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Revealed : Turkish American Cenk Uygur’s History of Misogyny — Women Genetically Inferior, Teen Girls, Tweets from 2013

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By John Nolte,

The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur, a progressive left-winger, has been forced to apologize for a number of misogynist posts published on his website in the early 2000s, reports TheWrap.

Most troubling, is a 2004 post, published on the now-defunct YoungTurk.com, by Uyger’s current business partner, David Koller. According to the TheWrap, Koller describes an encounter both men had with three “whores in training” aged 14-16.

“In one small Pennsylvania town we stopped for gas, and while Cenk filled up I went to talk to these three girls who were walking down the road nearby. Turns out they were three teenage girls, whores in training, literally looking for boys to pick them up,” Koller wrote. “They were around 14-16 and in a few more years will be pretty damn good looking.”

TheWrap says Koller refused to comment on the incident. “I don’t want to talk about any of that stuff. Thank you for calling,” he said before hanging up.

Among other disturbing opinions, Uyger himself is responsible for describing women as genetically “flawed” because they don’t want to have more sex.

“It seems like there is a sea of tits here, and I am drinking in tiny droplets. I want to dive into the whole god damn ocean,” he wrote in 2000. “Obviously, the genes of women are flawed. They are poorly designed creatures who do not want to have sex nearly as often as needed for the human race to get along peaceably and fruitfully.”

In a separate post, Uyger wrote that he is “done” dating any woman if “I haven’t felt your tits” by the third date.

“Women, ignore these at your peril,” he warned. “Rule 1: There must be some serious making out by the third date. If I haven’t felt your tits by then, things are not about to last much longer. In fact, if you don’t get back on track by the fourth date, you’re done. Rule 2: There must be orgasm by the fifth date.”

In 2003, Uyger bragged about kissing “over 23 different women” and the “countless breasts” he felt during Mardi Gras. He told TheWrap that it was all consensual.

“I had one of the best nights of my life at Mardi Gras. I kissed over 23 different women, saw and felt countless breasts, and was in a wonderful drunken stupor thanks to my friend John Daniels,” he bragged.

Apparently, “John Daniels” is Uyger’s nickname for the whiskey Jack Daniels.

On top of apologizing, Uyger also claimed that he wrote these posts while he was still a conservative. “I had not yet matured and I was still a conservative who thought that stuff was politically incorrect and edgy,” he explained.

But Uyger’s political views moved to the left in the early 2000s, and as recently as 2013, Uyger has used his verified Twitter account to objectify and ogle the “improbable breasts” and “butts” on the women in Miami.

Moreover, one former Young Turks employee who spoke with TheWrap, said that the way Uyger talks about women to this day makes his female staffers uncomfortable.

“Cenk is just a knucklehead. He’s a boy. He talks about women the way I talked when I was 13,” he told TheWrap. “He’s obsessed with body count — basically how many people you f—ed. This is an important number to him.”

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/12/22/cenk-uygurs-history-misogyny-women-genetically-inferior-teen-girls-tweets-2013/

 

The Islamization of History

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Mehmet Görmez, President of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), announced in June that Islam was brought to the world by Allah to correct the “distortions” of Judaism and Christianity. (Image source: Tezkiretul/Wikimedia Commons)

by Uzay Bulut,

 

The debate over whether Islam has been hijacked by fundamentalists — or whether the religion itself preaches the kind of hatred that leads to terrorism — has been raging since the 9/11/2001 attacks on the United States. Although this issue has not been resolved, one thing is clear: in the Muslim world, the demonization of Jews and Christians is commonplace.

Take Turkey, for example, where anti-Semitism has been exhibited publicly for decades by prominent members of government, the religious establishment and the media. In June this year, the head of the government’s Religious Affairs Directorate — the “Diyanet” — joined the chorus.

In a speech he delivered in Gaziantep — a transcript of which was posted on the Diyanet’s official Twitter account — Prof. Dr. Mehmet Görmez announced that Islam was brought to the world by Allah to correct the “distortions” of Judaism and Christianity. At the center of Judaism, he said, was “material, money and wealth.” Christianity, he asserted, took the opposite, albeit equally “wrong,” interpretation of the divine, as it “came up with an understanding that denigrated the world and deemed property and wealth almost forbidden [haram].”

