I think there's a danger inherent in identifying with a group in that the world can then be divided into US (members of the group) and THEM (people who aren't members of the group). This is particularly tempting within groups that have faced oppression by another group. This danger is that the group's identity can center around the oppression from ( Read more... )

I voted and met one of likely three Armenians (including me) in this area. So, that was kind of cool.

Now to wait...

Supporters of a resolution in the US Congress to label as genocide the mass killing of Armenians in Turkey after 1915 have called for it to be delayed.

The four main sponsors of the vote said they still believed a majority of their colleagues would support it, but only if the "timing is more favourable".

from hereThe timing is never going to be ( Read more... )

Turkey's president has warned that relations with the United States could be harmed if US politicians pass a resolution declaring the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century an act of genocide ( Read more... )

Rob and I just watched Ararat, which was pretty thoroughly depressing, but a good movie. Rob thought it was boring, but I thought it was worth seeing. One thing bothered me about it, though. There's a half-Turkish character who's pretty much portrayed as not caring about what happened, convinced the Genocide was just part of World War I. I was ( Read more... )

I'm reading Peter Balakian's "The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response". It's the second book I've read about the Genocide (or which featured the Genocide as a central event) in the last couple of months, but the descriptions still shock me. I don't understand how it could have happened, or how the Turkish government could ( Read more... )

... perhaps in the end the message of Armenians is more particular than mere persistence. Perhaps, if there exists a deeper possibility in the psyche of this ancient, sturdy, and minor race, it is this: the capacity of a people for proceeding beyond nationhood. For to be a nation -- a member of a modern nation -- is to inherit territory, and pride ( Read more... )

I think everyone who knows an Armenian or is an Armenian should read Michael J. Arlen's book Passage to Ararat. Maybe more about it later, but I need to get packing and ready to leave for Corbie's.

A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century was shot to death Friday.

Hrant Dink, 53, editor of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos newspaper, was shot dead in front of the Istanbul publication as he was leaving.

from hereFor those who don't know the story ( Read more... )

French lawmakers have approved a bill making it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I amounted to genocide.

Turkey quickly objected, with its foreign ministry saying that the decision "dealt a heavy blow" to Turkish-French relations and "created great disappointment in our country".

from hereI ( Read more... )