turkey relations has been Ankara's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, deemed an operational security risk if used alongside the American F-35 fighter jet. The supersonic jets — which can fly for hundreds of miles undetected by radar and of which 110 were slated for Turkey's military — were withheld from the Turks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made clear his forces would buy the S-400 against U.S. wishes.

"I'm sure that some of the discussions that they've had have been to try and find a path forward where something could be done so that that system is not operating at the same time as the F-35, if it is allowed to be sold to Turkey now, having been halted. That could go forward," Petraeus said.

"Turkey is a very, very important country to NATO, it is very geo-strategically important in its positioning and a variety of different ways. It played an important role as a base for our aircraft and other assets in the region, so again I hope this can be resolved."

Turkey joined NATO in 1953, three years after its formation, and now has the second-largest military in the 70-year old alliance after the U.S. Its massive Incirlik airbase houses an estimated 50 U.S. nuclear bombs and 5,000 American military personnel, and is a vital launch point for NATO operations in the Middle East. Recent reports reveal that the U.S. military is reviewing evacuating its tactical nuclear weapons stored there as a result of the growing tensions between the two countries.

Alongside NATO concerns over Erdogan's warming ties with Russia's Vladimir Putin, U.S. lawmakers and security experts have widely condemned Turkey's invasion of Northeastern Syria and its offensive against U.S.-allied Kurds governing the area that Ankara views as terrorists. Lawmakers have put forth bipartisan sanctions bills against Erdogan's government, accusing Trump of giving the Turkish leader a free hand in massacring the Kurdish militias who proved vital in the fight against ISIS. Petraeus previously described President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the area and abandon the Kurdish fighters as a "betrayal" and a serious strategic mistake.

"I agreed very strongly with Senator (Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell at the time who judged that this was a grave strategic mistake," Petraeus said. "It was equal parts abandoning the Kurds, handing a victory to Iran and Russia who are not our friends, rendering a large population essentially homeless, possibly refugees, a degree of ethnic displacement if not ethnic cleansing, and perhaps most importantly of all, taking our eye off the Islamic State."

Petraeus stressed that the current U.S. mission is to achieve the "enduring defeat" of ISIS, not merely the destruction of the physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria, warning that some 20,000 to 25,000 fighters still remained in the region and that "we need to keep an eye on them." He also emphasized the need for a clear demarcation of Turkey's buffer zone in Syria, "so we can determine where our forces will be located in support of the Syrian Kurds, who are going to continue to get the proceeds from the oil production that is in Northeastern Syria."

Source:  https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/11/14/david-petraeus-erdogan-and-turkeys-behavior-deeply-concerning.html

The U.S. Alliance With Turkey Is Worth Preserving

People gather in Istanbul to support the Turkish government following a failed coup attempt on July 16, 2016. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

If the United States didn’t already face enough troubles in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently threatened American troops with an “Ottoman slap” if they interfered with Turkey’s military incursion into northwestern Syria. The threat, coming two days before a visit to Turkey by then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, underscored just how contentious relations between Ankara and Washington have become, and how close this historic alliance is to crumbling altogether — to the detriment of both states.

The list of issues dividing the United States and Turkey is a long one. U.S. and other Western officials look with alarm on Erdogan’s Putinesque consolidation of power and disregard for human rights, and have protested the arrest of U.S. citizens and Turks employed by American diplomatic missions. Turkish officials, for their part, accuse the United States of instigating a July 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan and harboring the man most Turks believe was its mastermind: the spiritual leader, erstwhile Erdogan ally, and Pennsylvania resident Fethullah Gulen.

Even more sharply dividing Washington and Ankara are the divergent paths they have tread in Syria for the better part of a decade. Erdogan was furious at the Obama administration for what Turks perceived as U.S. indifference to the threat the Syrian conflict posed to their country. When the United States finally did intercede, only to make allies of the Turks’ mortal enemies — the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, a Syrian offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — Ankara’s anger mounted. For their part, U.S. officials were troubled by Ankara co-opting jihadis as allies in the Syrian fight, and more recently with its cooperation with Russia, which has extended to the purchase of a Russian air defense system that complicates Turkey’s NATO commitments.

The temptation is strong in Washington to simply jettison the foundering alliance with Turkey - as was recently done with Pakistan — and even to impose sanctions on Ankara for its actions. And the feeling in Turkey, where 67 percent of the population harbors an unfavorable view of Americans, is surely mutual.

Yet cutting Turkey loose would constitute a self-inflicted wound. Turkey is not just President Erdogan but a regional geographic and economic giant that stands as a buffer between Europe and the Middle East, and between the Middle East and Russia. Losing Turkey as a Western ally would mean bringing the Mideast to Europe’s threshold, and the potential frontier of Russian influence into the heart of the Middle East. Turkey is also the state best positioned to balance against Iran, whose ambitions and influence are growing along with its partnership with Russia. The dependency is mutual; without the United States, Turkey would be left to Tehran and Moscow’s tender mercies.

Preserving the Turkish-American alliance and the strategic value both sides derive from it will require refocusing on shared strategic threats, such as the growing Russia-Iran alliance, while compromising on the disagreements distracting from that focus. While there is little the United States can do to assuage Erdogan’s more paranoid concerns, greater flexibility is possible when it comes to the Syrian Kurds.

Vital to reaching a compromise are commitments made during Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent visit to Ankara. According to Turkish officials, the United States has reportedly agreed to decrease the Kurdish militia presence west of the Euphrates River around the strategic town of Manbij, which Turks fear is aimed at creating a contiguous zone of Kurdish control along Turkey’s southern border with Syria. Turkey, in turn, could tolerate a continued American and YPG presence in the Kurdish areas of northern Syria east of the Euphrates as the only way to keep the U.S. in Syria.

Some in the United States see any accommodation of Turkish concerns regarding the Syrian Kurds as a betrayal of a partner that proved doughty in the fight against the Islamic State. Yet the proposed arrangement holds advantages for all parties involved. For all its bluster, Turkey would be far worse off without the United States as an ally; what’s more, U.S. influence is the best chance of convincing Syrian Kurds to break with the PKK and forge their own path, as Iraqi Kurds did.

As for the Kurds, the United States would not abandon them in their homeland east of the Euphrates, but simply turn Manbij over to local officials under U.S. and Turkish security guarantees. Kurdish aspirations may be grander, but the United States is not obligated to entertain its allies’ every ambition here or elsewhere, especially when those aims threaten another ally or the stability of the region.

For the United States, it would make little strategic sense to alienate Turkey over the Kurdish issue. Turkey, the world’s 17th largest economy and one of the Middle East’s primary military powers. In Syria itself, the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops now in the country’s northeast cannot be reliably supplied without air and land access through Turkey, given Iraq’s susceptibility to Iranian influence. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the United States accomplishing much of anything in Syria militarily or diplomatically in the face of determined Iranian and Russian resistance if we cannot even manage to find common ground there with our putative ally.

More broadly, a U.S. effort to counter Iran in the Middle East, and to prevail in what the Trump administration has described as a global strategic competition with Russia and China, will require allies. Whatever its tactical flirtations, Turkey remains opposed to Iranian expansionism and wary of Russia for reasons of history and geography. For China, Turkey is an attractive candidate for westward Belt and Road Initiative expansion toward Europe, yet Ankara and Beijing have their own thorny differences. If the United States and Turkey part ways, Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing will not be the culprits but will certainly be the beneficiaries.

Turkey is a difficult ally. But if the United States were to walk away from all of our difficult allies in the Middle East, we would have none at all. Given Erdogan’s mercurial nature and the years of accumulated tensions in the U.S.-Turkey relationship, finding common ground with Ankara on Syria and other issues won’t be easy. But in a world of strategic competition with increasingly rapacious powers, it is imperative.

Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/19/the-u-s-alliance-with-turkey-is-worth-preserving


Why the West Needs Azerbaijan

Teenagers from a boxing school take part in a training session in the Caspian Sea near Soviet oil rigs in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on June 27, 2015. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

There is only one way for vital Asian oil and gas resources to reach Europe without passing through Russia and Iran: through the narrow “Ganja Gap.”

There are only three ways for energy and trade to flow overland between Asia and Europe: through Iran, through Russia, and through Azerbaijan. With relations between the West, Moscow, and Tehran in tatters, that leaves onlyone viable route for hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of trade: through the tiny Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan.

When you factor in Armenia’s occupation of almost one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s territory, all that is left is a narrow 60-mile-wide chokepoint for trade. We call this trade chokepoint the “Ganja Gap” — named after Azerbaijan’s second largest city, Ganja, which sits in the middle of this narrow passage. And right now, the Russians hold enough influence over Azerbaijan’s rival neighbor Armenia to potentially reignite the bloody Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of the late 1980s and early 1990s — giving them a dangerous opportunity to threaten the “Gap” itself.

Washington benefits whenever Europe reduces its dependence on Russia oil and gas. This is particularly important at a time when Nord Stream 2, a proposed Russian gas pipeline to Germany that will increase Europe’s dependency on Moscow for energy, seems to be an ever-closer reality. Europe depends on Russian natural gas for 40 percent of its needs. In total, almost 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas is now imported from Russia annually due to declining European production and rising demand.

Russia has a track record of using energy as a tool of aggression, and each barrel of oil and cubic meter of gas that Europe can buy from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, or Turkmenistan is one less that it must depend on from Russia. Currently, there are three major oil and gas pipelines in the region, which bypass Russia and Iran and run through the 60-mile-wide Ganja Gap: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey and then to the outside world through the Mediterranean; the Baku-Supsa pipeline, which carries oil from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and then to the outside world; and the South Caucasus pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan to Turkey, and which will soon link up with the proposed Southern Gas Corridor to deliver gas to Italy and then to the rest of Europe.

The Southern Gas Corridor is set to bring vital energy resources from the Caspian region through the Ganja Gap. These supplies will be a boon to southeastern Europe, which is currently almost 100 percent dependent on the Russian pipelines.

It is not just oil and gas pipelines that connect Europe with the heart of Asia. Fiber-optic cables linking Western Europe with the Caspian region also pass through the Ganja Gap. The second-longest European motorway, the E60, which connects Brest, France, on the Atlantic coast with Irkeshtam, Kyrgyzstan, on the Chinese border, passes through the city of Ganja, as does the east-west rail link in the South Caucasus, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. These are set to become potentially vital connections.

The ongoing campaign in Afghanistan has also proven how important the Ganja Gap is for resupplying U.S. and NATO troops. At the peak of the war, more than one-third of U.S. nonlethal military supplies such as fuel, food, and clothing passed through the Ganja Gap either overland or in the air.

A key plank of the Trump administration’s Afghan strategy is pressuring Pakistan to end its support for the Taliban and associated groups. A consequence of this approach toward Islamabad might be that the existing ground and air routes through Pakistani territory, on which a majority of U.S. supplies in Afghanistan depend, could be cut or stopped altogether. Islamabad has blocked supplies once before: for eight months in 2011, after U.S. forces mistakenly killed 28 Pakistani soldiers along the border with Afghanistan during a firefight with the Taliban. Expanding the route transiting Georgia and Azerbaijan through the Ganja Gap would reduce Washington’s dependence on Moscow and Islamabad for moving military resources in and out of Afghanistan.

All this means that Russia will do anything it can to make it difficult for the West to use the Ganja Gap. One of the ways Russia exerts influence in the South Caucasus in through the various so-called frozen conflicts — especially in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh started in 1988, when Armenia made territorial claims on the region, which sits within Azerbaijan but is populated mostly by ethnic Armenians. The dispute soon resulted in a bloody war that left about 30,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands more internally displaced. Since 1992, Armenian forces and Armenian-backed militias have occupied almost 20 percent of territory that the international community recognizes as part of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh and all or part of seven other provinces.

Most of the main oil and gas pipelines passing through the Ganja Gap and carrying Caspian energy to Europe are located near the frontlines of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, where troops for the two sides still face off. Moscow knows that any major outbreak in violence would threaten the viability of these pipelines. Given Russia’s influence over Armenia, it would not take much to provoke new fighting.

The West’s leverage in Armenia is relatively limited. Last month, former President Serzh Sargsyan’s controversial attempt to hold on to power after his second term as prime minister expired sparked mass protests, which resulted in Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition leader, coming to power. Despite the changeover, however, Armenia’s economy and security apparatus remain under Russia’s sway. Notwithstanding all his populist rhetoric, Pashinyan has reaffirmed Yerevan’s commitment to a strong alliance with Moscow.

The recent events in Armenia were not a color revolution like in Georgia in 2003 or a Maidan-like moment like Ukraine experienced in 2014. It’s no coincidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first world leaders to congratulate Pashinyan on his ascension. Although Russia sells weapons to both sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it is clear that Moscow’s sympathies lie with Armenia. So no one should expect Armenia to make a fundamental shift toward the West.

Indeed, given the strength of Moscow’s ties to Yerevan, the United States and Europe should prioritize relations with Baku as the critical trade, energy, and economic link between the east and west of the Eurasian landmass. The West should strive for cordial relations with Armenia, but the United States needs to be mindful and realistic when setting its strategic priorities in the region. Armenia is largely a lost cause; Azerbaijan, even with all its flaws, is a better bet.

Keeping access to the Ganja Gap is the essence of “principled realism” as outlined on the first page of the 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy. Azerbaijan is the only country in the world that borders both Russia and Iran. Keeping a balance between Tehran, Moscow, and Washington while striving to preserve the country’s autonomy has often been a difficult task for Azerbaijan’s leaders. But unlike U.S.-Armenian relations, since the early 1990s, the U.S.-Azerbaijani relationship has thrived in a number of areas, most notably energy cooperation and — since Sept. 11, 2001 — counterterrorism. Azerbaijan even recently increased its contribution in manpower to Afghanistan. Azerbaijan’s 120 troops in Afghanistan give it a larger troop presence than some NATO members, including Spain (eight), the Netherlands (100), and Norway (54).

There are still sticking points in the U.S.-Azerbaijani relationship. Human rights issues have been a persistent problem, and in recent years, concerns about press freedom have risen due to a number of high-profile arrests of prominent journalists. While Washington should continue to press for improvements on human rights, U.S. policymakers cannot allow that one issue to create a lopsided foreign policy that undercuts the United States’ broader interests in the region.

The United States is the most important global power ensuring uninterrupted and secure flow of international trade through chokepoints around the world. The free flow of global trade, including U.S. exports, brings huge benefits not only to the global economy, but ultimately to the economy of the United States, too. In terms of U.S. geostrategic priorities, the Ganja Gap should rank close to the top.

The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy emphasizes the need to develop good relations with stable allies. This is particularly necessary in the South Caucasus. Decreasing tensions in the region would help secure vital energy, communications, and trade corridors. Ganja’s history as a source of trade and commerce dates back to the Silk Road that once crossed Eurasia. Even today, any grand strategy that takes into account a resurgent Russia, an emboldened Iran, and an economically expanding China has to reckon with this tiny 60-mile gap.

Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/28/why-the-west-needs-azerbaijan/

Jewish leaders applaud Azerbaijani multiculturalism at World Religious Leaders Summit

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Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev maintained that “electronic communications, social networks and mass media have created grounds to turn hatred to a widespread system around the world” with “hate speech provoking instability around, incites war crimes and genocide.”

At the opening of the second Baku Summit of World Religious Leaders on Thursday, more than 400 delegates from 70-plus countries gathered in Azerbaijan for two days of discussion on the importance of intercivilization and interfaith cooperation, as well as the role of religious figures to promote joint dialogue and solidarity against terrorism, extremism and xenophobia. This represents the second such summit; the first of its kind took place in 2010.

In his opening remarks Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the role of his nation in the establishment of an international model of global multiculturalism and the promotion of human solidarity. “Azerbaijan has a centuries-old tradition of dialogue between traditions and religion, with all ethnic minorities living in peaceful conditions of mutual understanding and compassion in a multi-national country,” he said.

“National and religious tolerance are the core values for all of us,” continued Aliyev, who expressed concern in “clashes, confrontations, war, shedding blood of brothers and committing crimes [in the name of] religion,” saying “we must unite our efforts in this area.”


Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, who celebrated his 70th birthday, his 40th anniversary as chairman of the Caucasus Muslim Board and in whose honor the summit took place, spoke of building state-religion relations, the development of intercultural and interreligious cooperation, and the preservation of peace and promoting ideas of multiculturalism. “Multiculturalism is our lifestyle, and our idea of national and religious unity at the state policy level,” he said. “Our main goal is to unite the efforts of political, social and religious leaders aiming to combat threats to international stability like Islam-phobia, Christian-phobia and anti-Semitism, [as well as] strengthen dialogue.”

He maintained that “electronic communications, social networks and mass media have created grounds to turn hatred to a widespread system around the world” with “hate speech provoking instability around, incites war crimes and genocide.” He referred to the proliferation of hate speech as a public danger, asserting that “this conference can have an exceptional value for the international community.”

Invited by the Caucasus Muslims Office and representing Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and their many denominations, various leaders acknowledged Aliyev and Pashazade’s approach to religious acceptance and multiculturalism, praising the opportunity for solidarity and calling for end to religious hate and persecution. Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, related the importance of “emphasizing what unites rather than what divides us,” saying “religion should be a unifier, not a divider.”

Summit participant Rev. Johnnie Moore similarly expressed to JNS his gratitude that “Azerbaijan is a nation that gives us hope that the world can be a better place, a place where religion is a blessing to the world and not a curse—where religion is used to unite and not to divide.” He continued, “This is a country where Sunni and Shia Muslims pray together, where Orthodox and evangelical Christians serve together, and where the Jewish community is not only valued but plays an indispensable role in the society.”

Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie of New York, in his Friday-afternoon plenary address, maintained that he, among other summit participants, attended the conference to echo the importance that Azerbaijan places on multiculturalism and dialogue. “All of us here—Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others—are gathered here to affect change. By planting the seeds of true peace amongst ourselves and our co-religionists, we can come to a reconciliation of our people,” he said.

Abadie, representing the American Sephardi Federation, told JNS his that personal goals in attending the Nov. 14 summit were “to establish bridges of communication, common ground and basic beliefs that we can all agree.”

“Having been born and lived in Lebanon, where Jews, Christians and Muslims commingled together,” he explained, “I’m able to break barriers and have an understanding of coexistence that can be developed.”

Jewish interface with Muslim and Christian leaders

Abraham Cooper, representing the Simon Wiesenthal Center, maintained that while the rest of the world has seen an increase of anti-Semitism “on both sides of the Atlantic,” “Azerbaijan is a beacon of hope, a living embodiment and reminder of how tolerance and mutual respect by all followers of the Abrahamic faiths can succeed when they actually care for each other.”

“Rabbis in France, Germany and Scandinavia urge their co-religionists not to wear a kipah or a star of David in public, religious Jews are targeted for violence on the streets of New York City, every Jewish institution needs armed guards, and the Internet and social media inspire violence,” he said.

In this context, Cooper told JNS that “the conference was a unique opportunity to interface with religious leaders from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf nations, and Muslim and Christian leaders from Asia and Africa,” and noted the significance that “Rabbi Amar, the Sephardic Chief Emeritus of Israel, was seated at opening session next to the representative from Kuwait.” Cooper presented the sheikh a shofar (ram’s horn) from Jerusalem to serve to “awaken us from apathy, give us courage in times of conflict and to signal our unshakeable hope in a brighter future for the Jewish people and all humankind.”

Source: https://www.jns.org/jewish-leaders-applaud-azerbaijani-multiculturalism-at-world-religious-leaders-summit/

Putin’s Good Year Keeps Getting Better

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Vladimir Putin has had a good year, and it just keeps getting better. He now is collecting his winnings on multiple fronts. Even Mr. Putin must be amazed at how well he is achieving his goal of sowing discord within the U.S. political system.

First, his agents interfered in the 2016 election. Now they can sit back and watch as their efforts to deflect blame away from Moscow and toward Ukraine are bearing fruit, in the form of a bitter American debate that is driving pro-Trump and anti-Trump forces further apart. Fiona Hill, until recently the top Russia expert on the staff of President Trump’s National Security Council, summarized the Russian success on this front succinctly in her testimony before a House impeachment hearing last week: “The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career foreign service is being undermined.” Mr. Putin appears so confident in his success on this front that he actually is publicly gloating about it. “Thank God no one is accusing us of interfering in the U.S. elections anymore; now they’re accusing Ukraine,” he said at a conference in Moscow last week.

Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, heads early next month into his first meeting with Mr. Putin—whose forces have invaded his country and lopped off part of it—knowing that American support for Ukraine can be, and was, caught up in domestic U.S. political fights. Ukraine’s leader thereby enters talks with Mr. Putin less certain of support from Washington in his country’s confrontation with Russia. But these successes on the American front are only the top of the list of trends moving Mr. Putin’s way. The British political system is being torn in similar fashion by a debate over how much Russian disinformation was unleashed in an attempt to convince citizens to vote in 2016 to leave the European Union.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a Brexit advocate, is declining to release a sensitive report by the Parliament’s intelligence committee on Brexit interference, setting off a partisan argument just as Britain heads toward a new national election. Regardless of whether Russia actually influenced the Brexit vote, the reality, three years later, is that Britain appears to be on the road toward exiting the EU in the messiest, most damaging way possible. What’s bad for European economic and political unity is good for Russia, so Mr. Putin can put the continuing Brexit mess as a big entry on the positive side of his 2019 ledger. Meanwhile, the most important members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are descending into an argument about the functioning and future of the 70-year-old alliance, originally formed to deter expansionist moves by Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron, articulating what other NATO leaders are reluctant to say, has criticized Mr. Trump for his decision to pull back American forces in Syria and open the way for a greater Syrian role for both Mr. Putin and Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In fact, Mr. Macron has said that NATO is suffering from “brain death” and questioned the current validity of its pledges of collective defense. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken exception to her French counterpart’s public airing of NATO’s dirty laundry. Bottom line: NATO members France, Germany, Turkey and the U.S. are, well, not quite in sync. From Mr. Putin’s point of view, discord within the main Western military alliance is good news of the first order. At the same time, that American retreat in Syria has helped further a trend in which Mr. Putin is becoming the man to see about Middle Eastern affairs.

In fact, Syria has worked out smashingly well for Mr. Putin: American troops and their Kurdish allies did the lion’s share of the work to extinguish Islamic State and its caliphate there, which Russia actually opposed, too. Now, having finished the dirty work, Washington has essentially ceded oversight of Syria to Moscow and allowed its Kurdish allies to be obliterated or pushed aside. Russia’s most reliable regional proxy, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, now appears secure in his position and certain to survive his country’s civil war. Having assumed a new position of prominence in Syria, Mr. Putin has Middle Eastern leaders of all varieties—Saudi Arabian, Iranian, Turkish and Israeli—beating a path to his door for consultations. Mr. Putin is a former KGB operative, and it shows. He learned during the Cold War how to use disinformation and propaganda to exploit weak spots in Western democracies, and the dark space of the internet has opened a whole new playing field for him. He is a master of his craft.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/putins-good-year-keeps-getting-better-11574696041

The U.S. Is Now Betraying the Kurds for the Eighth Time
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The White House announced Sunday night that the United States is giving Turkey a green light to invade northern Syria, with the U.S. troops there now apparently pulling back to another area of the country. This is the scenario that Syrian Kurds have long feared. It will almost inevitably lead to a Turkish attack on Kurdish militias in Syria — fighters who loyally helped the U.S. destroy the Islamic State, but whom Turkey bogusly claims to be terrorists.

What Krugman left out, however, is the most likely explanation: (d) Trump is president of the United States. Nothing in this world is certain except death, taxes, and America betraying the Kurds. The U.S. has now betrayed the Kurds a minimum of eight times over the past 100 years. The reasons for this are straightforward. The Kurds are an ethnic group of about 40 million people centered at the intersection of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Many naturally want their own state. The four countries in which they live naturally do not want that to happen. On the one hand, the Kurds are a perfect tool for U.S. foreign policy. We can arm the Kurds in whichever of these countries is currently our enemy, whether to make trouble for that country’s government or to accomplish various other objectives. On the other hand, we don’t want the Kurds we’re utilizing to ever get too powerful. If that happened, the other Kurds — i.e., the ones living just across the border in whichever of these countries are currently our allies — might get ideas about freedom and independence.
Nothing in this world is certain except death, taxes, and America betraying the Kurds.
Here’s how that dynamic has played out, over and over and over again since World War I.

1 — Like many other nationalisms, Kurdish nationalism blossomed during the late 1800s. At this point, all of the Kurdish homeland was ruled by the sprawling Ottoman Empire, centered in present day-Turkey. But the Ottoman Empire collapsed after fighting on the losing side of World War I. This, the Kurds understandably believed, was their moment. The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres completely dismembered the Ottoman Empire, including most of what’s now Turkey, and allocated a section for a possible Kurdistan. But the Turks fought back, making enough trouble that the U.S. supported a new treaty in 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne. The Treaty of Lausanne allowed the British and French to carve off present-day Iraq and Syria, respectively, for themselves. But it made no provision for the Kurds. This was America’s first, and smallest, betrayal of the Kurds. At this point, the main Kurdish betrayals were handled by the British, who crushed the short-lived Kingdom of Kurdistan in Iraq during the early 1920s. A few years later, the British were happy to see the establishment of a Kurdish “Republic of Ararat,” because it was on Turkish territory. But it turned out that the Turks were more important to the British than the Kurds, so the United Kingdom eventually let Turkey go ahead and extinguish the new country.

This was the kind of thing that gave the British Empire the nickname “perfidious Albion.” Now America has taken up the perfidious mantle.

2 — After World War II, the U.S. gradually assumed the British role as main colonial power in the Mideast. We armed Iraqi Kurds during the rule of Abdel Karim Kassem, who governed Iraq from 1958 to 1963, because Kassem was failing to follow orders. We then supported a 1963 military coup — which included a small supporting role by a young Saddam Hussein — that removed Kassem from power. We immediately cut off our aid to the Kurds and, in fact, provided the new Iraqi government with napalm to use against them.

3 — By the 1970s, the Iraqi government had drifted into the orbit of the Soviet Union. The Nixon administration, led by Henry Kissinger, hatched a plan with Iran (then our ally, ruled by the Shah) to arm Iraqi Kurds. The plan wasn’t for the Kurds in Iraq to win, since that might encourage the Kurds in Iran to rise up themselves. It was just to bleed the Iraqi government. But as a congressional report later put it, “This policy was not imparted to our clients, who were encouraged to continue fighting. Even in the context of covert action ours was a cynical enterprise.” Then the U.S. signed off on agreements between the Shah and Saddam that included severing aid to the Kurds. The Iraqi military moved north and slaughtered thousands, as the U.S. ignored heart-rending pleas from our erstwhile Kurdish allies. When questioned, a blasé Kissinger explained that “covert action should not be confused with missionary work.”
When questioned, a blasé Kissinger explained that “covert action should not be confused with missionary work.”
4 — During the 1980s, the Iraqi government moved on to actual genocide against the Kurds, including the use of chemical weapons. The Reagan administration was well aware of Saddam’s use of nerve gas, but because they liked the damage Saddam was doing to Iran, it opposed congressional efforts to impose sanctions on Iraq. The U.S. media also faithfully played its role. When a Washington Post reporter tried to get the paper to publish a photograph of a Kurd killed by chemical weapons, his editor responded, “Who will care?”

5 — As the U.S. bombed Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991, George H.W. Bush famously called on “the Iraqi military and Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands, to force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside.” Both Iraqi Shias in southern Iraq and Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq heard this and tried to do exactly that. It turned out that Bush wasn’t being 100 percent honest about his feelings on this subject. The U.S. military stood down as Iraq massacred the rebels across the country. Why? New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman soon explained that “Mr. Bush never supported the Kurdish and Shiite rebellions against Mr. Hussein, or for that matter any democracy movement in Iraq” because Saddam’s “iron fist simultaneously held Iraq together, much to the satisfaction of the American allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia.” What the U.S. wanted was for the Iraqi military, not regular people, to take charge. “Then,” Friedman wrote, “Washington would have the best of all worlds: an iron-fisted Iraqi junta without Saddam Hussein.”

6 — Nevertheless, the dying Iraqi Kurds looked so bad on international television that the Bush administration was forced to do something. The U.S. eventually supported what was started as a British effort to protect Kurds in northern Iraq. During the Clinton administration in the 1990s, these Kurds, the Iraqi Kurds, were the good Kurds. Because they were persecuted by Iraq, our enemy, they were worthy of U.S. sympathy. But the Kurds a few miles north in Turkey started getting uppity too, and since they were annoying our ally, they were the bad Kurds. The U.S. sent Turkey huge amounts of weaponry, which it used — with U.S. knowledge — to murder tens of thousands of Kurds and destroy thousands of villages. 7 — Before the Iraq War in 2003, pundits such as Christopher Hitchens said we had to do it to help the Kurds. By contrast, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg had this dour exchange with neoconservative William Kristol on C-SPAN just as the war started:
Ellsberg: The Kurds have every reason to believe they will be betrayed again by the United States, as so often in the past. The spectacle of our inviting Turks into this war … could not have been reassuring to the Kurds …
Kristol: I’m against betraying the Kurds. Surely your point isn’t that because we betrayed them in the past, we should betray them this time?
Ellsberg: Not that we should, just that we will.
Kristol: We will not. We will not.
Ellsberg, of course, was correct. The post-war independence of Iraqi Kurds made Turkey extremely nervous. In 2007, the U.S. allowed Turkey to carry out a heavy bombing campaign against Iraqi Kurds inside Iraq. By this point, Kristol’s magazine the Weekly Standard was declaring that this betrayal was exactly what America should be doing. With Trump’s thumbs-up for another slaughter of the Kurds, America is now on betrayal No. 8. Whatever you want to say about U.S. actions, no one can deny that we’re consistent. The Kurds have an old, famous adage that they “have no friends but the mountains.” Now more than ever, it’s hard to argue that that’s wrong.

Pax Russica: as Trump abandons Syria’s Kurds, Russia is ready to expand its empire

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The President has always said he wants to get America out of foreign wars. But is he playing into Putin’s hands?

While American troops were hurriedly leaving north-eastern Syria, a young female Kurdish politician called Hervin Khalaf was pulled from her car and executed by the side of the road. Actually, the Kurdish media said she was raped and then stoned to death. They blamed one of the Arab militias being used by Turkey in its invasion. A grim video posted online shows a man holding a Kalashnikov nudging her body with the tip of his boot, as you would a dead animal. The video has not been authenticated and the militia accused of doing this says it was miles away at the time. But in Khalaf the Syrian Kurds have found a martyr to the American ‘betrayal’. She was a human rights activist who formed her own political party to bring Arabs and Kurds together. Foreign diplomats would visit to talk about her quixotic dream of a secular, multi-ethnic Syrian democracy. Her death is a symbol of everything that has gone wrong in the past week.
 
To recap: President Trump told the Turks they could come in and he ordered his own troops out. The Kurds stopped fighting Isis, or even guarding them in the jails and camps on their territory. Invoking their fear of a ‘genocide’, the Kurds turned for protection to the Syrian regime and to Russia. Kurdish civilians are dying under Turkish bombing; Arab civilians are dying under Kurdish shelling. And Islamist Arab militias are bloodily settling scores with the Kurds. This was entirely predictable and was predicted by Trump’s former special envoy for defeating Isis, Brett McGurk. He tweeted: ‘Did Trump not understand the well-known nature and makeup of the forces Turkey would be bringing into NE Syria?… Clearly not.’ McGurk resigned six months ago, when Trump first announced — by tweet — that the US would abandon Syria’s Kurds. He wrote then that the Arab militias allied to Turkey were ‘marbled with extremists’ and that letting them into north-eastern Syria would ‘precipitate chaos’. So it has proved.
 
In another video on social media, a bearded Arab fighter carves the air with his hand and tells the Kurds: ‘If the Turkish army gives us the order, we will slit your throats… In the name of God Almighty, we will butcher you with swords!’ He adds: ‘And I don’t want anybody telling me that in Islam you can’t do this. The Prophet had a sword — you think he used it to tickle people?’ One militia shot dead a Kurdish prisoner as he sat on the ground, his hands bound behind his back. Inevitably, the militia posted the video online (prompting the Turkish military to arrest the men responsible). Many of the Arab fighters were armed and trained by the CIA; the man they killed was part of a force armed and trained by the Pentagon. America has been waging a proxy war against itself in northern Syria, backing both sides in the conflict. And of course Turkey is a Nato ally. This was the incoherent, strategically impossible situation that Donald Trump inherited.
 
So it’s unfair to blame the Syria mess entirely on Trump’s impulsiveness, ignorance and general imbecility, as much of the American media do. They are helped in that by Trump’s crass reaction to criticism of his decision: where were the Kurds in 1944? he asked. Why didn’t they help with the Normandy landings? (The answer is that the Kurds had no state and no military to join the second world war, though a few Kurds did fight with the Soviets against Nazi Germany.) More recently — only last week in fact — Syria’s Kurds were in a military alliance with the US against Isis, losing 11,000 sons and daughters to that fight. They were doing this for themselves as much as for the United States, certainly. But only weeks ago, they took down their defences on the Turkish border because the US asked them to and guaranteed their security. They believed American promises that turned out to be worthless. One retreating American soldier said he felt ashamed of his uniform.
 
Why did Trump do it? Some American commentators say it’s because there are two Trump Towers in Istanbul and he will lose money if he upsets the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But Trump probably doesn’t make that much money from those buildings and wasn’t swayed when Erdogan threatened to take his name off them after the ‘Muslim ban’ (the short-lived ban on immigration to the US from some Muslim countries). I heard an extraordinary story from an informant close to the Qatari royal family — Qatar being Turkey’s most important Arab ally — that Erdogan got Trump to roll over so easily because he had dirt on him. That claim follows another made to me by a source in the US that an intelligence whistle-blower had reported concerns about a call Trump made to the Middle East, supposedly about this ‘dirt’. For those keeping count, this would be the third US intelligence whistle-blower, the other two coming forward about Ukraine.
 