The Diyanet was established in 1924 by the founding government of Turkey, under the Republican People’s Party, after the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate, as a successor to Sheikh ul-Islam, the previous religious-affairs authority. It has many departments, chief among them the High Board of Religious Affairs, whose duties include:

“[M]ak[ing] decisions, shar[ing] views and answer[ing] questions on religious matters by taking into consideration the fundamental source texts and methodology, and historical experience of the Islamic religion as well as current demands and needs.”

Not only does no other religion in Turkey, other than Islam, have the power, influence or financing of the Diyanet — whose budget surpasses that of most ministries; other religions are either not officially recognized (as in the cases of Alevism and Yazidism), or are on the verge of complete governmental elimination — as in the cases of Judaism, Greek Orthodoxy, and Assyrian (Syriac) and ArmenianChristianity.

Turkey is not alone in this practice, which brings us back to the question of why “Muslims hate Jews so much.”

According to Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History, the answer lies in the Koran, whose “central anti-Jewish motif… is found in verse 2:61 , repeated at verse 3:112.”

They have been put under humiliation [by Allah] wherever they are overtaken, except for a covenant from Allah and a rope from the Muslims. And they have drawn upon themselves anger from Allah and have been put under destitution. That is because they disbelieved in the verses of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That is because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed. (3:112) SAHIH INTERNATIONAL

In a 2008 interview, Bostom says:

“This is where the Jews are accused of slaying the Prophets and transgressing against the will of Allah, and so they are condemned and cursed eternally. Verse 2.61 says ‘shame and misery’ are ‘stamped upon them.’ And this verse is coupled to verses like 5:60, and other verses about the Jews being transformed into apes and pigs, which is part of their curse. Verse 5:78 describes the curse upon the Jews by David and Jesus, Mary’s son. There is a related verse, 5:64, which accuses the Jews of being spreaders of war and corruption, a sort of ancient antecedent of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas cited this verse during a diatribe against the Jews of Israel, in 2007.) More generally, the Koran’s overall discussion of the Jews is marked by a litany of their sins and punishments, as if part of a divine indictment, conviction, and punishment process.”

Taking this beyond the Koran, Moshe Sharon, Professor Emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, explains that the

“basic attitude is that all history is in fact Islamic history…that all major figures of history basically are Muslim − from Adam down to our own time. So, if the Jews or Christians are demanding something and basing it on the fact that there was a king called Solomon or a king called David, or a prophet called Moses or Jesus, they say something which is not true or, in fact, they don’t know that all these figures were basically Muslim figures.”

Sharon continues:

“In fact, since the creation of the world there is only one religion and it is the religion of Islam. So, if anybody says ‘Look, there is a place connected with Solomon and that is the place where the Temple of Solomon stood,’ a true Muslim would tell you: ‘Yes, you’re absolutely right. But don’t forget that Solomon was a Muslim and David was a Muslim. And Abraham was a Muslim. And Isaac was a Muslim, and Jesus was a Muslim.’ This is what they mean by the Islamization of history.”

Sharon says that through this “Islamization of history,” there is also an “Islamization of geography,” such that,

“Anywhere which was connected with these people or with these prophets who were all Muslims becomes a Muslim territory. And therefore, when Islam was not in that area before Mohammed came to it, it should have been there. By that area, I mean the Middle East or other parts outside of the Middle East which are now Muslim. So any place like this had to be freed, not to be conquered. They had to be liberated. So, Islam appeared in history in the time of Mohammed — or reappeared in history from their point of view — as a liberator. And therefore, there is no Islamic occupation. If somebody occupies anything, it will always be somebody else, not the Muslims. So, there is no Islamic occupation. There is only Islamic liberation.”

This combination of hate-filled Koranic verses, as highlighted by Bostom, and revisionist Islamist history, as illustrated by Sharon, have created a monster in the form of an existential threat to the Judeo-Christian world. To counter it, the West needs to implement unapologetic policies to safeguard the religious liberty of both non-Muslims and non-extremist Muslims, wherever they reside.

To be effective, however, these policies must include conducting an honest and open discussion of the history and doctrine of Islam, as well as its contemporary iteration, not as a “religion of peace” – which, in Islam, is to occur only after the entire world has accepted Allah as well as Islamic law, Sharia — but as one of war and terror.

