Ահա եւ Անգլիայում  Ջեկի ու Մուհամեդի պատերազմը մոտենում է ավարտին: 2008 թվականին Անգլիայի պատմության մեջ առագին անգամ նորածինների ամենատարածված անունը կդառնա Մուհամեդը: Այսօր արդեն ամենատարածված Ջեկին մի քանի միավորով է զիջում Մուհամեդը: Դե ինչ, C'est la vie.

Mohammed is on track to become the most popular boys' name in England and Wales by next year.

The name was second only to Jack in 2007, which has been top for the last 13 years.

But there were just 385 more children called Jack and because of the high birth rate among Muslim families, the name is set to become the most popular boy's name by next year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/20/njack120.xml

Հենց երեկ էր, որ ինձ հարցնում էին թե իմ կարծիքով ինչն է ավելի կարեւոր ԱՄՆ կոնգրեսի բանաձեւը, թե արեւմտյան մամուլի կարծիքը: Ինչը կընտրեմ ես, որ բանաձեւն ընդունվի, թե ամբողջ արեւմտյան մամուլը միանշանակ ճանաչի-գրի հայոց ցեղասպանության մասին առանց չակերտների: Ես ասեցի եւ... եւ... Մտքում ունենալով, որ իսկապես հարց է, թե որն է ավելի կարեւոր: Եւ տեսնելով այսօրվա Էկոնոմիստը, որ շարունակելով իր մեղմ ասած ոչ հայամետ գիծը, անգլիական մամուլի համար բավական հավասասարակշիռ հոդված է գրել, ուրախացա: Ամեն դեպքում, սա եւս մի փոքր, բայց քայլ է.

With luck, the resolution will be shelved and Turkey, its pride salved, will rethink its policies. With luck too, it will recognise that a full-blown invasion of northern Iraq would damage its interests and further inflame Kurdish separatists. If Turkey wants to fulfil its dreams of being a regional power and an inspiring example of how Islam and democracy can co-exist, it must make peace with all its citizens, including its Kurds. And it should find a way to face up to its past. It could do worse than seek inspiration from Ataturk who, as Mr Akcam noted in a recent book, once called the Armenian tragedy “a shameful act”.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9987685

Դասական անգլիական «անկողմնակալ» հոդված է...
Turkey and Armenia

Genocidal follies

Oct 4th 2007 | ISTANBUL AND YEREVAN
From The Economist print edition

The trouble that might flow from an American congressional resolution

 A RECENT evening in Istanbul, Turkey's (and Europe's) biggest city. Armenia's leading musician, Djivan Gasparyan, is playing his duduk, an Anatolian-style clarinet, as Yavuz Bingol, an ethnic Kurd, belts out Turkish folksongs. The event symbolises a budding rapprochement between ordinary Turks and Armenians. But America's Congress may now torpedo this fragile process /ի՞նչ պրոցես, դուդուկ նվագելո՞ւ/ by voting for a bill calling the mass slaughter of up to 1m Ottoman Armenians in 1915 a genocide.

Turkey has squashed previous attempts to pass such a bill by exploiting its strategic significance and its clout as NATO's only Muslim member. This time officials fret that not only will a congressional committee approve the resolution but also it may pass on the House floor. Turkey says that this would plunge relations with America into deep crisis. “Placing the Turks in the same category as Nazis is intolerable for us,” says one official. Possible retaliatory measures might include denying the Americans the use of the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey, which is a hub for the supply of non-combat materiel for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey could also seal its land border with Iraq. With positive Turkish views of America at a low of only 11%, according to a recent German Marshall Fund poll, such moves might give nationalists in Turkey a big boost.

Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, whose Californian district includes many rich Armenians,/ախ այդ հարուստ հայերը/ is unswayed by pleas to back down. Eight former secretaries of state have written to her to argue that, besides endangering “our national security interests”, the bill would kill “some hopeful signs already that both parties are engaging each other”. Vartan Oskanian, Armenia's foreign minister, retorts that “expressing concern about a process that doesn't exist is disingenuous”. His own recent meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, in New York got nowhere.