Here we go again, down the Trump conspiracy rabbit hole. Trump’s erratic behaviour seems to invite these kinds of far-fetched theories. Usually they’re fantasy but occasionally you are left with the suspicion that they might just be correct. With Syria, however, an elaborate explanation is not required. Trump has always said he wants to get America out of foreign wars. He is being as good as his word. The timing may be awful, but when is there a good time to betray your allies?
 
One account published by a Turkish journalist says that when Erdogan called Trump, he told him to either help Turkish troops or ‘get out of the way’. Some have said Trump should have called Erdogan’s bluff and refused. That might not have worked. According to the US military, Turkish artillery fired 155mm shells near an American Special Forces base, apparently to encourage them to leave. Yavuz Baydar, a Turkish journalist in exile, told me he thought Erdogan would have gone into Syria regardless. Not because there was a real military threat from the Syrian Kurds to Turkey, or because there was a serious prospect of the Kurds getting an independent state. (For one thing, the Syrian Kurds and the Iraqi Kurds don’t get on.) No, he said, Erdogan had political problems,  ‘bleeding massively’ in the local elections. Like Trump, he didn’t do ‘nuance,’ was completely obstinate and governed by ‘reflex’ and by ‘daredevil acts’. He needed a small, victorious war to satisfy the ultra-nationalists and the generals in the ‘deep state’ coalition around him. ‘Erdogan is a natural gambler,’ said Baydar. ‘His path has always been jumping from crisis to crisis, or expanding the crisis. He’s hoping to emerge as the national hero by teaching a lesson to the Kurds.’
 
If successful, Erdogan can be expected to send back a large part of the almost four million Syrian refugees that Turkey has been hosting for years. The Kurds are afraid this will change the ethnic balance of north-east Syria and rob them of the territory for ever. Most of the Arabs in the border town of Tell Abyad fled when the Kurds arrived. They say that young men who returned were forcibly conscripted into the Kurdish forces. So they wait, their bags packed, in the town of Akcakale, a few hundred yards away but in Turkey. Someone told me, by phone, that they could see plumes of smoke: the Kurds burning their homes.
 
The temporary beneficiaries of all this are Isis, who are no longer facing a Kurdish enemy on the battlefield. The permanent beneficiary is Vladimir Putin. A former Russian intelligence officer I know said that Putin and Erdogan conferred before Erdogan spoke to Trump. If true, that isn’t as surprising as it once would have been. Turkey and Russia are increasingly close. Turkey — once again, a Nato member — has just bought Russian S-400 missiles. The two governments seem to have had cordial discussions over the future of Idlib, the last Syrian province in rebel hands. There are reports of Russian mercenaries massing to attack Idlib. They are said to be from the Wagner group, which is run by a Russian oligarch known as ‘Putin’s chef’. If so, this tells us something important about what’s happening in Syria.
 
Yevgeny Prigozhin, to use his real name, is a billionaire whose spectacular rise symbolises Russia’s brand of outlaw capitalism. Russian newspapers reported that when he was a young man he was given a 12-year jail sentence for robbery and pimping. But after starting out with a hotdog stand in St Petersburg, he opened a luxury restaurant that became one of Putin’s favourites. Putin is his krysha — his ‘roof’, or protection — and in return Prigozhin hands over a share of the profits. In Syria, these are profits from oil, where Wagner mercenaries have taken over oil fields and pipelines. There are both in Kurdish territory. More importantly, the Syrian regime is back in charge under a deal brokered by Russia and can be expected to show appropriate gratitude to Wagner and to Putin.
 
As the last Americans left north-eastern Syria, President Putin was on an official visit to Riyadh. The Saudi royals looked relieved to have a foreign visitor who would not lecture them on the killing and dismemberment of their dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Putin’s visit — the first by a Russian leader for 12 years — was a sign of the new realities. For 50 years, it has been the goal of American policy to keep Russia out of the Middle East. President Trump may be right that he has deftly dumped the terrible problem of Syria on to the Kremlin — or this could be a moral, security and strategic disaster, as one prominent western supporter of the Kurds put it. But Russia is now the indispensable power in the Middle East: Pax Russica.

Source:  https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/pax-russica-as-trump-abandons-syrias-kurds-russia-is-ready-to-expand-its-empire/

245 comments:

  1. It's been a year since I posted a blog commentary. Must say it feels good doing so again. The commentary I prepared however was too large for a single page. What I therefore did was split them into two parts. This is the first part. I will be posting the second part sometime around late winter or early spring. Now, that being said, if any of you were impressed, happy or proud about what happened in Washington recently, I'm sorry to pee on your parade... Actually, no, I am not sorry. I piss on your parade. Wake up, there was no genocide recognition, nor will there be one as long as Anglo-American-Jews have the slightest hope of salvaging their alliance with Ankara. Remember that the West's problem is with President Erdogan, not Turkey. This was a false sense of accomplishment. Diasporans need to wake up from their "recognition" obsession and finally see that Armenia is in a serious civilizational decline. If the Diaspora truly cares for the Armenian homeland it has to begin learning political literacy and begin better prioritizing its activism and lobbying. We are instead making a mockery of ourselves from Washington to Yerevan to Russia. We are turning off our Russian allies. We are turning Armenia into a playground for Western and Turkish intelligence agencies. We are slowly turning Armenia into a typical Third World cesspool. All we care about is reveling in our orgasmic delight simply because genocidal war criminals are blowing smoke up our collective asses once again.

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  2. It feels good to have back your common sense and informed comments. It is a long one and it would take me some time to get through all of it. There is much material to chew in one mouthful. But the fact that you mention the continuum Jacob Schiff/Adam Schiff (Jacob Schiff is a taboo when people talk about the 'Russian' revolution) would be sufficient indication that the rest of your analysis is spot on. Actually I think (and always did) along the same lines and I fully understand your frustration.
    But I already wait for the second course! I would add Germany to the 'evil trinity'.

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    1. Welcome back, Romanian. I missed you. I hope all is well. Thank you for your support. My frustration with Armenia is obvious: The country, mislead for over 25 years, finally fell to Globalists. But, thank God, Russia maintains a firm hold over the country. If I had to add another member to the evil trinity, it would be France. Germany is for the most part still controlled by Anglo-American-Jews. It is for the most part ZOG country. Germany society generally speaking remains anti-Turkish, anti-Muslim, anti-US and pro-Russia.

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    2. Yes, indeed I went through a rough patch entailing travels and troubles. But, Thanks God, it's over now. Now, when I was talking about Germany I was referring to its role in propping up the Ottoman Empire and pan-Islamism before and during WW1 when it had a dishonorable role in the Armenian genocide. And of course to its role in bringing about the 'Russian revolution'. But then Germany was in cahoots with the Jews, bankers, zionists and socialists alike, all rabidly anti-Russian. Jacob Schiff was related to the 'German-American' banking dynasty of the Warburgs.

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    3. Why would France be considered a third component on the evil trinity though? There is a strong point about Germany being another suitable candidate for the position of the third part of the evil trinity. However, both France and Germany historically had good relations with the Ottoman Empire (Franco-Ottoman alliance against the Hapsburg dominated Holy Roman Empire before the rise of Germany, and the German-Ottoman alliance against Russia). However, I would also like to offer my own candidate for the position of third part of the evil trinity, and that would actually be the Vatican itself. The Vatican, or basically the seat of the Papacy, had done more damage to Eastern and maybe Oriental Orthodoxy than anything else.

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    4. Correct, Jerriko.

      The modern manifestation of the evil trinity began its unholy life in Rome/Vatican. After all, Rome/Vatican was the Washington/London (but more aggressive and destructive) throughout most of the past 1500 years. It lost a lot of power and influence in the post-Napoleonic modern era that saw the rise of secularism and the Anglo-American-Jewish world order. After Vatican II, however, some very nasty agendas and projects again began coming out of the Vatican. Their immense wealth is obviously in Jewish hands. That should explain a lot. In any case, the current Pope is essentially a neo-Marxist/Globalist. So, yes, the Vatican is indeed associated with the evil trinity, but obviously is not a direct member.

      Regarding France: Post-Napoleonic France has more-or-less been a proxy of the Anglo-Jewish world. During de Gaul's time in power France tried to be independent for a while. When Sarkozy came to power in Paris however France went right back under Anglo-American-Jews. France has had a dirty hand in most of the Anglo-American-Jewish projects around the world since. We vividly saw this in Libya and Syria. Moreover, France is a hotbed of neo-Marxism/Globalism.

      To the equation of the evil trinity I would also add one of the most influential but least discussed, least visible global power - Switzerland. As we know money/finance equates to political power/influence. Even Hitler, even Stalin's Russia stayed away from Switzerland. The Swiss have financial tentacles and therefore influence everywhere, yet no one talks about them. That in itself is power. Nederlands is also major Globalist player around the world with deep ties to Anglo-American-Jews, yet no one talks about them either. The infamous Bilderberg Group (the very manifestation of Globalism) is in fact a club they put together.

      With all that said, right now, the way the world order is put together, the evil trinity is specifically the Anglo-American-Jewish world order. Everyone/everything else essentially plays a supporting role. This evil trinity has to be broken-up if cultures, races, nation-states, traditional families, classical art, Apostolic Christianity and biological genders are to survive. I hope the Trump presidency (does not matter knowingly or not unknowingly) takes us in that direction... I hope Russia, the last major front against Globalism, remains on its current course... I hope China, largely immune to Globalism, begins acting on the world stage more proactively...

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    5. China can easily be integrated into the world order, or so it seems according to Soros. A multipolar world is definitely needed, but within Asia-Pacific, there must be a nation strong enough to act as a counterweight to China. India and Japan are potentially good examples too, assuming they break away from the evil trinity. However, India itself has some issues to deal with and Japan is facing a European style demographic decline because not a lot of young Japanese are willing to settle down and have families of their own.

      The Netherlands had basically gotten the ball rolling with the African slave trade, and certain characters have also benefited from the sales of African slaves at the time of the early slave trade.

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  3. I haven't posted here for a while. But I am certainly following this blog and, neddless to say, I am very worried about my homeland... Some interesting news about the Armenia-Azerbaijan military balance: Pictures of 2 freshly produced Sukhoi Su-30 fighters in Armenian colors were taken at the aviation factory in Siberia. These are expected to be delivered during 2020.

    Первые Су-30СМ для Армении
    https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3879778.html

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    1. Welcome back Zoravar, and what a surprising and beautiful present you brought. It's a gorgeous aircraft. Actually, the entire line of late models Sukhoi's are gorgeous. I love the Armenian roundels. It's almost surreal seeing them on such an aircraft. This gorgeous war machine may be a bit overkill for a country like Armenia, but I'll take it. I see they are keeping (perhaps only for now) the Russian air force's color scheme. I just want to add one more thing here because I what the current regime will attempt to do with this matter. Nikol's government cannot be given the credit for this. The process for this acquisition began with the previous administration. To be fair, however, Nikol did not try to block it. I should also say that despite flooding Armenia with CIA agents and Soros thugs, Nikol has also been wise enough (perhaps to save his skin) to remain very close to the Bear. In any case, in the next few years, perhaps sooner, I sense something bad will happen.

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    2. I bring one more present:
      Армения получила из России зенитные ракетные комплексы "Тор-М2КМ"
      Armenia receives from Russia anti-aircraft missile complex "TOR-M2KM"
      https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3881579.html#cutid1

      These are excellent quick reaction and high precision short range (15km) SAMs that are ideal against drones, aircraft, helicopters and even missiles.

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    3. Excellent presents, Zoravar. I have been wanting to see Tor and late model Sukhois in our arsenal for a long time now. It's about time. That said, I just hope these are not in preparation for a possible war in the near future. There are growing rumors in Armenian society that Baku may again attempt a major military operation. Although I don't pay much attention to rumor/gossip, especially from the Armenian Street, which is a master of unfounded rumor/gossip, I do however see it happening sometime in the next year or two. All the political factors are gradually forming and all the chips are falling into place. If or when it happens, I believe it will be orchestrated (macromanaged from abroad) and limited in scope. I think Nikol and friends were brought to power for that reason. Let's hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

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  4. Let's not forget: The Battle of Sarikamish took place 105 years ago.
    Саракамыш: 105 лет назад Кавказская армия разгромила армию Энвер-паши
    Sarikamish: 105 years ago, Army Caucasus destroyed Enver Pasha's Army

    https://rg.ru/2019/12/22/sarakamysh-105-let-nazad-kavkazskaia-armiia-razgromila-armiiu-enver-pashi.html

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    1. The Battle Sarikamish - where hundreds of thousands of troops were engaged in fighting in the dead of winter and where Turks lost perhaps over 100,000 men - is the single most strategically significant battle during the First World War from an Armenian perspective... yet, a rare few Armenians actually know anything about it. And fewer still know that essentially as a result of the battle in question, the Russian battle-front in the Armenian Highlands as late as AUTUMN 1917 were as far west as the cities of Erzinjan and Bitlis. In other words, as late as autumn 1917 almost all of Western Armenia was liberated by the Russian Imperial army, with the assistance of Caucasian Armenians of course. The Sun however was not to shine for us Armenians. Western powers (Anglo-American-German-Jews) succeeded in toppling the Russian Czar in October 1917. That tragic event not only decimated the Russian Empire, eventually causing the deaths of many millions of Russians, it also allowed Turks to finalize the genocide of Ottoman Armenians and erase the presence of Armenians from Western Armenia.

      Very little is understood about this period of time, which is one of the most important periods in our people's history. This lack of knowledge has caused us Armenians great damage, politically and culturally. In my opinion, our people's inability to properly understand/assess that time period has two fundamental reasons: 1) The real history does not fit the standard genocide narrative the Armenian lobby in the US is desperately trying to present to American officials in Washington. 2) The winners of wars, Anglo-American-Jews in this case, publish the books and produce the movies about history that go on to form public perception and opinion. Because Western influence is ubiquitous in the world, virtually everything we know about the past is therefore filtered through Western or rather Jewish political prism. Whether we realize it or not we are all in varying degrees victims of this. We need to make a deliberate/conscious effort to reprogram ourselves and relearn out history.

      Please read the section in this blog titled "We need to revisit their history books".

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  5. Barev Arevordi Jan,
    It’s been a while.
    I read you and wonder to myself where are we headed. Remember your first characterization of Nikol as neobolshevik, also that Artsakh is the primary target. You were spot on. I guess if one wants to know where is Armenia headed needs to look at current Georgia.
    God bless us.

    СССР. Империя наоборот. Армения | History Lab
    https://youtu.be/9CFZwodXSpQ

    This video above talks about soviet Armenia, I was struck by the fact that Armenia’s population has grown from 700,000 to 3.5 million within 70 years from 1918 to 1988. Along with other achievements (industrial, agricultural, science, culture and sports) we made huge progress. Than I thought what have we achieved in last 30 years as “free and proud independent” Armenia. What do we have to show. The answer is almost nothing. Logical conclusion is we need to reintegrate with Russia, that is the only way out. Otherwise we are headed to chaos and destruction.

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    1. Welcome back to you as well, TK.
      It certainly has been a long while. I hope all is well with you and your family.

      Interesting you brought up the topic of Soviet Armenia. My next blog commentary will focus mainly on what we Armenians had during Armenia's Russian and Soviet periods, and what "independent" Armenia has been lavishing us with during the past 30 years. As I always say, we went from Aram Khachatryan to Aram Asatryan. We went from boom to bust practically overnight. We inherited world class industry and national institutions and we turned it into rust and dust in a few short years. In a few short years, we went from a highly industrialized and advanced republic with a well educated population to today's "goghakan" and "rabiz" nation that is increasingly looking like a Third World cesspool. We are one of those nations that allowed "street culture" to rise to prominence after the Soviet collapse. This is why Anglo-American-Jews have had it so easy in Armenia. Although most Armenians have blinders on (and continue suffering from a Western fetish as well as cognitive dissonance), the country is actually in a steep civilizational decline. The youth in Armenia today, a country that is desperately dependent on Russia for survival, speaks better English than Russia. In fact, due to social media, the youth primarily writes in Latin letters instead of Armenian or even in Cyrillic. I shudder to think how today's low-quality post-Soviet generation (the rap singing, hip hop dancing, selfie taking, hollywood loving, gap wearing youth) is going to represent Armenia on the world stage in the near future. We see the toxicity of this with the current government, members of which are mostly young idiots. That said, this matter has nothing to do with Nikol. He and his like are merely the by-products of Armenia's decline. This topic is very depressing when you give it some thought. What we see taking place in Armenia today is not what we wanted independence for. I, an erstwhile anti-Soviet/Russian activists in my youth, pray to see Armenia back fully within the Russian orbit within my lifetime. We as a people (culturally and genetically) may not be compatible with independence. A larger Russian presence - and role - in Armenia may be the country's only hope for survival in a nasty place like the south Caucasus.

      I was wrong. Ivan was right...

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  6. I think you guys will appreciate this

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/21/rogo-d21.html

    https://www.counter-currents.com/2013/03/stalin-the-enduring-legacy/

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    1. Thank you, Anonymous. Ironically, the first link seems to have come out within a day or two after I posted this commentary, which includes a revisionistic look at Joseph Stalin. I however am aware of the book associated with the second link. In fact, I have a copy. The book review for it by the self-avowed "White Nationalist" is interesting in that it reads like something I would have written.

      I don't know if you are new to this topic or not, but this subject matter was actually talked about by the general public throughout the Soviet Union. I remember my Soviet Armenian relatives talking in favor of Stalin and how he saved Russia and Armenia. Some however would badmouth him and blame him for the murders of prominent Armenians. I did not understand the former. How could anyone in my mind support such a ruthless killer. I therefore sympathized with the latter. I see things differently now, In any case, the 1920s and 1930s in the Soviet Union was a traumatic experience for all. Whether he deserved it or not, Stalin's name and face was associated with mass executions, abductions, disappearances and gulags. Very few therefore had the interest, the courage or the objectivity to look deep into the time period and try to understand why Stalin did what he did. I can't blame anyone for avoiding the topic because the fear and the trauma that the time period in question caused stained society and traumatized people enough to last a lifetime. In a nutshell: His supporters thought of him as a savior. His detractors thought of him an a demon. Both however had very little understanding of him and his time period not only because of the trauma I mentioned but also because after Stalin's death a lot about him was kept secret by his enemies for reasons we are only now beginning to better understand. There therefore was a void in knowledge. And it is this void that Stalin's main enemies, Anglo-American-Jews and Marxist-Internationalist-Trotskyites have exploited to spread propaganda against him.

      In my youth, I has heavily influenced by the ARF and the West. I therefore was extremely anti-Soviet and anti-Stalin for a long time. I saw the Soviet Union as an evil empire and I saw Stalin as a monster. And I saw my relatives who would praise him as hopelessly brainwashed Bolsheviks and traitors to Armenia. Only in recent years, around 15 or so years, did it slowly/gradually dawn on me that some things about the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin and the general the time period in question just did not add up.

      For example: Why was it that Marxist-Internationalist-Trotskyites (today's Globalists) were seeding the entire world, the Western world in particular, with their unholy tenets of ultra-liberalism, militant-feminism, modern arts, open borders, multiculturalism, anti-nationalism, class warfare, virulent anti-Christianity - yet their spawn, the Soviet Union, was mostly conservative, mostly patriarchal, mostly classical, mostly nationalistic and the Christian churches were not all eradicated? Similarly, why was it that the same Marxist-Internationalist-Trotskyites that spawned the Soviet Union hated Stalin and seemed to conspire against the Soviet Union?

      What triggered me to begin looking deeper into this subject matter were news report about 20 years ago confirming that Stalin was indeed poisoned to death. I had heard rumors in my youth that Stalin was killed by elements in the Soviet Union but I thought they were lies. Then I began researching Marxist-Internationalism and Trotsky. Then I began researching Stalin's purges. Then I began taking a closer look around me, and that's when the fog (the fog of time and Western propaganda) gradually began lifting.

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    2. We today, far removed from Stalin's ruthless NKVD and the purges, have the ability of hindsight and luxury of open archives to look back and assess things rationally and objectively. Ultimately, this conversation about Stalin is not about right or wrong, or good or bad, this conversation is about survival of the fittest, it's about the preservation of a civilization by all means necessary, and it's about the lesser of evils. Stalin's henchmen may have been sadistic, Stalin's enemies however were worst.

      I am not saying that the man was a warrior saint, but I no longer think he was evil or a madman, hellbent on destruction. At the end of the day, directly and/or indirectly, it does not matter from a historical perspective, Stalin's bloody purges did 6 things: 1) Expelled Marxists-Internationalists/Trotskyites from the Soviet Union during the 30 years Stalin was in power. 2) Saved what had remained of the Russian Empire. 3) Russified the Soviet Union. 4) Preserved an Armenian state. 5) Defeated Nazi Germany. 6) Made the Soviet Union a world power.

      Let's sober up and recall that Lenin's Bolsheviks in 1921 mutilated Armenia (ceded Armenian populated lands to Turks and Caucasian Tatars) and lumped the remaining territories of Armenia, along with Georgia and newly created Azerbaijan, into the "Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic". It was in 1936, during the height of Stalin's purges nonetheless, that Armenia was made into a separate Soviet Republic. I now fully understand my pro-Stalin relatives, most of whom unfortunately are no longer around.

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    3. Thank you Arevordi for the long response. I pulled those links from a Armenian facebook page. I knew you would find them interesting. To be frank I can't makeup my mind about a lot of this stuff for now. You are right we all are victims of mental conditioning whether we know it or not. I started reading the blog section you call we need to revisit history books. I find it overwhelming. Too much information with little to do with what we learned growing up. History and politics is not a black and white business. You couldn't be more right on that. With Stalin its very hard for me to see him in a good light knowing how many Armenians he was responsible for killing and imprisoning to death. Same time I see clearly what you are saying about him. The lesser evil makes sense to me and clearly a better man than Lenin and Trotsky. Stalin made the USSR into a world power, that did benefited Armenia's development. Not only me I think I am talking for most Armenians when I say we need to relearn our history or we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.

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    4. Whoa you guys are having a reunion party without me? LOL

      Welcome back to you arevordi.

      Love your comments about Kim but not so much about uncle Joe. Part of my family is from Leninakan gumri they had relatives taken to gulags for NO REASON just because some neighbors said something. For regular people politics is not important they just want to have good lives and feel safe. Soviet people started living well after the 1950s after Stalin died. I know what you are trying to say about him but it will go over heads of 99% of people just like that.

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  7. Happy to hear from you back again, though it has been a while since the blog was last updated. Anyways, my thoughts on the latest blog post:

    1) I find the whole 'let's allow Protestant and Catholic missionaries to proselytize to the Armenian population within the Ottoman Empire' a bit contradictory and at the same time confusing, since Christian proselytization was frowned upon within the Sublime Porte, though in this case it was forbidden to preach to Muslims about Christianity and it is also forbidden to expand further Christian missionary works within the Rum Millet, or I could be wrong about it. Furthermore, while it made a bit more sense that a Catholicized and Protestantized Armenian population would be more malleable to being relocated to the West while their ancient homelands would be open to Muslim colonization, it does sound a bit too much like what has happened to the MidEast lately, only this time no Christian refugees to take in.

    2) About the whole "rip down anything that was inherited by the former colonial master" scenario going on, it does remind me of this video clip about a Chinese man's frustration with conducting his business in an African country like the Congo:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPt9pGfpmS0

    "You neglected the things others have left you. What's more, you completely destroyed them." This is a quote that could easily apply to Armenia as it would to the Congo in terms of wrecking what the Soviets had left for them.

    3) When you said something about street culture, I'm guessing that it also includes modern flash mobs of people in Yerevan doing K-Pop style dances as well. The idea that Armenian culture itself may go on the decline because of things like modernism and school closures like the one in the article provided is also not surprising, given that the main globalist goal is to dilute and destroy all cultures.

    4) I know that this blog mainly focuses on Armenia's ups and downs in its relationship with Russia, but have you considered doing a blog on Armenia's relationships with nations like India, China and the rest of Asia? You've mentioned a bit about China in your earlier blogs a while ago, so I'm wondering if China has any small presence in Armenia, though Armenians may protest a lot if China is trying to make its presence known there.

    On a final note, I did mention a long time ago that America and Israel's relationship is like that of a husband and a wife, with Israel being the dominant wife and America being the whipped husband. I could also stress out that Armenia would also qualify as America's mistress, though a mistress that is abused a lot and is suffering from a difficult marriage with the husband named Russia.

    One other thing: what made Stalin turn against the Jews after WWII? I believe it may had something to do with the discovery of the secret documents that fell into Soviet hands after the war, and how those documents formed the basis of the Secret Archives of the Soviet Union. Stalin saw something he wasn't supposed to see, and the discovery of such forbidden knowledge is one of the key factors. If WWIII broke out today between NATO and Russia, one of the main goals that NATO would have would be to recover those secret archives that the Soviets 'recovered' from various Masonic lodges.

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/Cbxg3sngVURb/

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    1. Welcome back, Jerriko.

      As usual, your observations and questions are very intelligent.

      1) Exactly. Ottoman officials gave Western missionaries the freedom of operation to depopulate Western Armenia of its native inhabitants. The outrageous part here is that we idiots praise and applaud the in-effect ethnic cleansing work of these missionaries. As I say in my commentary, Western powers could have easily armed and supported us and helped us remain on our lands similar to what they did with other peoples. That obviously was not their plan. They simply wanted to "help" us by sending us to other countries, and Turks were more than happy to assist. It clearly was a move to de-Armenianize, so to speak, Western Armenia. As the article by that WASP named Jenkins (who's granddaughter is probably banging a nigga today, as our friend Sarkis would say) plainly states, giving land to Armenians was tantamount to giving it to Russians.

      2) This conversation, ultimately about the psychology that tore down everything the Soviet/Russians had left behind, can be long. To keep it as short as possible. I remember seeing an interview back in the late 1980s with independence activist in Armenia who's name I don't recall. In the interview, he more-or-less said: We have Jermuk (famous mineral water), Ararat Brandy and the Diaspora, we don't need anything Soviet/Russian. He in a nutshell described where the Armenian mindset was in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union was crumbling. In other words, and it's only obvious now in hindsight, he clearly was describing the political illiteracy and delirium we Armenians suffer from. Like barbarians we destroyed the magnificent heritage we had gotten from our Soviet/Russian period, thinking our silly products, the worthless Diaspora and being open to the toxic West was enough to help us build a better "future" for ourselves. I confess: I was one of those idiots in the 1990s.

      3) When I say "Street culture" I mean Armenian society's love affair with trashy Afro-American and Kurdo-Turkish mannerisms, television programming, movies, music and dance. In Soviet Armenia, Street culture remained where it belonged, on the streets. In post-Soviet Armenia, Street culture was elevated to representing national culture. Of course flash mobs and bucket challenges and selfies and Jeeps and Pizza Huts and transvestites and whores and homos, is part of it. I believe it's a by-product of Western social engineering which elevates/promotes society's lower classes.

      4) Unfortunately, I have a narrow geopolitical perspective. I can only look at countries like China, India and even Iran through a Russian-Armenian prism. As much as I would like to, in all honesty, I would not be able to put together a commentary on China or India that is longer than a paragraph or two.

      Regarding your last comment: Stalin actually turned against Organized Jewry soon after coming to power in the 1920s. His attention was diverted during the war with Germany. Afterward, it resumed, and that eventually led to his assassination. That said, he had many Jews on his side as well. So, even here it's not all that black and white. I watched the link you provided. It seems to be mostly neo-Nazi propaganda, mixed with a little bit of truth and a little bit of half-truth. As I said, Stalin turned against Marxist-Leninist-Internationalist-Trotskyites soon after he took power in the 1920s, not after the Second World War. The information provided about the archives and Stalin is just conjecture/supposition. Unless there is hard evidence I am not aware of, it could very well be a result of wishful thinking. Read the two book reviews about Stalin posted above. They reveal the real legacy of Stalin. As I say in my commentary, we don't know if he did it intentionally or not, but what he did ended up expelling Marxists-Internationalists from the Soviet Union, Russified Communism and preserved Russian hegemony in Eurasia.

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    2. Thanks for the compliment, Arevordi. Things have also changed a lot within the last few years.

      1) It does sound like the West and the Ottoman Empire are colluding to implement their own "Final Solution to the Armenian Question" in such a way that not even the various Balkan Christians would have been subjected to. Even at the height of the anti-Serbian demonisation of the 1990s, or for that matter, the turmoil in the Balkans during the 1870s, the Ottomans didn't even pull off the same trick with the Balkan Christians living under their rule. Granted that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is practically a Turkish servant at that point, but you didn't see Protestant and Catholic missionaries trying to convert Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians and Serbs in order to create a climate suitable to supplant them from their native homelands and giving it to Muslims (although the two Great Serbian Migrations that occurred a while ago also resulted in the demographics of Kosovo being tilted towards Albanians).

      2) Yeah, and I can also say the same thing with the whole "decolonization" craze going on in the West as well, especially nations that are created from European colonialism. I am thinking that Armenia's population there are associating the Russian rule period with something bad and the West as being good.

      3) Turkish soap operas are also becoming addictive in the lands formerly controlled by the Ottomans, so I would suspect that Kurdish-Turkish mannerisms would have been common in the Balkans as well. It's a shame that modern Armenian culture is being degraded to the point of no return.

      The documents that I did mention constituted the modern Secret Archives of the Soviet Union. However, the search in google is difficult, considering that they don't want it to be discovered.

      One additional note: I've become aware of TruNews, which is a different kind of Evangelical Christian channel that has become more critical of Zionists and anything related to the decline of the West. In addition, even some younger people in the West are now questioning the brainwashing that they've received from these cultural oligarchs and are among the ones who are pushing back against certain forms of degeneracies. There is one guy by the name of E Michael Jones who gives excellent interviews about the decline of Western civilization from a Catholic perspective, and he's written books about it. Some younger people are influenced by his writings that they've asked one of these questions like "how is anal sex going to win the culture war?".

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    3. Thank you for bringing up Michael Jones.

      No discussion about American domestic politics or American policy on Middle East is complete without acknowledging the immense role played by Organized Jewry and their bastardized offspring in the United States known as "Christian Zionism". The following link is to an brilliant interview by a conservative Catholic E Michael Jones. The discussion is basically about Jewish control and influence in the United States and why American civilization is in decline today. Towards the end of his interview Dr. Jones somewhat enthusiastically says: "God has appointed Donald Trump to bring about the end of the American empire". And then goes on to add: "the whole world is sick to death of the chaos that has been created by the Ang[lo]-American-Israeli empire with their endless wars". The only thing I would add to Dr. Jone's lucid comment in this regard is that God's other "appointee" or rather instrument is the great president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. I ask everyone reading this to please invest an hour of your time and watch/listen to this excellent interview in full -

      E. Michael Jones: The Deception Facing the Church by Christian Zionism
      https://culturewars.com/videos/the-deception-facing-the-church-by-christian-zionism-wtrunews

      And here is a little sampling of the Demonic Christian-Zionist mindset -

      Pat Robertson: Trump Will Lose His ‘Mandate of Heaven’ if He Pulls Out of Syria
      https://www.thedailybeast.com/pat-robertson-trump-will-lose-his-mandate-of-heaven-if-he-pulls-out-of-

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    4. Jenkins' people are getting what they deserve, and it's only going to get better.

      Grooming ‘epidemic’ as almost 19,000 children identified as sexual exploitation victims in England
      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grooming-child-sex-abuse-exploitation-rotherham-rochdale-police-a9215261.html

      Delete
  8. The way the situation in Armenia is described, too sad, it resembles a " Weimar " ( culturally decadent, degenerate and prostrate) like scenario. It is patently clear that a house cleansing is most urgently called for.For a thorough sanitation process on the cultural, social, ethnically, educational platforms ,a leadership caste of the highest virtues, intelligence, and nationalist template is required. It seems that there is an abysmal dearth in that department. Maybe it's Russia's time to bring Armenia back into line. Like a parent admonishes a wayward child.The current regime needs to be erased from the political map, and the Russophobes flushed out of the country.Exiled them to USA,UK,Israel,to their spiritual "Pharisee homes". The time for compromises and democratic platitudinous flim flam is over. Their continued hold onto government and political scenario can be ill afforded. When an intellectual lilliputian character is given ample air time on Tv. screens ( this Sifilian ) to regurgitate his crackpot politics( maybe he is not demented but a veritable traitor in the payroll of the all controlling Judaic Sanhedrin- CIA etc),it signals the country's downward spiral; irreparable social, political and economical damage is the attending consequence. aaa

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  9. Good to see old friends posting again. I'm enjoying the new commentary and embedded links, not finished reading yet. Some headlines:

    Արթուր Վանեցյանն այսօր ակնարկել է, որ Լարիսա Մինասյանը փորձել է կազմաքանդել և դեմորալիզացնել ՀՀ բանակը
    https://blog.168.am/blog/251101.html

    Took me a second to translate "demoralize." Vanetsyan seems like a decent political figure. Larisa Minasyan looks like a caricature of the "triggered feminist" meme, what a disgusting ugly woman. The attempts to undermine the Armenian Army have been going on for decades, its reminiscent of reading about how the Germans were stabbed in the back during World War 1, even though they were absolutely winning the war.

    ***

    Politician: Authorities should not talk about rights of three peoples in Karabakh conflict settlement
    https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/118941/

    How progressive, the Pashinyan regime now wants to discuss "the Azerbaijani community of Karabakh!" That is some advanced LTP-ism being applied. I guess the next step would be for Pashinyan to talk about the "Khankendi and Irevan Azeri communities. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the last time these types gout out of hand a former ARF member stormed the Parliament and a national tragedy ensued.