Uzay Bulut, a journalist born and raised a Muslim in Turkey, is currently based in Washington D.C. She is a writing fellow of the Middle East Forum.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10641/history-islamization

No historical evidence on state named Azerbaijan in the north of Araks, Iranian military says

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“There is no historical evidence on a state called ‘Azerbaijan’ in the north of Araks,” Foreign high-ranking military of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mansour Haghighatpour said according to the report of Iranian news agency Azariha.org.

As the Iranian source notes, Mansour Haghighatpour, turning to the expediency of recognizing the independence of Azerbaijan by Iran after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has particularly noted: “The history provides no evidence on a country named Azerbaijan in the territory lying to the north of Araks. Azerbaijan (Atropatene) is situated in the region lying to the south of Araks with Arran and Shirvan Khanate situating in the north.”

Haghighatpour went on adding: “Certainly during the Soviet period the region was mentioned with a fake name. I think due to Iran’s caring and friendly attitude Tehran refrained from raising an issue over the name of the newly independent state that was fighting a war with Armenia.”

 

Source Panorama.am

Los Angeles County: declares April as ‘Armenian History Month’

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A motion by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn, and unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors, proclaims the month of April as “Armenian History Mont,” SCVTV reports.

“With this proclamation, the Board of Supervisors recognizes the vast contribution of the Armenian community to our county’s economy and culture,” Supervisor Barger said. “The month of April holds significant meaning for our Armenian friends and neighbors and this resolution acknowledges the challenges and accomplishments of their rich history.”

“During Armenian History Month, L.A. County will celebrate the rich culture and heritage of the Armenian people worldwide and their contributions to our society as well as recognize the dark days of the Armenian Genocide,” said Supervisor Hahn.

Supervisor Barger will honor a distinguished leader of the Armenian community at each meeting of the Board until April 18 when the Board of Supervisors will proclaim the “Day of Remembrance” for the Armenian Genocide.

How Turks Have Been Viewed Through Iran’s History

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Harut-SassounianBY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

During the past one thousand years, the relationship between the two neighboring Islamic states of Persia and the Ottoman Empire vacillated between peaceful coexistence and outright war. The populations of these two states were not only of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, but were also divided in their Islamic faith — the Persians were Shia, while the Turks were Sunni. The divisions between Iran and Turkey continue to this day.

Many readers are familiar with the anti-Turkish references in the works of Western writers, particularly after successive episodes of Armenian massacres leading to the 1915 Genocide, such as the damning words of French writer Victor Hugo, “The Turks have passed by here, all is in ruins and mourning.”

Yet, little is known about references in Persian literature regarding Turks. Roubina Ohanian, an Armenian native of Iran, now residing in Glendale, California, has filled that void with her book, “The Interpretation of the Name and Word Turk in Iranian Literature.” Ohanian has meticulously researched and translated from Farsi into Armenian dozens of lines from several notable Persian poets from the Middle Ages who had penned their highly negative impressions of Turks, revealing that Iranian antipathy toward Turks has long roots.

The Persian references regarding Turks come from such well-known poets as Ferdowsi in the 10th Century and Hafez in the 14th Century. Turkic tribes first invaded Persia in the 11th Century, followed by the Seljuks. In the 13th Century, Iran was conquered by the Mongols and then by Turkmen tribes who were finally defeated in 1592 AD. Many wars ensued between Persia and the Ottoman Empire in subsequent centuries.

Ohanian has presented in her book quotations from 13 Persian poets and writers. While Armenians have their own tragic memories of oppressive Turkish rule, it is interesting to learn of the similarly negative experiences of other nations that came in contact with Turks.
Here are several lines from Persian Middle Age poets translated by Ohanian from Farsi to Armenian which I have translated to English:

Ferdowsi (925 – 1020 AD):

“No one has learned wisdom from Turks,

No one will obey a Turk.”

Asadi Tusi (11th Century):

“No one ever saw any loyalty from a Turk;

From Iranians they have seen nothing but loyalty.”

 Khawaja Abdullah Ansari (1006 – 1088 AD):

“It would be surprising that a Turk would understand love,

As it would be surprising that a Turk does not rob and steal.”

Nizami (1140 – 1203 AD):

“Even the King did not know,

No such thing as a loyal Turk.”

