History > Periods in History > WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR: CHOOSING BETWEEN THE CALL OF THE HEART AND POLITICAL BRAINWASH* BY MICHAEL CHIKINDAS
The longer we live, the
more often we take ‘mind trips’ back to the time of our youth, when the trees
were tall and the sun was
shining so warmly and brightly from the incredibly deep, blue sky… Although I
am Russian by birth, I gave my heart to Armenia – I guess, because I spent my early
years in this country and because of my respect to my mentors, friends and
neighbors. I will always be grateful to the Lebanese Armenian who made
exquisitely-designed custom suits for my whole family. I will always remember the
very interesting conversations with an old Armenian intellectual – a retired University of Tehran professor. The most interesting
and friendly evenings my family spent with the family of an Armenian gentleman
who used to be a well-known construction contractor in Iran will forever
be in my heart. All of these people were the descendants of the victims of the
Genocide – the early 20th century horror that wiped millions of
lives off of the surface of our planet.
Recently, I was very
disturbed by the letter of Prof. Dr. Ariel Barkan entitled 'Armenian Tale
of Turkish Genocide Simply Untrue,' which was published on the Jewish
Exponent's web page on the 17th of May 2007: http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/13003/.
The message of Prof. Barkan horrified me: he claims that there was no Genocide!
In cold blood, he writes that 'there was no genocide because of the lack
of intent or organized action on the part of the Turkish government to
exterminate Armenians as such.' Prof. Barkan's letter left me speechless.
I spent 6 years of my life in Armenia. I saw the
results of this Genocide in broken families and a nation being scattered all
over the world like the pearls of a broken necklace. Prof. Barkan is a Doctor
of Medicine and his behavior is absolutely inappropriate for an individual of the
medical profession. On the 22nd of August 1939 Adolf
Hitler said: 'Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?' On the
17th of May 2007 the Jewish Internet-newspaper published a letter
which says that 'there was no genocide, because of the lack of intent or
organized action on the part of the Turkish government to exterminate Armenians
as such.' This letter was proudly signed: 'Ariel Barkan, M.D., Ann Arbor,
Mich” thus identifying Barkan as
a Doctor of Medicine. There are 68 years between two quotes and a supposedly
huge difference between the Professor of Medicine and the simple lance
corporal. However I see striking similarities between these two quotes and
these two people.
I am looking now through the eyes of a grown man who has good friends all over
the world and who treasures his friends not because of their religion,
nationality or political convenience but because of what is in the hearts of
these people. I am happy to have so many friends – Russian, Armenian, Greek,
Iranian, Dutch, German, Jewish, American, Spanish, Lebanese, Brazilian, etc. I
am happy to have so many friends – Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Islamic,
Judaic… We want to live in peace with our neighbors, respecting each other. We
must never forget our past, regardless of how much shame or glory it carries.
We must learn from our mistakes and cherish the best in our history.
I want to look again through
the eyes of this Russian teenager who happened to spent the most memorable
years of his life in Armenia, and I want to see this beautiful country being
surrounded by open-hearted neighbors whose minds are not poisoned by politicians.
*This article is based on the author's letter published in the "Voice of Armenia":
http://www.golos.am/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21665&Itemid=41
and on the on-line petition initiated against those who deny Genocide: http://www.gopetition.com/online/17164.html
All photographs (Armenian Countrywoman, Armenian Countryman, Genocide Memorial in Yerevan) are by the author.