    ***

    Սորոսական պատգամավոր Սոնա Ղազարյանը պայքարում է նորմալ ուսուցիչների դեմ
    https://www.facebook.com/VETOArmenia/videos/2643090992581413/

    To change any society, target the women and the children. "We have a lot of work to do" because teachers in Shirak tell young women to behave modestly says one of Pashinyan's parliamentarians. The Pashinyan regime is on a mission to get Armenian women into degrade themselves and behave like western women. Might as well give Kim Kardashian an official government position, or create a department to connect young Armenian girls to porn recruiting offices in the San Fernando Valley. Disgusting.

    ***

    Meet the 31-Year-Old Founder of Teach For Armenia
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/camianderson1/2019/11/05/meet-the-31-year-old-founder-of-teach-for-armenia/amp/

    Of course this woman waxes on about "racism and discrimination I faced as a woman in Russia." Victim mentality in general is already a huge problem for Armenians, especially the genocide-obsessed diaspora. This "Armenians as victims alongside Jews, African-Americans, North Caucasian Islamists, Albanian Kosovars, Srebrenica Muslims, Hong-Kong rioters, Trump's child detainees, etc." type victim mentality being pushed by western agents, which is usually linked to anti-Russian propaganda, is even more dangerous and destructive psychologically. Peoples who see themselves as victims spend their energy wallowing in self-pity and begging others to recognize their pain, instead of being productive in nation-building.

    ***

    Armenia Visa Marriage and Business
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdeEDlDZxbo

    Someone posted this youtube video. It appears to be advertising Armenian visas and promises of Armenian whores to Pakistanis. Look at the recommended videos in the sidebar, they are all promoting Indo-Paki migration into Armenia. This is an absolute disaster, and its only a matter of time before one of these animals causes a rape and/or riots. Who is organizing this shit?

    ***

    On a positive note, there are many positive and historic developments coming out of Russia:

    WATCH Russian military police secure yet another abandoned US outpost in Syria

    https://www.rt.com/news/476838-russia-us-military-outpost-syria/

    The flag raising video reminded me of this classic:

    American flag in Georgia:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-SgO-k-hGQ

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  10. Hi Arevordi:
    I'm glad to see you back and back with a vengeance.. it must be said.
    and look forward to reading this piece entirely.

    My view on the anglo zionist/Turkish relationship is a bit different then yours because it appears to me the Usrael empire is intent on remaking the entire region. Including Turkey. Erdogan's resistance to this is what's caused all the discord....
    I shall continue to read and do wish you all the best in the coming new year :)

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    Replies
    1. Welcome back to you as well, Penny.
      I hope your proselytizing is going well :)

      Regarding Turkey, I don't see where our take differs so much. Yes, obviously, Anglo-American-Jews are doing their best to remake the region. I spoke a lot about this matter in previous blog commentaries. But I don' think Turkey is on the chopping block, so to speak. That would make absolutely no sense from a Western perspective.

      This is what I am saying: Anglo-American-Jews will NOT try to destroy or break-apart the Turkish state. However, with that being said, this does NOT mean the West is not trying to curb/restrain or downsize Turkish power/influence in the region. Let's remember that regardless of who it is, when it gets to big, it has to be cut down. The basic/primary agenda of the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance is to preserve their position as the world's top predator. They want to secure their top position on the global food-chain. Ultimately, this requires NOT allowing upstarts (whoever it may be, even their allies) to get too ambitious or too large. Don't forget, generally speaking, failed/dependent states that are easily controlled is what the Anglo-American-Jewish system desires. Even with friends (Turkey, Germany, Italy, Japan, Colombia, Egypt, etc), they would not want too see too much independence, too much prosperity and too much political ambition. They will therefore periodically use their economies, their banks and/or their secret services (sometimes their militaries) to downsize such "friendly" powers as a preventative measure to secure their global hegemony.

      In my opinion, this is what's happening today with Turkey. In a nutshell: Turkey got too big, too wealthy, too powerful, too influential and, more importantly, too ambitious under Erdogan. Signs of Turkey's growing power, influence and ambition goes back to the early 2000s. Even going back to the 1990s, Western intelligence and therefore policymakers must have known he was an independent-minded, Islamist with neo-Ottoman tendencies. Therefore, when Erdogan rose to power in a largely secular, largely pro-West Turkey - where large numbers of very wealthy Jews still held great sway - it must have set-off alarm bells in places like Washington, London and Tel Aviv. Seeing the neo-Ottoman/Islamist trends in Ankara's policies slowly developing at the time under Erdogan's government, that is when Anglo-American-Jews began propping up Iraqi Kurds, with whom they already had ties through intelligence services, as a hedge against Turkish grow/expansion.

      All this means Anglo-American-Jews will try to rein in Erdogan and curb Ankara's regional ambitions. But, again, this does not mean they will be undermining the Turkish state to any significant degree. They will not try to destroy the Turkish state. That is just not going to happen. As long as Anglo-American-Jews have issues with Russians and Iranians, and they fear the rise of pan-Arab nationalism, Turkey will continue figuring large with policymakers in the Anglo-American-Jewish world. So, if you really think that Anglo-American-Jews intend to destroy Turkey (there is absolutely no sign of it, in fact signs point to appeasement), I guess that is where we will agree to disagree.

      Regarding the content of this blog, it's primary target is Armenians in North America and Western Europe. So, the subject matter covered may not mean much to you. At the risk of sounding pompous, however, I think there is still a lot of pertinent information in the commentaries I produce for all nationalities. You can just filter-out the Armenia-specific content and basically read between-the-lines to be able to derive information that may appeal to you.

      Thank you as always for your support.

      Delete
  11. Wow, almost 4 hours of reading on my flight back home from the east coast, and I still didn't get done. While I agree with the overall message, I consider your take on the Armenian genocide resolutions, to put it mildly, insincere. First of all, these were "official" recognitions by the 2 houses. Secondly, "the highest office of the land" recognized the genocide under president Ronald Reagan in the form of an official presidential proclamation. Your argument that this is "non-binding" is rather silly. Is Russia's recognition (which I believe was only done by the lower house?) a "binding resolution"? Did Russian recognition equate to demands for the return of lands? did any other nations? My point is, stop being silly and insincere. Instead, commend what happened in DC as something good. Secondly, what good is it? the good is that, when a crime goes unpunished, the likelihood of its reoccurrence is rather high. The "good" is that yet another country is on record as calling them out for their past crimes, writing them up, putting them on notice, and in a way acts as a restraint jacket. In other words, the matter of the international recognition of the genocide is not a matter of getting lands or getting reparations, it is first and foremost a matter of national security and a deterrent against Turkish destruction of the last remaining plot of land we hold and all its inhabitants. Turks are not "Anatolian". Turks are an Altaic people. We agree with the rest of your assessments and analysis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous,

      Regarding the resolutions, read carefully what I said. Even if the "recognitions" meant anything (which they do not) what good are they? Similarly, what good was Regan's supposed "recognition"? When was that, 40 years ago? Have you seen any official American delegations at the genocide memorial during the last 40 years? What did Reagan's "recognition" do for you other than make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Have you seen any mainstream television programming identifying the said event as a genocide? Where there any high ranking officials from the US at the 100th centennial of the genocide? Is Turkey being punished for the genocide? LOL

      Unlike you, I am not into fluff and feel good rhetoric.

      Regarding Russia: Official delegations from Russia regularly visit the genocide memorial complex to pay their respects. Russian television has not been shy about using the "G" word. And Putin the Great himself was at the centennial. All this, despite the fact that Russia VERY lucrative relations with Ankara. What's Uncle Sam's excuse again for not recognize the genocide at least the way Russians do? Besides, it is not Russia but the US that is the "moral authority" all Armenians like you look up to. No? As I say in my commentary, I still don't expect to see any high ranking American officials at the memorial complex. And if you think silly resolutions like this will act as "restraint jackets", you know nothing about politics and you have learned nothing from history books. In fact, at its core, the resolutions had nothing to do with Armenians per se.

      Anyway, this is a silly conversation. The nonbinding "resolution" is tantamount to Americans blowing smoke up our asses. If you are happy with that, good for you!!! But that does not say much about your intellect or self-respect.

      Regarding the Turkish nation: This is another silly conversation. Turks may speak a "Altaic" language, genetically however they are much closer to us Armenians and Greeks than to any Asian people. Look up some of their genetic studies. Turks are somewhere between 80% and 90% Anatolian. The Asiatic component in their DNA is probably less than 10%. Actually, forget genetic studies. When you com across a Turk, just open your eyes. Do you see someone that looks Mongolian or someone that looks like one of your relatives? Like I said, this is a silly conversation. Turks are for the most part assimilated Anatolian Byzantines. Just like Hungarians who are 90% native Europeans but speak an Asian language, Turks similarly are 90% native Anatolian but speak an Asiatic language.

      Continue reading. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain...

      Delete
    2. Arvordi, you are a severely psychologically disturbed man. Be man enough to show your face, you coward. You certainly talk tough. Stand behind your words and show your face--we're not asking you to fight on a battlefield. COWARD You cannot demoralize a people with constant bashing, otherwise you won't have a people anymore that are anchored. You will never hear this type of self loathing from Turks, Iranians or Russians as we do on this blog. Constructive Criticism is important, sadistic western character self hatred, is something that can destroy the nation and people from within. Armenians are an ancient people with a history that is really un-matched by any nation. We fought the first tyrants in history being the Assyrians during the Kingdom of Van. You cannot expect people to respect your mother if you yourself do not respect her. Always remember that. It is a shame, because much of what is said on this blog is so on-point and important but when it gets to the constant Armenia bashing contest, we do it like no other nation other than the self loathing liberal whites of the west who hate being white. Are you sure that is the angle you want to take her Arevordi? very dangerous indeed, some would you say you are even achieving the bidding of our enemies. In any case, do not destroy what good you do here; instead inspire the people, using examples of our faults on how to improve--but do not demoralize people. You've got a twisted mind and are rather manipulative. In fact, you remind of my ex. (she was co-morbid npd/bpd-the same traits are astonishing). Let me put it into simple terms for you: what happened in DC was a good thing. What Russia's lower house did with it's non-binding acknowledgment of the genocide was also a good thing. Both acts, in and of themselves, and independent of anything else, are good, and both are praiseworthy. Simple enough? Russia's non-binding, lower house recognition did not call for lands or reparations either, but it would be rather silly to expect that, now wouldn't it? Global recognition is a matter of national security. It's a deterrence factor. Ask Israel about the significance of such recognitions. The DC resolutions even had an effect in deterring the Turkish onslaught against kurds in syria with the Americans out of the picture, as well! Recognition of a nation's territorial integrity is no guarantee against invasion either, but it certainly helps! As far as Turkish "genetics" the "way they look", is that a serious question? Sure, when the Seljuk invaders arrived, they looked no different from their Chinese/Uyghur brethren in their native Central Asia. So you mean to tell me you've forgotten all about the forced conversions, the rapes, the pillages, the devshirme, the janisarries, etc.. that made them look the way they do? none of that changes their core DNA, and it doesn't make them "Anatolian". What they are is squatters from central asia, with central Asian genetics, who acquired Armenian, greek, Assyrian, Persian, and other Christian DNA thru force. in no way does that change their core dna and genetics, and it certainly hasn't made them more civilized either.

      Delete
    3. This is Vanetsi...

      I agree with the post above regarding demoralization. There is an outlet amongst serbs called the 'serbijaglobal' group that have invigorated the entire serbian people to patriotism. They did not achieve that, by bashing the people. Imagine having a father tell you from a young age you come from a long line of dead-beats, you're not going to really extract any results from that son, unless he is a truly exceptional individual and doesn't need grooming to get ahead. We have faults, as do all peoples--we should concentrate on faults by highlighting the times we did things right, which are many, might i add. Put the early Kievan Rus people in the Armenian Highland at the same time we got started in history as a unified people circa 900 B.C., the Kievan Rus will likely be an assimilated people of Iran or Turkey. Name me an Anatolian people or an ancient Caucasian people that have remained intact under the same identity as we Armenians have done? There is none. The way we garner results is highlight the good, and continuously scold the bad. We do not, demoralize the people to the point where we believe there is no hope. You must change your approach and tactic, maybe learn from those you speak of. Iranians, Turks and Russians never ever talk negatively of themselves as you are doing; liberal whites of the west do.

      Delete
    4. I have said this before, I'll say it again: For your sake, I really hope you are a teenager because your take on political and historical matters are very cartoonish, bordering on delirium, bordering on a nasty fetish with me. Get back to me after you are done with playing with toy soldiers and reading fairytales...

      Delete
  12. Iran Quds Force commander killed in strike on convoy at Baghdad Airport – reports
    https://www.rt.com/news/477353-iran-quds-commander-killed-strike/

    If these reports now coming out prove accurate, this is a very big development. Qassem Soleimani was a living legend in Iran, and one of the masterminds behind the hybrid war Tehran is waging against Anglo-American-Jews and Saudis throughout the Middle East. I don't see how Tehran will not respond to this provocation with force. Someone, somewhere wants to draw Iran into a war. It's obvious who. President Trump may or many not have ordered this killing. Israelis and Saudis also wanted Soleimani dead. The big question here is: If Tehran retaliates with force, and things do get out of hand, is President Trump willing to start a major war that can have worst repercussion for all involved than the wars fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya combined... just to appease Israelis/Jews and Saudi Arabians?!

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    1. The fact that the 'West' declared the 'war against antisemitism' at the same time is ominous.

      Delete
    2. Horrible development. Orange Man has always talked big then walked it back, now the pressure will be on. Especially with the impeachment and election nonsense . . . Iran has plenty of options to retaliate against US and Israeli positions in their region.

      Delete
    3. Stupidity at the finest. I don't think anyone has really thought this out fully. Unless of course they are desperate for a war with Iran now. Iran does have many options but what they will do and how is going be coming up sooner or later. However there are local players that will take action if Iran grants the action or not.

      Delete
    4. According to the Pentagon, it's the Orange Man.

      No reason to believe it could not have been him. He is afterall beholden to Right Wing Jews, and to a lesser degree to Saudis. Let's how Tehran will now respond to this provocation. I know Anglo-American-Jews and Saudis have been itching for a war with Iran for a very long time, but I also know that Iran is a foe unlike any others they have had in a very long time. This is why Trump and other before him have been very careful with Iran. Perhaps the calculus has changed. As I said in my blog commentary, I hope the US pull-out from northern Syria was not simply a redeployment of forces in preparation of a major war against Iran. I hope the Cowboys in the Pentagon have really thought this matter through because this can get very ugly very fast for all involved.

      If I was Tehran, I would not overreact over this. Similar to how Moscow took the sucker-punch by the Turkish air force several years ago and instead of retaliating (which would have diverted its attention from Syria and perhaps gotten itself into a war with NATO) it used the incident to its advantage to forcefully push forward its agenda in Syria, I hope to see Tehran take this hit and simply continue developing its Shiite Arc. Tehran may use its proxies to hit back. In any case, knee-jerk reactions, emotions and revenge for the sake of revenge has no place in politics. Smart nations do not get incited into war, they chose the time and place of their battles. I have confidence in Official Tehran's political wisdom and foresight.

      Pentagon says Trump ‘directed’ assassination of Iran’s Quds Force chief Soleimani to ‘deter future Iranian attacks’
      https://www.rt.com/news/477354-pentagon-confirms-soleimani-killing/

      ‘Act of international terrorism’: Iran vows ‘vigorous revenge’ on US after Quds Force chief killed in US airstrike
      https://www.rt.com/news/477355-iran-international-terrorism-us-strike/

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    5. Arevordi, the problem with Russia taking the sucker punch is that it was a pilot. This is THE General of Iran. This is nothing that any country can walk way from. And maybe the reason this was done was because they wanted war! There is no other reason to believe the US is this stupid to think they would just walk away and do nothing! If they are this stupid for some reason then god help us!

      Delete
    6. Vahram, I am just as upset over this as you are. But, emotions and knee-jerk reactions have no place in politics. I hope Tehran is smart enough (and I believe it is) to chose the time and place of its battles. What Moscow endured for its military intervention in Syria was as tragic as it was spectacular. If you recall, it was not just the downing of the SU-24 and the execution of the pilot. It was also the blowing-up of the Russian airliner over Egypt that took around 200 lives, the on-air assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, and perhaps (it was not proven) the downing of the Russian airplane carrying the Red Army Band on Christmas. Moscow took all these very painful hits and remained focused on the agenda in Syria. That patience and foresight is why the Kremlin today is enjoying unprecedented success from Ankara to Riyadh. That's statecraft. Now, regarding Iran, if Anglo-American-Jews and their Saudi partners have set a war-trap for Tehran, why should Iranians fall for it? As I said, Tehran has plenty of proxies throughout the region, it it wants to retaliate at a time and place of its choosing. What Tehran should NOT do however is divert its attention from further developing and straightening the Iranian Arc...

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    7. The valley and oceans between Moscow and Iran and the level of the assault are not the same. What Moscow lost with constant poking was a hit, yes but hits that could be absorbed. Even with that Moscow took a big hit with Arabs questioning Moscow's abilities. Iran can't afford this hit and I believe this was known. The US sent out a message to all Americans to make sure they had a will filled out. Why would they do that if they were not expecting a response. Yea the rest is up to Iran but someone is doing the poking because they want this, or they have no idea because of hubris! Either case is not good!

      Vahram

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    8. You are absolutely correct Arevordi, their is no room in geopolitics for reactionary behavior based on raw emotion. This is such a serious escalation for Iran, a great public humiliation, so the interaction between the leadership in Tehran and the Iranian population at large will be interesting to observe. Internal tensions have been building up over economic woes and other social discontent for months/years now, but I suspect that like all truly patriotic peoples (Chinese, Turks, Russians, and NOT Armenians) Persians will rally around their flag, state, and leadership and come out stronger and more unified. That's bad news for Iran's enemies.

      No doubt America and Israel are trying to push Iran into a war, they are openly bombing Iranian officials and bragging about it. The best retaliation would be to deny them the war they so obviously want, just let the proxies pull off some revenge actions . . . Still, this is quite a serious blow and an unwelcome way to kick off the new decade.

      Needless to say the evangelicals are the lowest scum in the world.

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    9. This is wishful thinking. This is as bad as shooting the Arch Duke! This isn't some guy! This is a huge blow and it does not matter what so and so thought would lead to. This is how World Wars begin. You guys need to go the live Aljazeera they are the Iranian on and even the professors are calling for revenge.

      That is all good you guys are calm, you are asking them to be calm. They are look at this like this is the gravest of violations. and it is no skirting around this. Also some of them have stated that this is an act of war!

      Delete
    10. Sarkis, if you actually visited Armenia you'd know that Armenians are patriotic. However, since you reside in CA you may not get that sense as much. That's a shame.

      Delete
    11. Indeed, evangelicals are quite sinister in their dedication to Christian Zionism. On the other hand, was it Solimani that had a factor in creating a climate suitable for closer relations between Russia and Iran? I would think that maybe it's not only Israel and Saudi Arabia that is nervous at the prospect of a closer "Moscow-Tehran Axis", but even Erdogan would balk at such a thing. Unlike the Russo-Turkish Wars that happened, Russia and Iran/Persia only fought five times, the first one being a Persian Safavid victory and the rest were all Russian victories. Russia and Iran are also natural allies too against Turkey, and if I may borrow another comparison that I made in the past, Persia/Iran is more of the wife to Russia the husband than Armenia the proverbial wife.

      Delete
    12. Turkish parliament backs govt plan to send troops to Libya in emergency session
      https://www.rt.com/news/477317-turkish-parliament-libya-troops/

      I was about to sign off for the night, but I remembered the above development. It's good to see Turkey stretching itself a bit thinner, getting involved in hostile, war torn lands relatively far from its borders. All of this is happening on the same day. Things are getting hotter.

      @Zorab
      I can observe from California that Armenians give Soros Ter-Pashinyan a fucking 75+% approval rating. I can observe Armenians fantasizing about joining the EU even as patriotic Europeans are turning to right-wing EU skeptics and EU exit parties to get away from the demonic nation destruction that the technocrat scum are sowing across the continent. I can observe Armenians collectively having an orgasm that the criminals in the US Senate -the same criminals which are ut to destroy Armenia's allies in Russia, Iran, and even Syria- have finally blessed the Armenian Genocide with their official recognition... Go post feel good fluff elsewhere bro. If Armenians were patriotic Armenia would not be in constant existential danger.

      @Vahram, calm down a bit. It's one general killed outside of Iranian territory, in an active warzone. It's not uncommon; Iran is a sophisticated nation state with actual military institutions, not a roving tribe of Central Asian warlords.

      Delete
    13. Zorab/Anonymous, I suggest you don't derail this thread with what Sarkis said in passing. For what it's worth, I agree with him on this matter. Iranians, Turks and Russians are immeasurably more patriotic and more religious/conservative than Armenians. In the big picture, that is why they are major powers and we are not. Moreover, not only are they more patriotic, they are also immeasurably more aggressive, proactive and sophisticated in their patriotism. Generally speaking, Armenians like to recite ancient stories, boast and drink toasts as an expression of patriotism. What Armenians have is "pride", not nationalism. Pride is selfish, nationalism is selfless. Armenians are not a selfless people. Let's not even bring up Arstakh. The almost ten million strong Diaspora was only able to send several dozen volunteers (mostly ARF-ers) during the war. And Armenians waiting in-line for visas in front of the American embassy was always longer than lines of Armenians wanting to go to war against Azeris. Artsakh was liberated mostly by Artsakhtsis, albeit with considerable help from Armenia. The point is, a majority of Armenians were dreaming about sunny California in the early 1990s. In any case, as I say in my commentaries, the generation that liberated Artsakh is almost gone today. What we have today are Rap singing, Hip Hop dancing, Selfie taking idiots with Western fetishes. And the Diaspora is even worst. It's in fact a graveyard. Anyway, if you spent a little time in Armenia you would know all this. And if you are a native Armenian, then you are simply in denial. What I am saying is not self-hate, it's self-reflection out of love. Post-Soviet Armenia has proved to all who have a normally functioning brain and eyes and ears that Armenians as a people are deeply flawed. We need to recognize our flaws/faults in order to work on them. Too often we are so busy patting ourselves on the shoulder that we forget to take a long hard look in the mirror and recognize that Armenia has been the way it has been because of our people's incompetence and backwardness.

      Get back on topic please...

      Delete
    14. Arevordi, you have a rosy picture of these other ethnic groups. That doesn't mean that they are not patriotic but it is a moot point to discuss which group is more or less patriotic because it is subjective. Again I disagree with you and Sarkis. That said, I'll take my leave. Armenia bashing is not my cup of tea. Cheers!

      Delete
  13. Last few years, it's been Iran that has been bitch slapping its foes on a regular basis. It was just caught with its guards down, and this happened. It's still too early to know exactly what happened. President Trump may have been coerced into this act. Or, as I theorized three years ago, his presidency's main goal may still be to start a war against Iran to appease his Right Wing Jewish supporters. The following were my thoughts back then -

    Is the Trump administration trying to drive a wedge between Russia, China and Iran? https://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/2017/02/trump-administration-trying-to-drive.html

    More recently, however, I began changing my mind about this matter. I was beginning to feel that plans for an imminent war may have been taken off the table, if only for now. I felt this not because I no longer thought Anglo-American-Jews wanted a war with Iran but because I figured Trump is too vested in his "America First" slogan, just ahead of an election nonetheless, to start another war and this time with a much stronger foe. Iran is a foe unlike they have seen in a very long time. Iran has been rapidly growing in military power and political influence from Lebanon to Afghanistan. Iran has many proxies throughout the region and they are well trained in hybrid warfare. Iran can therefore inflict great pain on US troops based in the region, on Israel and on Saudi Arabia. And if need be Iran can also close the Straits of Hormuz. Either the calculus in Washington has changed (i.e. they have figured out a way to hurt Iran and minimize their risk) or, as I said above, Trump could have been forced into this major provocation by warmongers - both White Trash and Jewish - he has surrounded himself with.

    I hope my fear about Trump's recent retreat from Syria - that the troop pullout from northern Syria may have actually been a troop redeployment in preparation of a major war with Iran - does not come true. I still want to believe Trump will seek ways to deescalate tensions and continue his "America First" isolationistic policies. My fear however is that my hopes for Trump will be shattered by the warmongers that surrounding him.

    I hope to see Tehran take a step back, think about what happened and derive some lessons. General Soleimani should not have been that exposed knowing well that Iran's foes controlled the skies and in a hot zone nonetheless. Iranians, like Russians, thought sound political reasoning/rational governs Uncle Sam. I want to remind everyone that Uncle Sam is a genocidal war criminal and a lawless Cowboy who's politics is closer to Poker than Chess. As I said, I hope Tehran will learn lessons from this and does not over-respond. I rather Tehran continue growing and strengthening it's military/political presence from Lebanon to Afghanistan. I rather see Tehran speed up the process to join the EEU. I rather see Tehran continue developing its nuclear capability. The aforementioned is essentially what the Anglo-American-Jews and their Islamist/terrorist friends are worried about - which is why they seem to be trying hard to distract Tehran's attention. I hope Iranians don't take the bait.

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    Replies

    1. Gabbard slams Soleimani airstrike
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1cOUisJKoE

      Tucker: Top Iranian general killed in US air strike on Baghdad
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sthVmGSFwhQ

      Trump takes massive gamble with killing of Iranian commander
      https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/02/soleimani-trump-iran-iraq-093102

      'Everything the Trump administration has done has escalated Iran situation'
      https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/476659-analyst-everything-the-trump-administration-has-done-has-escalated-iran-situation

      Russia Unlikely to Stay Neutral if U.S. and Iran Go to War
      https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/05/28/russia-unlikely-to-stay-neutral-if-us-and-iran-go-to-war-a65771

      Russian Senator Calls U.S. Killing of Top Iranian General ‘Worst Case Scenario,’ Expects New U.S.-Iran Clashes
      https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/03/russian-senator-calls-us-killing-of-top-iranian-general-worst-case-scenario-expects-new-us-iran-clashes-a68805 Military-

      Iraqi militant killed by US worked with Iran for decades
      https://apnews.com/7c75c5067d0acb8857e52d98e17dbe97

      Intellectual Complex Looks Forward to More War in 2020
      https://reason.com/2020/01/02/military-intellectual-complex-expects-more-war-in-2020/

      Delete
    2. Kudos to Tucker for coming out once again in defense of sanity, on Fox News no less! I can only imagine the type of abuse he faces from the cockroaches scurrying around their HQ.

      Orange Man seems to be trying to deescalate with this almost nonsensical tweet: "Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!" https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213078681750573056

      As expected, Tehran's response has been measured but powerful, and its diplomacy stellar:

      https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1213092855088062465
      https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1212946202280579073

      Honestly General Soleimani's death reminds me of when the Azeris shot down the Armenian helicopter that decided to fly in a formation of two right up to the line of contact for no essential reason - it was as much our fault for letting our guard down (or actually being totally reckless) and exposing ourselves to unnecessary risk as it was the fault of the barbaric, bloodthirsty war-mongers.

      Needless to say, overhearing random colleagues and strangers comment on these developments these past 24 hours leaves pretty much ZERO hope for the future of the United States.

      Delete
    3. Indeed, Iran is powerful: It has powerful proxies that can conduct hybrid wars. It can close the straights of Hormuz. It can launch missile and drone strikes against Israel, Saudi Arabia and US bases across the region etc. etc. etc.

      But the main reason US presidents never embarked on a major war against Iran is the following:

      The USA can certainly defeat and destroy Iran in an all out non-nuclear war, but not with the existing assets it has deployed in the area. The Pentagon will have to move the majority of its armies and fleets and position them in the Middle-East... Hence emptying whole theaters from US forces. Will China see that as its chance to retake Taiwan? What opportunity will the Russians seize when the US is deeply immersed in a war with Iran? ... This is not 1991 when the Soviet Union had just collapsed and China was nowhere in sight...

      Never mind their hawkish rhetoric, the Pentagon generals have always advised US presidents (Trump, Obama, Bush) against all out wars against Iran.

      On many occasions, the US itself got itself bitch slapped by Iran. Most recently when their $200 million dollar UAV was shot down. The US leadership played cool, did not overreact and waited for the opportunity to return the favor to Iran. I expect the Iranian Leadership to behave the same way. This is not a school yard conflict between children.

      Delete
    4. Zoravar,

      The only thing Anglo-American-Jews can do is mercilessly bomb Iran. Regardless of how much more powerful they are militarily, they will never be able to invade Iran with ground forces. Ground wars are a different animal. They have the technology and the military assets to hit many targets from afar. That is the only thing they can do. And Tehran will no doubt respond. Tehran has he means to severely hurt its foes. So, are Anglo-American-Jews ready to suffer consequences? That is the question.

      Push comes to shove, US military presence throughout the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia will suffer badly. What's more, regardless of how lagging Iran's military is, the Strait of Hormuz can easily be to shut-down. Tehran will no doubt do this as a last resort, that is if it's under major aerial bombardment and therefore has nothing to lose. I don't think we will get to that point. Anglo-American-Jews may be reckless and evil but they are also cowards (they would never endanger their comfortable lives) and they are cunning. I think the Cowboys and their Zionist handlers gambled that Iran will not start a war over General Soleimani's assassination in Iraq. The general was after all caught in a battle field outside of Iran. I think a portion of the blame therefore falls on Tehran. The general should not have been that close to US military presence especially at a time of hostility, especially knowing that Iran's foes have been talking about assassinating him.

      Going forward, I don't think Tehran will over-react. I think they will take their time and, at some point in the future, carry-out a major bombing and/or an assassination against America and/or Israeli targets. In the meanwhile, they will also use their proxies to put more pressure on US military installations in Syria and Iraq. At the end of the day, I just hope Tehran learned their lesson from this, a lesson I could argue they should have already known. I personally think Tehran got cocky. They had some significant military successes recently against Saudi Arabia, Israel and the US. They saw that their foes were not responding. They therefore let their guards down, thinking the Cowboys would not do something like this.

      Instead of giving in to emotions, I rather Iran just concentrated on better defending its assets in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of seeking revenge, I rather Iran speed up the process to join the Russian-led EEU. Instead of doing something that will draw more attacks from Anglo-American-Jews, I rather Iran quietly develop and strengthen the Shiite Arc.

      My main concern now is, how good will Soleimani's replacement be? Soleimani was a brilliant mind and exceptional figure, and in the eyes of Shiites throughout the greater region a living legend. Will his replacement be as charismatic, as capable, as intelligent and as farsighted as him? Because Iran is not a developed nation with a modern military, capable individuals/personalities like the general are crucial to national defense. His loss will therefore be felt severely. More importantly, unless his replacement is as capable, General Soleimani's loss may be a major blow to Iran's execution of hybrid wars throughout the region...

      Delete
    5. Arvordi, Soleimani was a regular visitor to Iraq this was not his first visit. He has consulted with the Iraqi government. You are making it sound like he sneaked in like a thief in the night. He arrived at an international airport! Like a normal person, big intel? What intel it says on the roster Mr. Soleimani is coming at 10pm This was not some big intel that spotted him coming in that is why Iran is in shock. This is brazen act of unmatched audacity that has no rival in recent history. They took a chapter out of game of thrones. This has changed the landscape any leader or official of any country is now fair game. This goes beyond just US/Iran. The Emperor is not wearing any clothing!

      Delete
    6. I said the general was "too exposed and too close to US forces in Iraq" and you took that to mean I meant to say he "sneaked in like a thief in the night"!? What the hell is wrong with you? Besides, how the hell did you get his airplane "roster"? Your drivel is just confirming what I said. Tehran clearly knew General Soleimani was a targeted man, yet they still had him in close proximity to his foes. Arguably the second most important leader in Iran - and the most important military man in Iran - should not have been exposing himself to his enemies as such.

      That said, you are spot on your last point. Cowboys and their Jewish handlers have once again changed the rules of the game and in doing do made the world a much more dangerous place. Sooner or later, one way or another, all this will come to hurt them. Imperial hubris - and desperation - is making them cross red lines all around the world. It is bound to backfire on them very severely one day. The following excerpt from an article from the New York Times came out a day before his assassination. This article and the other articles that follow it clearly shows the general was a targeted man. All I am saying is that Tehran should have known better than to trust Anglo-American-Jews with their most important military man -

      "Moreover, hypersonics are a weaponized moral hazard for states with a taste for intervention, because they erase barriers to picking fights. Is an adversary building something that might be a weapons factory? Is there an individual in an unfriendly country who cannot be apprehended? What if the former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Qassim Suleimani, visits Baghdad for a meeting and you know the address? The temptations to use hypersonic missiles will be many." Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/opinion/hypersonic-missiles.html

      Mossad Chief Bragged About Possibility of Assassinating Soleimani Just Months Before His Death
      https://sputniknews.com/world/202001041077944341-mossad-chief-bragged-about-possibility-of-assassinating-soleimani-just-months-before-his-death/

      Mossad Chief Brags Assassinating Iran’s Quds Force Chief ‘Not Impossible’
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201910111077022448-mossad-chief-brags-assassinating-irans-quds-force-chief-not-impossible---report/

      US long watched Soleimani, but feared risks of a strike
      https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-long-watched-soleimani-feared-201443228.html

      How Trump decided to kill Iran’s Soleimani
      https://www.politico.eu/article/how-trump-decided-to-kill-irans-soleimani/

      Tru News: Soleimani Assassination
      https://www.trunews.com/stream/soleimani-assassination-did-the-pentagon-use-hypersonic-weapon

      The assassination of ‘the Goat Thief’, Qassem Soleimani, will have dangerous global consequences
      https://www.cnbctv18.com/views/the-assassination-of-the-goat-thief-qassem-soleimani-will-have-dangerous-global-consequences-4992141.htm

      10 Ways Iran Could Attack Oil Tankers In Response To U.S. Killing Of Top Commander
      https://www.forbes.com/sites/hisutton/2020/01/03/10-ways-iran-could-attack-oil-tankers/#3208fb432c54

      John Bolton congratulates those involved in 'decisive' airstrike that killed Iranian general
      https://www.foxnews.com/world/john-bolton-congratulates-those-involved-in-decisive-airstrike-that-killed-iranian-general

      Trump Turns to Evangelicals After US Strike on Iranian Commander
      https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-turns-to-evangelicals-after-us-strike-on-iranian-commander/

      ‘Our Country Is Not Doing So Well’: Ron Paul Rails Against Trump’s Iran Strike
      https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/04/ron-paul-trump-iran-strike-liberty-report/

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    7. Arevordi,

      You need to bring your message to the swamp called Facebook. A much wider audience needs to listen to what you have to say.

