Even with your comments, it becomes apparent that the only thing you were able to focus in on was my mention of putting genocide recognition aside for a bit to concentrate on other problems.

I stand by every word I said, because I’m tired. These are the problems that directly impact me and my community and yes, for me, this is what matters. I don’t know if you’re from Los Angeles, but these are major concerns. These are major concerns when five or six Armenian murders occur within the span of 6 months. These are youths who grew up here, once removed from the former Soviet Republic and yet, they are falling in the same paths. I am not sure how else to communicate that.

You say that you never expected to read such a comment in an Armenian related publication. Well this is the difference between this publication and others, and in fact, the entire reason why it exists. Alternative view points, different ways of looking at things, exploring topics that other Armenian publications don’t line their pages with – those are my concerns.

Also, I want to point out, that I never said we should give up anything. What I am saying, and what I stand by, is that Armenian Genocide recognition should not occupy every single concern we have.

I want to make it clear that the opinions I’ve expressed here were in no way intended to demean the Armenian Genocide or to communicate that I don’t think it’s a concern. If you read the other articles on this site, both opinion pieces, feature stories and hard news, you’ll see that that’s not the case.

There is something we can agree on – Armenian Genocide recognition is a realistic goal. It will happen, and when it does, there will still be violence, poverty and domestic abuse in our communities. I’d rather address those topics now, then wait for the genocide to be recognized so that we have something else to concern ourselves with.

There’s room for it all, I’m just saying we need to balance our priorities a little bit.

Nevertheless, I respect your opinions, and am thankful that you chose to express them here. I welcome discussion – that’s what this is all about anyway. I do hope you find something in this humble publication to persuade you to comment again, whether or not it is positive or negative. And if you ever feel strongly enough to want to write something, I would be more than happy to give you the space here to publish it.

You honestly believe it is reasonable to throw away the immense efforts of the Armenian community outside of Armenia for decades to bring the government of Turkey to justice simply because some punk committed murder on the streets of LA?

Your concern about the misguided Armenian youth of LA is warranted, but I draw the line when you put into question the pursuit of recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Since you say you are a journalist, you do understand that with a comment like the one you just made, you could be doing more harm than good especially against a young person who might have otherwise contributed positively in the future for the Armenian cause.

In truth the “problems” you speak of have been with us since the beginning of the Soviet Armenian Republic. It does not take a genius to see that Armenians of the Diaspora have a different set of values than the ones from the former Soviet Republic. While the Diaspora Armenians have their share of criminal activity, for the most part they stay out of trouble (or at least try).

I realize that with your article you might have been trying to make a point, and in so doing tried to point out that there are more “realistic” things we should be concerned about. However in the future I urge you to refrain from making such a comment as you did because achieving justice for the Armenian nation is every bit as realistic. My initial response might have been harsh but the point I wanted to make is we do not have to give up the pursuit of genocide recognition in order to solve our other problems.

If you had read the entire post, you would have realized that the majority of the people I referred to were not criminals. They were teenagers, mothers, fathers and daughters.

I never alluded to Armenians being the exception. And I’m not sure what this “subject” I know nothing about is well, actually about – are you referring to genocide, murder or violence? If it’s the latter two, then I’m not sure I have any response for you at all.

This was an opinion column to a growing trend – my job is not to take steps towards solutions, but raise awareness. I am writing as a journalist, not as an activist. If you decide to take steps towards a solution and make a difference instead of lecturing me about how I am or how I am not the future of “our” people, let me know so I can write about it.

Until then, you can have the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide as your pursuit, and I can have the real problems of at least the Los Angeles Armenian community be mine.