Download or read book Journey to the Republic of Armenia written by Kalman Dubov and published by Kalman Dubov. This book was released on 2021-11-26 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Armenia sits on the cusp between Europe and Asia, landlocked between Turkey and Iran, two opposing powers. For much of its history, Armenia was forced to contend between two greater powers positioned on either side of it. There was Persia and its powerful influence on one side and Turkey on the other, both interested in advancing and assuming control over the Armenian Plains. Today, these enmities continue to persist, with Turkey refusing to open its borders with Armenia, while there is a strong tourist trade with Iran. Besides these competing countries, Azerbaijan claims the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, as does Armenia. There are periodic flare-ups, with the most recent ceasefire, brokered by Russia, taking place on 10 November 2020, resulting in Azerbaijan gaining a distinct military advantage, large territories in the disputed region. In August 2017, I traveled to and spent a nearly month in Armenia, visiting sites both in Yerevan, the capital and in locations distant from the capital. The ancient Zorats Karer, site of the Armenian Stonehenge, has massive stones configured in a curving 'S' shape, placed by ancient and unknown people. The site is also known as the 'singing stones' because of the holes bored into the stones. One must conjecture that the ancient construction of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, attracted ancient hunter-gatherers to this large region, where they constructed these sites for reasons with which we are not familiar. Other than these stones, nothing is known of them, why they were built, and its overall purpose. Even their age is contested. Further south is Tatev, site of an ancient monastery, containing a unique scientific obelisk. The tall stone column, standing free at its base, was designed to predict the severity of earthquakes by its movement. This is a remarkable construction, made by an early seismologist interested in calibrating the periodic earthquakes this area experiences. To travel to the monastery grounds, I crossed the deep gorge by way of the world's longest cable tramway, the Wings of Tatev. As I review in my reviews of journeys to different countries, I visited with the small Jewish community in Armenia. Its chief rabbi, the only formal Jewish leader in the country, welcomed me and I spent one Sabbath as we discussed the history of Jews in the country and the minuscule community he leads today. During the Second World War, he, his mother and aunt sheltered here, finding the country and city a welcome respite from Nazi and Soviet anti-Semitism. Thousand of fellow Jews did the same and were grateful for this place of refuge. But in the years following that world conflict, all but approximately one hundred Jews left the country. Today, they reside in Israel, as in other counties. There is an enduring question why the Armenian setting was not conducive to Jewish settlement and business development. I found Armenia to be a fascinating country, with a long and complex history. Known for the Armenia Genocide, it is a place with attractions that remain unique. I share my journey and the places of interest about this country, with its complex history and its special people.
Download or read book Armenia written by Arra S. Avakian and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book My Brother s Road written by Markar Melkonian and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2008-05-07 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do 'Abu Sindi', 'Timothy Sean McCormack', 'Saro', and 'Commander Avo' all have in common? They were all aliases for Monte Melkonian. But who was Monte Melkonian? In his native California he was once a kid in cut-off jeans, playing baseball and eating snow cones. Europe denounced him as an international terrorist. His adopted homeland of Armenia decorated him as a national hero who led a force of 4000 men to victory in the Armenian enclave of Mountainous Karabagh in Azerbaijan. Why Armenia? Why adopt the cause of a remote corner of the Caucasus whose peoples had scattered throughout the world after the early twentieth century Ottoman genocides? Markar Melkonian spent seven years unravelling the mystery of his brother's road: a journey which began in his ancestors' town in Turkey and leading to a blood-splattered square in Tehran, the Kurdish mountains, the bomb-pocked streets of Beirut, and finally, to the windswept heights of Mountainous Karabagh. Monte's life embodied the agony and the follies bedevelling the end of the Cold War and the unravelling of the Soviet Union. Yet, who really was this man? A terrorist or a hero? "My Brother's Road" is not just the story of a long journey and a short life, it is an attempt to understand what happens when one man decides that terrible actions speak louder than words.