Anvari (12th Century):

“As you have not started your journey with your gentle horse,

Don’t leave, the road is full of bloodthirsty Turks.”

Khaghani (1120 – 1190 AD):

“Drinking blood with a friend is an old tradition,

Turks are blood drinkers and don’t recognize their friends.”

Saati (1184 – 1283 AD):

“At that time you sent me a student,

A Turk; there was no one worse than him.”

Many of these Persian descriptions of Turks would be viewed today as racist as they unfairly label all Turks with the same stereotype. All nationalities have some good and bad among them. The real problem, however, is the violent policies of the Turkish state that brutally oppressed minorities and conquered nations, resulting in mass crimes and genocide against Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Cypriots, Greeks and Iranians!

Wine’s history begins in Armenia

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American Museum of Natural History from Ian Tattersall and Rob Desalle, ‘Wine Natural History’ books with both starting from a cave in Armenia is rewriting the history of the wine, as well as going after the present-day reflection of the techniques used thousands of years ago.

In 2010, about 5 thousand 500-year-old world’s oldest known leather shoe, when found in a cave in Armenia Areni village, archaeologists who made this great discovery, but they also have unearthed more of another milestone in human history. The excavations have revealed a winepress dating from thousands of years ago, the fermentation vessels, wine cellar, wine glasses and wine grapes were dried. All calculations, in the history of wine is about 6 thousand 100 years ago, the world’s oldest known winery Aréna revealed that starts in these caves.

This discovery has mobilized two American scientists are wine lovers. American Museum of Natural History from Ian Tattersall and Rob Desalle, ‘Wine Natural History’ books with both starting from a cave in Armenia is rewriting the history of the wine, as well as going after the present-day reflection of the techniques used thousands of years ago.

rituals

Two scientists Tattersall and De Salle, “You can think of it as a living culture to ferment the wine. One of the first things people do when they settled was passed to the fermentation of grapes, “he says. We live in this culture, we lay the roots of the Armenian wine.

Leather shoes wine lovers the ancient mystery of the identity of people while still imperative, drink culture, it turns out that they come from ritual to honor the dead.

“Areni-1 ‘is Gregory Areshi archaeologists working at the cave,” we have set up funeral buried around twenty grape wine press. This wine production in these caves about the ritual, “he says and adds,” I think the cave dingy appropriate for a funeral is a place, but also a nice place to make wine. They also have wine right next to your head, so you’re happy with your ancestors. “

Depths of the cave

The work of archaeologists slowly continues, they reached the last layer, Neolithic to Bronze Age overlaps of the remaining approximately 6 thousand years between coming across traces of a life they did not know before. It is during this period that sits near the settled life in the East, living in the Areni-1 cave, the dead, that they have a period in which they bury deeper into the cave along with other things.

Authors Tattersall and Desalle, “you advance to the deep past the part of the bright and airy at the cave entrance, natural lighting, location, connected to a deep hole on the left side drafty leave the light beam illuminates the long search for the passage,” he says.

Makes important findings in Areni-1, which would otherwise be no easy decompose organic matter in a cool and dry inside the kind that will keep space … the utensils used in the daily life of that period, the host Areni-1, the ancient first winery people known in history has left us.

DNA studies

A big fermentation vat and unique grape crushing mechanism with great importance of this cave in Armenia, because it marks the only they have access to science tries to uncover the history of the wine man often is indirect, such as in monitors chemicals in a vat that is considered to be wine kept … Areni-1 is grape crush many times have found a piece of broken pottery. Parts of the age of the carbon test with 6 thousand 6 thousand 100-year-old remains of the grapes have been identified.

Recently concluded that DNA studies reveal that grapes also first domesticated in the South Caucasus. Viticulture in five thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, Jordan and have enough archaeological evidence to Egypt. Viticulture can say that if Areni-1 in the first winery to start much earlier.

Tattersall and Desalle, “One of the surprising aspects of the winery in Areni-1 was also used as a test, like a wine jar ‘cemetery’ was available. These cubes also housed the remains of people of different ages. Men women and children of the dead are burned remains of exploded. Animals found in glasses made of horn, “he says.