      Merry Armenian Christmas

      Delete
    8. Arevordi, This is normal travel this is not the first time he did it. So if this is his 30th visit why would Tehran think different? There was no declaration of war! If there was I can see you point, but without a declaration he was at an " International Airport ". America wants a war without declaring another one. They want Iran to retaliate. This is the latest from RT Trump says if they do anything he will strike 52 targets. In effect this is simply in the cards now.

      Trump says US will strike 52 Iranian sites ‘VERY FAST & VERY HARD’ if Tehran moves to avenge general’s death
      https://www.rt.com/news/477489-trump-iran-strike-targets/

      More to the point of regular visits by Soleimani, especially with the fight with ISIS. Here is a link to a post on twitter with the picture showing Soleimani with what looks like PMU and US? units. "See this is why you never collaborate with the US. I hope we have all learned something today."

      Syrian Girl
      https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1213181166439714816?s=20

      More revelations that Soleimani was there on official business! These are the words of Mahdi the PM of Iraq "''Hadj Soleimani was in Baghdad at my invitation. He was scheduled to visit me and carried a letter with him from the Iranian leadership on how to de-escalate tensions with Saudi Arabia.''"

      Delete
    9. Vahram, you seem incapable or simply unwilling to understand what I am telling you. For the last time: A man as important as General Soleimani and a man that Tehran clearly knew was in the gun-sights of their powerful foes should NOT have been so transparent/public with his movements, especially in a hot zone like Iraq recently. Tehran is therefore also at fault for his death. None of what I am saying here however means that what Trump did was not criminal or barbaric.

      Delete
    10. The assassination, of both military men and their adjutants, is still begging for an answer. It is far fetched and inconceivable that no "precautionary insurance" measures were adopted ( this is a moot question; I am sure the normal measures were in place) for the arrival of the General. There must have been an element of "trust" between the organizers of the trip and the American forces. It is said the General was on a diplomatic mission to try and patch differences between KSA and Teheran at the behest of the Americans ??; true or false I don't pretend to know. Whatever the case, diplomatic mission, courtesy call, having travelled many a time to Irak and other areas in the region when his whereabouts were "ostensibly" known , it does not deflect from the fact that A) there was an infernal and unfathomable security breach in regards to this visit B) It was well known the General was a much sought after target. The JEWamericans vaporized two key intelligent members of their rivals in a matter of seconds. What measures should have been taken in anticipation of their meeting, it is something for the military and political establishment to clear up. Under no circumstances two key actors of such politco/military stature in the Iran/Irak alliance should have been exposed in the manner they were. Something went catastrophically wrong somewhere. Now we have to face the full tweeting orchestra of threats and increased belligerence emanating from a tweeter president. As for retaliation, revenge, avenging the murder of the Iranian Icon, who has now passed into the annals of legend, it is not that simple. To begin with no amount of blood exacted from the jewamericka coalition can redeem the loss of the General. The loss it does not correlate into a commercial transaction of say 100 dead american/jewish soldiers "pays" for the murder. No, the General alive had no price, was priceless. We have to wait and see what happens next. Of course we also have the silent observers Russia and China, who will remain behind the scenes silently watching and monitoring developments. However we all know by now how the jewamerickan fight and win their "wars". One look at what they did to Germany in WW2,a prelude to what was afoot in future, suffice to convince the most obdurate of critics. They have mastery and the supremacy of the skies. They can spend non stop aerial bombing campaigns and not get hit back disproportionately by their pet enemies. The threat and menace of war will always be their ultimate WMD; not until corresponding bombs start falling into one of their cities and towns bringing the real threat of being struck time and time again will these Amerkanjews come to their senses. And for that to happen the toppling and eradication of the existing JewishAmerico world order needs to take place.

      Delete
  14. Hi Arevordi , Happy New Year hope you had a good Christmas season . I was surprised by the number of Armenian-Americans caring or taking umbrage to the fact that Ilham Omar voted "present" during the vote on this resolution . I mean why does the Armenian-American community give so much value to her stance ? Anyone living in the US or out of it (just like myself) should realize that Ilhan Omar with respect isnt the sharpest tool in the toolkit . I am amazed at the sheepishness of some US Armenians

    ReplyDelete
  15. Credit where credit is due, I guess. Pashinyan denies reports that he congratulated Trump for trying to start WW3 on Armenia's doorstep.

    https://www.facebook.com/nikol.pashinyan/posts/2517628801890833

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Give credit where credit is due. There is a red line in everything. What those morons did was criminal. You can't play games like that. This again is a reflection on the political illiteracy and self-destructiveness Armenians suffer from.

      Delete
    2. Merry Christmas Arevordi,

      Welcome back, you are doing a great job as always. I cannot support what that blogger did but Pashinyan's government did not condemn the assassination of the general. Our neighbor Iran is so more important to us than America who is thousands of miles away but Pashinyan can't get himself to condemn a openly criminal act? You can read it here.

      "Yerevan was quick to express serious concern after Friday’s U.S. strike in Iraq which killed Soleimani as well as other Iranian military officials and their Iraqi allies. But unlike Russia, Armenia’s main ally, it stopped short of explicitly condemning the assassination."
      https://massispost.com/2020/01/armenia-urges-u-s-iran-to-de-escalate-tensions/

      Delete
    3. It is reassuring to see the Armenian government under Pashinyan maintaining a pragmatic approach to relations with Russia and Iran. Of course I still disapprove of Pashinyan for all of the reasons Arevordi has so painstakingly laid out, and I hope some political opposition that does not have decades of connections and funding linked to the political west and globalist/soros type groups reappears in Yerevan soon, like Karen Karapetyan. But again, credit where credit is due. Some headlines:


      First is from a month ago, but important nonetheless. I don't think I've ever heard anyone outside of Ara Abrahamyan make a statement about attracting diaspora Armenians and their famed wealth and business skills to invest in Russia. Good move to show Armenia contributing to bilateral relations between the two countries, especially as Russia is dealing with western economic terrorism (aka "sanctions.")

      President Sargsyan: Yerevan proposed to attract Armenian investors from abroad to Russia
      https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fria.ru%2F20191215%2F1562415524.html

      ***

      Regarding the Iran situation, Armenia has made all of the right moves. I respect the Iranian foreign minister a great deal, it is amazing to see that in the immediate aftermath of his country's national tragedy he initiated a phone call to Armenia's FM to discuss the issues. Mnatsakanyan conveyed condolences to Iran for the loss of its general.

      Armenia calls on United States and Iran to refrain from further aggravating situation
      https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1000635/


      Armenian, Iranian FMs discuss Middle East developments
      https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1000637/

      ***

      Since folks here are complaining that Arevordi and others have pointed out the undeniable fact that Armenians are far less politically sophisticated than major powers like Russia, Turkey, and Iran, here are some articles that you can read and think "well, at least we're not the Վրացիներ: Of course this doesn't in any way, shape, or form excuse the Armenian peoples' shortsightedness, immaturity, or pettiness which continues to be the greatest threat to the Armenian state. Still some lessons we can learn through.
      Qasem Soleimani – reaction in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and the world community
      https://jam-news.net/qasem-suleimani-reaction-in-azerbaijan-armenia-georgia-and-the-world-community/

      Caucasus braces for conflict in neighboring Iran
      https://eurasianet.org/caucasus-braces-for-conflict-in-neighboring-iran

      I'm kind of at a loss for words at the Georgians. They put all their faith in America during the Saakashvili regime, and America stood by and watched helplessly while the Russian Bear absolutely mauled them. (see http://worldmeets.us/images/bushtauntbear_independent.gif) I understand they at least theoretically hate Russia for ending the Bagratuni Kingdom, but this is just madness provoke Iran like this. And for absolutely no gain! Like Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds before them, Georgians seem intent on gambling their very existence by seriously provoking major local powers while clinging to delusions of western support. Cats seeing lions in the mirror I guess. Those self-destructive Caucasian, Anatolian, North Mesopotamian genes run strong - anyone denying that Armenians are genetically similar to these people is delusional lunatic and suffering from psychological and emotional problems.

      ps speaking of Bagratunis, check out Prince Pyotr Bagration, after whom the Soviet WW2 Operation Bagrationi was named by Stalin. A true Russian patriot and hero who died leading Russian soldiers against Napoleon's invading Grand Armee, he must be spinning in his grave:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Bagration

      Delete
    4. Lastly, who exactly is this "blogger?" Who put his up to this criminal behavior? Who has been funding him, which foreign officials, embassies, NGOs, workshops has he visited? This is dangerous and I totally agree with the decision to arrest this traitor. Politics be damned, I refuse to use this incident to attack Pashinyan over free speech nonsense, I want this guy tried for treason. Below is the post in Russian, and an article:

      https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2645545085522704&id=100002017160339&set=p.2645545085522704&source=47

      Armenian held for ''false information'' over Iran general
      https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/armenian-held-for-false-information-over-iran-general/1701614

      Delete
  16. Շնորհավորում եմ ձեր Ամանորը եւ Սորբ Ծնունդը: Թող նոր տարին բերի մեր երկրին խաղաղութիւն ինչպես նաեւ ազատում նեո-բոլշևիկներից եւ Սորոսականներից: Թող Աստված պահպանի Հայաստանին, Ռուսաստանին և Պարսկաստանին չարիքից...

    Happy new year and Merry Christmas to all. May the new year bring our nation peace as well as freedom from neo-Bolsheviks and Sorosites. May God protect Armenia, Russia and Persia from evil...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Merry Christmas to everyone here (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox) from me.

      That being said, I'm now nervous at Trump's rhetoric about Iranian cultural treasures being targets for American bombardment. Not even Bush and Obama were this psychotic enough, but yeah. American Conservatism has been rendered impotent and toxic, but I wouldn't want to be a leftist either. That being said, no one here can predict what will arise from the ashes of the Anglo-American Empire, aside from its territorial losses. Mexico may surprisingly emerge stronger than ever if it regains its lost northern territories, and there may be successor states in the Anglophone world.

      BTW, wouldn't Russians also be considered a part of the European cultural club as well?

      Delete
    2. The Anglo-American-Jewish empire has to die if Apostolic Christianity, classical European civilization and national cultures is to have a chance for survival. Anything that comes out of its ashes will be an improvement. They are modern day Romans they will go by the way of ancient Romans. But, don't hold your breath as of yet. They still have a lot of damage to do to this world. The so-called American Conservative/Right is almost completely hijacked by Zionist ideology. It is in fact destroying the United States faster than Blacks and Hispanics. I never said the Liberal/Leftists are any better. The Liberal/Left is also for the most part Jewish. But, intellectually and times morally, I am beginning to respect Liberals and Leftists more. I can't name a single conservative thinker/intellectual who I like or respect. But there are many on the Left I like and respect. To name a few: Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges and Thom Hartman, and even our very own Markar Melkonian. That aside, you will find more politically sound minds as well as anti-Jewish sentiments in today's Left, even including among its Jews. Mind you, I am only referring to the Right/Left divide in the US. Regrading Russia: At its core, in its genesis, Russia is European. But, as a nation and culture, Russia has evolved with mix of east and west. More importantly, Russia today is the last repository of classical European culture.

      Merry Christmas.

      Delete
  17. Trump Threatens Iranian Cultural Sites, and Warns of Sanctions on Iraq
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/us/politics/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html

    Trump threatened a possible war crime by targeting Iran's cultural sites
    https://amp.businessinsider.com/trump-threatens-iran-cultural-sites-list-possible-targets-2020-1

    This White House is just as disgusting as any other before it. This White House is, in fact, beginning to stink real bad. Threaten a country that does not want a US military presence?! Attack cultural sites in Iran if Iranians attack US troops? It's criminal and barbaric to even suggest such a thing. Even Hitler did not target/threaten cultural sites. Romans, Ottomans and Mongols however did. Turks and their Azeri cousins still do today. Therefore, as far as I'm concerned, the American empire is now on-par with the vilest of empires the world has ever seen. Similar to what Romans were doing two thousand years ago, these motherfuckers are setting fires around the world as they quietly enjoy their comfy/cozy lives thousands of miles away. They will continue to do so until the fires they set catches up with them. In other words, if Trump's family/home was located somewhere in the Persian Gulf, he would not be acting this "brave".

    Fuck Trump and fuck his White Trash "MAGA" bullshit. When he first came into power I suspected that his main task was to start a war against Iran -

    Is the Trump administration trying to drive a wedge between Russia, China and Iran? (2017)
    https://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com/2017/02/trump-administration-trying-to-drive.html

    Then I changed my mind somewhat. I reluctantly began giving him the benefit of the doubt because of what I was seeing. I was pleasantly surprised when he abandoned Kurds and pulled out of northern Syria, ended US funding for Islamic terrorists in Syria, did not respond to the shooting down of the $200,000,000 spy drone by Iran, and got rid of Bolton. But what he just did was the last straw for me. Regardless of why he did it, what was done is clearly an attempt to carry-forward the war agenda - because their window of opportunity is shrinking.

    At heart, President Trump is a conman and a pompous asshole. Such men can easily be manipulated by Organized Jewry (as well as Saudi money). And all of them together can easily manipulate the country's brain-dead "Christian, White, Conservative" constituency and send them off to war again. In any case, I am not yet ready to say for sure that the asshole wants a war. He may have thought that by agreeing to assassinate General Soleimani he was appeasing his warmongers without actually going to war. But what he did will surely elicit a response from Tehran and that response will surely be exploited by the warmongers to start a war. So, regardless of why he did what he did, what he did was an act of war and it only serves to advance an evil agenda. I no longer want to continue giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. The empire is toxic. The empire is evil. The empire has to die.

    I now pray that Blacks and Hispanics (Mexicans in particular) will finish the job that's already been started. I hope to see this in my life time. Anyone that thinks pink skinned pigs aka White Americans have any hope for redemption or can take the country back from Jewish control, are delusional. Whites have become the country's - and therefore the world's - main problem. Jewish interests have effectively hijacked Trump's administration, as well as its braindead/inbred voting base. The other side is not much better. Blacks and Hispanics are therefore the only hope this evil empire has. Going forward, I will cheer anything that advances Hispanic and Black interests in the US.

    PS: US is now a rouge state. By assassinating Soleimani, Trump released a dangerous Genie. There will be repercussions. All this will in the long-term make the US lose its positions in the Middle East. And Israel and Saudi Arabia will be worst off as a result.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What was it that the old Ba'athists said about liberating Jerusalem? That they must first liberate Riyadh or something along those lines? Perhaps the old Pan-Arab dream of getting rid of their corrupt leaders could be re-ignited if Saudi Arabia would face inner turmoil as a result of this incident. The fact that Trump had actually threatened to destroy every cultural site in Iran kinda makes the Hollywood's creation of the 300 movie look like a bar fight. It's that bad. However, Suleimani himself would have his own critics and detractors as well.

      Another thing that could mar the Orthodox Christmas celebrations this year:

      https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/28/hundreds-protest-in-serbia-against-new-montenegro-church-law

      https://balkaninsight.com/2020/01/03/montenegro-religion-law-protests-spread-around-serbia/

      From what my Serbian friend told me, the protest was a response to Montenegro's new Freedom of Religion law, which is a cover for the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church to acquire some properties belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church. Another thing the West would pay dearly for would be the instigation of the Orthodox communities among themselves.

      Delete
    2. Another thing. If you want to see how tightly controlled/managed US news media is, consider what happened in Kenya two days ago. Three American military personal, essentially war criminals, were killed in Kenya essentially by CIA-connected Wahhabi Islamists. Several US aircraft were also destroyed. The attack was most likely carried-out by intelligence elements (take your pick: Western, Saudi and/or Israel) to stir the pot against Iran and spike tensions even further. Yet, there was almost nothing about the incident in US news media. It was reported in passing the day it happened and that was it. Imagine if the three were killed by Iran. They would be covering the incident on a 27/7 basis. They would be showing the world photos of the men in high school, with their family, with their pets... They would be telling the world how the men loved America, freedom and helping those less fortunate than them... This time the dead Americans died without even a peep. Why? Because the dead Americans in Kenya at the hands of Wahhabi terrorists does not fit the empire's current narrative against Iran. So, they, essentially those that say they "value American lives", simply ignored the dead Americans this time around. This is Soviet and Nazi style media control and brainwashing -

      One US service member, two contractors killed in Al-Shabaab attack in Kenya, two DoD personnel injured
      https://www.rt.com/news/477534-kenya-attack-us-military-killed/

      US deploys reinforcements to Kenya airfield after Al-Shabaab attack kills three
      https://www.rt.com/news/477594-pentagon-sends-reinforcements-kenya-shabaab/

      An unrelated matter that also reveals the depth of control mainstream news media in the United States is under is the case involving Jeffery Epstein's assistant Ghislane Maxwell. This matter is much larger than prostitution or even pedophilia. Ghislane is the daughter of a well known Mossad agent. And She and Jeffery were basically collecting material on the Western elite. By soiling them and collecting information on them, they were essentially blackmailing them. This is not an exoneration of the Western elite. The Western elite deserves Epstein's fate. I just want the read to understand the kind of intelligence operations that take place behind the scenes, and just how dirty and sophisticated Jewish/Israeli operations are. In any case, Ghislane is now in hiding - in Israel of course. But, you would never know this if you were not specifically searching for this information -

      Prince Andrew’s ‘pimp’ pal Ghislaine Maxwell ‘being hidden in safe houses in UK and Israel to avoid Epstein scandal’
      https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10655155/prince-andrew-pimp-pal-ghislaine-maxwell-safe-houses/

      Jeffrey Epstein's socialite 'madam' Ghislaine Maxwell 'is being hidden from the FBI in a series of safe houses because of the information she has on powerful people'
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7843659/Ghislaine-Maxwell-reportedly-foreign-spy-hiding-Israel.html

      Delete
    3. Literally hours after I posted the comment saying Epstein and Maxwell were essentially Mossad operations and their main purpose was to blackmail the Western elite, Sputnik posted this article -

      Mossad Used Jeffrey Epstein to Blackmail Politicians, Former Israeli Spy Claims
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001071077964916-mossad-used-jeffrey-epstein-to-blackmail-politicians-former-israeli-spy-claims/

      Delete
    4. What's the point of having "United Nations" if Anglo-American-Jews can at their whim refuse anyone entry to participate in "United Nations"?

      'What Are They Really Afraid Of?' Iranian FM Zarif on His US Visa Denial https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001071077967511-what-are-they-really-afraid-of-iranian-fm-zarif-on-his-us-visa-denial/

      Trump meets Russian foreign minister amid impeachment chaos
      https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/10/trump-sergei-lavrov-meeting-elections-impeachment

      Russian President Putin Makes Visit to Damascus
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001071077967930-russian-president-putin-makes-visit-to-damascus/

      Something big has to be brewing. FM Lavrov paid Trump a surprise visit (obviously at the invitation of Trump) in early December. They had closed-door meetings, but the anti-Trump press was mostly silent about it. In other words, the press was told to shut up. A couple of weeks later, the assassination occurred. And today, President Putin paid President Assad a surprise visit in Damascus. They of course had closed-door meetings. They obviously discussed the situation in Iraq and Iran. President Putin's intent was to also show the world that Russia is firmly standing behind the Syrian government despite everything else that is going on. Now, with all this in mind, I am wondering if a some from of a deal has been reached between the US and Russia.

      Here is a possibility: The US agrees to pull-out of Syria, essentially handing it over to Syrians and Russians. Moscow reciprocates by agreeing to stand-back and allow the bombing of Iran. I want to emphasize "bombing" because I seriously do not think Western forces will attempt to start a ground war against Iran like they did in Iraq, nor would nations like Russia and China accept it such a thing. As I said a day or two ago, the attack with be primarily aerial and naval. The main agenda would be to setback the country's nuclear program and perhaps hit some important military targets. Perhaps the thinking in Moscow is, as long as you don't invade, we don't have a serious problem if you go ahead and bomb the nuclear facilities. This is PURE speculation. At the end of the day, however, this is also the nature of geopolitics and realpolitik.

      Russia and Iran (like Russia and Turkey) are friends due to political circumstances. They are not natural allies. They are in fact natural competitors in Eurasia. Similar to how Anglo-American-Jews would not want their friends/allies (e.g. Turkey, Egypt, Germany, Philippines, Japan, etc) get too big, too ambitious, too powerful, Russia would also not want to see Iran getting too powerful. This does not mean Russia, or even the West for the matter, wants to see Iran destroyed ala Iraq, Libya and Syria. Again, I believe the agenda is to weaken Iran military capabilities and set-back/hurt its nuclear program. I hope I am wrong but my prediction in 2017 is increasingly looking like a real possibility. I think we are on a path to war. Depending on circumstances, Azerbaijan may even try to make a move against Artsakh.

      And here we see a classic case of how manipulators/provokers push gullible idiots to a big fight, and then just stand back and watch so they don't get hurt in the process. Americans deserve EVERYTHING coming to them -

      Netanyahu backs away from Soleimani assassination, warns ministers to ‘stay out’ of purely ‘American event’
      https://www.rt.com/news/477604-netanyahu-distances-israel-soleimani-killing/

      Delete
    5. Russia, Turkey and Iran are all natural competitors and incompatible as allies. They can only have tactual dealings out of mutual interests and short-term gain, but their long-term interests will never coincide as evidenced by history. Each strives for total domination of the South Caucasus. Times/circumstances change and alliances shift, as reflected in their dealings with each other over the course of time and recent history as well. But at it's core they're all enemies. Turks are enemies of Iranians, Iranians of Russians, Russians of Turks and Iranian, and any other way you mix it. If you recall, it was a mere few years ago, when an Iranian parliamentarian spoke of returning the south Caucasus to iran. All 3 are waiting for the right opportunity...

      Delete
    6. Looks like the fireworks has started. It seems we are finally going to see Iran's capabilities. First reports indicate that at least 25 have hit the airbase Trump was talking about. If these are Scud sized payloads the base could be in very very bad shape. Hubris has finally done it! Shame!

      Delete
    7. Iran claims Al-Asad missile strike as revenge for Soleimani, demands US withdrawal from Iraq
      https://www.rt.com/news/477678-iran-irgc-soleimani-revenge/

      Second Wave of Missile Attacks Fired Against US Targets in Iraq - Iranian Media
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001081077971707-second-wave-of-missile-attacks-fired-against-us-targets-in-iraq---iranian-media/

      And, in a brilliant move, Tehran threatens to attack Haifa, Israel and Dubai, UAE if Trump responds to Iran's attack tonight. Tehran just called Trump's bluff again, let's see what the Shabbos Goy will do -

      Iran threatens to 'unleash Hezbollah' in Israel and Dubai
      https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/iran-threatens-to-unleash-hezbollah-in-israel-and-dubai

      I was not expecting Iran response to come this fast and this forcefully. I can't say I am not impressed. I hope the asshole in the White House come to his senses and takes a step back. I also hope the asshole quickly comes to his sense and realizes that Jews and Saudis are using him as a dirty rag. Once again American "patriots" are spilling American blood and wasting American money purely for Jewish and Saudi interests. There will be American casualties. No need to shed any tears. American troops are by nature mercenaries. They are all, by association, war criminals. They have no business in the Middle East. They are responsible for the deaths of over a million Iraqis, Syrians, Libyans and Yemenis.

      Although I know Jews well, I still can't get over Netanyahu's "chutzpah". The warmonger spent his entire professional life trying to convince Americans to fight Iran... and now he is saying this is an "America event". Bibi is so fucking Jewish, and Trump is so fucking Shabbos Goy. Trump thought that by threatening Iran's "cultural sites", Tehran would stand-down, and he would have scored a victory. Fucking moron... Tehran just called his bluff again.

      Netanyahu backs away from Soleimani assassination, warns ministers to ‘stay out’ of purely ‘American event’
      https://www.rt.com/news/477604-netanyahu-distances-israel-soleimani-killing/

      Delete
    8. Iranian diplomat after strike: 'We do not seek escalation or war'
      https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/477267-iranian-diplomat-after-strike-we-do-not-seek

      ‘No lives lost’: Trump holds fire on ‘big missiles,’ talks peace after Iran’s strikes on US bases in Iraq
      https://www.rt.com/usa/477742-trump-responds-iran-strike-us-bases/

      Iran didn’t want to kill US troops with its strike, it wanted to make point to Trump about its missile tech & resolve. It did that
      https://www.rt.com/op-ed/477759-iran-missiles-subdued-us-strike/

      Sanity prevailed, as hoped. No war, for now. Nevertheless, what we just saw during the past 24 hours was a brilliant display of statecraft by Tehran. It was a spectacular retaliation, and one that was also cleverly calibrated to give the asshole in the White House enough room to eat his warlike rhetoric and meekly stand down. In other words, Tehran called his bluff again. I strongly suspect the Canadian airliner was also brought down by Iran as a warning to everyone that it can play very dirty if need be. In other words, Iran just acted bat-shit crazy to scare some sense into its foes. It's horrible. But, this is what governments (including Western governments) unfortunately do to send strong messages. In any case, I am pretty sure Tehran is not done yet. There is no doubt that there will be additional action by Tehran and its proxies. This is therefore not the end, this is merely the beginning of the beginning -

      What is Known So Far About Ukrainian Boeing 737 That Crashed After Take-Off From Tehran Airport
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001081077980742-what-is-known-so-far-about-ukrainian-boeing-737-that-crashed-after-take-off-from-tehran-airport/

      Two Rockets Fall in Green Zone in Iraqi Capital of Baghdad - Reports
      https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001081077983534-two-blasts-sirens-heard-in-iraqi-capital-of-baghdad-reports/

      Israeli Experts: Iran's Strikes Predictable, Main Goal to Force Americans Out of Iraq
      https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202001081077977213-israeli-experts-irans-strikes-predictable-main-goal-to-force-americans-out-of-iraq/

      Tehran right now has the momentum. It suffered a very serious setback with the assassination of General Soleimani, but it retaliated so spectacularly and so cleverly that it disarmed its foes. They should maintain their momentum and use it to systematically create a serious mess for Anglo-American-Jewish interests throughout Syria and Iraq. They should only draw blood using their proxies. Their ultimate strategic goal should to be evict all Anglo-American-Jews and their supporters from Lebanon to Afghanistan.

      Despite all the bullshit rhetoric about American military prowess and claims that there was minimal damage and no causalities on the US side, Tehran made Trump looks like impotent fool. But, let's again give credit where credit is due, faced with a war with a nation they are not yet ready to fight and win, Trump and his Jews (and his rednecks) had enough sense to take a step back and deescalate. There most probably were US and/or coalition casualties. It's in Washington's interests however not to disclose it. The only way Joe Six-Pack will continue waving his Chinese made American flag and live his life shouting "USA, USA, USA"... is if he continues believing the myth of American power and legitimacy. The only way Joe Six-Pack will not be gravely disappointing in his lord and savior Donald Trump is if he is told that the almighty US did not retaliate out of largess and because weak/backward Iranians missed their targets and Americans did not suffer any casualties or damage. US news media (both sides, Left and right) will therefore sing the same tune regarding this matter. At the end of the day, those most important thing for US officials is not how powerful the US military is - its the perception of American invincibility. It's all about hype. So, don't believe the hype...

      Delete
    9. What's very peculiar here is that I still have not seen any pictures or videos of the sites that were hit. Normally there is a lot of photographic evidence put out by a number of sources usually the very next day of events such as this. I have yet to see any. There clearly seems to be some sort of ban or restriction of such images from both sides. This of course can be interpreted a number of ways. If any one has video/photo of the sites that were hit by the missiles, please post them here or email them to me.

      I would love to hear Zoravar's observations/comments about all this.

      Delete
    10. Did some searching there is very little info on the aftermath but here you go Arevordi tell me what you think

      https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/794517031/satellite-photos-reveal-extent-of-damage-at-al-assad-air-base

      https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/08/see-the-damage-at-al-asad-airbase-following-iranian-missile-strike/

      Delete
    11. Iran really showed an advanced game of chess with this one, and as you rightly state while western leaders are playing poker. It is insane the level of stupidity in society, and people acting like this was a victory for Trump. Did anyone else notice how out of breath (nervous) Trump was during his national address? There is no doubt in my mind there were losses and Trumps bluff was definitely caught. Do you think Iran has nukes? My personnel opinion is they do—If they didn’t I think west would’ve tried to lay waste to Iran a long time ago.

      Delete
    12. Thank you so much for the links, Arto!

      I should have done more specific searches. But there is still very little photo evidence posted on-line. Even RT is not showing anything. When Trump attacked the empty Syrian airfield in 2017, RT almost immediately posted pictures. This time, nothing. I do think it's intentional.

      Anyway, I have to say I am very impressed with now accurate the strikes were. Also, from what I can tell, the missile payload (the size of the warhead) seems on the small side. I say this because the damage looks very localized. However, like I said, at least 4 were direct hits. That's precision for ballistic missiles. Based on what I can see, there must have been some loss of hardware as well as human casualties. The only photos Western media quickly posted was of the one or two missiles that failed in flight and crash short of their intended targets. No ground level images of the damage in the base itself. All the controlled news outlets (CNN and Fox and all in between) were even saying that the missiles had missed their targets. Bunch of bullshit artists. It's amazing people still believe their crap.

      It's obvious now that the missiles used were medium-range and they carried a relatively small payload. However, they were very accurate and they did hit military assets/targets in the base.

      For political expediency, Trump's government will not admit any of this and they will not disclose any of their losses, human or otherwise. For political expediency, Iran will also remain quiet about it. In other words, they will allow the asshole in the White House a face saving way of stepping back. Both sides seem to be covering it up for aforementioned political reasons. I suspect however that Russians and Iranians will eventually begin leaking some photos/videos...

      Delete
    13. With the information and pictures we have in hand thus far, I can conclude the following:
      1) Iran has the resolve to directly strike back at a superpower without using proxies.
      2) Iran created a precedent. From now on, US bases will be common targets each time tensions flare up.
      3) Iran showed the accuracy of its missiles one more time (it was first demonstrated when ARAMCO facilities were struck in Saudi Arabia last year).
      4) Once again, the lack of credibility of US anti-missile defenses were exposed (just as during the ARAMCO attacks).

      Delete
    14. There has been much talk about American air defense and why it was not used. It seems what Iran used were Qiam missiles that have a reentry vehicle with a high terminal velocity making it very hard if not impossible to air defense to intercept.

      I have been reading a lot on the net about the accuracy that was on display. This is showing some serious capability that was unknown before.

      All in all when Iran boasted that they can hit targets at will, was not overstatement or hype, it was real.

      Just food for thought.

      Vahram

      Delete
    15. An evaluation of the strikes @thesaker.is/the-anglozionist-empire-vs-iran-a-discussion-of-the-recent-events/
      "The AngloZionist Empire vs Iran: a discussion of the recent events".

      Delete
    16. Really tragic about what happened with the Ukraine Airlines accident. With that aside, it seems that Iran does indeed have set up a precedent for American military bases. The question is, would US bases in other parts of the world become legitimate targets? There are also non-Americans who also believe in the myth of American military invincibility, so they'd still be cheering for Trump in this case. Unlike the rest of the MidEast nations, Iran can be a formidable foe on the battlefield as well, so it's a good thing that both sides stepped back. At this point, it's not only the Iranian proxies that could be used to bleed the Anglo-Americans out of the MidEast. The only question is, would Trump be willing to risk trying to foment separatist movements inside Iran as retaliation in the future? The most likely thing that may happen would be Trump using Azerbaijan for such a venture. He may be more of a poker player, but the neocons who actually manage US foreign policy would be more of a shadow player.

      ...

      I also noticed that it`s not only the average American who is enamoured with the whole huzzah muh Murican military might. I guess non-Americans who might also be fans of Trump would believe in the hype as well. I noticed this with even my own people as well (I do not need to remind everyone here where I come from). Even Richard Spencer of all people have started to regret supporting Trump over the whole Iranian incident. On an additional note related to the Hong Kong protests:

      https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/zmjjey/ukraine-fascists-hong-kong-protests

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPVrpiHxjo

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ1yNG6SrSU

      The surprising thing is that though some of the radicals of the Hong Kong protests were grateful for the help, they were also alarmed at the presence of these neo-Nazis coming to a place like Hong Kong to help with the internal turmoil.

