MUST READ: Tending the embers: #Armenia #Azerbaijan #Caucasus

Below is not a blog post, it is a long tweet. And I am not an author of it, rather I would love to be its author. Frankly, I am even jealous that I am not the author. In fact, it is written by an anonymous user in Twitter, who calls himself/herself Ani and has an account named "GoldenTent."  S/he is one of the best micro-bloggers in/from the South Caucasus and below is one of the best pieces ever written about our region - enjoy the reading!

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"Prometheus created the light by desiring it." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, I don’t have a blog and won’t be having one, but I’ll put a few thoughts here, since Twitlonger has obliged.

When I signed up for Twitter, I did so primarily to disseminate information regarding the struggle for human rights and civil rights in the Caucasus. I hoped perhaps that by shining a light in corners that have been nearly ignored by the outside world and the international media, someone might look in and at least acknowledge that problems exist.

I also hoped that by sharing information both about Armenia and Azerbaijan, and by contextualizing the information with other countries in Eurasia, readers could see how much common ground there is, and discover what the governments try to hide.

It is no coincidence that bellicosity increases whenever internal discontent rises to the surface, because this discontent threatens the financial interests of those in charge, whereas nationalist rhetoric makes the population compliant and unwilling to complain about their daily struggles.

True progress occurs only when the citizenry become unpredictable, when they no longer allow themselves to be Pavlov’s dogs.

This year we’ve seen too clearly how threatening satire is to authorities in Azerbaijan (#EminAdnan), and how even such innocent acts as handing out leaflets advertising rallies can earn you at least four months in jail in Armenia (witness Tigran Arakelyan,( http://bit.ly/unOxq and Vahagn Gevorgyan, http://bit.ly/o71Tm ).

We’ve seen a staggering number of journalists and human rights workers killed, beaten, or jailed in Eurasia, Central Asia, and Russia.

We’ve followed far too many ridiculous trials, including those ongoing ones of Khodorkovsky (Russia) and Pashinyan (Armenia).

We’ve endured the posturing and foibles of the mighty and the rich in the region, however they got that way.

I have no answers or wisdom to dispense regarding the tough international questions that bedevil the countries of the Caucasus and their neighbors. I hope but do not find myself optimistic about resolutions of these quandaries coming anytime soon.

I know only one thing: Somewhere in Armenia, the lackeys of some rich man who owns a private zoo threw a donkey into a lions’ den. That donkey fought back, and the lions did not win. It was, at least, a surprise and a moral tale.

Desire the light, or live in darkness! The Caucasus is the land of Prometheus, of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and of the Eternal Fire temple in Azerbaijan. Surely the light can be at home here! So let’s tend the embers and not let them die, and perhaps someday the light will shine brightly!

URL: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/1b2q9