Areni-1 chief archaeologist working in the wine-making by Boris Gasparyan, has a close relationship-crushing rituals such as cremation and burial. Writers, “Gasparian said that if the situation is like, Areni-1, seen frequently in the later period of antiquity, funerals and other rituals may have started the tradition of using fermented drink,” he says.

wine in armeniaThe cradle of wine

Armenia and Georgia are still six thousand years ago Areni-1 is made with techniques used in wine cave. Grapes, Armenian ‘undecided’ Georgian ‘Kverva of’ is brewing in the so-called clay pots.

viticulture in Ermeistan most common grape fields from the name of the village of Areni, the Italian initiative of the Armenian Zorik Gharibian ‘Zorah Karasi Areni Noir’ is bottled by name. After living in Italy for a while, he returned to Armenia Gharibian to revive the wine industry, which for thousands of years ‘undecided’ have sought to use the tradition.

Armenia’s neighbor Georgia in the same way, ‘kvevr’ is made wines. ‘Iago Bitarishvil the Chinur the Qvevr 8’ and ‘Khareb Sapareva the’ name of the işelen wine producers are trying to keep alive the ancient tradition.

Levon Donation: The ancient methods of Antiquity wines

Areni-1 cave oldest known prior to his winery in China, while the oldest finds in wine-making about the Zargos Mountains’ Haji Firuz was taking place in the Hill. Hajji Firuz finds on the hill, older people would indicate that the test wine store. According to the Bible, where the first wine produced Anatolia … Flood after the first set foot on Mount Ararat of Noah, the first thing he has to stare wine vineyards. Moreover, also said that the internal decisions of Noah so, according to the book have drunk internal displacement of drinking. this incident in the Old Testament “Ships in the seventh month, and sat on the Mount Ararat, the seventeenth day of the month … And Noah began to be a double and planted a vineyard and wine was drunk from drinking,” he explained. This legend of the history of the Benjamin of the largest wine lovers Franklin in his own following comments: “Noah before only drink water that people, the truth did not reach a kind. So terribly by Oppressor was and drinking them by the love of the water, was destroyed as it deserved. All contemporary of these future cheesy interior decent man who saw the march dispersed, Noah has developed a disenchantment with the water. the need to remove his thirst God created the vine and showed the art of making wine to Noah. with the help of this liquid he pulled out day after day to face the new realities of the day. “

Just, Eastern Anatolia and Georgia, Armenia is the motherland of wine, the small population and because of the almost total inability ever exported wines abroad only produces close to 5 million liters of wine. They produce their wines are often old-fashioned iron curtain country-specific semi-sweet wines … But this style outside the old-fashioned wines, Voske Hat, Hınduğn of Kang’s and Areni as many local vineyards and internationally recognized in the best wines from different grapes began to be produced slowly.

In ancient times in winemaking and production containers to store the most frequently used, large cubes made of soil. These cubes are believed to affect the taste of wine more favorable place in time and which is still used today usually left in barrels made from oak. Transcaucasia, the first place where the wine is produced all over the world that Armenia, Georgia and outside the region, including Eastern Anatolia hardly a manufacturer engaged in the production of these ancient methods. Cappadocia in recent years has been producing the techniques he learned from Georgian Wines Gelveri one producer operating in this way in our country …

Technically soften more smoothy the air permeability of the body of wines Judging by cube wines allows the production, like oak barrels, but the barrels so uncontrolled that air permeability causes the wine of the emergence of similar tastes and smells that the disorder is not easily oxidized. It also covers the earth earthy and intense aromas of wine that had been customary for many wine lovers are not even acceptable flavors.

Although, now forgotten, though slowly tend to be popular in the wine realm of eggs in the form of a new generation of wine tanks used in making the earth and inspired by contemporary wine from these vessels.

Both historical and geographical features of the reasons this region that is considered to be the homeland of wine, thanks to the grapes and cultural heritage on the ride they have is taking steps towards producing wine to be popularized by eliminating the coming years.

Ragip Zarakolu: director of Belge Publishing House Turks burned off Armenian history

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ragip Zarakulo

It’s a pity that the era which preceded the past decade became a very ancient history: it’s forgotten and expunged from memory, Ragip Zarakolu, a famous Turkish human rights activist, director of Belge Publishing House and author of a number of books on Armenian  Genocide, wrote the aforementioned in an article on Turkey’s Kegi district (Bingöl Province), published in the Turkish Taraf newspaper.