      Delete
    17. It's more or less confirmed that the Ukrainian airliner was shot-down. I don't believe it was an accident. I strongly believe elements in the Iranian government intentionally destroyed the airplane, most probably as a warning to the world that if need be Iran can play very dirty. I believe an easy target - a Ukrainian airliner - was picked. The airplane most probably also had on board individuals working for Western/Israeli intelligence who were leaving the country amid rising tensions. Now, with various western nations trying to figure out what happened, Tehran is also enjoying the added advantage of its foes wanting to cooperate with it. Yes, it's horrible. Yes, it's a tragic loss of life. But, like I said previously, governments (including Western ones) do things like this to send messages. In any case, Tehran is ramping-up the rhetoric and continuing its aggressive military posturing. I think Tehran realizes that despite the assassination of its top military leader, it was again able to effectively stand-up to the US and do so in spectacular fashion. Tehran showed the world that Iran is not a nation to be taken lightly. Going forward, besides strengthening the Shiite Arc from Lebanon to Afghanistan, Tehran seriously needs to work on its ailing economy. Besides working on attracting more Chinese investments, the other strategic economic move it needs to make is speed up the process to join the Russian-led EEU. Also, US military newspapers are reporting that two US airmen were found dead in their dormitory in Germany. Interesting timing. I am now going to wear my favorite conspiracy theory sweater and put on my best tinfoil hat and claim that the two airmen in question probably died in Iraq when their airbase came under attack by Iranian missiles two days ago -

      2 airmen found dead in dorms at Spangdahlem Air Base
      https://taskandpurpose.com/airmen-found-dead-spangdahlem-germany

      Video Shows Ukrainian Airliner Being Hit Over Iran
      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/video/iran-plane-missile.html

      Iran practicing hunting aircraft carriers
      https://www.yahoo.com/news/looks-iran-ready-start-bombing-183724929.html

      Satellite images show MINOR but PINPOINT damage to US-Iraqi bases from Iranian missile attack, suggesting limited show of force
      https://www.rt.com/news/477773-satellite-iran-attack-damage/

      How Geography Would Doom Any Invasion of Iran
      https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-geography-would-doom-any-invasion-iran-112111

      Ron Paul: Why I don't trust Trump on Iran
      http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2020/january/06/why-i-don-t-trust-trump-on-iran/

      Trump’s Iran Strike Leaves Anti-War Republicans Out in the Cold Again
      https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-iran-strike-leaves-anti-war-republicans-like-rand-paul-out-in-the-cold-again

      Operation Kayfabe: How Trump and Iran avoided war while both claiming victory
      https://www.rt.com/op-ed/477763-trump-iran-wrestling-kayfabe/

      The only winner of the US-Iran showdown is Russia
      https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/01/09/the-only-winner-of-the-us-iran-showdown-is-russia/

      Putin oversees hypersonic missile test in Black Sea
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWsL8xQD40

      Ex-director of Armenia National Security Service on death of Iran's Soleimani
      https://news.am/eng/news/553552.html

      Iran-Armenia trade rises after preferential deal with EAEU
      https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/443979/Iran-Armenia-trade-rises-after-preferential-deal-with-EAEU

      Delete
  18. "'Tin foil' bas"(aka 'chapeau bas'). What were so many Canadians and Ukrainians doing in Iran? Just 'transiting'? Iran is not a 'hub' for international travel. Were they 'assets' 'extracted' in a hurry?
    Does anyone remember the film “Escape From Iran: The Canadian Caper”?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Almost all of the Canadian citizens were of Iranian descent. There were only 11 Ukranians--perhaps ethnic Slavs on business trips or ethnic Iranians from the Ukraine. What's interesting is the reported six nuclear scientists from Canada.

      Delete
    2. Metz Hayk, where did you get the information about nuclear scientists being on board the doomed aircraft?

      For those interested, they finally released some video material from inside the US airbase that was hit. I strongly suspect that the two dead airmen that were supposedly found in a US military dormitory in Germany were killed in the attack. There is still no information whatsoever on the second base that was hit in Erbil.

      US troops knew Al-Asad air base would be attacked and sheltered in bunkers, exclusive tour reveals
      https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/11/middleeast/iran-strike-al-asad-air-base-exclusive-intl/index.html

      Delete
    3. Here is a clue. It feels unusual that so many Canadian-Iranian scientists were on the airplane

      ‘It’s a huge loss for science’: professors honour students killed in plane crash
      https://www.todayville.com/its-a-huge-loss-for-science-professors-honour-students-

      Delete
    4. Very interesting. It is highly unusual indeed that the airliner would have so many Canadian-Iranian scientists on board. Another clue would be to see when the individuals in question got their flight tickets. Again, what happened was most probably not an error. Mostly likely elements within Iran intelligence apparatus ordered this hit. It was probably done to send a message and/or take out spies/agents working for Anglo-American-Jews. Iranian intelligence probably also had one of their operatives positioned to take video of the airliner getting hit then leak it to the web. This is what I am strongly leaning towards. The ONLY other thing that could have happened is an elaborate electronic hijacking/sabotaging operation carried-out by Western and/or Israeli intelligence. Such a thing would have required the hacking of Iran's air defense systems and electronically taking control over the unit that shot-down the airliner. And this brings up the ultimate question: Is Iran's air defense systems and the actual weapons system used to shoot-down the airliner vulnerable to such types of hacking? In other words, can Iran's air defenses and surface-to-air missile systems be electronically hijackable? I have no idea.

      I guess Zoravar is the only person we know that may be able to answer this question. That said, I have strong doubts regarding the second theory because if the demise of the airliner was due to the electronic hijacking/sabotaging of Iranian air defense forces Western and/or Israeli intelligence agencies, such a thing could easily be exposed to the world and used against the West and/or Israel...

      Delete
    5. Arevordi,

      Hacking is a 2-way street: If one side can do it, the other can too. No, a country's air defense system can not be hacked the way you are suspecting... Because: they don't use the internet. What the military use is completely different CLOSED systems. If the enemy wants to control it or use it against the owners, then they need to have operators INSIDE the system (such as spies or traitors).

      Delete
    6. Thank you, Zoravar. I understand "hacking" is the wrong word to use. Yes, hacking can only be done through the internet. These air defense systems are obviously not connected to the web. Let me rephrase what I intended to say: can such air defense systems be electronically hijacked (taken control of) remotely, or are they closed operating system where only human-beings can initiate target acquisition and missile launch? Had it been a spy/traitor, I think it would have been disclosed right away and the culprit or culprits shown to the world. And, I ruled out error because of three things: the timing of the incident; the nature of the target; and more importantly, because someone was in position to record the airliner getting hit by the missile. Do you have any suspicions/theories as to what could have happened?

      Delete
    7. Just like in many previous incidents involving airliners (the 2 Malaysian Airlines come to mind immediately), the truth will not be available for us mortals. All we will get are muddied stories, questionable evidence and biased finger-pointing. In this latest incident, the major players seem to want to have this case closed and forgotten... at least for now.

      As for your question about electronically hijacking an air defense system or perhaps a whole army: In theory yes, it can be done by cracking the communication codes and providing false commands etc, etc. It has been done in the past (taking control of an enemy UAV for example). However, an air defense system is a completely different ball game with far more secure communication lines and more robust identification/verification systems that are designed to resist such attempts.

      Delete
    8. This piece of information will fit neatly into what we suspected happened

      11 US troops injured in Iran missile strikes on Iraqi bases: report
      https://thehill.com/policy/defense/478713-11-us-troops-injured-in-iran-missile-strikes-on-iraqi-bases-report

      Delete
  19. Armenia introduces flat income tax – wealthy rejoice, experts concerned
    https://jam-news.net/armenia-introduces-flat-income-tax-wealthy-rejoice-experts-concerned/

    I feel the latest development coming out of Pashinyan's Armenia is being overlooked. First, let's recall that one of the main reasons Armenians cited to justify the protests which brought Pashinyan into power were complaints of corruption among the governing elites and oligarchs, by which most Armenians meant the oligarchs hoarded wealth and paid very little in taxes to the state budget, thereby hurting national institutions and poor people. One of the big stories they cited for a decade was that a pizza restaurant in Yerevan was supposedly among the country's top ten taxpayers. On the one hand of course Armenian citizens had every right to be angry, and on the other hand corruption, tax evasion, and outright bribery in Armenia are nothing compared to what happens in the west. And now we see THE PEOPLE'S HERO Pashinyan turn around and enact a flat tax rate in Armenia. Just so everyone is clear, under the flat tax the oligarchs who are worth millions and own all of the assets in the county will pay the same tax rate as common working people. Imagine some waiter at the restaurant having the same percent cut out of his annual income as Tsarukyan and the others!

    Basically there is only one argument in favor of a flat tax rate: namely the argument made by rich people that rich people should pay all little as possible in taxes. Seriously, you don't need to waste hours and hours of your time listening to some ideological pussy or academic pussy or any other type of shill, flat tax rates lower the taxes paid by the rich and ultimately reduce government income and government spending on things like national defense, healthcare, education, infrastructure project, etc. In the US they try to present the argument that a flat tax rate would be easier to implement (to be fair in the US we have legalized bribery and so Big Accounting pays lobbyists to purposefully make the US tax code impossibly long, complicated, and nonsensical to everyone who isn't a specialist, but that does not exist in Armenia.) Also in the US the most ridiculous theory ever created has been pushed since the days of the leading Jihadi Ronald Reagan, whereby if the rich are spared taxation they turn around in prudently invest their money inside their own county and it magically "trickles down" (I always call it "tinkle down economics" because it is basically equivalent to taking a piss on people's heads) to the middle and working class. Of course Armenian oligarch's haven't really paid a fair share of their taxes since independence, and in the last thirty years the only thing the extra money they kept has trickled down into have been ludicrously expensive and gaudy cars, clothes, and other luxury goods they kept for themselves, along with mansions and abused exotic animals kept as pets. So don't pay attention to any of the shills, call them out for being the WHORES OF THE OLIGARCHS and tell them to fuck off if you see them defending Pashinyan's latest dumb policy.

    I guess this is just another case of "you get what you fucking deserve" for Armenians. If people start protesting Pashinyan can call them "Roboserj counterrevolutionaries" and then announce new charges against former government officials to distract the street riff-raff. . . Credit where it's due, once again we see that only the ARF Armenia is raising the alarm:

    June 2019: National Assembly Approves New Tax Code, AYF Protests
    https://armenianweekly.com/2019/06/26/national-assembly-approves-new-tax-code-ayf-protests/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, this came out of nowhere:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZlUkaMNTk

    Why now of all times that the entire Russian government has to resign? It sounds a bit fishy that Medvedev would choose this year to resign from office while Putin is still president. I'm not sure if the West would smell blood in the water at this sudden shift in the Russian government. And it was done without a coup or a Maidan as well.

    Another proverbial million dollar question would be: who would Putin appoint as his successor in 2024?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Putin proposes major amendments to Russia’s constitution incl. about his own post, says people should vote on changes
    https://www.rt.com/russia/478315-referendum-constitution-amendments-putin/

    Exciting times, it seems President Putin is satisfied with the reforms in Russia's military and restoration of Russia's prestige on the international stage. Russian diplomacy has been astounding under Sergei Lavrov. Russia's industrial, technological, agricultural have recovered and adapted to the permanent western sanctions regime, indigenous manufacturing has started to replace imports. Russia has worked to isolate its Internet infrastructure and can now continue to operate Internet services if it is cut off from the west. Russia has worked to develop its own financial and payment processing systems if it is cut off from SWIFT. Trade is gradually being dedollarized, and done in rubles and other national currencies with an increasing number of partners, especially Iran and China. That's a great list of accomplishments over just twenty years, in the face of insane American aggression, sanctions, subversion and global military turmoil and rampant terrorism, and coming on the heels of the great decline under Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Russia has done this almost single-handedly, as Europe and most of the third world has been totally subjugated to the American Empire.

    President Putin's government is now focusing on internal Russian reforms aimed at managing corruption and improving the people's living standards. This is the foundation of a superpower: stability at home and power abroad. I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing the Kremlin success in its latest reform endeavor. Russia has had many glorious periods in its history, yet this feels like a unique historical opportunity to solidify the national institutions which will produce future generations of Russian leaders, without the baggage and internal contradictions that the Soviet Union had.

    ps God Bless Russia, read the section in the article I linked above titled "Domestic v international law in Russia." How I wish Armenians were as patriotic as this, why would any nation subjugate itself to the jurisdiction of the unbelievably corrupt western-staffed courts (eg European Court of Human Rights) which as we know have a disgusting fetish for Turkic peoples, Sunni Islamic terrorists, Zionists, and all sorts of disgusting unnatural freaks. In a word, western Europeans and Americans are in the service of Satan, what kind of self-respecting people would invite Satanists to dish out "justice" in their countries? Not Russians, that's for sure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although Russia lags far behind Western nations when it comes to national infrastructure, development and economy (and there are many reasons for this, not the least of which was two devastating world wars in a generation, two major political/economic collapses in a life time, 70 years of Bolshevism/Communism, bloody civil war between Stalin and Trotsky, etc), Russians as a collective group are superior to all nations on earth. At the end of the day, Russia has endured calamity after calamity and has come out stronger after every time, Russia is the largest and most bountiful nation on earth, and Russia has defeated all its enemies on the world stage precisely because of the nature/character of the Russian.

      We Armenians have so much to learn from Russians, but many of us backward and impotent chobans and gypsies instead look down on them. We as a people look for examples and influences in the Anglo-American-Jewish world instead. That's why post-Soviet Armenia is turning into a trashy, third world country in front of our eyes. The fundamental reason for this is obvious in my opinion. Simply put: Western culture (liberalism, democracy, multiculturalism, Hollywood, pop music, fast food, etc) appeals to the lowest, most primitive/animal aspect of human nature, whereas Russian (and classical European) culture appeals to a higher, more spiritual intellect.

      This is not to mean that Russians don't have serious internal/domestic problems. Alcoholism, drug abuse and immorality are serious problems in Russian society, as it is in many countries around the world. But, what sets Russia apart from the rest in my opinion is the Russian ability to keep "street culture" on the streets and not elevate it to national status as it has been done in the Western world - and Armenia. At the end of the day, Russian culture is more cultured (preservation of European high culture), more religious (preservation of Apostolic Christian identity and tradition) and more patriotic (preservation of a warlike/aggressive national identity) than any other culture in the world.

      Let me also say this: Russia will die a miserable death if it gets infected with Westernization/Americanization, and Armenia will die along with it. For more of my thoughts on this topic, please read the section about Garegin Nzhdeh in my blog commentary.

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    2. There is good news on the alcoholism issue, President Putin's government enacted measures starting back in 2003 which have resulted in nearly a 40% decrease in alcohol consumption, and consequently record high life expectancy. I also suspect that it is not just the laws alone which are responsible for improvement, because alcoholism is directly tied to people's sense of personal and national identity, hope for the future, and belief in higher ideals (family, country, God.) Simply put, a depressed, failing society will result in Nihilism and self-destruction (see Yeltsin's Russia or today's America.) Furthermore, it's a huge difference if your leader is a physically fit, highly athletic, outdoors loving judo champion who exercises regularly, versus a bumbling drunk or an awkward weirdo blob (like most European leaders.) Or to put it another way, if you experience your nation liberate Crimea and win the war in Syria, alcoholism generally declines; if you experience your nation indulge in transsexual and immigrant worship as its global influence plummets, substance abuse skyrockets.

      2009: Russia's alcohol consumption more than 100% above critical level
      https://sputniknews.com/russia/20090924156238102/

      2010: Moscow reduces alcohol sales hours in stores
      https://sputniknews.com/russia/20100818160246304/

      2013: Russia to Block Alcohol-Selling Websites in 2014
      https://sputniknews.com/russia/20131111184648009-Russia-to-Block-Alcohol-Selling-Websites-in-2014/

      2019: Russian alcohol consumption down 43%, WHO report says
      https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49892339

      2019: Alcohol-related deaths drop in Russian Federation due to strict alcohol control measures, new report says
      http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/alcohol-use/news/news/2019/10/alcohol-related-deaths-drop-in-russian-federation-due-to-strict-alcohol-control-measures,-new-report-says

      Delete
  22. With Medvedev's government resignation today and the nomination of Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishutsin to the post of prime minister, Putin and the Siloviki launched another chapter in "The Rise of Russia" journey. The final step of the full restoration of Russian sovereignty by making the necessary changes to the Yeltsin era constitution will be carried out. Putin himself may or may not want to stay until the end of his term. In any case, he will remain a prominent figure in the Kremlin (he will most likely stay as the chairman of the National Security Council - a very powerful position).
    As for the little known M. Mishtusin, the man who fixed Russia's tax system... In one day, he went from someone with no Wikipedia page to having one in 28 languages. In the coming days, there will be lots of (negative) assessments and analysis by the Western media as well as from Russia's minority internal opposition (communists and liberals). Do not listen to them, what happened today in Moscow is much awaited and anticipated positive news and it pins another nail in the coffin of Globalization.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From your mouth to God's ears, as they say. That said, do we know anything about Mishtusin's family/ethnic background? I know he was one of the main speakers at the IT convention Armenia hosted a few months ago. I also know that he is an IT expert and a hockey fan, both of which are good personal signs. Other than that, very little is known about the man and his background. He does not look Slavic. If I saw him on the streets of Moscow, I would think he was Jewish or had family roots in the Caucasus. He would not be noticed at all on the streets of Yerevan. Although it means nothing regarding his professional/official capacity in Moscow, I nevertheless would like more information about his ethnicity, family tree, early life, interaction with Armenia/Armenians, etc...

      Delete
    2. Mishutsin's mother is from the Meghradsor village, Kodayk province, Armenia.

      Delete
    3. Welcome back Arevordi,
      For what its worth PM Mishustin is a Russian Armenian Jew.

      Delete
  23. Fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_civil_engineering_feats_in_Turkey

    Certain segments of the Armenian population consistently underestimate the Turks, write them off as stupid, backward, weak, primitive, etc. You see this especially with diasporan Armenians and nationalists - people with an almost nonexistent grasp of military matters, geopolitics, and even reality itself. These dangerous individuals are always rambling on about "uniting Armenians" and plunging Armenia into a three-front war against its neighbors. Needless to say this is suicide, Turkey is a serious, powerful country. If Russia were out of the equation Turkey would obliterate Armenia without much effort, and given Turkey's enormous economic, demographic. military, and political clout no one in the west would bat an eye. Like Arevordi has written, Turkey is highly developed, especially its western regions, and Turkey in many ways resembles a mini-China.

    It's not in any way enjoyable to acknowledge and understand this fact. The Sefilyans and other Sasna Tsrer terrorists, and their supporters throughout Armenian society behave like Kurdish warlords rather than members of an actual nation state with a professional standing Army and officer class. The unique historical circumstances of 1989-1994 are long gone, "fedayi" types barely register as a threat to Azerbaijan, let alone a serious power like Turkey.

    *

    For transgender men, pain of menstruation is more than just physical
    https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-men-pain-menstruation-more-just-physical-n1113961

    By this point we've all become desensitized to the absolute insanity prevailing in the west. Nevertheless, the above article is so outlandish that I had to post it.

    We should absolutely be spamming these types of articles into the Armenian language media. I don't think the average Armenian citizen appreciates just how far gone "western values" are. Just keep hammering home the point that you cannot be pro-western/anti-Russian without necessarily accepting things like in the above article.

    Seriously, imagine engaging some low-information gypsy in the Armenian language with the following statement "Aper I'm not saying Russians are perfect but this American/European idea that 'men can get periods too' is wrong and stupid, ցավդ տանեմ."

    *

    Royal family feared Meghan Markle would call family 'racist and sexist' in tell-all interview: report
    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/royal-family-feared-meghan-markle-call-family-racist-sexist-report

    Meghan Markle and Prince Harry told they're 'not welcome' in Canada
    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-told-21290363.amp

    Our Anglo partners are among the worst people on the planet. Anglos deserve what they are getting. The grooming gangs are great. And so is the latest development with Meghan Markle, I sincerely hope to see Meghan become Queen of the UK one day.

    I guess it's true: Africans, Hispanics, and Muslims are the solution to the western problem. Taking a white nationalist position as an Armenian was very poorly thought out and wrong. Blacks are immune to Zionism, Mexico has repeatedly taken a pro-Armenian position (even rejecting an Azeri offer to build a park in Mexico City named after Heydar Aliyev,) and honestly white westerns are not any less hostile to Armenian statehood than the Muslims. I sincerely doubt any non-Islamic immigrants will be keen to defend Turkey -the model Muslim democracy. Same for the occupation government in Kosovo. And I don't see Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, or the lovely AOC supporting the brutal Israeli regime against against the Palestinians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First of all, Megan wouldn't even have a chance of becoming Queen. It would be Kate Middleton, or Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as her official title would be. Second, Prince Harry may end up renouncing his royal titles because of Megan (they may want to live a private life in Vancouver Island, where they will be living). Third, there are Black Hebrew Israelites who are competing with the Jews for the coveted title of God's Chosen People, and in fact, there has been conflicts between African Americans and Jews in the United States historically speaking.

      Speaking of Russian soft power:
      https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/12/article/russia-japan-battle-over-manila-copter-pact/

      It seems that Russia has even managed to start selling some weapons to nations that are traditionally pro-US, most significant would be the sale of the S-400 anti-air missiles to Turkey. Now it's even trying to sell helicopters to the Philippines, but it has a competition with Japan in terms of helicopter sales. Most likely, the Japanese would give the Philippine military the helicopters because US sanctions may make a Russian arms sale to the Philippines impossible.

      https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1228456/south-china-sea-china-oil-Philippines-Vietnam-xi-jinping-vladimir-putin

      Sorry for posting articles that may have more to do with Russia and my own homeland than Armenia than usual, but I am not sure if this is a good example of the complimentary politics that Arevordi is talking about here. Russia could be a good third party in this scenario, because it's either the Chinese (that would definitely cause a lot of anger in the Philippines right now because of various Chinese actions) or the Americans that would be the ones to dominate us. Not only that, but even Vietnam might have mastered the art of complimentary politics with regards to this kind of dispute.

      Delete
    2. Jerriko, my statement about Queen Meghan was a bit grandiose and exaggerated. Given the fact that the current queen is in her twilight years and the UK will certainly have a new reigning monarch sworn in this decade, Meghan would be my choice. Realistically William and Kate can be subjected to the Princess Diana Treatment, and Queen Meghan would be a reality. We are in an age of revolutionary change, no one gives a damn about technicalities regarding commoners versus royal lineage. Meghan Markle is exactly what the UK deserves - and she obviously wears the pants in her family so she'd make an excellent leader of Britain. In any case, I refuse to pay any serious attention to the UK, except to note with satisfaction that whatever happens, the UK has no future. The UK is on the same path as the Byzantine Empire was in the 1200s, and it could not be happening to a more deserving nation.

      Otherwise I think I speak for everyone here in welcoming you to post all relevant articles. I particularly enjoy the articles you have posted about Stalin, very informative and insightful. It's good to see Russian influence expanding in areas like the Pacific where Russian influence historically has been very low or non-existent, and it's good to see "third-world nations" like the Philippines electing leaders like Duterte who are telling American Imperialists to fuck off. Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar (Burma) is also worth noting, she is heroically dealing with Islamic terrorists (the Rohingya minority) by expelling them back to Bangladesh where they belong, and she will not betray the interests of her nation despite the impotent cries of "genocide" from the usual suspects in the Anglo-American-Jewish empire.

      Also, Armenians should note how quickly and nonchalantly Washington and the Eurotrash use the word genocide for nations other than Armenians, there may be a lesson or two there about "national interests" and no "such thing as 'morality' in geopolitics" to distill here.

      Delete
    3. And to think that Aung San Suu Kyi was once the poster girl of the very same Anglo-American Empire for the oppression conducted by the Burmese military junta, but now that she's handling the Rohingya insurgency, suddenly she's getting the Milosevic treatment.

      Additional stuff relating to Russia, it does seem that they're taking the whole "Import substitution" rather seriously as a result of sanctions against it.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vybj06umOgQ&list=PLUZCf1bb0ZAoJqKN0QqIWMzZGlskf_kKg&index=8

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHzT9Wna11o

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwf6CvI_vQk

      Unfortunately, most Filipinos would see Duterte's pivot towards China and to a lesser extent, Russia, as merely exchanging one colonial master for another. As I have mentioned before, China's control of the Spratly Islands and the construction of its military bases would mean that the entirety of the Philippines would be within range of Chinese bombers and fighters. My own family in this case will be among the potential casualties of a war between the Philippines and China.

      Delete
  24. Նիկոլ Փաշինյանը մինչև հիմա կարծո՞ւմ է, թե Ապրիլյան պատերազմը եղել է ՌԴ գիտությամբ և համաձայնությամբ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExorjSMru4Q

    First things first, Pashinyan has the most irritating, scratchy voice I've ever heard - probably a byproduct of having spent twenty years yelling into a microphone in order to rile up the lowest tier of Armenian society into a protest/riot. But still, listen to his response when a reporter asks him if he still adheres to his 2016 comment that the war happened with Russian foreknowledge and acquiescence. Like Serj Sargsyan before him, Pashinyan in an indirect way insinuates Russia is to blame for allowing the Azeri attack, which is essentially handing ammunition to the Russophobes in our society, telling them that they were correct and that the regime in Yerevan is currently prepared to support their western-financed anti-Russian activities. There is no subtlety or diplomatic depth here, as far as I can see there is an unqualified regime led by a street activist who has had an anti-Russian bend for the past twenty years intentionally cultivating anti-Russian sentiment inside Armenian society - seriously threatening Armenian national security as a result. Pashinyan's history as a wannabe Saakashvili-type is going to bite him, and Armenia, in the ass.

    What kind of people are we? We demand independence from the Russians, our state does not use give the Russian language official status nor do we use the Russian ruble as our currency (although billions of rubles subsidies our basic infrastructure, energy, and military needs) yet we demand Russia solve all of our problems at great expense to Russia's own interests, and blame Russia when things don't go our way. This is pretty pathetic.

    Oligarchy doesn’t exist in Armenia, never will – says PM
    https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1002657/

    The way Pashinyan makes these broad, absolute statements is something else, like the time he told RT "there is no more corruption inside Armenia." I wonder what effect these statements have on his supporters - Armenians love counting other people's money, I'm sure they can see that the same old oligarchs rolling around in convoys of sequential license plate cars with packs of overweight "bodyguards."

    Authorities searching home of Armenia top court chief
    http://panarmenian.net/eng/news/277239/

    Back to the good old LTP days, democracy and Anti-Corruption in action.

    ReplyDelete
  25. First, dozens of US troops were injured (and a couple may have actually died) when Iran fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq. Yet, there was barely any mention of it on mainstream news in the US. Yesterday, rockets hit the US embassy in Baghdad. There was damage and causalities. Today, a US Air Force plane crashes in Afghanistan. The Taliban claims it was shot-down. All on board are believed to have died. Both incidents may (or may not) have been connected to Tehran. Nevertheless, one would be hard pressed to find mention of these major military developments on any of the mainstream news outlets in the US. Maybe America is too busy mourning the death of a basketball player... maybe imperial officials in Washington are worried that their Paper Tiger military will lose its carefully crafted image of invincibility. I guess the lives of US military personnel is cheep afterall -

    US Confirms American E-11A Aircraft Crashed in Afghanistan
    https://sputniknews.com/world/202001271078154833-us-confirms-american-e-11a-aircraft-crashed-in-afghanistan/

    Rockets hit US Embassy compound in Baghdad
    https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/480044-rockets-hit-us-embassy-compound-in-baghdad

    Dozens of US troops suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iran missile strikes
    https://thehill.com/policy/defense/479777-dozens-of-us-troops-suffered-traumatic-brain-injuries-from-iran-missile

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This from syria girl on the subject...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAwOJe1MTpA

      Delete
    2. Top CIA Officer Behind Soleimani Assassination Died In E-11A Crash In Afghanistan: Media
      https://southfront.org/top-cia-officer-behind-soleimani-assassination-died-in-e-11a-crash-in-afghanistan-media/

      It seems a part of the retaliatory actions Iran is carrying on against USA and it's really impressive the militar capabilities of the Iranians. All these are good news for the entire World. The absence of American response could equally be an act of strategic restraint for further attacks or simply they can't afford an escalation. The last one would be so devastating for their imperial prestige. I still hear my fellow compatriots here talking about the invincible American army. They are so brainwashed!!! By Hollywood and lastly by Gayflix where every single movie has a good gay and immigrant fighting bad Christian and white people. I hopefully expect to see the fall of the Anglo American Jewish empire in with my own eyes. Like the Britons and Pictos the fall of the Roman Empire. Let's pray for it.

      Delete
    3. Thank you, Boch@.

      If this holds true, this is absolutely amazing. This obviously means Iran had real time intelligence on who was on-board the aircraft. This means Iranian intelligence has active lines-of-communication with the Taliban and/or has deeply penetrated the Afghan military. The aircraft was either shot-down ,like the Taliban claims, or it was sabotaged at the air base it was operating from. In any case, there is almost total silence in US media on this matter. That is enough to suggest how big this development is. For what it's worth, Michael D’Andrea's Wikipedia page is also mentioning his death. If true, I hope the asshole rots in hell...

      Delete
    4. There's a lot of chatter about this now

      US recovers remains from Afghanistan plane crash, verifying identities: Defense official
      https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/28/us-military-recovers-remains-from-afghanistan-plane-crash-defense-official-says.html

      https://www.ibtimes.sg/tehran-claims-ayatollah-mike-man-behind-qasem-soleimanis-death-dead-38457
      https://www.ibtimes.sg/tehran-claims-ayatollah-mike-man-behind-qasem-soleimanis-death-dead-38457

      CIA chief ‘behind Soleimani’s assassination’ killed in downed plane in Afghanistan
      https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200128-cia-chief-behind-soleimanis-assassination-killed-in-downed-plane-in-afghanistan/

      Murderer of Soleimani Killed in US Plane Downing in Afghanistan: Sources
      https://ifpnews.com/murderer-of-soleimani-killed-in-us-plane-downing-in-afghanistan-sources

      Now, Iran media claims CIA chief behind Soleimani’s assassination killed in Afghanistan plane crash
      https://www.wionews.com/photos/us-spy-plane-crash-in-afghanistan-277115#afghanistan-plane-crash-277109

      Iranian media: CIA agent behind Soleimani killing shot down in Afghanistan
      https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-media-CIA-agent-behind-Soleimani-killing-shot-down-in-Afghanistan-615652

      Delete
    5. Thanks, Arto.

      The virtual silence by US officials is a telltale sign that something serious did happen. From the looks of it, the aircraft made a crash landing and burned-up as a result. Two bodies were apparently retrieved from the wreckage. This leaves an unknown number of personnel unaccounted for. According to some reports, there were individuals on the aircraft that may have been captured alive. If so, there must be a lot of behind-the-scenes activity right now. As in the case of the US air bases that were hit couple of weeks ago, bit and pieces of information on this aircraft will only come out gradually. In any case, here are two older articles on this CIA official that is now hopefully dead or a prisoner in Taliban hands -

      CIA Agent Ayatollah Mike’s Face Revealed: Iran’s View
      http://www.iransview.com/ayatollah-mikes-face-revealed-irans-view/1672/

      C.I.A. Names the ‘Dark Prince’ to Run Iran Operations, Signaling a Tougher Stance
      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/02/world/middleeast/cia-iran-dark-prince-michael-dandrea.html

      Delete
    6. Truth being hard to find, so I have a theory. The new number is now 64 troops with "Brain Trauma" My guess is that Iran did not let on to what they were going to hit. I believe as soon as the missiles took off they knew about it but did not know where they would land. They just hunkered down as best as possible with little warning. There is a link on one of the posts on ZeroHedge.

      https://static.hypercomments.com/data/images2/948382/1579175432328668

      This is not the first time I seen reports of helicopter parts. Funny the next few days when they did release pictures they cleared the area and had new choppers parked in that area as if nothing had happened. The report if real states 15 choppers got totaled. They did not think Iran would strike back but they did. Once the severity of the attack was known they played down the numbers as it was horrific or at the very least a taste of what would come should all out action start. I knew something was up by the face of general Mark Milley, the guy is a firebrand! The day after the retaliation when they played it down, Trump gave a press conference the look on Milley's face says it all.

      https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p07zv7fp.jpg

      Delete
  26. Hello everyone, as long time reader, I just want to know your opinion on current Corona virus crisis. I have read/seen a lot about it last days from various sources and its very terrifying. Looks like it is really a bio weapon released on purpose. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Biological warfare has been suggested by others. Anything is possible. The Chinese have been eating what they have been eating for hundreds or thousands of years. So, my question is why now?

      Delete
    2. To add more what kind of virus stays dormant for 2 weeks as the host passes it from person to person without any signs of sickness? Designed for max spreading! Also why are they calling this "Novel" that is usually reserved for inventions!

      Delete
    3. Very interesting interview:
      https://greatgameindia.com/transcript-bioweapons-expert-dr-francis-boyle-on-coronavirus/

      And some info:
      https://greatgameindia.com/coronavirus-bioweapon/

      Delete
    4. Jayo Wuhan Armenia sends love

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1227194409235644416

      Delete
  27. .....no comment.....

    Armenia among top five ‘optimistic’ and ten ‘happiest’ countries: Gallup
    https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2020/02/08/Gallup/2236324

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aint that funny. Not too long ago Armenia was one of the unhappiest, corrupt most miserable countries with a population most desiring to leave. How much more obvious does it have to get that Nicolic (with an emphasid on colic) is a western sponsored project to quote Vitali Balasanyan.
      The knife will reach the bone if Armenia gets a constitutional court that serves the executive and a president in Artsakh that serves Nicolic. Then I can say we're officially and royally fucked.

      Delete
    2. Arto2, sad to say but Pashinyan still has very strong support, and he will for years to come. Again, I have to note that Armenians are justified in hating the previous regime, and also that there is no one on the Armenian political scene right now who can realistically replace Pashinyan (at least as things currently appear, a lesser known figure can always gain momentum unexpectedly especially if he is propped up from abroad.) A decent number of people probably may have realized that Armenia under Pashinyan is not any better than it was under the previous government, and in many instances things are much worse now, but I don't see any willpower to form an opposition movement that can check Pashinyan's power right now. So Pashinyan will continue to agitate the same retards that he agitated in his earlier days (like three years ago) as a street protest leader, and they will scream and riot until they get what they want. They will gain control of the judicial system. Pashinyan will win any referendum, and probably win with a high percentage of the votes, even if voter turnout is abysmally low.

