Category Archives: CORNERSTONES

ARMENIA AND EUROPE – 2009-1

The history of Armenia and the Armenian culture in perspective of contemporary historical and political theories

Summary

Hamlet A. Gevorkian
The contemporary theoretical conceptions of history, politics and culture are based on the analysis and interpretation of the history of Western Europe. When applied to the Armenian history and culture, they must be specified and re-interpreted. In this paper the place and the role of Armenia and Armenian culture are considered in the historical context. The concepts synchronousand diachronous wholeness of culture are introduced and the continuityof the history of Armenia and of the Armenian culture is affirmed. The Armenian culture has expanded its potentialities in the whole cultural space in every historical epoch, and proved to be able to enter into dialogue with other cultures, to adopt and preserve historical monuments of material, social and intellectual culture. It is obvious the impact of the European culture and socal life on Armenia, the progress of the country in Europeanization, interrupted and suppressed by Genocide – massacres and deportation – of the Armenian population. Since there is not any negative prescription for the crimes against humanities, the European countries are expected to realize the Resolution of the European community Parliament (1987) on “Political solution of the Armenian question” (not mere acknowledgement of the fact of the Genocide).

ARMENIA AND ARMENIAN TOPONYMS – 2009-1

The scientific assignment of the Armenian natural historic environment’s protection

Summary

Eduard L. Danielyan
The cognition of the more than five millennia-old Armenian history is one of the roots feeding Armenian political thought and the protective aura of Armenian ethno-spirituality. The national activities in the political, spiritual-cultural, scientific-educational and ideological spheres are based on the Fatherland’s natural perception fastened by historic memory and national psychology.

After the Armenian Genocide the Turkish vandals continued genocide by the destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage – historic monuments, as well as falsifying Armenian toponyms and fabricating “new” ones in Turkish (against all moral and legal norms and canons of human behavior and international legal obligations, challenging the civilized world, they have even infringed on the biblical name of Mt.Ararat-Masis). They are aiming at erasing the truth about Western Armenia and Armenian Cilicia from historic memory. Despite the Pan-Turkic genocidal policy, some articles of certain international documents (The Severs Treaty and “The Arbitral Award on Turkish-Armenian Boundary by Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States of America”) are devoted to Armenia (see also the map: „Boundary between Turkey and Armenia as Determined by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America“).

The Turkish occupants continue to change the proper Armenian toponyms in Western Armenia. They try to disguise the truth about the Armenian Genocide – the crime against humanity and civilization, and to “appropriate” the Western Armenian lands occupied by them. The same is committed by the Azerbaijani criminal authorities.

The world-famous scientific, political and spiritual figures have spoken about the Armenian contribution to the world civilization. D.M.Lang called his book “Armenia: Cradle of Civilization”. The Armenian Nation who enriched the Armenian and the world treasuries of culture with great civilizational values is the original owner of Great Armenia, Armenia Minor and Armenian Cilicia – the Armenian Fatherland. The Armenian victory in the Artsakh war against the Azerbaijan Republic’s aggression, and, the result of the victory – the liberation of the Armenian lands in Artsakh – NKR (mountainous part) and its inseparable liberated native territories – demonstrate the will and belief of the Armenian people to liberate the rest of the Armenian Fatherland (Western Armenia, Armenian Cilicia and, in Eastern Armenia, – Nakhijevan, the rest of Artsakh and Utik, Javakhk and others).

The historic heritage’s protection is the task of the Armenian information security in which the toponyms, reflecting the characteristics of the national historic environment and identity, are of fundamental importance. The historic-geographic terminology of the Armenian Highland, constituting the entity of the Armenian toponymy, belongs to the pivotal layer of Armenian ethnic-linguistic thinking. The Armenian toponyms’ protection has ethno-protective significance and as a vital sphere of the Armenian national security must be the priority mission of the RA, NKR and the Armenian Diaspora organizations.