Armenia, Azerbaijan some background

Hello Gentle Readers

I have taken the liberty of including in this post the writing of a good Armenian friend Mariam Ghazaryan. 

At the present time, Mariam's country, my former home, has come under attack from the forces of Azerbaijan and mercenaries hired by President Erdogan of Turkey.

Please read the text carefully. Dont dismiss it out of hand or believe everything that is written. Do your own checks into the facts.

Armenia wants peace, Armenia wants and needs your support. For too long Armenia has been ignored by the global commumity.

Ex colleagues and friends who Lena and I worked with in Yerevan have had husbands, brothers and sons called up to defend their homeland. Remember that when you read her text below.

Important Facts. 

1. Azerbaijan admitted, they started the war. They attacked both Armenia and Artsakh on Sunday.

2. Erdogan sent thousands of terrorists from Free Syrian Army to fight against Armenia and Artsakh with a salary of $1500 per month.

3. There is no doubt Turkey convinced Aliyev to attack Armenia & Artsakh. Their "komandos" division is fighting against our army. Turkish F-16 hit Armenian SU-25 in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Turkey is sending more military assistance to Azerbaijan right now without consulting with NATO. Azerbaijan is not in the NATO alliance. Is it legal, is it ok for Turkey to get involved in other conflicts?

Turkey announced about full support to #Azerbaijan

4. Donald Trump supports Erdogan.

5. The drones bombing the civilians (schools, apartment buildings far from the military bases) have been active since Sunday.

6. Many civilians have been killed including children.

7. Terrorist mercenaries fighting for Azerbaijan are raping women and plunder stores, impose Shariah laws in Azerbaijani villages. They are extremely disappointed they are supporting Shia Moslems, they had thought they were going to help Turkey. They encourage the others not to come and fight in Azerbaijan as they fighting is too intense and too many have died the first day (about 80).

8. Social media in Azerbaijan has been banned since Sunday. The population in Azerbaijan doesn't want to fight for Artsakh, a land which doesn't belong to them. Many people got arrested as they said they don't want a war with Armenia.

9. Azerbaijan deploys not only mercenaries but other ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan such as Talish, Avar, etc. got killed. These ethnic minorities are extremely unhappy to go and fight for a place like Artsakh and they have protests from time to time. For the dictator, Aliyev, it is quite convenient to send them to fight and die in Artsakh. No minorities, no problems.

10. In less than one day thousands of Armenian volunteers expressed desire to go to the frontline including young girls and women. 13-14 year-old boys argue with their parents that they can't go to fight. WE WILL ALL DEFEND OUR MOTHERLAND!

11. Martial law is announced in #Armenia and men aged 18-55 can't leave Armenia. But nobody wants to leave Armenia! Even more the Armenians from France, the USA, Syria and Lebanon are trying to find a way to go and fight for Artsakh. Hundreds of them are on their way.

12. Since Sunday everyone is collecting clothes, food, medicine, loading them into trucks sending it all to Artsakh. We are united like never before. Every single individual in Armenia is helping Artsakh.

13. A pregnant woman was injured by the Azeries but she is safe now and gave birth to a boy named Monte.

14. Armenia received no support or help from other countries

15. This conflict with the density of fire has been unprecedented in the history of the region

And finally "At the end we'll remember not the words of our enemy, but the silence of our friends" ;)

ABOUT ARTSAKH

First off the name of the region is Artsakh, NOT Nagorno Karabakh.

Second off it is a historic Armenian territory which Joseph Stalin had made a part of Soviet Azerbaijan in 1921. 

Note* Azerbaijan is a new country created in 1918 and the name of historic Iranian region of Azerbaijan was appropriated by them (like Macedonia).

In 1991 the Soviet Union stopped to exist and all the countries declared their independence from the USSR which doesn't exist any more. Hence, Artsakh can't be a part of Soviet Azerbaijan.

Third off, Artsakh has never ever been a part of the independent Republic of  Azerbaijan neither in 1918-1920 (it was  governed by the Armenian National Council), nor since 1991.

The people of Artsakh have their human right for self-determination and they chose to join mother Armenia in 1988.

