They are no longer here-armenia

> Armenia has a population less than 3 million of which 1.3 live in
> Yerevan. Yerevan was earlier than Rome, built as Erubuni in 782 b.c.e.
> The people are fiercely loyal to their country and most of them to
> their Armenian Orthodox faith. Indeed the first christian church in
> that part of the world was built in 301 a.c.e. when the King was
> converted to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator. All but one of
> the previously existing pagan temples were destroyed and rebuilt as
> churches except one, because the King's wife wanted it as a summer
> home. When the King had gone to Rome to get his crown, he brought back
> a slave who had been a greek architect, so the temple could easily be
> sitting near the Agora. Of course, after all the churches of Georgia
> and Armenia, I had to tell my guide  we had finally found "my church."
> Armenia has had a difficult history. A once large and successful
> nation which stretched from the Caspian (largest sea in the world) to
> the Black Sea. Aseries of invasions wars and international politics
> has reduced it to the present status. Not having oil or much in the
> way of natural resources the country is relatively poor and life is
> difficult.There was a recent war between Azerbijian and Armenia over
> an area in eastern armenia. The conflict was finally resolved by
> granting the area its own statehood. But, by far, the most tragic
> episode in Armenia's history is the Turkish genocide which occurred
> from the late 19th century until 1923. During this time 1.5 million
> Armenians were killed by the Turks. Similar to the Chines invasion of
> Tibet in the middle of the 20th century in which 1.2 million Tibetans
> were killed and their country conquered, no one, no country did
> anything to stop the slaughter. (because there ws no oil in either
> place.) The first stage included conscripting all the men between
> 18-45 into to the Turkish army only then to force them into slave
> labor. The second stage included the deportation of many thousands of
> armenians. The third stage involved releasing convicts from Turkish
> prisons to brutally slaughter the remaing mean women and children of
> wester armenia under a policy entitled Armenia without Armenians. The
> Genocide Museum displays incontrovertible and heartbreaking evidence
> of this 40 year campaign which continued till a new president was
> elected in Turkey in 1923 who stopped it.Because of the importance of
> US air bases in Turkey, Congress has once again this year refused to
> acknowledge the period as one of genocide, one of the few countries
> which has not belatedly done so.The three persons primarily
> responsible for the genocide were tried and convicted in Turkish
> courts for crimes against humanity, but never suffered any punishment.
> Because of these calamities it is estimated that 8 million armenians
> are part of a world wide diaspora-more than three times the country's
> population. To lighten the tone a little, Todd tells me there is a
> significant population called Little armenia in Glendale, Los Angeles,
> some of whom no doubt went there to watch TCU win the Rose Bowl. On my
> last day the clouds did part and I saw Mt. Ararat (but not the ark),
> which unfortunately is now in Turkey but beautifully visible on a
> clear day. And it is the name of finest brandy I have had outside
> France.