      The Armenian political scene is a sad reflection of our failure as a people.

      I don't know about Artsakh though, I hope Artsakhtsis understand that military-oriented nationalism, rather than the Soros-style ultraliberalism dominant in Yerevan, is the key to maintaining Artsakh's existence. Also Artsakhtsis hopefully remember that Pashinyan is LTP part 2, and that LTP and his people are objectively more dangerous to Artsakh than Azeris. Plus I don't really see Artsakhtsis being bitter and unhappy like in Yerevan, I don't think Artsakh hates itself and does not hate its leaders. Remember the awesome video of Artsakh's security forces beating the shit out of Sefilyan and his band of perverts right at the border and sending them fleeing back to Yerevan.

      Delete
  28. Syrian Arab Army artillery struck the Turks again today and it hit them very hard:

    https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/5633018.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been following the developments in Syria on southfront.org, I'm very glad to see the Assad government and its allies are steadily, bit-by-bit retaking towns which were still under terrorist occupation. At this rate in a few months Idlib can be liberated.

      I do not understand Turkey's moves in this region. Erdogan is supposed to be a competent leader. It seems self-evident that the terrorists will be driven out of Idlib and there is nothing Turkey can do to stop that, not even integrating regular Turkish soldiers inside terrorist militant groups or providing terrorists with weapons and vehicles. By throwing his lot with the doomed terrorists Erdogan is pointlessly sacrificing troops for no real purpose except to make enemies out of Russia and Iran (the major local powers.) What is the benefit of that, apart from regaining some credibility for Turkey from Israel and America? I understand unpredictability can be an asset in politics, especially for a weaker player like Turkey, but making enemies left and right does not seem like a sound strategy.

      The same is true in Libya, the Turkish-backed GNA has no real chance, especially given that local and international powers seem to be backing General Haftar. I'm no expert on military matters, but I do know that it is generally a bad idea for any nation, including Turkey, to get entangled in foreign conflicts, especially hopeless causes that are relatively far away from your borders. But hey, never interrupt your enemies when they are making a mistake, so good job Erdogan, keep on getting entangled in Middle Eastern and North African conflicts and I'm sure you'll resurrect the Ottoman Empire in not time.

      Delete
    2. Arevordi, please comment on the latest Syrian-Turkish hostilities.

      Delete
    3. Sarkis, Erdogan is a competent leader... to an Anatolian extent.

      Erdogan may be cunning and opportunistic, but he is also an authoritarian leader with somewhat extremist and rigid views. His kind usually end up as failures because they eventually bite more than they can chew. As with all ultra-nationalists and extremists, they also in-time become strategically blind (i.e. megalomania), rigid and reckless. That said, from my perspective, what Ankara is doing in Syria makes much more sense than what it is doing in Libya. In Libya, I suspect Ankara is supporting what it considers political and economic assets and levers. They are probably hoping to secure energy deals. They may be trying to secure a place for themselves in north Africa as a regional player with the hopes that major powers involved in the region will have to negotiate with them to get things done. Perhaps they also want to keep a hand on the flow of African migrants and mercenaries as a lever against Europe. From the looks of it, they are trying to be taken seriously. In other words, they want to play with the big boys on the world stage. It will eventually backfire; as it has started to...

      All in all, Ankara's role in Libya is not all that clear. Syria, however, is a different story.

      Ankara is doing its best to protect its pro-Turkish assets in Syria - Turkmens. Ankara is also trying to protect various pro-Turkish, terror groups in Syria that it heavily supported during the past 8/9 years. Ultimately, Ankara realizes that if these groups are defeated by Syria's Russian and Iranian backed government, many hundreds of thousands of these war-hardened (and potentially violent) refugees will pour into Turkey. Such a defeat will also remove any remaining checks Ankara has in Syria against Kurds. All in all, Erdogan's Turkey is facing a total defeat in Syria. What's going on in and around Idlib is therefore a desperate struggle for Turks. In a nutshell: Ankara is finding itself in a dangerous corner and it no longer has active Anglo-American-Jewish support - thanks in large part to Russian machinations/manipulations.

      Anglo-Americana-Jews will try to exploit the situation by trying to lure Erdogan back Westward. Russians for their part will do their best to convince Ankara that is has to continue cooperating with Moscow. Erdogan is in a very difficult spot. Moscow has done its best to guide Ankara into a collision course with the West, at the same time Moscow has been conspiring against Ankara in Syria and Libya. It's been a brilliant execution of statecraft.

      For up-to-date coverage on the war in Syria, Russia's South Front is the place to visit on a daily basis - https://southfront.org/

      Delete
    4. Arevordi, that makes perfect sense. In Libya Turkey wants to play the role of a serious power. Turks in general and Erdogan in particular suffer from delusions of grandeur, they never came to terms with the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey may have an impressive military on paper like all NATO nations (including clown nations like the Danes and Dutch,) but Turkey's days as an imperial power have long passed. Like I said I hope that Ankara gets further involved and things keep blowing up in their faces (or in their public parks and shopping centers.)

      Regarding Syria, Damascus and its allies seem to have accepted Turkish occupation in the Kurdish-populated Afrin region for the time being, which was supposed to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish military personnel. You would think that would be acceptable for the Turks, keep a check on the Kurds (to the dismay of America and Israel) while providing an opportunity for closer ties with local powers opposed to any Kurdish state. Instead Turkey has joined the fight in Idlib on the side of the terrorists -as you said- self-destructive Anatolian maximalism and megalomania. It is almost as if no one in the Turkish establishment did a cost/benefit analysis - they have to know that Damascus and allies with defeat the terrorists in Idlib no matter what, the smart thing to do would be to work with the winning side to deal with the fallout. Again, I hope to see Ankara raise the stakes and get further entangled.

      Of course Russia has been amazing in all of this. Russia has established itself as the major global power broker in the Middle East under President Putin a mere decade after most people had written Russia off as a dead and gone power relegated to the dustbin of history. Horrible development for the butchers in Turkey, Israel, and the west; wonderful for the rest of the world.

      On a separate note, you were completely correct about Greeks. I've been following southfront and other Russia-linked news sites daily. The comments sections are filled with Greeks who do nothing but complain about Putin/Russia allegedly failing every time Israel launches missiles or a Syrian helicopter is downed . What a fucking disgusting people Greeks are, not one of these dipshits mentions the treachery of the Istanbul Greek heathens "recognizing" Kiev as an allegedly legitimate entity, or the fact that Greece and Turkey are literal allies by treaty via NATO.

      Delete
    5. We are living in historic times, and really every major headline qualifies as "historic and unprecedented." But still, watch the following:

      Syrian Locals Seized US Flag During Armed Encounter With Coalition Patrol At Khirbat Amu
      https://southfront.org/syrian-locals-seized-us-flag-during-armed-encounter-with-coalition-patrol-at-khirbat-amu/

      Videos Show Firefight Between Locals And U.S. Troops At Khirbat Amu
      https://southfront.org/videos-show-firefight-between-locals-and-u-s-troops-at-khirbat-amu/

      What an absolutely humiliating spectacle. It's too bad Americans are such low-information dullards and the vast majority choose not to take advantage of the power of the Internet to inform and educate themselves. So much for "America will win people's hearts and minds by defending freedom and democracy," and "they will welcome us as liberators with open arms." The trillions upon trillions of dollars spent on the US military just to end up being the laughing stock of the entire planet. More importantly, the once lowly Muslims peasants appear to have lost the fear of the much hyped US military, just openly firing fully automatic weapons at their convoys.

      The wages of sin is death: the US military is in horrible shape, just as every aspect of the US as a nation (from infrastructure to health care to crime to demographics and beyond) is in horrible shape. You can draw a lot of parallels between the USSR in the mid 1980s and America today.

      Delete
    6. Sarkis,

      Asia Minor (Anatolia) used to be the epicenter of civilization. Peoples of ancient Asia Minor - from Greeks to Cappadocians to Armenians - were the major powers of their time. Modern Anatolia however is a Turkic/Islamic cesspool. The region's civilizational downfall started with Byzantine/Greek treachery and Armenian rigidity some one thousand years ago. Today, all peoples of Asia Minor - Armenians, Greeks, Kurds, Assyrians, Turks, etc., are in varying degrees backward chobans, gypsies and extremists. Sadly, of the bunch, Turks are perhaps the most developed. But, that's still not saying much...

      Anyway, Greeks make us Armenians look good. In other words, they (and Georgians) are much worst than us. That aside, I have also noticed that both Armenians and Greeks like to live-out their political/military fantasies through nations like Russia. The example you brought up is a good one. Greeks wants Russians to start a world war with Turkey, yet they themselves cower in fear of the Turk. The modern Greek subconsciously sees in the modern Russian what it desires. We (Armenians and Greeks) want to be like Russians, yet in reality we can't even survive on our own. Perhaps it's genetic desire or memory of the time when Greek speaking peoples and Armenians were major powers. We see Russians being what we fantasize about being ourselves. We Armenians for example want Russians to fight our fight, and when they don't we call them cowards and backstabbers out of anger. That is why every time an Armenian soldier gets killed by an Azeri sniper, one of the first things we do is complain that Russians are not intervening on our behalf - although we strongly desire independence from Russians at the same time. All in all, it's wishful thinking, insecurity, delusion and cognitive dissonance (psychological disconnect).

      Anyway, just understand that we (and Greeks) are a broken people. Our glory lies in our distant past. We do however have it in our DNA to be a great nation again. We all therefore must do our part to gradually bring back our lost glory. It's going to take a very long time. It's going to be a very bumpy road. But it has to be done. I have not lost hope. I will only lose hope when we turn Russians against us. That said, I don't see that happening. Russians want us. Even chatlax Nikol (brought to power by the NED and Open Society) knows that Armenia won't survive long without Russia. As much as I dislike the vermin, I am nevertheless happy that Armenia is more dependent on Russia today than it was during Sargsyan's time...

      PS: The world is slowly waking up to realize that the US is indeed a paper tiger. Much of Uncle Sam's might is in his hype. With that hype gradually eroding with each passing year, the empire will inevitably decline. However, unlike the USSR, the United States is highly developed and it still hosts the world's reserve currency (the global commodity called the US Dollar). The US downfall shall therefore take much longer than what we saw happen in the USSR. But, once it happens, once the US Dollar loses its global dominance, the ensuing collapse will make the Soviet downfall look like a cozy picnic in a flower garden...

      Delete
    7. Very insightful observations, Arevordi. Like many things posted on this blog, this thread deserves to be revisited a few times and studied further. Funny you mentioned Greeks and Georgians making Armenians look good, I had originally drafted a line about "with Greeks to the west and Georgians to the north..."

      It's really very sad and disheartening we Armenians did not have it in us to build a stronger, more aggressive, more proactive state and government in the last thirty years; imagine we had a leadership that kept the idea of liberating some of western Armenia (or at least Kars, Ani, Oltu, Igdir, Ardahan, Sarikamish, and other territories that Russia had liberated in 1878) alive and incubating deep within national security and policy bodies. Of course we should be grateful that we have Armenia and Artsakh, but there is still a lot to recover. Turkey growing to big for its britches presents a nice opportunity to manipulate them or cause them headaches, we'll have to keep on relying on the Russians (and to a lesser extent Iranians) to do it. The decline of Turkey's historical protectors in the west will present a golden opportunity in the decades to come.

      Meanwhile, as I was researching the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 for this comment, I came across some disgusting western Russophobia from the era. Make sure to read the text on the bottom right of the image. Some things never change:

      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Serio-comic_war_map_for_1877.jpg

      The wages of sin is death: I am glad western Europe and the global anglosphere is drowning in a sea of immigration, miscegenation, drugs, and degeneracy.

      Delete
    8. Ironically, the beacon of hope lies with the formerly communist Eastern European countries that are also taking orders from Washington.

      Regarding Turkey's ambitions, there was a kind of promise made by the infant Turkish Republic called the Misak-i-Milli, which called for six objectives that Turkey should fulfill in order to survive. Misak-i-Milli's main goals in terms of territory would have been a Turkish state that included Greek Thrace (briefly occupied by Bulgaria during the Balkan Wars and lost during the Treaty of Neuilly), the regions of Kars, Batumi and Ardahan (lost to Russia during the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War), Aleppo and Mosul Vilayets (why else is Erdogan involved in the wars against ISIS and the Assad government in Syria), Zor Sanjak, Cyprus and the Dodecanes.

      https://theglobepost.com/2016/10/19/erdogan-iraq-ottoman/

      I think what Erdogan might have also tried to do in the case of its intervention in Libya would be to position itself as another kind of faction that would be independent of the US, Russia and the EU, though given how badly this will end, the fallout will be severe.

      The comic above was creating a case for supporting the Ottoman Empire against Russia. It's like the West wanted to implement a Final Solution to the Russian Question or something.

      Delete
    9. Turkey trying to ‘CONQUER’ Libya, not to bring peace, says top Tripoli govt diplomat visiting Moscow
      https://www.rt.com/news/481040-turkey-libya-gna-erdogan/

      Syrian Gains from December 25 to February 16
      https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/17feb_NorthWest_Syria_Map-1.jpg

      Glad to see Erdogan jumping from setback to setback.

      Meanwhile, as expected, all of the NATO, EU, and US scum are rushing out supportive statements to Turkey and the Islamic terrorists as they get pushed out of Syria. Of course you won't hear a peep out of the usual suspects on the Armenian Internet who argue that the west is Armenia's "true friend and protector" against Turkey, when in actuality the west supports Turkey even when Turkey has an alliance with open Jihadi terrorists. Have fun destroying the cyberwarriors on various forums!

      Delete
    10. Jerriko, except for Russia the Eastern Europeans are not "the last hope" of anything besides the Satanic Zionists and their western imperialist allies. The Orthodox Christian southeastern European countries (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria) are essentially primitive third-rate gypsys with absolutely no self-respect, they all ran into the arms of NATO and the EU the first chance they got because their national identities are fragile constructs trying to cover up the fact that they were subjected to Turkish domination for centuries. Since 2015 Erdogan marched millions of fighting-age Islamic conquerors into Europe overland via these countries: Greece went apeshit over the name Macedonia, Bulgaria shot itself in the foot and canceled a Russian gas pipeline (which Turkey picked up and will now profit selling gas to the dipshit Bulgarians,) and Romania agreed to host anti-Russian ABM missiles.

      Meanwhile the central and eastern Euro Catholic states are probably the Anglo-American-Zionists favorite tools, with severe national emotional issues which drive them to whore and degrade themselves in front of whoever they think will fight Russia for them. You should stop paying attention to braindead white nationalists: Poles and others are in no way admirable, they are the most enthusiastic supporters of the neocons in Europe - while at the same time they beg/demand Germany support their ridiculous, extortionate Russophobic agenda. None would ever dare leave the EU, their occasional protests are hollow shams. These pathetic losers are so desperate for attention from the neocons that their government agencies run ads on fucking Fox News:

      Watch a Bunch of Religious Leaders Say ‘Happy Holidays’ in New Ad Running on…Fox News
      https://www.mediaite.com/tv/watch-a-bunch-of-religious-leaders-say-happy-holidays-in-new-ad-running-on-fox-news/amp/

      And Baltic countries are as primitive as Africans: everything they have was built either by Russians or by Germans before them.

      So, far from being "the last hope" these hopeless tools are in fact the last thing keeping NATO and the dream of a "New American century" alive. It is a historical anomaly that these lower quality, ingrate nations were allowed to remain normal under the protection of Soviet/Russian power. They deserve the ultraliberal social engineering and mass immigration which their brothers in the west are enjoying.

      Re: Turkey, they just want to grab whatever they can, especially if it relates to their Ottoman past or Turanian dreams.

      Delete
    11. Ankara is clearly desperate. Here is a little look into Ankara's thinking process with regards to Syria (and Libya).

      20 reasons why Turkey is in Syria
      https://www.yenisafak.com/en/columns/nedretersanel/20-reasons-turkey-is-in-syria-2047349

      This is more or less what I was saying about Ankara using its presence in Libya as political leverage -

      Turkey-Syria Idlib Standoff Will Continue, Libyan Conflict May be Used as Bargaining Chip – Analyst
      https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202002191078353759-turkey-syria-idlib-standoff-will-continue-libyan-conflict-may-be-used-as-bargaining-chip--analyst/

      Turks are clearly trying their best be to treated like a major power, because they realize that with all the major geopolitical changes taking place in the world in recent years (i.e. the post-war order is gradually dying). Turkey's future does not look too good as a result. In the big picture, the weakening of Anglo-American-Jews and the strengthening of nations like Russia, China and Iran does not bode well in the long term for Ankara. They are therefore trying to do something about it. Their presence in Libya is intended, at least in part, to make them be treated as a "major player" at negotiations tables. For its part, Moscow is doing its best to manage the very volatile situation at hand. Moscow is trying its best to maintain warm/cordial relations with Ankara... as it slowly pushes Syrian forces forward against Turkish-backed forces, killing Turkish troops in the process. The fall of Idlib will be a political catastrophe to Ankara on many levels. Let's all pray for the well being of Russian and Syrian forces currently battling evil in Syria -

      ‘Worst case scenario’: Kremlin slams Turkey's threat of military operation against Syrian government in Idlib
      https://www.rt.com/news/481183-russia-turkey-idlib-operation-worst-case/

      Trump Backs Erdogan as Turkey Rejects Russia’s Syria Offer
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-backs-erdogan-turkey-rejects-061416319.html

      Idlib offensive: Turkey's tradeoffs with Russia put it on the losing side
      https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/idlib-operation-turkeys-tradeoffs-put-it-losing-side

      ‘Assad’s bombs chase us’: Syrian forces target refugee camps near the Turkish border
      https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/assads-bombs-chase-us-syrian-forces-target-refugee-camps-near-turkish-border

      Watch: Russian warplanes hunt and destroy jihadist vehicles in northwest Syria
      https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/watch-russian-warplanes-hunt-and-destroy-jihadist-vehicles-in-northwest-syria/

      Russian Air Force strikes repel militant attack on Syrian government army in Idlib – Defense Ministry
      https://www.rt.com/news/481299-russian-airforce-syria-idlib/

      Turkey Asks U.S. for Patriot Missiles to Deter Russia in Syria
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-20/turkey-asks-u-s-for-patriot-missiles-to-deter-russia-in-idlib

      What a Russian-Turkish compromise on Idlib may look like
      https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/russia-turkey-idlib-syria-solutions.html

      Turkey is now basically at war with Syria, thanks to Russian bombing that is driving 1 million refugees toward Europe
      https://www.insider.com/turkey-idlib-syria-russia-refugee-crisis-2020-2?utm_source=yahoo.com&utm_medium=referral

      And here is a good example of Russian balls -

      Artist reveals Putin ‘superhero’ paintings in Turkey - which are promptly removed
      https://nypost.com/2020/02/15/artist-reveals-putin-superhero-paintings-in-turkey-which-are-promptly-removed/

      Delete
  29. February 2020: Социологи назвали Трампа и Путина самыми известными политиками в мире
    https://www.rbc.ru/politics/12/02/2020/5e42708b9a7947123073df29

    According to Gallup International, President Putin has the highest approval ratings in Kazakhstan (86%), Serbia (85%) and Armenia (80%.)

    Apart from the obvious need for whatever administration is in charge in Yerevan to maintain extremely close relations with Moscow, polls continue to show that even the majority of Armenian people retain a sensible and healthy understanding of the importance of Russia. Yes polling is oftentimes unreliable, but still it is worth taking into consideration. The Soros-type Russophobes in Armenia are very loud and often make headlines, but I would guess that most of their agenda is not popular with most Armenians. A good chunk of the neoliberal nonsense we come across in the Armenian Internet is prepared by self-hating and self-destructive degenerates in California, or wannabes from Kentron. We can never, ever rest on our laurels, the information war is being waged daily inside Armenia to spread Russophobic sentiment, but it's naturally a losing battle for the Russophobes.

    Plus, the extreme outrageous nature of Orange Man's aggressive agenda against Iran, and the larger Syrian debacle of the past eight years, have probably done their part to dampen most Armenians' opinions on the west.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I obviously do not know what was discussed behind closed doors. But, at least on the surface, some of Nikol's public performance in Germany was commendable. I still do not trust him... I still think his government (i.e. his appointed ministers) poses a serious threat to the long-term health and well being of Armenia and Artsakh... but I want to give credit where credit is due -

    Armenia’s Pashinyan: Armenia is where it has been
    https://news.am/eng/news/560327.html

    Armenian prime minister rules out 'unilateral deal' over Artsakh
    https://www.tert.am/en/news/2020/02/14/Pashinyan/3210539

    PM to Aliyev: There was no country called Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus
    https://news.am/eng/news/560586.html

    However, overall, during the press conference, Aliyev looked much more convincing as well as professional than our selfie king -

    An Update on Nagorno-Karabakh | Munich Security Conference 2020
    https://www.facebook.com/MunSecConf/videos/480692625931370/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He did his best, and didn't leave the kopaq oghli unanswered for the most part (even toward the end, the last word was his). 2 important factors to consider in your evaluation is 1) Aliyev's English is better (articulation, processing), and 2)Aliyev is a seasoned politician, and a psychopathic master manipulator who twists things around in "speaking the truth."

      This is where Pashinyan had a "bactoghum"...When aliev said "they are destroying our mosques, graves, and culture..." he didn't adequately answer with destruction of crosstones in nakhijevan, fascist government racist policy of banning and declaring all Armenians of any citizenship as enemies of the state, etc...

      Overall, he did ok. And in reality, Aliyev is fooling no one. Pashinyan got a good taste of the turk.. it should sober him up a bit.

      Delete
  31. Southfront is really awesome! Turkish forces are being annihilated by Russian air force

    https://southfront.org/new-video-reveals-how-syrian-army-russian-aerospace-forces-annihilated-turkish-forces-around-al-nayrab/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. People at South Froont are doing an excellent job. More links -

      Assad Forces Give Turkish Army Whipping In Eastern Idlib
      https://southfront.org/assad-forces-give-turkish-army-whipping-in-eastern-idlib/

      Turkish Sultan-In-Chief On Guard For Al-Qaeda In Idlib
      https://southfront.org/turkish-sultan-in-chief-on-guard-for-al-qaeda-in-idlib/

      Turkey Prevented Four Russian Military Planes From Crossing To Syria – Report
      https://southfront.org/turkey-prevented-four-russian-military-planes-from-crossing-to-syria-report/

      Turkish “Observation” Post Fired U.S.-Made Missiles At Russian Warplane Over Greater Idlib (Video)
      https://southfront.org/turkish-observation-post-fired-u-s-made-missiles-at-russian-warplane-over-greater-idlib-video/

      And this from RT by my favorite Azeri -

      Turkish Idlib offensive: Worst escalation the war has ever seen?
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz7z20iQNZw

      Delete
    2. Apparently these pictures are some of the aftermath of the recent pounding the Turks and their terrorists allies took in Idlib:

      **WARNING: Gruesome, Gore**
      https://zonadeguerra-warzone.com.mx/2020/02/20/siria-mas-de-200-terroristas-apoyados-por-tuquia-fueron-aniquilados-por-el-ejercito-arabe-sirio-saa-y-la-fuerza-aerea-rusa-imagenes-18/

      Delete
    3. Bro thats what they meant when they say meat grinder LOL
      Russian air force is doing humanity a big favor!

      Delete
    4. BREAKING! Turkish Troops Shell Syrian Army While Russian Air Force Bombs Turkish positions in Idlib!
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KcDk97YEJYk

      I'm not sure if this means Russia and Turkey are at a de facto state of war with each other now. Moreover, would this actually trigger Article Five of the NATO charter?

      Delete
    5. Eastern Libya Forces Say 16 Turkish Soldiers Killed in Fighting
      https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/02/23/world/europe/23reuters-libya-security.html

      Delete
    6. Syria before and after "Russian meddling" LOL!
      Map Comparison: Military Situation In Syria In 2015 And 2020
      https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/23feb_Syria-.jpg

      Delete
    7. Erdogan Ups the Ante, Launches Offensive vs Syrians, Russia Intervenes With Fierce Airstrikes
      https://russia-insider.com/en/erdogan-ups-ante-launches-offensive-vs-syrians-russia-intervenes-fierce-airstrikes/ri28330

      Is Russia at war with Turkey?
      Would it be good for Armenia?
      How much can it escalate?

      Regards
      Bocha

      Delete
    8. Boch@,

      Russia is not at war with Turkey. Russia is simply managing or containing Turkey. It's not in Moscow's interest. It's definitely not in Ankara's interest. Moscow and Ankara are in fact doing their best to make sure the situation in the Idlib province does not escalate into a direct confrontation between Russia and Turkey. Pay close attention to official press releases from Moscow and Ankara. They are not openly hostile towards each other as it would have been had they wanted a war. In its official statements and press releases, Moscow is giving Ankara a face-saving way out of the situation. Moscow is not officially claiming that its air force is hitting Turkish targets and killing Turkish troops. Turkish officials for their part are not officially claiming that they are being targeted by the Russian air force and losing troops as a results. This means both Russians and Turks do not want the situation to get out of hand and turn into a direct confrontation between them. Again, Moscow is doing its best to mediate and manage the very complex and violent situation on the ground, and is doing so brilliantly.

      I have never been as impressed as I am now with Russia's diplomatic and military performance/capabilities. It's amazing how a relatively small military force has been able to do so much, and do so in such a complex and dangerous battle field as Syria. Russia continues to amaze.

      With regards to Armenia: Nothing changes. Turkey is still an enemy. Russia is still a vital life-line and a strategic ally. Although the situation in Syria is raising tensions throughout the region (which is no good for Armenia), the "Russian meddling" in Syria as Longtime Reader called it is reminding Turks that Armenia is off-limits to them. For sound strategic reasons, Moscow wants to have good relations with Ankara. Also for sound strategic reasons, Moscow will also make sure Ankara remains contained and restrained. So, overall, the situation has a neutral net effect on Armenia.

      Anyway here is a very good synopsis of the current situation in Idlib -

      Syrian Army Offensive In Greater Idlib: Results Of February 20-24, 2020
      https://southfront.org/syrian-army-offensive-in-greater-idlib-results-of-february-20-24-2020/

      Delete
    9. Footage of Russian Special Units hunting jihadis in Syria's Idlib province:
      https://twitter.com/200_zoka/status/1232789403199770628

      Delete
    10. Zoravar, has this been verified? The night vision/thermal images look CGI to me.

      Delete
    11. Zoravar would you consider writing an analysis of the Turkish military? Yes they are large in number, but F-16s, M60 tanks, and a bunch of mid-tier drones don't exactly scream UNTOUCHABLE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE! Neither does having to beg Russia and America for S-400s and Patriot missiles, or South Korea for an MBT and artillery.

      Delete
    12. Sarkis, I am eager to hear what Zoravar has to say. But, in my opinion, don't let your emotions/biases cloud your judgement. In the big picture (i.e. against nations like Russia, USA, Israel, etc) the Turkish military is a paper tiger. However, against others (i.e. Greece, Syria, Armenia, even Iran), their military is quite formidable. The F16 you mentioned are modernized versions. Most of their their M60s are modernized/upgraded by Israel. They have top of the line German main battle tanks. They do have sophisticated drones. They have short and medium range missile capabilities. They have a very capable special forces and military intelligence. They have a relatively large and well developed military industry. They have a very large, patriotic and subservient population (i.e. unconditionally faithful to their government). And, as we have seen during the past 30 years, they also have a large number of very violent and militarily capable proxies throughout the region. Simply put: Don't underestimate Turkey. Their military is suffering a lot of casualties simply because Erdogan has put them very tough spot, and Russia is in the mix.

      Delete
    13. Sarkis, The Turks have a very large army and they are truly a regional power. Yes, right after the coup against him Erdogan has made heavy purges in the Armed Forces. Particularly hit was the Air Force who currently have a shortage of F-16 pilots. Nevertheless, Turkey's Armed Forces are bigger, stronger and more capable than the Syrian Arab Army which has always been disorganized, lacked discipline and leadership even in its best days.
      Arevordi, I can not verify the veracity of the Russian Special Forces night-time video footage, but must people I spoke to believe it is authentic.

      Delete
    14. Thank you both.

      I'm way out of my depth when it comes to military matters. It will be very interesting to see how Turkey will perform if Erdogan continues involving his country in warzones, especially areas outside Turkey's traditional region.

      Apart from a large number of actual militants operating in regions where Islam is already dominant, Erdogan has resumed marching another type of army into Europe.

      https://www.reddit.com/r/Turkey/comments/fasku3/refugees_leaving_turkey/

      https://www.reddit.com/r/Turkey/comments/farr3w/syrians_afghan_and_africans_marching_to_the/

      Delete
  32. First off, for the recently deceased Turk militants:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_sY2rjxq6M

    Second, regarding the loss of Nayrab and Saraqib. The news reports indicate that after men sacrificed their lives to liberate these areas and did so with blitzkrieg-like speed, the secondary forces charged with holding on to the gains turned around and ran away at the first sign of trouble, abandoning ammunition and vehicles without even sabotaging them. What a disgraceful performance. Arabs are of course notorious for running away from the battlefield. You'd expect better from an armed forces that's been in a hot war for eight years now.

    I'd like to highlight once again that in 2016 Armenian conscripts, mostly still teenagers with limited arms and ammunition, and in relatively small and isolated posts on the frontline and far removed from reinforcements did not surrender and did not flee in the face of a rather serious and then-unprecedented Azeri assault. Where would Arabs be without Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah?

    Speaking of, how is it possible in every circumstance Russia saves the day and then gets cursed left and right by armchair warriors on various forums (like the southfront comments section) for not doing more, such as starting a war with Turkey/NATO? At least we know now it's not just Armenians, it's actually every pathetic loser people on the block. The illogical hysteria is just too much.

    Third, even though Orange Man is basically disgusting in every sense, I'm kind of glad he's president. Whatever it's worth, I think Orange Man will not and cannot do anything to help the Turks in Syria.

    Anyway, it looks like Russia will allow Turkey to claim that it destroyed some ridiculous number of Syrian personnel and equipment, and that's it. We are witnessing impressive high stakes brinkmanship here, Turkey refuses to claim Russia rather than Syria carried out the bombing. Russia is not blinking, Lavrov has maintained the strong line that negotiating with terrorists is the same as surrender. Doesn't look like Turkey has much support in Europe, except maybe the usual trash. And Turkish losses may be starting to pile up in Libya too, this may all come back to bite Erdogan in the ass in elections or even with internal intrigue.

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    1. Southfront is reporting large number of casualties in the Syrian army. There are videos that the Toorks used air power over Idlib. Russia is not being taken seriously enough as it has telegraphed that it does not want a war. Erdo is pushing his luck and winning! The Jews are constantly making air raids without any worry of being shot down. For all this talk it looks like Turkey finally put it's foot down and Putin is not doing enough! This after video showed US troops running Russians off the road. No one it seems aside some Idlib retards is scared of Russia. I don't want to hear Putin is playing some 5D chess. Simple fact is they have been too meek and no one is taking the Russians seriously. Here is the video it is sad, and one wonders if S300's work or are turned off for pleasure!

      Turkish Drone Strikes Inflict Catastrophic Losses On Syrian Army (Videos)
      https://southfront.org/turkish-drone-strikes-inflict-catastrophic-losses-on-syrian-army-videos/

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    2. Vahram, again, I am getting tired of your silly rants. The video put out by the Turkish ministry of propaganda is a compilation of what has been happening in the Idlib province during the past 1 to 2 weeks. We all know Syrian forces suffered some serious setbacks in some villages and towns in recent days. We also know that Turkish attack drones have been operating over the battlefields. We also know that several of them (I think three) were shot down by Russian/Syrian air defense forces. So, stop acting stupid and come back to your good senses. This is war. Turks as noted above are a major regional power. Syrians (somewhat like us Armenians) are a disorganized/indiscipline bunch who do better in guerilla-type warfare than in conventional warfare. Also, Turks are very desperate. The loss of Idlib will prove disastrous for Ankara. Therefore, Ankara fully in. Moscow is not fully in. Moscow is doing its best to preserve the Assad government and NOT start a full scale war with Turkey (or Israel). So, don't translate wisdom and prudence as weakness, as idiots tend to do. My advice to you: Talk less, listen more.

      PS: Regarding what that US APC driver did to the Russian jeep: Woopdidoo!!! The Russian side stood down, and avoided an international crisis. Good for them. I am sure the US driver got some medal. Good for him. Where were you when the Russian air force and navy were doing the exact same thing to US aircraft and naval ships in recent years? Please stop your nonsense. I know you are an adult but you are acting like a teenager.

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    3. Now, with all that being said, I was impressed with the compilation of Turkish strikes. They even show high resolution video images. US and Russian militaries almost always show low resolution videos of the battlefields they operate over. They do this because they don't want to reveal their true surveillance capabilities. Apparently Turks are in full PR mode. Erdogan wants to show his subjects and the world that he is very serious about preserving Idlib as a sanctuary for Wahhabi/Salafist terrorist groups and Turkmens. Nevertheless, the Turkish military is showing good offensive capability. And Syrians, as typical Arabs, are showing disorganization and indiscipline.

      PS: Zoravar, can you confirm if a Syrian Pantsair was destroyed? If so, under what circumstances was the air defense system hit? I know that the Turkish attack drones, at least the ones that have been reported to be flying over Idlib province, are not stealth...