As a response to their peaceful protests (asking Kremlin to let them join the Armenian SSR) the Armenians were massacred in Sumgait industrial town in Azerbaijan. In 1990 in Baku there were pogroms and the Armenians were attacked, massacred and finally they had to leave the city which they had built. They became refugees going to the USA, Russia, and Armenia but life was tough here after 1988 earthquake and during the war, so most of them left Armenia. Armenia unlike Azerbaijan is not mentioning anything about those people. I do remember them, their poverty, sadness of loss of their home, job. Baku had no doctors left after the deportation of the Armenians as the doctors there were all Armenian.

The war broke out in 1991 when Azerbaijan started the deportation of the Armenian population of Artsakh. My both great grandmothers had to leave their homes in Gandzak (Gyanja) Northern Artsakh where they were born, their ancestors were born...

Azerbaijan lost the war in 1994.

Artsakh was 76.4 % Armenian populated before the war

Azerbaijan is a loser country. They had mercenaries from Afghanistan, Chechnya and many other places... But many of them left the battlefield as they realized it was not a religious conflicts. The Armenians were simply defending their families and ancestral homes.

Azerbaijan doesn't need Artsakh. For the dictator president Ilham Aliyev Artsakh is a matter or principle, pride. Besides he needs to feed his population extremely discontent of him, with lies, with an illusion of an enemy.

Most importantly Armenia didn't start this new war. Armenia was attacked by Azerbaijan under the strong influence of Turkey (ISIS).

The innocent population is suffering badly as today the Turkish-Azeri army was shelling the civilians in the cities of Stepanakert, Martakert... and numerous villages.

A child with her grandmother was killed.

Where is the world? How long are we going to bear the "cancer" of this planet named Turkey?!

Oh, I forgot to mention Turkey didn't exist until the 11th century. This is when they appeared, they massacred the Armenians, the Greeks, the Assyrians. They appropriated their culture, they turned churches into mosques (remember Hagia Sophia?).

I am attaching the photo of Ptolemy World Map (circa 150A.D.).

In our region there is the huge kingdom of  Armenia, the Georgian Kingdoms and Caucasian Albania, a Christian kingdom which stopped to exist as they converted to Islam and lost their identity.

Turkey wants to continue its genocidal policy of the annihilation of the Armenian people.

#armenia #artsakh #azerbaijan #turkey

Erdogan's folly.

 From a friend

Just when the World War I started, #Turkey🇹🇷  started the #Armenian Genocide. When the Soviets entered #Armenia 🇦🇲, through negotiations with Turkey, Stalin passed the 95% Armenian populated province of #NagornoKarabakh with Armenian Christian heritage dating back 4th century to #Azerbaijan🇦🇿, Turkey satellite state. 

When there was an earthquake in #Armenia in 1988, #Azerbaijan started ethnic cleansing of Armenians with firm defense response. 

Now when there is pandemic, #Turkey sends 4000 Syrian jihadist fighters to join Azeris to attack the people in #NagornoKarabakh. 

What they don’t understand, what they will never understand is that in the times when we are at our lowest, be it earthquake or pandemic, we get united as never before. As a result of Turkey-Azerbaijan duo joint attack yesterday, death toll in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was 31, while 200 wounded, including civilians, yet through #Armenian defense operations #Azerbaijan and #Turkey lost 20 UAV, 3 helicopters, 30 tank and infantry fighting vehicles, 81 jihadist fighters, 397 wounded. 

This is what happens when a democratic state deals with dictatorship sultanate duo where the presidency is passed from father to son. 

#ՀԱՂԹԵԼՈՒԵՆՔ #StopTurkey #StopErdogan

By Hovsep Patvakanyan

Today in History 24th September

Yes Gentle Reader our 14 days of torture are almost over so lets step from the brutal hell of quarantine history into the sun dappled heaven of outside time.

1890: The Mormon church renounces polygamy

1936: Muppet creator Jim Henson is born.

1948: The Honda motor company is founded.

1991: Dr Seuss dies.

2015: Over 1000 people are killed in a stampede at the Hajj in Mecca.

#mormons #honda #meccahajj #todayinhistory #september24 #drseuss #jimhenson

Top 10 Cool english phrases and their origins

Hello Gentle Readers

I found these phrases and their origins and thought I would share them with you.

1. In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.

Hence we have 'the rule of thumb.'

2. Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...