The article reads, in part:

“Keghi is one of the districts of Bingöl Province. In early 1915, 3900 Armenians and about 1000 Turks with Armenian roots lived in Keghi district. The number of Armenians reached 37,000 in the villages. This region was mainly dealing with agriculture, cattle breeding and spinning wheel…

I first heard about Keghi in 1967. I had a friend named Tulay, a member of Turkey’s Workers Party, who was studying medicine. I remember his mother, who was always sad and worried about something. She was always worrying about her daughter, so that the latter didn’t suffer the same as they did, since they were “leftists.” If her daughter was a bit late, she started to panic…

Yes, perhaps she was right…So much occurred with us and the following generations…

I though about the latent meaning of this woman’s sorrow for many years. Who knows how many misfortunes her family went through, what they saw in 1895-95, 1915, 1938…

When I acquired my friend Osep Tokat’s book i“Keghi in ruins” in three languages (Armenian, English and Turkish), I remembered that sad woman from Keghi…

The book presents rare manuscripts, photos of the region’s wonderful geography, as well as the ancient map of Keghi. Generally, such books are very important in terms of preserving history, especially for the local residents, who seem to be living not in the same country, but, say, on the Moon or in Australia…

And still, it’s a pity that the era which preceded the past decade became a very ancient history: it’s forgotten and expunged from memory…”

A Brief History Of Musa Dagh Armenians

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mousadaghBY VAHRAM L. SHEMMASSIAN, Ph.D

This essay is a brief account of the history of Musa Dagh Armenians from mid-nineteenth century to the present. Musa Dagh was situated by the Mediterranean Sea, in the Svedia sub-district within the Antioch district of the Ottoman Province of Aleppo. Presently, it is located in the Samandagh district in the Hatay province of Turkey. Armenians are believed to have lived in Musa Dagh since antiquity. To date, their origins remain shrouded in uncertainty. They spoke a dialect called Kistinik, meaning, the language of Christians. In nineteenth century, six main Armenian villages existed: Bitias, Haji Habibli, Yoghunoluk, Kheder Beg, Vakef, and Kabusiye, with a total of about 6,000 inhabitants. The original villages from which the others emerged were Haji Habibli, Yoghunoluk, and Kabusiye.

The nineteenth and early twentieth century proved a period of change that transformed the Musa Daghtsis from an isolated, obscure, and ignorant lot to a conscious collectivity fighting for its very existence as part of the larger Ottoman Armenian community facing total annihilation by its own, Young Turk government. Several factors effected this transformation. A retired British diplomat by the name of John Barker, who had a summer residence at Bitias and other property in Kheder Beg, experimented with new vegetables and fruits acquired from around the world, improved the silkworm seeds for sericulture, the main occupation in the area, and introduced medicines to fight epidemic diseases. Equally important, foreign travelers visiting him exposed Musa Dagh to the outside world for the first time through their published accounts. American Protestant missionaries likewise made inroads in Musa Dagh beginning in 1840, leading to the establishment of Protestant churches in Bitias in 1857 and in Yoghunoluk in 1869-70. The direct or indirect teachings of the American ideals of equality and freedom must have impacted the people’s thinking to some extent. Then came Capuchin missionaries from Europe and established the St. Paul congregation in Kheder Beg in 1891. Their presence, too, must have influenced the locals in terms of European notions of human rights.

Armenian clergymen, educators, and revolutionaries likewise stopped by Musa Dagh beginning mid-nineteenth century. When the Armenian National Constitution was promulgated in the Ottoman Empire in 1863, the Prelacy in Aleppo dispatched clergymen to its parishes in northwestern Syria to introduce reforms. As a result, the majority Apostolic community of Musa Dagh underwent some positive changes, albeit with difficulty. Similarly, as a consequence of the ongoing Armenian social, cultural, and political Renaissance across the empire, “national” primary schools were established in Musa Dagh, whereby youngsters began to learn about Armenian civilization with its accomplishments.

