We Have Been Slapped, Our Possessions Taken Away, Our Sanctities Defiled, and Now They Tell Us Not to Respond. - Artem Tonoyan

Iranologist Artem Tonoyan wrote on his Facebook page: “We have been slapped, our possessions taken away, our sanctities defiled, and now they tell us not to respond, because we are neighbors and must live peacefully. Now someone appears who says, ‘Well, they are right; we don’t even know the starting point of the conflict, we must live peacefully, we should celebrate, never mind that sometimes they wipe their shoes on us, sometimes they spit on us. The important thing is that we exist.’

This speaker cannot be Armenian, cannot have an Armenian identity, nor possess a heart that aches for Armenians. If we are guided by simple logic, such a thing would be said by someone after a street fight, whose heart does not genuinely ache for the self-esteem and dignity of the beaten party. It is as if someone said to the assailants to leave, and then told the beaten one, ‘Well, you were to blame; the important thing is that for a month or two they won’t hit you, they’ve been satisfied and have left’.”