Ladies Forbidden'... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

3. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David,

Hearts - Charlemagne,

Clubs -Alexander the Great,

Diamonds - Julius Caesar

4. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'

5. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.

Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

6. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts...

So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'

It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'

7. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.

'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.

8. In 1696, William III of England introduced a property tax that required those living in houses with more than six windows to pay a levy. In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all windows except six. (The Window Tax lasted until 1851, and older houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in the U.K.) As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”!

9. Bite the bullet

Meaning: To accept something difficult or unpleasant

Origin: In the olden days, when doctors were short on anesthesia or time during a battle, they would ask the patient to bite down on a bullet to distract from the pain. The first recorded use of the phrase was in 1891 in The Light that Failed.

10. Caught red-handed

Meaning: To be caught in the act of doing something wrong

Origin: This originates from an old English law that ordered any person to be punished for butchering an animal that wasn’t his own. The only way the person could be convicted is if he was caught with the animal’s blood still on his hands.

Now, there you have the origin of these phrases.

Interesting isn’t it!! 📷

Today in History: 16th September

Greetings Gentle Readers.

Lets lock the doors and windows of time and self-isolate/quarantine for 14 days.

1620: The Pilgrims set sail for America on the Mayflower.

1908: The General Motor company is founded.

1925: Blues guitarist B.B. King is born.

1956: Magician David Copperfield is born.

1976: Armenian champion Swimmer Sharvarsh Karapetyan rescues 20 people from drowning after a trolleybus crashes into a Yerevan reservoir.

1977: Rock singer Mark Bolan dies.

#september16 #todayinhistory #marcbolan #sharvarshkarapetyan #davidcopperfield #bbking #gmc #mayflower

Quarantine: 5 days in

Hello Gentle Readers.

Its been 5 days since we returned to the UK and quarantine has been pretty uneventful.

Thank whoever that our house has a garden that we can sit in. We have Sainsburys delivering food and Amazon delivering almost everything else.

Yes it can be annoying that life is so close by and we cannot be part of it but we have each other and good helpful neighbours.

We need to buy a car, get Robert registered with a school and survive the next 9 days

Wish us luck.

#quarantineintheUK

Welcome to Buckingham

Hello Gentle Readers

Well Quarantine has begun. We arrived in the UK on Friday and luckily we moved into our new home straight away.

Number 1

Our 'Garden'.

 Buckingham is a nice little town and we have moved into a sweet little cottage not far from the town centre where there are banks, shops, pubs and cafes. Although as we cant go anywhere til the 25th so we might as well be on the moon.

We met our neighbours, Helen and Alex, and they are very nice. We will have to buy a few things to make it more like home but we have time.

We have ordered new sim cards and ordered food from Sainsburys for delivery.

I will keep you updated. See you all soon.

#quarantine #buckingham

Phase 4

Hello Gentle Readers.

Welcome to phase 4 of the blog. After globe trotting since 2012, I have through no fault of my own, decided to return to the UK, the land of my birth and blog about what it means to be British in the age of the BBC thats Brexit and Boris and Covid.

Robert in our new lounge

Buckingham Gaol

I will also write about Robert and Lena as they adapt to life in the UK.

As I have been away for so long maybe  my new experiences will be worth sharing.

So here goes, 14 days of quarantine, a new house, buying a car, my new job and Roberts new school.

There will be lots to write about.

#ascotsmaninbuckingham

I hate the 'New Blogger'

Hello Gentle Reader

Blogger wants me to change and I do not like it. They have introduced a new version with a new interface and I genuinely think its a load of crap.

The new version

The Blogger I like is easy to use and annotate, plus its easier to share posts or for you guys, to find them.

The new interface is confusing and its difficult to use. I like Blogger and I dont mind using it but keep the "Legacy Blogger" version as well. Give us the choice.

The older 'Good' version

#blogger #legacyversion

Leaving Armenia

Hello Gentle Readers.

In August 2019, Robert, Lena and I arrived in Yerevan for the start of a new adventure for our family.
After 2 unhappy years in China we were determined to make a success of our new start. We were starting at a new school with high hopes and big aspirations.

Armenia offered a beautiful rich culture, amazing scenery and we had heard amazing things about the food and the warmth of the people. I am glad to say we found all these things and much more.

We seemed to fit in well. People welcomed us and very quickly we fell in love with this awesome country.