Download or read book Mandelstam and the Journey written by Osip Ė Mandelʹštam and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Journey to Armenia written by Osip Mandelstam and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Women s Journey to Empowerment in the 21st Century written by Kristen Zaleski and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It was a warm fall evening in Beijing when the idea for this book was born. Three social work academics, one Chinese and two Americans, discussed the state of the world for women in the 21st century and the longing for a text that could describe the struggles, and the successes of women in the fight for equity and safety throughout the world, on the table of Beijing style hotpot. As professors and feminist researchers, three of us share some similar but different research interests; Kristen's work is extensively on sexual violence in the United States; Annalisa, as a Philippine American Scholar, has been working on sex trafficking issues in Philippines and throughout the world; while Xiying, as a Chinese scholar with overseas training, has paid attention to dating violence, domestic violence, and school-bullying. Through the discussion, we found that though our research topics are different, the underlying issues of gender inequality and the surrounding social structures are similar, no matter the place on earth. A short time later, we invited Eugenia whose expertise on feminist global issues, and her being of mixed heritage and from Latin America, as well as her vast editorial experience, could help us make this book everything we knew it needed to be for maximum impact. We felt a compelling need to create a book in a collaborative spirit to include expert contributors that would provide a global lens to survey parts of the world - not just one region, one race, one voice- and study the intersectional issues of gender, race, class, culture, politics that arise in gender- based violence and the advocacy efforts to fight injustice and promote equality for women and girls, across the world"--
Download or read book Travel and Politics in Armenia written by Noel Noel-Buxton Baron Noel-Buxton and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Journeys to the Great Canals of the World Suez Panama Hangzhou written by Kalman Dubov and published by Kalman Dubov. This book was released on 2023-05-21 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human ingenuity has created three great canals in different locations on our planet. Each of these transformed the country and the world in its own way and time. The oldest canal to be constructed was the Grand Canal, an important Chinese waterway, connecting Suzhou and Beijing, a distance of 1,104 miles (1,776 km). This is the longest artificial canal in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not as well known as the other great canals, this important waterway enabled merchants to bring grain and other goods over this long distance so that merchants could transport goods throughout the kingdom. The Grand Canal was first constructed by Fuchai, King of the State of Wu, whose capital is in present-day Suzhou, in 486 BCE. Over the centuries, the Grand Canal was expanded and rebuilt and is still in use in China. The second oldest canal was constructed in ancient Egypt when the waterways of the Nile River were expanded to ease shipping goods throughout the country. Much later, modern engineers reconstructed the Suez Canal, an effort that required much ingenuity and effort to bring this project to fruition. This waterway, at 120.1 miles, was opened in 1869, transforming modern shipping of goods by reducing the journey by between Britain and India by 4,500 miles. Up to this time, ships had to travel around Africa's Cape of Good Hope or past the tip of South America (Magellan or Drake Passages) to reach the other side of the world. Both of these points are dangerous with many ships lost at sea. The Suez Canal completely bypassed this difficulty. However, the territorial disputes and enmities between the Egyptians and Israelis soon saw conflict across these placid waters. In each of the major wars fought between these two countries, the passage of mercantile ships through the Suez Canal became dangerous. Once peace was established between Egypt and Israel, maritime traffic resumed and the world benefited from that peace. Today, there is peace between these two countries, and I recount the instances when I sailed on the Suez Canal. The last canal to be built was in Panama, making travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans possible. French engineers tried to construct this canal but failed for various reasons. The United States then took over the project and in vast effort, saw the project to completion. Two years of preparatory effort was necessary to construct infrastructure for the thousands of workers who would toil in the earthworks being moved to create the Panama Canal. A notable effort was addressing the lethal malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases endemic in this country. In the end, yellow fever was completely eradicated from Panama, though malaria cases, though low, continue to be present. The Panama Canal is 50 miles in length and opened on 15 August 1914. Today, thousands of ships, carrying passengers and goods, travel through this, and the other canals, thereby transforming our world.