Revolutionary societies penetrated Musa Dagh beginning in the 1890s. Outside activists belonging to the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party (SDHP) established there what they termed “absolute monarchy” from 1893-96. Many Musa Daghtsis, including large numbers of women, adhered to the SDHP, were indoctrinated, and underwent some military training. A degree of “racial “awareness” was thus attained. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) became interested in Musa Dagh during the Zeytun uprising of 1895-96. Agents were sent to Musa Dagh in the early 1890s to introduce the party’s ideology and platform. An actual ARF sub-committee was formed in 1908. The Reformed Hnchakian Party had a cell in Haji Habibli beginning in 1911, and a few followers in some of the other villages. All three parties smuggled arms into Musa Dagh for self-defense, although their respective quantities cannot be verified. The need for self-defense became more acute during the 1909 Armenian massacres in Cilicia and northwestern Syria. Musa Dagh was spared the carnage thanks to the self-defensive measures it adopted as well as the presence of a British warship that prevented the Muslim ruffians from assailing Musa Dagh.

In late July 1915, when Musa Dagh received a deportation order, two-third of the population chose resistance, whereas one-third complied with the command and was deported to the Syrian city of Hama and environs. More than half perished as a result of exposure, malnutrition, and diseases. The defiant majority fought the Ottoman Army and Muslim irregulars for more than forty days, and was rescued by French warships monitoring the coastline and taken to Egypt, where they would stay for four years in a refugee camp on the eastern banks of the Suez Canal across from Port Said. The international press covered this heroic saga with editorials, articles, and pictures. Material assistance poured into the camp from around the world. In 1933, Franz Werfel, a Jew then living in Vienna, Austria, published a historical novel, titled The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. It was translated from its original German into numerous languages in subsequent years. Musa Dagh became a household name globally, and the saga itself was immortalized. It also inspired artists and intellectuals alike to create works that heartened especially oppressed people with messages of hope for survival. Unfortunately, a film project by the movie giant Metro-Goldwin-Mayer (MGM) was shelved due to pressure exerted by the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the US State Department. Fortunately, another film is currently in the pipeline.

At Port Said, the refugees lived in tents, and were fed through bakeries, a kitchen, and a soup kitchen. Children attended the Sisvan (old name of Cilicia) school run by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). The infirm were tended to in a clinic-hospital supported by the Armenian Red Cross. Men and women alike worked in various industrial departments operated by the American Red Cross and the British Friends of Armenia Society. Some 500-600 youths in 1916 formed the backbone of the French Légion d’Orient, later renamed the Légion Arménienne. This force, augmented by Armenian volunteers from the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, fought victoriously against the Ottoman Army at the Battle of Arara in Palestine on September 19, 1918, thereby facilitating the Allied occupation of the rest of Greater Syria as well as Cilicia.

In 1919, the refugees at Port Said and survivors at Hama repatriated to Musa Dagh. The following two decades witnessed reconstruction and the resumption of old professions such as comb, spoon, and charcoal making, sericulture, and farming. A new textile industry inspired hope for a better future. Bitias, in particular, became a popular tourism and vacationing center. The three denominations reopened their churches and schools. Voluntary associations sought to ameliorate religious, educational, social, and cultural life. The SDHP and the ARF vied for political dominance through local councils and regional legislatures, with the latter party succeeding to a larger extent. Unfortunately, all this would come to an abrupt end in the summer of 1939, when France ceded the Sanjak of Iskenderun/Alexandretta, an autonomous province in northwestern Syria encompassing Musa Dagh and other Armenian communities, to Turkey. The overwhelming majority of Armenians chose to leave the area for other parts of Syria, and Lebanon, fearful of Turkish rule so tarnished with brutality in recent memory. Only 6 percent of Musa Daghtsis elected to stay behind. They are now concentrated in the village of Vakef/Vakifli, which has been showcased in recent years as the only Armenian village left in Turkey.

The majority that departed Musa Dagh encamped temporarily at Ras al-Basit, along the Mediterranean between the Armenian enclave of Kessab and Latakia. They were relocated to a place called Anjar in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Not only did the French High Commission of Syria and Lebanon purchase the land, but it also constructed the houses. With much difficulty, hard work, and perseverance, Anjar in due course became a vibrant rural community. Last year it marked its seventy-fifth anniversary. In 1946-47, more than half of Anjar’s population resettled in Soviet Armenia.