Even in the midst of Corona virus fever we had found a place we could call home.

Leaving was not our choice. Circumstances conspired against us and sadly, although we signed new contracts, we had our contracts cancelled due to the COVID effect.

We are heading now to the United Kingdom. I have been offered a job in Milton Keynes.

Lena will work online building our online school and Robert will go to an English state primary school.

We will miss Armenia. This beautiful place is imprinted on our souls and I promise  we will return.

#armenia

Today in History 9th September

Hello Gentle readers. Lets dip our fingers in the spicy bucket of history and lick the time from our fingers.

1087: William the Conquerer dies.

1543: Mary Queen of Scots, then just 9 months old, is crowned in Sterling.

1791: Washington D.C. is named after George Washington.

1828: Russian author Leo Tolstoy is born.

1890: Founder of KFC, Colonel Sanders is born.

1948: Kim Il- sung announces the establishment of the Peoples Republic (North) Korea.

1976: Chinese leader Mao Zedong dies.

2015: Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest serving UK monarch.

#queenelizabethii #maozedong #colonelsanders #northkorea #washingtondc #maryqueenofscots #williamtheconquerer #tolstoy #september9 #todayinhistory

The Wednesday Thought: Elvis Presley

Well uh Hello Gentle Readers. On this day in 2956, Elvis Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time.

Here for you are a few words of wisdom from "The King". Thank you very much.

They put me on television. And the whole thing broke loose. It was wild, I tell ya for sure.

Man, I really like Vegas.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with my life story.

I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.

I never expected to be anybody important.

Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, but when you have it, you have it all over.

Ambition is a dream with  a V8 engine.

Elvis has left the building.

#elvispresley #wednesdaythought

Today in History: September 8th

Hello Gentle Readers  Teenage girls will giggle uncontrollably at the stone willies of history as they are exposed to the culture of time.

1157: Richard I of England (Lionheart) is born.

1504: David by Michaelangelo is unveiled.

1888: The first matches in the English football league are played.

1932: US country singer Patsy Cline is born.

1966: The first episode of Star Trek premiers on US television.

#todayinhistory #september8 #richardthelionheart #david #footballleague #patsycline #startrek

One year (and a bit) in Armenia....the bitterest end

Hello Gentle Readers

Just over a year ago, Lena, Robert and I set out on our Armenian adventure. After 2 unhappy years in China we set out on what we hoped would be a great new start.
I was starting a fantastic new job. Lena was also starting her new career and for Robert, he had a chance to put the disappointing Chinese experience behind him and make new friends.

Covid had other ideas.

We love this beautiful country. The people are friendly and the food, scenery and culture are hard to beat.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid pandemic and lockdown in Armenia, we, like many teachers around the world, were forced to teach using Zoom online.
At first parents seemed OK with this arrangement. IGCSE and AS level exams were cancelled and Lena and I, along with all our colleagues bent over backwards to ensure our students got the grades they deserved.

By the way these results were released on the 11th of August and after some very unfair grading, the original grades we gave to the students were allowed to stand.

Teachers were praised by the head teacher and by parents for doing a difficult job to a highly proffesional standard.
When school finally finished on the 12th June, the school director predicted a great summer with good prospects for the new school year.

We had signed brand new 2 year contracts based on the positivity that was in the air, unfortunately this positivity disappeared on Tuesday the 4th of August.

Lena and I were told that along with the 7 new staff that had been hired, our contracts would be cancelled, meaning we were out of a job.

We are deeply disappointed, not just that we will be forced to leave Armenia, but also because we feel that more could have been done to at least give some warning that this was a possibility.
We signed new contracts when we could have been looking for new positions elsewhere. We bought stuff for our apartment, which we will now need to sell.

The school informed us that the secondary school can no longer afford some teachers because pupils have been forced to leave.

We love Armenia and we loved our school. We were happy, Robert had lots of friends and now for the 3rd time in 4 years we will have to move again.

I keep saying to Lena that 'I'm Sorry' and she says 'It's not your fault.' I know there are hundreds of thousands of people who have been affected by Covid a lot worse than us.  We are healthy and have each other.

'Everything will be OK' I say, 'Things happen for a reason.'

I cannot get angry at a virus, seems like once again China is screwing with us in the worst possible way.

#armenia #covid