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    4. Arevordi,
      Turks may be desperate but Russia is in serious trouble also. Like you say Erdogan is fully in because he can't let Idlib go but the real question is is Putin in fully? How much is Putin ready going to sacrifice for Idlib? If serious fighting gets closer to Russian troops is Putin going to send additional thousands of troops and military hardware to Syria to protect his small Russian force? I don't see Russians risking getting sucked into big war over Idlib. Maybe Erdogan calculated this. Serious questions.

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    5. Arevordi, That video footage of a PANTSIR being destroyed is from Libya. And so are probably a few of the other video clips shown by the Turks lately.
      Just like in Syria, the Turks are currently conducting a similar Drone-based compaign in that North African country with mixed results. They have lost at least half a dozen drones to Marshal Haftar's air defenses.
      Over the last few days, the Syrian Army took a beating because of Erdogan's artillery and drone strikes. Their rapid advance in Idlib province has been halted. Both Moscow and Ankara are refraining from shooting at each other's forces for the time being. Everything else is fair game.

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    6. Zoravar, thank you for the correction.

      Southfront presented the destruction of that Pantsir as if it was in Syria. Please, if/when you have some time, I would like to hear more from you regarding the military situation in Syria. A blog commentary from you is also long overdue. Please think about it...

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    7. Arto, finally, someone poses intelligent questions. Thank you.

      Yes, in a nutshell Russia is in a VERY serious predicament in Syria. But Russians knew it would be like this from day one. Moscow knew that its troops/bases would be in harms way ultimately because they would not have defensive depth in Syria. Russians bases are fully within the range of Turkish and Israeli missiles. Despite how good their air defense systems are, there is no air defense system on earth that is perfect. There will always be ways around air defense systems. Let's recall that Moscow only has several thousand troops in Syria and several dozen combat aircraft. Russians are in Syria mainly to preserve their military presence in the region by ensuring the Assad government's survival. Russians would also rather fight Wahhabi fanatics far from their borders. Syria has been the perfect killing grounds to that effect. Nevertheless, militarily intervening in Syria was a very high stakes game for Russia. Let's recall that financially and militarily Russia today is a mere shadow of what it was during Soviet times. Russia is also far behind the US in many things. But, Moscow willingly took on all the risks that came with jumping into the Syrian fire. Incidentally, General Soleimani was reportedly instrumental in encouraging and convincing Russians to send combat forces into Syria. Anyway, look at the situation in Syria when Russians entered the show -

      Map Comparison: Military Situation In Syria In 2015 And 2020
      https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/23feb_Syria-.jpg

      In the big picture, Russian troops in Syria are very vulnerable to attack. I said this from day one. The realization that Russians are jumping into fire is what made their military intervention so historic and spectacular back in late 2015. There has not been any serious attempts to attack Russian forces in Syria not because they are well protected but purely because of political reasons. In other words, regional players - Westerners, Turks, Saudis and Israelis - would rather not ignite a war with Russia. The aforementioned have therefore been coordinating their actions with Russia for the most part. Therefore, for the most part, Russians forces have been operating freely in Syria, albeit in a very tight operational zone.

      Regarding Turkey: It's obvious that for them Idlib has evolved into a life and death situation. Securing a territory or safe haven for tens of thousands of Wahhabi/Salafist terrorists and hundreds of thousands of Turkmens has become their red line so to speak. So, Ankara is indeed desperate. In fact, Ankara is also cornered. Just as a cornered animal attacks viciously, Ankara is lashing out viciously. Here is a little bit of wisdom: You never corner an animal/enemy if you are not ready (or able) to strike a death blow. With that in mind, let's understand that Moscow is not politically or financially/economically ready (or even militarily able with the forces it currently has on the ground in Syria) to strike a death blow to the second largest military in NATO. Moscow therefore needs to be mindful of all this and do its best mitigate and defuse the situation.

      The situation in Idlib today is very dangerous, very volatile. This is not a game. This is a very high stakes matter. The situation on the ground can easily spiral out of control and turn into a major regional war. Such a war is not in Russia's, Syria's, Iran's or even Armenia's interest. This is why I get disgusted by our silly armchair generals who want to act like tough guys on the internet.

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    8. So, the question is this: Now that Ankara (and Tel Aviv to a certain extent) is pushing the envelope in Syria, is Moscow willing to start a major war with Turkey (or Israel, or NATO)? Personally, I do not think so. It's not Russia's national interests to get into a major war far from its borders and with powerful foes nonetheless. That is not why Russia is in Syria. Russia is in Syria to ensure the survival of the Assad government, defeat Western backed Wahhabi/Salafist groups and save country's Christian minority. And it has done all of the above, and has done so exceptionally well. Thus far Moscow's military intervention in Syria has been relatively popular in Russia because their losses (both human and material) have been relatively low compared to the historic good that they have done. However, if a major war between Russia and Turkey erupts and there is the need to deploy tens of thousands of Russians troops into the Syrian cauldron (which as noted above does not have any degree of defensive depth), Russians will inevitably begin suffering high rates of casualties. Consequently, the home front in an already economically hurting (Western sanctions) Russia will quickly deteriorate.

      So, you may very well be right in assuming that Erdogan's military assessed the situation at hand and thought he can safely show some teeth in Idlib.

      Which brings up the followup question: Is Ankara seriously willing to start a major war over Idlib? For political reasons, they don't have to officially wage war against Russia per se. They can simply declare war on Syria. But, we know that Russians (and Iranians) will be in the way nevertheless. I'm afraid that unlike the previous question about whether or not Russia would be willing to go to war over Idlib (which I answered by saying Moscow does not want to get tangled in a major war, with a major NATO member nonetheless) the same question about Turkey cannot be answered unequivocally. In other words, we know almost for sure that Russia does not want to get into a major war in Syria, but we do not know if that applies to Turkey as well. And therein lies the danger, and the serious predicament Russia is in. A lot of this also applies to the Iranian presence in Syria. Tehran is in Syria to help the Assad government stand firm and reinforce the foundations of the Shiite Arc. Iran however is also not there to wage war against Turkey (or Israel), at least for the foreseeable future.

      Therefore, in my humble opinion, Moscow will do everything in its power to avoid a wider war in Syria. Moscow will instead play the long game. They will instead resort to using multifaceted statecraft to get their way, as they have been doing in various theaters around the world. I suspect Moscow will seek to slowly/gradually wear out Turks, Turkmens and Wahhabi groups in northwestern Syria through a war of attition. So, let's not be surprised if in the meanwhile there is a ceasefire or some deal gets worked out for the short term. Ultimately, it will be done to defuse the very dangerous situation and avoid a major war.

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  33. Armenia to participate in NATO’s drills in Georgia
    https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2020/02/27/armenia-nato-georgia/1664477

    Pashinyan may be a western agent, but let's keep in mind that Armenia has been participating in these exercises for over a decade. If I recall correctly in the early or mid 2010s Armenia had announced that it would participate in NATO exercises in Georgia shoulder-to-shoulder with Turks and Azeris, only to later cancel after Russia did some arm-pulling. In fact, I'm glad Pashinyan is now persecuting Serj Sargsyan. Serj deserves it, his totally ineffective government got on its knees for NATO and the EU on many occasions, and really cemented the precedent for whoring Armenia to whoever offered the most money. Not to mention allowing western operatives to take root in the country, and failing to take any action to create the perception that he is above the lawlessness that was standard for the HHK.

    As for Armenia, a proactive nation would be trying to cause problems for Turkey given the tensions between Russia and Turkey over Syria, pointing out the key strategic role the Russian base in Armenia plays in containing Turkey, and highlightin that at some point in the near future pressing for the return of at least the former Kars Oblast to Armenia would be in Russia's long term interests in the South Caucasus and the northern Middle East . . . instead we get NATO exercises alongside Turks and Georgians - coming at a time when NATO has basically been shown to be impotent.

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    1. On the surface, Pashinyan may be a Western agent. But, there is also the possibility that he may instead be a Russian agent. Often in politics what you see on the surface is not the full story. Serj, quite literally, created the mess the country is in today. I believe he did it intentionally. I believe Serj and Nikol orchestrated the regime change for some reason. We will eventually figure out what their end game is. Personally, I think settling the Artsakh conflict is part of it.

      Serj started off good, especially considering the fact that he came to power on the heels of March 1. It was a very difficult time. He was hated by the general public but he managed well. In his second term in office however things began to spiral downward. Ultimately, he proved too lenient/tolerant towards the criminal subculture in the country (he and his family even partook in it). He also proved too lenient/tolerant towards the country's Western funded political opposition. All the main Western funded organizations we see playing toxic roles in Armenian society today rose to prominence during his time in office. Yes, such organizations came into existence as far back as the 1990s and the early 2000s, but they were able to set deep roots and rise to the forefront of Armenian society during Serj's time in office. I suspect he did not crack down on them (even though they were actively working to topple him) because he wanted approval (and money of course) from the West. To this effect, he also cultivated Armenia's ties to the political West via Complimentary Politics (e.g. participating in NATO exercises, IMF loans, etc). And when Baku attacked on April 2, 2016, Serj quickly ran off to Germany to publicly complain about Russians arms supplies to Azerbaijan...

      With all that said it should also be said that Serj's time in office also saw the institutionalization of Russia's military and economic alliance with Armenia. So, in the big picture, he did some very good things and some very bad things. In final analysis, however, he was a failure. He is the ultimate reason why we have neo-Bolshevik/Trotskyites in power today. I should also add here that despite his anti-Russian rhetoric when he was in the political opposition, Nikol has in my opinion been more pro-Russian than Serj.

      Forget about Armenia/Armenians being proactive with anything that has anything to do with serious, long term politics/geopolitics (i.e. Armenia's future). Remember, we Armenians are survivors, not thrivers. We are a second tier people. At the end of the day, the key to Western Armenia lies in the Kremlin. When the time is right, similar to how they created the Armenia we have today, Russian troops (with help from Armenians naturally) will defeat Turks in Western Armenia (Anatolia) and then ask Armenians to settle the region. Everything else is a pipe dream as they say...

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  34. Zoravar,

    A few questions, if you don't mind: Similar to what Israelis do, Turks seem to be firing into Syria from outside Syrian territory. Israelis do it from the Golan Heights, Lebanon and Jordan, Turks seem to be doing it from their highly militarized Hatay province (a territory that was gifted to Turkey by the French after the first world war). Two Syrian Su-24s were reportedly shot down today over the Idlib. Despite reports that suggest Turkish air force violated Syrian airspace, I have a feeling that the Turkish air force is instead firing into Syrian airspace from over Hatay. The AIM-120 Amraams their F-16s use certainly have the range. So, I of course understand that attacking military sites in Turkey (or Israel for that matter) opens up a huge can of worms that no one wants, at least as of yet. However, aren't there any electronic countermeasures that can be used blind or render useless these types of Turkish attacks or UAV? I know Russians have the capability in Syria. Do you know if such units are deployed (or will be deployed or will nt be deployed) in the Idlib region? Do you know if the following system employed by the Turkish military is being used to bind Syrian and/or Russian radars? Are there counter-countermeasures to these types of systems?

    KORAL Land Based Radar Electronic Warfare System
    https://www.radartutorial.eu/19.kartei/12.ecm/karte001.en.html

    Finally, can you confirm if the following news item is true? I can't find it anywhere expect this particular site -

    Russia fired 14 cruise missiles on jihadist positions in Syria, sources report
    https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2020/03/01/russia-fired-14-cruise-missiles-on-jihadist-positions-in-syria-sources-report/

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  35. Arevordi, Can't comment on the electronic warfare part. What is being used and what is available? Those are military secrets that are not open to us mortals.
    Fake news and propaganda is more abundantly available than the truth. That includes the stories of the Russians firing Kalibr missiles.

    As for what is happening on the ground:
    Despite loosing 2 Sukhoi Su-24 jets, today was a much better day for the Syrian Arab Army. They shut down at least 2 Turkish ANCA type UAVs (Turkey does not have many of those left) and successfully counterattacked on the Saraqib axis. The Syrian troops and their allies from various organizations are now fighting inside that city. A large number of Islamist terrorist fighters have been killed today (gruesome videos are available).

    I strongly recommend to all not to become emotional victims of the vicious propaganda war staged by the Turks. Erdogan has thrown in pretty much everything, yet the Syrian Army maintains most of the territorial gains it made in Idlib over the last few weeks.
    As for Russia's position: Arevordi has very well explained the geo-political and geo-strategic aspects in his previous posts. Let me clarify the military aspect as follows: The Turks have shown and used all their cards, the Russians don't have to show theirs yet. The Syrian Army (while taking inevitable losses) is standing its ground (with the help of their Lebanese and Iranian friends).
    Erdogan and Turkey are mad because their beloved terrorist lost half of the Idlib province. The Turks also lost dozens of soldiers and equipment. The Russians have made zero sacrifices...

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  36. Iran and Hezbollah warn Turkey: all your forces are in our line of fire

    Full text of the statement

    In reaction to the latest confrontation between the Syrian Arab Army and the Turkish Army, it is important for us to inform the public of the following:

    First: We fought alongside the Syrian Arab army and supported it, at the request of the Syrian State, to open the M5 highway, with a Syrian force led by elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and of Hezbollah, and with the participation of factions of the Resistance within the force; and we have helped civilians and residents of the liberated villages.

    Second: Protected by the Turkish army, the armed (terrorist) groups attacked the positions of the Syrian army, and so we participated in the fighting aimed at preventing the M5 highway to fall again in their hands.

    Third: Since the beginning of the presence of our forces, the Turkish positions located in the Syrian territories have been in the sight of our forces, whether they comply with the Astana Agreements or violate them, but the elements of the Resistance did not strike these Turkish forces out of deference to the decision of their (respective) leaders, and this decision remains in effect until now.

    Fourth: Four days ago, foreign elements, Tajiks from the Turkestan Party, elements from the Al-Nusra Front, as well as other terrorist factions, carried out a large-scale attack on the positions of the Syrian army. Our forces directly supported the Syrian Army to prevent the liberated areas from falling into their hands.

    Fifth: Despite the defensive nature of the action of our forces, the Turkish army targeted our elements and our forces from the air, with precision missiles and artillery support, which prompted us to send mediators to the Turkish army to end its attacks and renounce this approach

    Sixth: Our mediators announced to the Turkish army that the terrorists attacked our positions with their support, that our forces are there to confront the terrorists, and that we are on the side of the Syrian army for this mission; but unfortunately, the Turkish military ignored this request and continued its bombing, and a number of our fighters (Iranian & Hezbollah’s) were martyred.

    Seventh: Syrian army artillery responded by striking the source of the fire; for our part, we did not retaliate directly, and once again, we announced to the Turkish army through mediators that we have no objective or decision to confront the Turkish army and that our leadership is determined to reach a political solution between Syria and Turkey.

    Eighth: We have informed our forces since morning not to target Turkish forces inside Idlib in order to spare the lives of their soldiers, and our forces have not opened fire, but the Turkish army continues to shell the points and locations of the Syrian army (where we are also located) with artillery fire.

    Ninth: The Iranian Advisory Center and the fighters of the Resistance front call on the Turkish forces to act rationally in the interest of the Syrian and Turkish peoples, reminding the Turkish people that their sons (soldiers) have been in our sights for one month and that we could have targeted them in revenge, but we did not do so in accordance with the orders of our leaders; we call on them to pressure the Turkish leadership to rectify its decisions and avoid spilling the blood of Turkish soldiers.

    Tenth: Despite the current difficult circumstances, we reaffirm our continuing position alongside the people, the State and the army in Syria in their fight to defeat terrorism and preserve their full sovereignty over the Syrian territories, and we all call on actors to be rational and aware of the great risks of continuing the aggression against Syria.

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    1. The Iranian Advisory Center in Syria, which takes part in the fighting in northern Syria, issued a press release through the news agency U-News in reaction to the recent confrontation between the Syrian army and the Turkish army. It should be noted that the Iranian Advisory Center is made up of the group of Iranian experts who advise the Syrian State and its armed forces, and that this is the first statement it has issued since the beginning of the war in Syria.

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  37. I'm sure I speak for everyone here, but I'd like to take a moment to thank Arevordi, Zoravar, and everyone else for this great little forum possible to discuss pressing military and geopolitical developments taking place far too close to Armenia's doorstep.

    With that being said, God Bless Russia. Arevordi is absolutely spot on with the observation that Russia remains the last front against Anglo-American imperialism, Zionism, globalism, and especially pan-Turkism. It's not just the Caucasus (South and North) but the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Balkans that would become total Islamic cesspits practically overnight if it were not for Russia. Truly an epic, historic global war of civilization against darkness we are witnessing. Russia did not start this war, but it will finish it, and as it does I hope that Armenia's fortunes improve at the expense of the genocidal squatters who currently occupy much of our historic territory.

    For today though, we will have to "settle" merely for Russian military police patrolling a re-liberated Saraqib. What a clear message to terrorists and their international backers. The lunatics who have been screaming nonsense about "Russia not doing enough" should take note: Erdogan was pounding his chest like Tarzan a few days ago while the Russian government restrained itself to issuing a few carefully worded warnings. The results speak for themselves.

    Russian Military Police Entered Saraqib In Eastern Idlib: Russian Military
    https://southfront.org/russian-military-police-entered-saraqib-in-eastern-idlib-russian-military/

    Let's not forget that the reason Saraqib was liberated once again was because Russia pounded the advancing Turkish-backed militants like a bunch of cheap Istanbul whores:

    Russian Warplanes Rain Hell On Saraqib City (Video)
    https://southfront.org/russian-warplanes-rain-hell-on-saraqib-city-video/

    I wonder how bad Turkish casualties actually were. In any case Erdogan is now speaking of a ceasefire on the very day his ultimatum to Damascus expired.

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    1. Thank you, Sarkis.

      I would like to make an observation that is fundamental to better understanding certain aspects of our history, Russian-Armenian relations and politics and warfare in general.

      Do you see how complex and how dangerous the situation in Syria is? Do you see how courageous and crafty, but also at times overly cautious and somewhat unprepared Russians have been in Syria? Do you see how front-lines and borders are constantly changing and populations are being dispersed in different directions? Well, this is exactly how it was during the Russo-Turkish wars of the late 19th century and early 20th century. In fact, it was more complex and more intense back then because you had two massive empires directly clashing against one another and some of their battles were fought inside Western Armenia. The two imperial giants fought devastating wars, and the lowly Christian inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire (mainly Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks) found themselves caught in the middle. Just like how Syria is in the middle of a very complex, very bloody geopolitical tug of war, it was the same in Asia Minor at the time and we Armenians were the ones caught in the middle back then.

      This is why I am bringing this up:

      If you listen to Armenia's Western funded agents and trolls and "patriotic" nutjobs, they blame Russians for not only "selling" or "giving away" Armenian lands to Turks, they also accuse Russians of "backstabbing", "abandoning" and "conspiring" against Armenians. They essentially see the - natural ebb-and-flow of war - as an intentional/deliberate effort by Russians to betray or abandon Armenians.

      Again, this kind of anti-Russian propaganda is put out by our Western agents (there is a huge army of them embedded in Armenian society) and our society's typical nutjobs (who also unfortunately make up a significant percentage) consume it and regurgitate it. If you want to see firsthand what I mean, read closely "Vahrams" comments and go to Southfront's comments sections and read some of the anti-Russian and anti-Putin drivel there. All that more-or-less because Russia won't start a world war for them so they can have their orgasms. Again, this is all the by-product of Western trolls/agents and your typical run-of-the-mill crazies.

      All their accusations against Russia and Russian leaders are half-truths and in some cases total lies. We see Western agents and morons who listen to them accusing Russia of collaborating with Turks (and Israelis of course) to hurt Assad's military. They do this without ever considering the highly complex, highly dangerous situation in Syria and the very risky predicament Russian forces find themselves in.

      Getting back to the Armenian case: The "backstabbing" of Armenians and "abandoning" of Armenian lands were simply the military back-and-forth, as well as setbacks, you normally see in all major conflicts. We are seeing the exact same processes today in Syria. When Russians and/or Syrians retreat or abandon a certain zone or call for negotiations or seek cease fires with the enemy, it's because of serious strategic considerations/reasons and not because Russia's military high command intentionally wants to abandon or backstab or conspire against the population they are actually fighting for. What we are seeing on the ground in Syria is exactly what happened over one hundred years ago in Asia Minor when the Armenian population there was stuck between Russians and Turks.

      However, accusing Russians of intentionally abandoning or backstabbing or conspiring against Armenians - like many "patriotic" and West-leaning Armenians do today - is the height of irrationality and reveals just how deep Western interests have penetrated into Armenian society. At the end of the day, those who did actually backstab and abandon Armenia and gave Armenians lands to Turks were the British, the French and of course anti-Russian Bolsheviks - who also gave away Russian lands...

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    2. PS: I hope our run-of-the-mill nutjobs and agents of Western influence are closely watching the Syrian tragedy as there are many essential lessons to learn from it. Lesson one: How crucially important Russia's role is in the world today. Lesson two: How treacherous, how evil Western powers - Anglo-American-Jews in particular - are. Lesson three: Without the Russian factor on the ground in Armenia, even if Armenia was able to fully maintain all its military hardware without Russian support, the Turkish military would need only a single week to totally conquer Armenia and begin ethnically cleansing it of all Armenians.

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    3. Well, wouldn't it be more prudent for Russia to simply increase a bit more of arms and ammunition to the Assad government instead of deploying more troops to fight the Turks? For one thing, no one has seen how Hezbollah will perform in the event of a conflict against the Turkish Army. Moreover, there could have been a way to simply make Turkey's victories a bit more costly in the long run.

      Unfortunately, Russia's posturing does have its critical weak spots. Weak spots that can easily be exploited by Turks, Americans and especially Israelis. Let us not forget that Putin is a flawed leader who can make serious mistakes like any other leader in the world. That is not to say that Putin has been deemed incompetent, but in this proverbial Game of Geopolitical Thrones, "you win or you die". That should be the mindset of every geopolitical player, and it has to be played with a combination of cunning and blunt force.

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    4. Jerriko, do you personally know (i.e. first hand) that Russians are not adequately supplying Syrian forces? No, you don't. Russia is regularly supplying the Syrian military with large amounts of combat hardware, essentially free of charge. Turkey is already paying a very high price for what they did to Syria. That's why they are desperate. That's why their are lashing out. Again, don't let your emotions cloud your judgement. Don't get caught up in the anti-Russian hysteria being actively orchestrated by Anglo-American-Jews and Turks.

      In order to properly assess what Russia is or is not doing, you need to be on the ground in Syria and have a very good understanding of military matters. All the criticisms I am hearing thus far are senseless/irrational, and they are coming from people outside of Syria and from people who have absolutely no understanding of military matters. Some of this kind of disinformation is coming from Western and Turkish cyber-warriors and some of it is coming from emotionally charged people with no understanding of military matters who naturally gravitate towards hype and disinformation.

      One more time: Russia is not in Syria to start a war with Turkey or Israel, nor should rational people want it to. Russia has a relatively small force stationed in Syria and, as noted above, this force is very vulnerable to attack from all sides. The primary task of Russians forces in Syria to protect Russian troops and bases and ensure the Assad government's survival. The other main task is to ASSIST Syrians in their fight against Western-Turkish-Saudi backed Islamic terrorism. The key point here is ASSIST. Russians are NOT going to directly engage Turks or Israelis, nor should we want them to. What Russia needs to do is ASSIST Assad's military retake lost territories. How many times do people need to see this map to understand the extent of help Syria has gotten from Russia?

      Map Comparison: Military Situation In Syria In 2015 And 2020
      https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/23feb_Syria-.jpg

      Why do you even think Russia is not doing enough? The Syrian army would have totally collapsed many years ago had it not been for constant Russian military supplies. And what's funny here is that none of you who are constantly bitching about Russia about not helping enough or not directly engaging Turks or Jews in combat never say anything about Iran. Iran has a higher stake in Syria than Russia. Why isn't Iran doing more? Well, maybe it is and us mortals, like Zoravar likes to say, don't know about it. The point here being is this: None of us know what's really happening on the battlefields of Syria. All we know is derived from various websites (i.e. Southfront) and propaganda put of by Turks and their Anglo-American-Jewish supporters. Don't be naive enough to think that because Turks have achieved some tactical successes on the battle field it means Russians are not helping enough. This is war. There will be natural ebbs and flows. The Syrian side is attacking well entranced, well supplied forces. It is bound to suffer many casualties. But, despite the causalities, thanks to Russian air support, combat intelligence, military supplies and diplomatic cover, Syrian forces are advancing against arguably the second most powerful NATO army.

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    5. I want to add this as well:

      The tactical military successes Turks are having is partially due to their combat capabilities (which is significant as we all know) and partially due to the general indiscipline, disorganization and overall low-quality of Syrian regular troops. Case in point: If commanders know there are attack drones operating in the area their military is deployed, they should not not send tanks or troops forward until they get briefed by combat analysts (i.e. military intelligence) and bring up air defense units to neutralize the drones. Another case in point: When you are using attack aircraft to bomb targets near or over enemy territory, you always have AWACS (or some from of airborne command ceter) and a patrol of fighter aircraft nearby to locate and fend off any aerial threats that may suddenly materialize. From what I am seeing, these things are not being done all the time. This suggests general lack of professionalism and a lack of communication and coordination among Syria's deployed combat units. Another thing to point out: Every time Assad's military is victorious in something, you see his scruffy, rag-tag looking troops shouting and signing and jumping up and down and jubilantly firing in the air. This is unprofessional and it suggests primitive/backward behavior. However, to be fair to our brave Syrian brethren who have sacrificed so much since 2011, properly coordinating and organizing combat operations are extremely difficult EVEN for advanced nations. There will always be lapses and errors that enemy forces exploit. Even Israeli, American and Russians forces screw up from time to time. I should add that due to genetic/cultural differences Russians (Slavs) tend to screw up more than Americans (Anglo-Saxons). In any case, warfare is a science and an art form.

      Warfare has less to do with brave men firing guns towards enemy lines and more to do with technology, intelligence, discipline, logistics, indoctrination, education, training, etc.

      Again, Russians are NOT going to fight this war for Syrians. Syrians (and Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiites and Iranians) have to fight this war. Syria is not absolutely vital to Russia's security, for example, as Armenia is. At the end of the day, Syria is just a strategic piece of territory for Russia. This is why Russia is doing all it can to avoid direct confrontation with Turkey and Israel. Engaging Turkey in a direct military confrontation would be a very-very stupid mistake by the Kremlin on MANY levels. Moreover, doing such a thing would undoubtedly make the situation much worst for Damascus. I admit this is indirectly helping Turks and Israelis but Moscow does not have a choice in this matter. As long as Turks and Israelis are not deliberately targeting Russians troops inside Syria, Russians will not directly oppose them. So, not Russia but Iran needs to step up and be a bit more proactive militarily.

      Syria has become a very dangerous powder keg. All sides in this conflict (including Turks and Israelis) will tread carefully, lest they ignite a larger war that will also consume them as well. Right now the path forward in Syria is exactly what Russia, Syria and Iran have been doing: Slowly and gradually move forward and avoid serious international confrontations be it with Turkey, be it with Israel.

      This is not about you but I find it very disheartening (and worrying) that I have to explain these things to adults...

      Delete
    6. I hear you Arevordi. It looks like the Syrian army was not prepared for full on combat with Turks. I guess no one expected Erdogan to jump in the fight like he did. Maybe Russian and Syrian fault is they should have been prepared for it no matter what. But the situation on the ground is getting better day by day Turkish campaign has been stopped Syrian troops are doing better. Russians are pouring in supplies also. I also want to see Russia do more without doing the actual fighting against Turks. According to this Twitter account there is a lot of behind the scenes training and prep going on. Tomorrow will be interesting between Erdogan and Putin.

      https://twitter.com/StasSwanky/status/1235148299352625152

      Delete
    7. Arevordi, I think one of the biggest problems is that people generally cannot seem to grasp the concept of a limited war. Even intelligent, well-educated, rational, successful people I have spoken to seem unable to understand the idea that a country can launch military operations in a theater of war and at the same time more or less strictly limit the scope of its operations in terms of weapons employed, tactics used, people/infrastructure targeted, and territory subjected to attack. Or that a country like Russia can choose to not go on a genocidal rampage against Georgia, Ukraine, Turkey, etc. Let's look at some reasons why this seems to be the case:

      -Generally most people understand war from a strictly American frame of reference. America fights wars by choosing a primitive enemy located overseas, and then puts on a carefully staged public show where it uses long distance weaponry that doesn't involve directly engaging the enemies armed forces to indiscriminately bomb sandal-wearing third-worlders and their civilian infrastructure. America and its European lapdogs have no problems committing war crimes against defenseless peoples. The controlled news media, Hollywood, the controlled alternate media, carefully present this as FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE. Additionally, Americans are a cowardly and paranoid, drugged-up and dumbed-down, and every minor conflict and/or setback immediately results in "we should fucking nuke them."

      -The media and schools largely focus the history of World War 2, and how America basically won everything with some help from the British. Having a Hamburg and Dresden, or Hiroshima and Nagasaki is seen as normal, even though it is unnecessary. Real countries fighting real wars with the limitations imposed by reality is generally not a thought that ever crosses the average persons head.

      -Armenians specifically are traumatized in that every major conflict in the past century except Artsakh has resulted in TOTAL destruction, loss of territory, expulsion, and removal of any trace of Armenians even having ever existed in those places. "Limited war" is not an idea that exists in the Armenian head, battles for even small towns have genocidal implications. Trauma from the Armenian Genocide actually explains a good chunk or irrational Armenian behaviors regarding popular opinions on defense and national security issues.

      Delete
    8. -Like you say, modern warfare is a highly specialized science. Yet they never even touch these subjects at school or university. Curious people are left scouring the Internet trying to piece together information, and there is no shortage of commentors and entire operations run by hysterical, dimwitted, or psychologically disturbed people going wild behind the anonymity of a pseudonym, like a certain someone on this forum who ends up getting banned everywhere he goes. It's no different than if you were a lawyer and somebody who watched a tv drama tried to tell you how to proceed with a case. Or if you were a medical specialist and some weirdo tried to convince you that all you need is essential oils, a juice cleanse, and a vegan diet. Or an accountant, engineer, and so on . . .

      -And of course most people are just dumb and think life is a rambo movie or a video game. "If I was Putin I'd just nuke the Turks, I', a real man bro. A true highland warrior descended from ancient royalty." Some of it is just venting frustrations at their own personal weakness and failures: extremely frail or extremely obese, pathetic men pretending they are Spetsnaz. And most of it is just run of the mill trolls, paid or otherwise anti-social people who just like to get others riled up.

      Delete
    9. Erdogan will be in Moscow tomorrow to endure a humiliating session in which he will be told how to behave and what to do. He will accept an agreement that will include some sort of a ceasefire in Idlib and a reopening of the Damascus-Aleppo M5 highway.

      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESS19khXcAEcbyc?format=jpg&name=small

      It all started with this almost unnoticed communique from the Glavkommand of the Russian forces in Syria stating that Russia can no longer guarantee the safety of Turkish airplanes over Syria. Soon afterwards, a Tupolev Tu-214R Electronic Warfare aircraft was circling over Idlib and Turkish UAVs started falling from the skies (many of which without being fired at)...

      The big question that is currently being asked is: What if things had escalated and there was a direct stand-off between the Russians and the Turks in Idlib? First of all, let me reiterate what Arevordi has mentioned several times before:Russia is in Syria not the fight the war for Syrians, it is their responsibility. Russia is there to help the Assad government survive and rid the country from terrorist organizations. It does not intend to go to war against Turkey, Syria or anyone else. Having said that, in case the unthinkable had happened and there was direct confrontation between the armed forces of the 2 nations, Turkey would have soon found out the following:

      1. That their Electronic Warfare capabilities are no match to Russia's.
      2. The devastating effectiveness of wave after wave of stand-off Russian Kalibr, Kh-555, Kh-101 and even the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.
      3. That their expeditionary forces in Syria would soon run out of Command & Control centers as well as communication & detection means
      4. That the number of dead Turkish soldiers would not be in the dozens but in the hundreds or even in the thousands.
      5. That many young Turkish soldiers will be paraded as war prisoners on the streets of Damascus.
      6. That there won't be any Russian tourists tanning their backs on Turkish beaches and a whole plethora of sanctions that would cripple the Turkish economy.

      Regards,
      Zoravar

      Delete
    10. Totally disregard their short public appearance. The Putin-Erdogan meeting was a six hour ordeal. The announced cease fire, if it holds, is needed primarily by the Syrian side, essentially to regroup and get their act straight. In the meanwhile, Russia continues resupplying Syrian forces with large amounts of armaments and hardware. As I said earlier, Moscow is playing the long game to avoid an international crisis. The Idlib problem will be taken care of in phases. I think highway M4, the strategic roadway that stretches from Aleppo to Latakia, may be the next thing to be liberated from Turkish/Terrorist control in southern Idlib. In any case, it is obvious that Ankara is slowly being guided by Moscow's sticks and carrots. It is also now obvious that having gotten themselves in a massive mess in Syria the Turkish government is in disarray. And the Western establishment's affinity towards and disappointment with the Incredible Turk continues as always.

