By Edmond Y. Azadian
People who preach to the Armenian people the sermon of “forgive and forget” must realize that by perpetrating the Genocide, the Turks not only took over our 3,000-year-old homeland, murdered 1.5 million of its living population and more than 20 million of potential future population, but that they have pulverized the collective will of the survivors for perpetuity.
Almost one full century after the Genocide, Armenians cannot get their acts together and consolidate some seven million of them scattered around the world into a cohesive collective force.
Seven centuries of oppressive foreign domination have worked into the moral fiber of the Armenian people and have made inroads into their genes, so much so that they have become accustomed to bowing to the rule of any foreign potentate, to serve diligently, faithfully and creatively, seldom questioning the legitimacy of that alien rule.
Even after being forced out of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians have preserved their docile attitude toward any foreign rule, with an inverse degree of respect for Armenian leadership.
Under foreign dominations, the challenge most of the time has been survival, and Armenians have survived individually and that survival instinct has barred the ability for any power sharing with a fellow Armenian toward the goal of nation building.