I juni kopplade jag ihop bristen på engagemang kring dagens folkmord i Sudan med bristen på engagemang kring det turkiska folkmordet på armenier vid 1900-talets början. Kim Iskyan gör (i förbigående) detsamma i en läsvärd essä i Moscow Times kring fem nya böcker om Armenien.

"Reading about contemporary Armenian history is like bearing witness to a dreadfully mismatched boxing match: Just watching the underdog as he gets batted about the ring hurts.

For much of the past century or so, Armenia has been the scrawny, bloodied white guy in the ring, suffering a pummeling at the hands of a range of foes, from earthquakes to the Ottoman Turks. In the context of the litany of death, turmoil and pain that has plagued Armenia, that the country is still standing - as a nation, culture and society - is an impressive feat in itself."
Kim Iskyan: Specter of Genocide, The Moscow Times (24 sep 2004)

Men trots att folkmordet fortfarande präglar det armeniska folket, är det kanske dags att rikta blicken framåt, skriver Iskyan:

"But unless Armenia stops focusing on its painful past, and concentrates more on improving the prospects for its future, it may not survive many more rounds in the ring."

Böcker hos amazon:

• The burning Tigris
• The daydreaming boy
• "Starving Armenians"
• Armenia: Portraits of survival and hope
• Black garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War

Tidigare på Blind höna: Det glömda folkmordet (2002), Passion (2003); Folkmordet på armenier (2004).

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