Wherever they may be, the Musa Daghtsis commemorate their heroic feat of 1915 annually. Monuments have also been erected. The Damlajik monument on Musa Dagh itself was inaugurated on September 18, 1932 with pomp and circumstance. The remains of the eighteen fighters who lost their lives during the resistance were interred in a fenced cemetery nearby. In Armenia, a majestic monument and an adjacent museum stand on a hilltop in the town of Musa Ler (Musa Dagh), between the capital of Yerevan and the Holy See of Echmiadzin. In Anjar, a memorial complex is situated between the Harach College (high school) and the St. Paul Apostolic Church. In Cambridge, near Ontario, Canada, an edifice likewise attracts celebrants each September.

On this centennial of the Musa Dagh resistance to the Armenian Genocide, challenges remain. How to preserve Musa Daghtsi identity? How to preserve the dialect? How to impart the history? How to raise future generations conscious of their roots? And so on. Leadership, vision, imagination, ingenuity, technology, and other innovative approaches are key to meeting those challenges. Relegation to oblivion is not an option.

 

Armenian flag marks history, culture books in Mass. high school library

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194741Thanks to some vigilant action by students of Armenian descent at Andover High School, Massachusetts, U.S., an Armenian flag is now flying from the rafters and new books portraying their history and culture are found inside the library, the Armenian Weekly reports.

Their actions coincided with a recent genocide presentation at the school in commemoration of the 1.5 million martyrs lost in 1915 at the hands of Ottoman Turkey, and another million uprooted from their homes.

Noticing there was no Armenian tricolor represented in the library’s “League of Nations,” the students moved forward, secured a flag, and were part of a presentation ceremony before their peers.

The books were donated by Lucine Kasbarian, author of Armenia: A Rugged Land, an Enduring People. “Flags from every other country were displayed in our library and we wanted to be included, especially this year with the anniversary,” said junior Ani Minasian. “Turkey was there. Afghanistan was represented. But not Armenia. It could have been an oversight, but not anymore.”

Brendan Gibson, a social studies teacher, regularly engages his students on genocide history and awareness. More than 100 filled the library for a presentation earlier this spring.

“It was an honor having members of the Genocide Education Committee [of Merrimack Valley] here to educate students,” said Gibson. “This tragedy is still relevant today. We hope that greater awareness will result toward a shift in United States policy. It’s critical that Armenia is recognized by the League of Nations. By having the flag and books here, it’s one more vital step toward universal recognition.”

Photo: The Armenian Weekly
Related links:

The Armenian Weekly. Andover High Students ‘Armenianize’ Their School

Iran does not tolerate Baku’s policy of Azerbaijanizing Iranian history anymore

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A 20-volume book “General History of Iran” has been published in Iran. It presents Iran’s concise history since pre-Aryan era to the fall of Qajar dynasty, according to the Iranian information agency IRIB.

Since the Islamic revolution in Iran, the authorities have not paid proper attention to the pre-Islamic history of the country, to put it mildly. Instead, the appreciation of the history of the post-Islamic era was emphasized.

Engaged in creating national identity and its own history, the Azerbaijani Republic could not remain indifferent to this fact. Taking advantage of the occasion, it started to zealously “Azerbaijanize” the Iranian cultural and historic values.

After making the Persian-language poet and one of the greatest classics of the Iranian literature of the 12th century, Nizami Ganjavi, and Nader Shah “Azerbaijanis”, Azerbaijan was also able to register the musical instrument tar under its name in UNESCO. Now it is working diligently on appropriating the Iranian sport of polo, the Caspian horse and the festival Shab-e Yalda (Night of Yalda).

During his recent visit to the historical site Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis), Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the people of Iran must preserve their Islamic and Iranian civilization.

If a few years ago Azerbaijan’s policy of appropriating the Iranian cultural values was carried out by the media, over the recent years it has been done at the highest level by the chief of the Azerbaijani Presidential administration.

The fact of publishing the above-mentioned book, as well as the statement Rouhani made in Persepolis show that the authorities in Iran have begun to appreciate their pre-Islamic history and to stand up for their own history. The Iranian authorities presumably have begun to realize that Azerbaijan’s policy of “Azerbaijanizing” the Iranian cultural values should not be tolerated anymore.

As regards Iran’s steps against the Azerbaijani falsifications, Iranian Minister of Culture Ali Jannati’s rather vivid description is worth mentioning, “The small-minded elements who attempt to eliminate Iran’s cultural values, the Persian language and literature, will not achieve their goal.”

Armen Israyelyan, Iranian studies expert