Download or read book History of the Iberian Peninsula written by Kalman Dubov and published by Kalman Dubov. This book was released on 2023-04-24 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Jewish history of the Iberian Peninsula begins during Roman times, followed by the Visigoths, a Germanic presence that was initially favorable towards the Jews. In 589 CE, their king Recarred converted to Roman Catholicism resulting in the Edicts of Toledo, a series of laws designed to create many difficulties for Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. Visigoth rule ended in 711 when Muslims from North Africa invaded. Tariq ibn Ziyad, a North African general, for whom Gibraltar is named (Jebel Tariq) found Visigoth armies weak and soon reached the Pyrenees and beyond. Muslim rule on Iberia lasted from 711 to 1492, as Christian armies reconquered and gained southern territories. During Islamic control of the peninsula, a conviviality (convivencia) existed amongst the three Abrahamic religions resulting in a vast seminal growth with translations of ancient Greek and Roman texts and advances in every area of human thought. The scholarship that grew from this period later fueled the Renaissance, benefiting modern scholarship. But in 1492, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile promulgated the Alhambra Decree, expelling all Jews from the kingdom. This was followed by the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, an institution that tortured and murdered thousands of men, women, and children, even as young as twelve years old. The Inquisition extended to the New World. In Mexico City as in Lima Peru, victims of the Inquisition faced merciless tribunals and faced the same fate as in Spain. The Inquisition was finally abolished in 1968. Transitioning to 2015, Spain began offering dual nationality to Jewish descendants of the expelled. I analyze the requirements to do so, noting its extensive detail, even demanding support of the Spanish constitution and culture as well as tests in Spanish with proof of marriage in the Jewish-Castilian tradition. This book offers a tableau of the harsh, zealous, and intolerant past to an effort by Spain to amend that violent historic record by offering an open hand to Jews. I leave the reasoning why Spain is doing so to the pessimist and cynic or to the optimist and hopeful.
Download or read book The Crossing Place written by Philip Marsden and published by Kodansha Amer Incorporated. This book was released on 1995 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the history and culture of the Armenians
Download or read book A journey trough countries and history written by Francesco Buffa and published by Key Editore. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book covers the most important historical events of the twentieth century and the new millennium, from a very special standpoint, that one of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In this respect, we have both a reading of history and a brief legal analysis, almost a “divertissement” that combines two different areas of the humanities.
Download or read book Journey Through Soviet Armenia written by Мариэтта Сергеевна Шагинян and published by Moscow : Foreign Languages Publishing House. This book was released on 1954 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Armenian Road to Democracy written by Maria Raquel Freire and published by CEPS. This book was released on 2007 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Armenia written by Deirdre Holding and published by Bradt Travel Guides. This book was released on 2018-12-12 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new, thoroughly updated 5th edition of Bradt's Armenia remains the only standalone guide available to this mountainous post-Soviet republic at the crossroads of Europe. Packed with detailed background information and invaluable practical advice, Bradt's Armenia remains the essential choice for anyone travelling to this beautiful country. New for this edition is coverage of the gastronomic revival in Yerevan, increased coverage of local music and nightlife, and expanded sections on protected areas, particularly the National Parks, including overview maps of their trail networks. Also new is information on the Transcaucasian Trail, hitch-hiking as a mode of transport, volunteering opportunities for longer-term travellers, and Yerevan as a popular base for 'digital nomads' and young diaspora Armenians. In addition, there is a wealth of new details for adventure travellers, including guidance on hiking and trekking, camping, mountain biking, cycle touring, rock climbing, off-road driving, and winter sports including ski touring. New long-distance trails are covered, too. Bradt's Armenia provides all of the information needed for a successful trip and covers all the most popular sights as well as those off-the-beaten track, including Dilijan National Park and the stunning forested mountains of Tavush, a region which is undergoing a renaissance as a place to explore and reconnect with nature; Areni village, one of the birthplaces of wine 6,000 years ago; and Vayots Dzor, the 'valley of woes', whose side valleys are abundant with wildlife-spotting opportunities. Tatev village and proposed National Park are included, as are the Orbelian caravanserai and other remnants of the ancient Silk Road trading route network that once criss-crossed the Caucasus region. Rich in both history and spectacular scenery, Armenia is a truly captivating country. Whether seeking out ancient monasteries dotted within dramatic landscapes, wandering through one of Yerevan's impressive museums or admiring the intricate stone carvings at Noratus, you'll find opportunities to delve into this nation's past at every turn. Add to this the welcoming locals, superb hiking possibilities and abundant bird life, and you'll soon discover why Armenia is worth more than just a fleeting visit.