      Idlib Update: Turkish Drones Falling In Idlib. ‘Moderate Rebels’ Gas Themselves By Mistake
      https://southfront.org/turkish-drones-falling-in-idlib-moderate-rebels-gas-themselves-by-mistake/

      Russia reinforces Syria before Putin-Erdogan talks - flight and shipping data
      https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-reinforces-syria-putin-erdogan-175302836.html

      In Moscow, Erdogan kneels to Putin
      https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/in-moscow-erdogan-kneels-to-putin

      Brawl erupts in Turkish parliament over Syria - BBC News
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoHQtkG6HFE

      Turkey is Learning Why NATO Membership Matters
      https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-05/turkey-s-erdogan-is-learning-why-nato-membership-matters

      Why NATO should grit its teeth and help Turkey in Idlib
      https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/03/07/why-nato-should-grit-its-teeth-and-help-turkey-in-idlib

      Erdogan has made terrible mistakes, but it’s time for the West to help Turkey in Syria
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/04/erdogan-has-made-terrible-mistakes-its-time-west-help-turkey-syria/

      Delete
    11. "Garo Paylan: Putin Made Erdogan Sit under the Statue of Catherine the Great who Symbolizes Russia's Victory over the Ottomans"

      https://armedia.am/eng/news/80586/garo-paylan-putin-made-erdogan-sit-under-the-statue-of-catherine-the-great-who-symbolizes-russias-victory-over-the-ottomans.html

      Our man Garo said it like it is

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    12. The Sultan got called into the principal's office, and got put on notice to display proper conduct.

      New Putin-Erdogan deal is sugar-coating the Turks’ surrender

      "This week’s meeting between Presidents Putin and Erdogan in Moscow was cast as preventing a war between Russia and Turkey in Syria. War, however, was never on the horizon. Putin called Erdogan’s bluff, and the Turk folded."

      https://www.rt.com/op-ed/482477-erdogan-putin-turkey-idlib/

      Delete
    13. Sitting under Catherine the Great... beautiful. Another brilliant display of symbolism (and the significance there of) in politics.

      Delete
  38. A renewed and fresh re-alignment with Russia is to make the Russian language a second language in the armenian educational system. English is widely spoken ( even in a macaroni style) by any dick ,tom ,and harry in Armenia and the world; there is no need to make English a linchpin language, ahead of Russian , in the country Armenia can not thrive, lest survive, outside the Russian orbit. Vartanian

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I was unaware of this. Perhaps you should provide a source/link. But, let me say this. The unprecedented proliferation of English in Armenia is doing four basic things, and all of them are toxic: 1) Encouraging Armenians to migrate to the Western word. 2) Helping Armenians find employment with Western-funded NGOs. 3) Facilitating the degradation of Armenia's youth and Armenian culture (via-Western pop culture). 4) Disseminating Anglo-American-Jewish propaganda and political spin in Armenian society. The "independence generation" in Armenia today, a country that is desperately dependent on Russia for survival, speaks better English than Russian. This is classical Armenian irrationality, self-destructiveness and cognitive dissonance. For the sake of Armenia's long-term health and well being, the Russian language needs official status in Armenia. Yerevan has been able to institutionalize its military and economic ties with Russia. The next to be institutionalized is Armenia's cultural ties with Russia. This language/culture issue is a matter of strategic importance...

      Delete
  39. Syrian war updates:

    The following is a pretty good assessment of ceasefire agreement reached between Putin and Erdogan and the recent fighting which Turkish-backed forces despite some tactical successes on the battlefield clearly lost to Russian-backed forces -

    The Saker: “Erdogan Loses The Battle, But The War Is Far From Over”
    https://southfront.org/the-saker-erdogan-loses-the-battle-but-the-war-is-far-from-over/

    Keep an eye on highway M4. It's a strategic route that connects Aleppo with Latakia on the Syrian coast. Russia and Syria want it under their control. The agreed to buffer zone along the highway and the joint Russian-Turkish patrol was actually a major breakthrough for Syria in the negotiations between Putin and Erdogan. A similar thing was done with highway M5 not too long ago before Turkish-backed forces lost it during recent battles. I am surprised Ankara agreed to such an arrangement again. Well, actually, I am not surprised. In any case, highway M4 will in my opinion be the next strategic area in the Idlib province to be liberated from Turkish-backed terrorists -

    Map Update: M4 Buffer Zone Agreed By Russia And Turkey In Greater Idlib
    https://southfront.org/map-update-m4-buffer-zone-agreed-by-russia-and-turkey-in-greater-idlib/

    What's telling/symbolic here is the actual patrol itself. One Turkish APC sandwiched by two Russian APCs -

    Turkish Forces Spotted Along Russian Military Police On Damascus-Aleppo Highway
    https://southfront.org/turkish-forces-spotted-along-russian-military-police-on-damascus-aleppo-highway/

    For those who lament about Russia's 100 billion dollar economic/trade relations with Turkey, the following briefly outlines of the strategic importance of trade relations with one's enemy. In other words, when you become an important trade partner for your enemy (as well as provide it things it desperately needs like energy and specific weapons systems) your enemy becomes dependent on you and therefore disarms towards you. This is what Anglo-American-Jews have been doing to the entire world since the second world war. This is what Russia has been doing via energy supplies and weapons deliveries throughout former Soviet space, as well as Europe, Turkey and China -

    Why Turkey can’t afford a confrontation with Russia
    https://thearabweekly.com/why-turkey-cant-afford-confrontation-russia

    Other than some lip service from Anglo-American-Jews, Erdogan cannot rely on its Western handlers anymore - at least in Syria's quagmire. This is essentially where Moscow wanted Ankara to be -

    No Way: Why Turkey Can't Expect Support From NATO in Syria
    https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/no-way-why-turkey-cant-expect-support-nato-syria-130512

    Finally, Turks lament -

    Ceasefire in Syria's Idlib comes at a cost for Turkey's Erdogan
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/ceasefire-syrias-idlib-comes-cost-165923893.html

    Erdogan’s dance with Putin: Humiliating, but face-saving
    https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/turkey-russia-syria-idlib-deal-erdogan-accepts-regimes-gains.html

    Ceasefire in Syria's Idlib comes at a cost for Turkey's Erdogan
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-ceasefire-idUSKBN20T2DJ

    Erdogan’s pyrrhic victory cannot hide the fact he has come home empty-handed
    https://middle-east-online.com/en/erdogan%E2%80%99s-pyrrhic-victory-cannot-hide-fact-he-has-come-home-empty-handed

    Erdogan’s Syria Deal With Putin Leaves Turkey Bases Besieged
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/erdogan-e2-80-99s-syria-deal-with-putin-leaves-turkish-military-besieged/ar-BB10PtzO?ocid=opal0003

    Garo Paylan: Putin Made Erdogan Sit under the Statue of Catherine the Great who Symbolizes Russia's Victory over the Ottomans
    https://armedia.am/eng/news/80586/garo-paylan-putin-made-erdogan-sit-under-the-statue-of-catherine-the-great-who-symbolizes-russias-victory-over-the-ottomans.html

    ReplyDelete
  40. https://www.voltairenet.org/article209439.html

    What do you think Arevordi about these and others articles about the Cebrowski plan Thierry use to write about? It's really awesome and amazing point of view about the USA geopolitical thoughts and very heterodox

    Regards
    Bocha

    ReplyDelete
  41. Russia's Khmeimim Airbase vs. Turkey's Entire Air Force: Air Battles Over Syria
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEeYk65jzko

    In my opinion if we're going into hypothetical warfare against Turkey, the Erebuni and Gyumri ought to get a mention.

    It's been amazing to watch Turkish leaders get HUMILIATED in Moscow in front of the whole world. In the end NATO-member Turkey got about as much western support as the Kurds did.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Newspaper: Armenia 1st President clearly says to PM that such ingratitude will not be forgotten
    https://news.am/eng/news/565672.html

    Almost the entirety of Armenian news media can be accurately described as "unreliable tabloids." Seriously, Armenia is almost completely devoid of respectable journalists; instead we have gypsy-like rumor mongers cited as "experts" by journalists who have been trained by western NGOs and universities and who remain totally dependent on western paychecks. Still, I hope there is some truth to reports of friction between Pashinyan and Ter-Petrostein.

    I do not trust Pashinyan, but objectively he can win some support from a large part of his current detractors if he presents his former boss LTP as a burnt offering to the people in the same way that he presented Manvel Grigoryan and is currently presenting Kocharyan and Serj Sargsyan. While we're at it, throw Alexander Arzumanian, Raffi Hovhannisyan, Hovik Abrahamyan, and the rest in too - this is a historic opportunity for a painful but necessary enema. Ideally I'd want an Armenian political scene free of political persecutions and leaders who are focused on revenge against their personal enemies, but the reality is that the Armenian political scene since independence has resulted in a situation where it is necessary to have a thorough purge of the old guard - it is inevitable in every newly-independent (1991) and/or post-revolutionary (2018) country. Pashinyan is too popular and has maintained good relations with Russia, therefore Pashinyan is not going to go anywhere for a long time. Pashinyan's rise to power presented a crisis, but like every crisis it also represents many opportunities.

    Funnily enough, LTP has consistently shown that he is an asshole in every sense of the word and it would not be surprising to find out that he tried to sabotage Pashinyan or otherwise gave Pashinyan reason to hate/attack him. Not that I have any sympathy for Raffi Hovhanissyan, but even I thought that it was a dick move when in 2012 LTP refused to back Hovhanissyan's hunger strike campaign. LTP is clearly a self-aggrandizing, selfish, hate-filled, jealous sociopath who cannot stand the idea that anyone other than him is the popular revolutionary leader of Armenia - even though his star faded a quarter of a century ago and he personally is a decrepit old corpse surrounded only by the lowest type of sycophant. I'm sure LTP has been seething witnessing Pashinyan's success.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I initially wrote the following last week ago but I was having second thoughts about posting it. However, seeing how virtually everybody now has been put into a state of panic, I wanted to break my silence and in doing so try to alleviate some of the fears people have.

    From day one, the official story behind Covid-19 (a type of Coronavirus) did not make much sense. From day one, the numbers/statistics presented about Covid-19 did not add up. I ask everyone to use some critical thinking and do some research on this topic. Don't become a victim of their fearmongering. Don't turn into a zombie. Be cautious, but don't panic. Time will eventually prove that Covid-19 is essentially a man-made crisis and that it is not as deadly as they want you to think it is. To make better sense of what I am saying, consider this: To date, we are told around 350,000 people around the world have contracted Covid-19. That is the official figure, and it is expected to rise rapidly. Since we know that testing for Covid-19 was not widespread until recently, especially in Europe and the United States, I have no doubt that the actual number of Covid-19 carriers around the world is in the many millions by now. Again, the known cases of Covid-19 (350,000) are only those who have been tested. We know that a very small number of people have been tested around the world. So, the real number is in the millions. Keep this in mind when you hear them talk about a "rapid increase" or "spike" in infections. We are seeing a "spike" in infection numbers in the United States and elsewhere NOT because the virus is quickly spreading or gaining strength but because the virus has been circulating around society for a long time and they only recently started doing large-scale testing for it. It is natural that with more testing more Covid-19 cases will be revealed. We are also told that deaths resulting from Covid-19 are around 15,000 worldwide as of this writing. A majority of the said deaths have for some yet unexplained reason have occurred in three countries: China, Iran and Italy. I suspect that the aforementioned countries are dealing with a different strain of the virus. Perhaps they are also counting people that have died from the influenza virus? Nevertheless, for the sake of argument, I will assume that Globalist organizations like the United Nation's World Health Organization are not lying about the number of deaths. After all, it is easier to determine what a person died from than determine how many people in society actually has a particular infection. In any case, this means we have thus far had around 15,000 deaths worldwide from many millions of infection cases. Thus, the mortality rate of Covid-19 seems to be less than 1%. This rate of mortality makes it comparable to other recent diseases we have seen in recent years. Also note that the elderly with underlying medical problems comprise over 75% of the less-than 1% deaths that occur as a result of a Covid-19 infection.

    Also consider this: Between 2018 and 2019 alone, 35,000 Americans died from the "common flu" (influenza). Deaths from the common flu in the United States is expected to be around 50,000 this year. Worldwide, influenza kills around 500,000 people annually. One more time: HALF A MILLION people die every year from the flu/influenza. Both, influenza and Covid-19, are transmitted much the same way and they exhibit very similar symptoms in people that have them - and so far the common flu has been much more deadlier than Covid-19. This is common knowledge, even among news organizations that are currently scaremongering about Covid-19. The data/statistics can be easily be found on the CDC's official website -

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in the United States - 2018–2019 influenza season
      https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html

      2019-2020 U.S. Flu Season: Preliminary Burden Estimates
      https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

      Seasonal flu death estimate increases worldwide
      https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1213-flu-death-estimate.html

      Coronavirus is spreading - but the flu is a greater threat to Americans
      https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/longevity/480089-coronavirus-sparks-panic-as-flu-poses-greater-threat-to

      Flu Is Causing 1 in 10 American Deaths and Climbing
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/flu-caused-1-in-10-american-deaths-last-week

      This year is by-far the worst influenza season on earth. The question I have therefore is this: Why haven't they fomented panic and hysteria over the influenza virus? Why are they not doing daily deaths counts about the flu? Why are they not covering the spread of the influenza virus around the world on a 24/7 basis? Why are they not producing heartrending news reports on individuals that have tragically died as a result of the common flu? Why hasn't the influenza virus - the killer of over half-million people this year as everyone seems to agree - been called a "dangerous global pandemic"? Conversely, when it comes to Covid-19, why are they spreading so much fear, panic and hysteria? Why are they shutting-down entire nations and bringing the economies of such nations to the verge of collapse? They (government officials and mainstream news organizations) are deliberately spreading fear, panic and hysteria. They are doing it in moderation of course, for uncontrolled panic can cause mass riots, which is not something they are looking for. In other words, what they are doing is controlled chaos. In other words, they are very carefully controlling the information/fear spigot. Nevertheless, one can easily paint a much more terrible picture about the influenza virus and do so with very little effort.

      Again, we are seeing a "spike" in Covid-19 infections in the United States ONLY because they started testing people in large numbers. I have no doubt the virus has been circulating in the United States at least as early as January, if not earlier. Between January and early March, when they first began reacting to it, the virus was freely spreading all around the country. Yet, it had not put hospitals in the United States under any unusual strain and they was no panic and no fear. This is an important point to consider. During this time period people were getting sick with the virus and some were unfortunately dying, as it happens every year with the influenza. But, again, there was no panic and no fear in society. There was no crisis within hospitals and the economy functioned without any interruptions. There was no panic and all seemed well because government officials (mostly on the Democratic left but also on the right) and the mainstream news media (virtually all of them) were not yet fearmongering on a 24/7 basis. Now, the overreaction to this virus has more-or-less crashed the US economy and impregnated society with deep rooted fear. The longer this state of panic lasts, the more irrecoverable/irreparable will the damage to the economy be. Anyone with a sore throat or a cough in the United States - which is very common especially during this time of year - will now be rushing in panic to their nearest hospital. This is the kind of panic we all should be fearing. It is this kind of societal panic that can collapse the medical system, as well as the economy. This kind of panic will end up hurting more people than the virus itself.

      Delete
    2. Here is the bottom line: The financial/economic decline they are deliberately causing supposedly as a result of this virus will ruin the mental and physical health of tens-of-millions of Americans. The country's mainstream news media (both on the so-called left and right) and officials (both Democrat and Republican) are at fault. Their deliberate overreaction to this virus is much more dangerous to the health and well-being of Americans than the virus itself. This is why I fear what they are doing much more than the virus itself. That is why it was very heartening today to finally hear President Trump expressing similar thoughts -

      Suicides from depression will be ‘FAR GREATER’ than coronavirus deaths unless America reopens for business ‘soon’ – Trump
      https://www.rt.com/usa/483899-trump-asian-americans-virus/

      President Trumps knows well that the deliberate overreaction to this virus (which threatens to crash the US economy) will put his reelection hopes in serious jeopardy come November. He realizes that this matter will be fully exploited by his enemies in the country against him. He has begun to push back. His opposition will no doubt reciprocate. The nasty fight inside Washington DC has in-fact already begun. Covid-19 will be Russiagate on steroids in the coming months. Mark my words.

      Is Covid-19 a naturally occurring health crisis that is being exploited by opportunistic officials and the Deep State, or have opportunistic officials and the Deep State created this crisis with certain political and economic goals in mind?

      I have a pretty good idea on how the Western world's financial/economic system operates. I also know quite well the evil/satanic nature and character of the political elite in the Western world. Therefore, I don't for a moment believe that they are bringing the US economy to the verge of a collapse supposedly as a "precautionary measure" to "prevent deaths" and "not overburden the country's hospital system". I don't for a moment believe that they "care" about the sick and/or the elderly. If they really were worried about the health of the public, they (both sides of the political aisle) would have immediately put massive amounts of government resources behind the health care system in the country in order to tackle the problem at hand. If the lack of hospitals were their real concern, they (both sides of the political aisle) would have called on the military, the Army Corps of Engineers to be exact, to build however many field hospitals that was needed. They instead decided to essentially shut-down the US economy, crashed the stock market, put tens-of-millions of Americans out of work and evaporated trillions of dollars in the process. All over a few thousand deaths worldwide, when the common flu kills hundreds-of-thousands annually? The overreaction to Covid-19 make absolutely no sense from an economic, financial, political or even a public health perspective. I therefore believe there is a sinister plan. Anybody with any amount of knowledge about the political elite in the Western world - and the financial gods that run the Anglo-American-Jewish empire - would immediately suspect a hidden agenda behind all this.

      That this matter is being deliberately exaggerated and blown-out of proportions is more than obvious to me. What's not so obvious however is their intent. It can't just be all about Trump. Allow me to therefore speculate.

      Delete
    3. Again, no one is going to convince me that a few hundred deaths (or even a few thousand deaths) from the Covid-19 in the United States is the real reason why they decided to crash the US economy, evaporate trillions of dollars in stock assets and ruin the lives (and therefore health) of millions of Americans. This is being done intentionally and it is being done towards a particular goal/purpose. There is a long-term strategic plan behind all this. This is not China's doing. This is not Russia's doing. This is not even an "American" thing actually. In my opinion, what we are see today is no doubt orchestrated from very high above. In my opinion, what is happening goes beyond individual politicians, governments and even nations. What we are seeing in my opinion is no doubt a "Supranational" event.

      This is the One World Order and Deep State in action like never before.

      I first began suspecting an ulterior agenda when Western officials and mainstream news media outlets almost immediately began blaming Chinese cuisine (the consumption of "bat soup" in particular) for the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. Apparently, public displays of racism is okay as long as it is not directed against Jews and Blacks. Well, consider this: The Chinese have been eating very weird (I would even say disgusting) foods literally for thousands of years. Why would a contagion suddenly start now as a result of what they are eating? China was being publicly ridiculed for all sorts of things, and this was being done at a time when they supposedly knew very little about the virus. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I refuse to believe that the current Covid-19 outbreak is a natural occurrence. Moreover, I refuse to believe that they don't have a cure for this ailment. Science and medicine today is way too advanced for me to believe that they don't have a vaccine ready and they didn't see this coming. State actors today are capable enough and evil enough to do things like this deliberately (i.e. for political and financial reasons). Various medical research centers and so-called "biolabs" around the world (including Western, Israeli, Russian and Chinese laboratories) have been studying - and producing - pathogens like this for many decades now. The technology/science behind what they do in such labs is very advanced and far ahead of what is normally revealed to the public -

      Inside America's secretive biolabs
      https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/28/biolabs-pathogens-location-incidents/26587505/

      US Military Bio-labs in Ukraine, Production of Bio-weapons and “Disease Causing Agents”
      https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-military-bio-labs-in-ukraine-production-of-bio-weapons-and-disease-causing-agents/5605307

      Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens (2017)
      https://www.nature.com/news/inside-the-chinese-lab-poised-to-study-world-s-most-dangerous-pathogens-1.21487

      Armenia to open doors of U.S.-built biolabs to Russia
      https://eurasianet.org/armenia-to-open-doors-of-us-built-biolabs-to-russia

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    4. It is common knowledge that microbes, viruses and chemicals have been studied and weaponized. They have been working on such things for many decades. So, chances are that Covid-19 is indeed an engineered (i.e. man-made) pathogen. So, disregard what mainstream news reports and political pundits are claiming and understand that Covid-19 exhibits characteristics of a biological weapon. It would therefore not be a stretch of the imagination to believe that Covid-19 was intentionally released into society. By releasing this virus, they may be addressing a number of issues. The following are some thoughts regarding this matter -

      1) This health crisis may be a global-scale medical drill designed to assess how nations react to global emergencies. Many nations that are connected to international organizations/institutions (like China, like Russia) have no choice but to play the game to some degree.
      2) They may be "correcting" global stock markets, which have been in a bubble for quite some time now. A major crash was being anticipated by economic experts for a while now. They do similar "corrections" every ten years or so and basically wipe-out trillions of dollars.
      3) They may be trying to hurt President Trump's chances for reelection later this year. Low unemployment rates and a booming economy was afterall Trump's biggest political advantage. He will no longer have it.
      4) They may be laying the ground-work for the further advancement of Socialism, Globalism and generally speaking big-government.
      5) They may also be targeting China, Iran and Italy. They may be doing it for psy-ops value (i.e. making an example out of them). Italy is an enigma. The hard hit country may have been their, closer to home so-to-speak guinea-pig. What Italy, Iran and China are dealing with may also be a more virulent strain of the virus.
      6) They may be culling the old and the terminally ill. Their goal is population reduction afterall, which is why they also actively promote feminism, homosexuality, abortions and psychedelic drugs.
      7) They may be sowing fear and panic in populations across the world for the purpose of passing more laws and regulations (i.e. increased societal control, suppressing independence, mind control, etc). After all, when it comes to societal control, fear remains one of the most powerful weapons/tools in their arsenal.
      8) They may be laying the ground-work for trillions-of-dollars in so-called bailout loans from the Federal Reserve, IMF, World Bank, etc. In the process, they are shrinking the already struggling middle class and putting more people on government assistance. Loans/debt mean control. The world's economy, including that of the united States, is increasingly being controlled by international banks. The Federal Reserve is the main culprit in this regard.
      9) They may be laying the ground-work for mandatory vaccinations, through which they will make tens-of-billions of dollars in profit. Vaccinations and various other drugs is also a form of societal control.
      10) By shutting down cities and regions and nations, they may be trying-out different forms of marshal law.

      I smell One World Order. I smell Globalism. I believe Covid-19 was released into the world by Supranational interests for a number of long-term cultural, political and financial reasons. I reiterate: They are intentionally undermining the US economy. They are correcting the stock market bubble. They are trying-out various forms of societal control. They are weakening the Trump administration by putting millions of out work just before the presidential elections. In the process, they are ruining the livelihoods - and therefore the mental and physical health - of hundreds of millions of people around the world, as well as tens-of-millions of Americans.

      Delete
    5. We should not be surprised with any of this. We after all have been living in an Anglo-American-Jewish world for the past two hundred years (since 1815 to be precise). We therefore have been living in a world that is tightly controlled by super-wealthy families, banking institutions and mega-corporations. The aforementioned operate through the Deep State. Government officials directly and indirectly serve such special interests. For two hundred years the world has been their playground, as well as their testing grounds. For two hundred years humanity has been at their mercy. Those dependent on Western financial institutions and trade, practically the entire world (including Russia, China and Iran), have no choice but to play their games, at least in varying degrees. In other words, humanity is at the mercy of Western banks, corporations and, increasingly, drug peddlers. This is precisely why the rise of nations like Russia and China is so crucially important for the whole of humanity. This is precisely why they fear the rise of Russia and China. And this is also the reason why IMF/World Bank loans, USAID projects and US biolabs have no place in Armenia.

      Their claims that vaccinations for Covid-19 is 12-18 months away was a bold-faced lie meant to cause fear and panic. I have no doubt that vaccines for the virus exists in American biolabs. I have no doubt they will magically come up with one in the coming weeks (and of course make billions-of-dollars in profit from it). What we are seeing is historic and unprecedented. What we are seeing is no doubt orchestrated by Supranational forces. There is no doubt in my mind that what we are seeing is the One World Order, Deep State and Globalism in action. At the end of the day, those who will gain enormously from all this fear and panic are Globalist entities like the United Nations, the Federal Reserve, FEMA, major Western financial institutions, the World Bank/IMF and major pharmaceuticals companies. So, if you are into stocks, I suggest buying into big-pharma and biolabs.

      Watching this all play-out in society has been very surreal. Sorry for the cliché, but it feels like the "Twilight Zone". It never ceases to amaze me how easily people/sheeple can be manipulated and exploited. It never ceases to amaze me how even well educated people are so easily fooled and mislead. Society is indeed dumbed-down. Modern humans are indeed like zombies. My advice for everyone is simply to be cautious. Yes, practice good hygiene because you don't want to catch the nasty flu - but don't panic and don't live in fear and question everything they are telling you. They WANT you and I to live in fear. Fear is one of the ways they CONTROL our minds. Covid-19 is NOT as dangerous as they are making it sound, especially for younger people and those who are generally speaking healthy. If a person is old and frail or if they have a serious underlying ailment like cancer, heart disease, AIDS, pneumonia, emphysema or asthma, then any kind of virus can be deadly for them. Going forward, I suggest you worry instead about what they are doing to the economy. In other words, worry about your work and your finances, and also worry about becoming even bigger slaves for Globalists...

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    6. For context, please visit the following links

      COVID-19 Coronavirus "Fake" Pandemic: Timeline and Analysis - Global Research
      https://www.globalresearch.ca/ncov-2019-coronavirus-time-line/5705776

      Coronavirus and Climate Change – #PropagandaWatch : The Corbett Report
      https://www.corbettreport.com/coronavirus-and-climate-change-propagandawatch/

      Dr. Drew Pinsky: Coronavirus Panic Must Stop, Press Needs to Be Held Accountable for Hurting People
      https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/10/dr_drew_pinsky_coronavirus_panic_must_stop_press_needs_to_be_held_accountable_for_hurting_people.html

      Is COVID-19 A Bioweapon? Five Conspiracy Theories Around Coronavirus That Will Shock You - A Pandemic That Sent Shockwaves
      https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/is-covid-19-a-bioweapon-five-conspiracy-theories-around-coronavirus-that-will-shock-you/a-pandemic-that-sent-shockwaves/slideshow/74388518.cms

      Coronavirus deniers and hoaxers persist despite dire warnings, claiming ‘it’s mass hysteria’
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-deniers-outbreak-hoax/2020/03/19/46bc5e46-6872-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html

      I am an American constitutional lawyer - and I see our government using Covid-19 to take away our fundamental rights
      https://www.rt.com/op-ed/483758-coronavirus-constitutional-rights-government/

      Covid-19 has taken away bread and circuses, laying bare the true American empire
      https://www.rt.com/op-ed/483675-coronavirus-america-bread-circuses-illusions/

      How lethal is Covid-19 REALLY? Why massive fatality rates from Italy are MISLEADING
      https://www.rt.com/news/484098-coronavirus-fatality-rates-exaggerated-italy/

      Coronavirus: German government fears hostile takeovers of weakened companies
      https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/coronavirus-german-government-fears-hostile-takeovers-of-weakened-companies-092428406.html

      Four senators sold stocks before coronavirus threat crashed market
      https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/488593-four-senators-sold-stocks-before-coronavirus-threat-crashed-market?amp

      World Bank's $500m pandemic scheme accused of 'waiting for people to die'
      https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/28/world-banks-500m-coronavirus-push-too-late-for-poor-countries-experts-say

      Iran Leader Refuses US Help, Citing Virus Conspiracy Theory
      https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/iran-leader-refuses-us-help-citing-virus-conspiracy-theory

      Beijing won't disown spokesman’s theory of US hand in coronavirus outbreak
      https://www.rt.com/news/483018-china-us-theory-coronavirus-spokesman/

      Why does Russia, population 146 million, have fewer coronavirus cases than Luxembourg?
      https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/europe/putin-coronavirus-russia-intl/index.html

      History’s Deadliest Pandemics: From Antonine Plague To COVID-19
      https://southfront.org/historys-deadliest-pandemics-from-antonine-plague-to-covid-19/

      История с коронавирусом напоминает атаку на башни в Нью-Йорке
      https://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2020/03/16/istoriya_s_koronavirusom_napominaet_ataku_na_bashni_v_nyuiorke

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    7. In a nutshell: They released a nasty virus, but not one that is apocolyptic. They did so to set into motion a number of overlapping agends. Nations of the world are now either forced to respond to this artificially fomented global health crisis or are "strongly" advised (i.e. ordered) to respond. Nevertheless, the United States and by extention the rest of the world will be a very different place after all this. Covid-19 will have repercussions similar to aftermath of September 11, 2001. I want to add one last thing: As I told my wife last week, watch closely NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. He is having his "finest" hour. He is relatively young, bureaucratic, ultra-liberal, globalist, intelligent and a good speaker. He will be embraced/praised by the Left wing in the United States as their next Obama. They will therefore do their best promote him for the presidency in 4 or 8 years. Mark my words...

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  44. There is a lot to be said with what's happening in 2020. It has been crazy year so far, and we're only 3 months in. A lot needs to be said about the Middle East, Armenia, global geopolitics, but for now I will stick to the main talk of the planet, Covid-19:

    I am no medical expert of any sort. But I observe people. I learned that by observing Armenians to understand our fallacies and flaws throughout the years and had my own moments of doubt. But it has thought me to study human behavior on a certain level.

    Turn on any major or minor mainstream media outlet today and within just a few minutes of going through headlines you will think the world is coming to an end, that you are going to die, that we are powerless, that this can go on a year or two, we will be in lock-down, and so on and so forth... a lot of fear and panic everywhere. It has reached up to a point where the panic and fear are becoming more dangerous than the so-called virus.

    In less than 2 weeks, almost all significant and not-so significant countries today are finding themselves in total and semi-total lock-down. It is truly a historic time that we're living, it is surreal and unprecedented.

    I don't know too much about the different theories, I let Arevordi better explain them, but I am convinced of 2 of the theories, one being this is to artificially bring the world into an economic recession and eventually depression, and second it is being done to keep the people in fear and in control.

    No matter what, stay mentally tough, grow thick skin. That's the challenge of the day.

    PS this so-called pandemic showed which countries are better prepared than others. Armenia showed its unprofessional approach at the beginning, which led to an increased number of infected people. As of this writing, our country has more confirmed cases than Georgia and Azerbaijan combined.

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    Replies
    1. Don't get cought up in the numbers game. There are millions of cases around the world that we do not know about. I am sure Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan have many more cases than thought. This numbers game is how they are misleading the sheeple.

      For example: They saying that there is 500,000 cases of Covid-19 infections and 25,000 deaths (i.e. 5% death rate). They are therefore implying/suggesting that the virus has a very high mortality rate. In reality, we know how many deaths there are (although I suspect the official number of deaths to be inflated) but NO ONE knows how many infection cases there are. The known infection cases (officially 500,000-plus) are those that have been tested. We know that a very small percentage of people have been tested. The fact that the virus was freely circulating around the world until recently suggests that the real number of cases are in the many millions. So, to get a better feel/understanding of how "deadly" this virus is, we need to divide the total known cases of deaths (25,000) with the real number of infection (several million). The real kill rate of this virus is very low, in fact comparable to other diseases.

      Covid-19 is real - no one is claiming it does not exist - but it has a low mortality rate and those that it does end up killing are the very old and frail and people with serious medical issues. At the end of the day, this virus may end up killing much less than the common flu. So, ask yourself why did they essentially shut-down the global economy over Covid-19... but they were doing virtually nothing when the influenza virus was killing hundreds of thousands of people every year?

      I Ithink this year alone the common flu will kill upwards of 600.000 people around the world, including 50,000 Americans. Where is the panic/hysteria over the flu?

      Regarding Armenia: Yes, official Yerevan did not take it seriously until is was "told" to take it seriously by "international" bodies. Yerevan's slow reaction is not something I am going to hold against Nikol. I am sure he knows that this man-made crisis is mostly a global exercise that also has other, overlapping agendas. The further advancement of globalism, socialism and police state, and correcting the stock market, increasing the loan burden on nations around the world, restructuring the global economy and keeping humanity in fear and therefore under control is part of agenda...

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Dear reader,

New blog commentaries will henceforth be posted on an irregular basis. The comment board however will continue to be moderated on a regular basis. You are therefore welcome to post your comments and ideas.

I have come to see the Russian nation as the last front on earth against the scourges of Westernization, Americanization, Globalism, Zionism, Islamic extremism and pan-Turkism. I have also come to see Russia as the last hope humanity has for the preservation of classical western/European civilization, ethnic cultures, Apostolic Christianity and the concept of traditional nation-state. Needless to say, an alliance with Russia is Armenia's only hope for survival in a dangerous place like the south Caucasus. These sobering realizations compelled me to create this blog in 2010. This blog quickly became one of the very few voices in the vastness of Cyberia that dared to preach about the dangers of Globalism and the Anglo-American-Jewish alliance, and the only voice emphasizing the crucial importance of Armenia's close ties to the Russian nation. Today, no man and no political party is capable of driving a wedge between Armenia and Russia. Anglo-American-Jewish and Turkish agenda in Armenia will not succeed. I feel satisfied knowing that at least on a subatomic level I have had a hand in this outcome.

To limit clutter in the comments section, I kindly ask all participants of this blog to please keep comments coherent and strictly relevant to the featured topic of discussion. Moreover, please realize that when there are several "anonymous" visitors posting comments simultaneously, it becomes very confusing (not to mention annoying) trying to figure out who is who and who said what. Therefore, if you are here to engage in conversation, make an observation, express an idea or simply insult me, I ask you to at least use a moniker to identify yourself. Moreover, please appreciate the fact that I have put an enormous amount of information into this blog. In my opinion, most of my blog commentaries and articles, some going back ten-plus years, are in varying degrees relevant to this day and will remain so for a long time to come. Commentaries and articles found in this blog can therefore be revisited by longtime readers and new comers alike. I therefore ask the reader to treat this blog as a historical record and a depository of important information relating to Eurasian geopolitics, Russian-Armenian relations and humanity's historic fight against the evils of Globalism and Westernization.

Thank you as always for reading.