Download or read book The Crossing Place written by Philip Marsden and published by William Collins. This book was released on 2015-04-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revised and updated edition of Philip Marsden's classic travel book, published to coincide with the centenary of the Armenian massacres. After centuries of prominence as a world power, Armenia has withstood every attempt during the 20th century to destroy it. With a name redolent both of dim antiquity and of a modern world and its tensions, the Armenians founded a civilization and underwent a diaspora that brought many of the great ideas of the East to Western Europe. The Crossing Place is Philip Marsden's gripping account of his remarkable journey through the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus in a quest to discover the secret of one of the world's most extraordinary peoples. Caught between opposing empires, between warring religions and ideologies -- at the crossing place of history -- the Armenians have somehow survived against the odds. This is their story -- told by one of the finest travel writers at work today.
Download or read book Armenia written by Donald E. Miller and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-09-15 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This portrait, in words and pictures, explores Amenia during the devastating years after the 1988 earthquake, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the ensuing violence over boundaries and ethnic differences.
Download or read book Journey to the Republic of Indonesia written by Kalman Dubov and published by Kalman Dubov. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indonesia is an archipelago of 7,500 islands. Its inhabitants speak 700 dialects and languages, with Bhasa as the national language. Travel to any island and the natives will use their local language for commerce and daily activities. Its diversity of language and culture reflects its origins as different migrations took place over millennia and settled here. The country has the largest Muslim population in the world, but the origins of its religious identity reflect Islamic traders introducing the religion and then giving preferential business opportunities to those accepting Islam. The exception to Islam is Bali, a Hindu enclave amidst a population with a very different belief. This unique subset evokes the magic of the exotic and romantic, a curious blend found nowhere else. Indonesia's early history reflects the great Mataram Empire, an empire that extended the boundaries of today's country and whose power and reach serve as the country's idealized state, even to the limits of today's boundaries. That empire ended with the arrival of the Europeans, first with the Portuguese, and then the Dutch. Dutch colonial presence extended for 350 years, broken only by a brief English presence, and later by Japanese Imperial forces during World War Two. Within days of the Japanese surrender, Indonesia declared its independence. But post-World War Two Dutch colonial presence returned and a four-year guerrilla war and diplomatic effort resulted in the Dutch capitulating and withdrawing from the Archipelago. Independence brought many challenges to the country. Five unifying concepts, known as Pancasila, are taught to every citizen from grade school onward, creating a national identity. The challenge of Pancasila is that only six religions are recognized; all others must align themselves with an approved religion, or stand beyond governmental protection. Indonesia sits astride the Ring of Fire, on some of the most powerful volcanoes in the world. Every Indonesian readily identifies with the volcanoes nearest them. Volcanic activity, evacuating for safety and realizing that volcanoes destroy and also enrich the soil marks each islander's deep respect for the destructive power and later fecundity of that eruption. To understand the natural phenomena taking place beneath our feet, I begin with a review of Earth's plate tectonics and its system of subduction. Volcanic activity is a constant in Indonesia, with different plates shifting and causing changes on the surface. This analysis and review discuss Indonesian history, its long subjugation by the Dutch, and its recent rise as an independent and self-sufficient government. The country prospers from its extensive natural resources, while the UNESCO site of Borobudur in Central Java, together with Temples Pawon and Mendut entice visitors throughout the world. I was privileged to visit Indonesia several times, appreciating its people, its distinctive Batik fabric as well the wide cultural diversity of these special people. I hope this review does justice to the country and its unique people.
