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MISINFORMATION AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://hetq.am/eng/news/19200/misinformation-at-the-new-york-times.html
13:50, October 5, 2012
The following article about Artsakh, titled "Off the Map in the
Black Garden," and written by journalist Russ Juskalian, appeared in
the Sept. 21, 2012 edition of the New York Times.
On Sept. 30, Lucine Kasbarian of NJ and MA sent a letter (please
see below) to the NY Times in response. To date, the paper has not
published her letter. She has granted her permission for it to be
published here.
To the Editors:
It was disappointing to see an article about the rarely
written-about Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR, or Artsakh, its ancient
Armenian name), miss its mark ("Off the Map in the Black Garden,"
Sept. 21;
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/travel/off-the-map-in-nagorno-karabakh-
a-region-in-the-southern-caucasus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0).
Writer Russ Juskalian's curiosity about his ancestry prompted his
visit to this historically Armenian territory, and yet his
reporting demonstrates a failure to grasp certain fundamental facts.
Armenian Karabakh was given to Azerbaijan in 1923 by Josef Stalin
to placate Turkey -- kin to Turkic Azerbaijan. A natural desire
by Karabagh Armenians to be reunited with Armenia, driven by the 1988
Azeri pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait, propelled the
Armenian self-defense movement that culminated in the Karabakh War
(1988-1994).
Juskalian's article improperly states that the War originated
because of pogroms on both sides and falsely claims that genocided
Armenians genocided civilians beyond the battleground. He thus
perpetuates falsehoods and trivializes a victorious struggle against
oppression, especially when his article appears on the Armenian
independence anniversary and following a deplorable Azeri act.
In a move that shocked the world conscience, on August 31, Azerbaijan
pardoned, promoted and celebrated a convicted and extradited Azeri
lieutenant who savagely hacked to death a sleeping Armenian lieutenant
attending a NATO "Partnership for Peace" program in Hungary.
One must wonder why NATO and the "great policeman of the world"
have done nothing about it. On September 25, Azeri snipers killed a
19-year old Armenian soldier, the latest in countless Azeri killings
across the line of contact. Why mislead readers about politics on
the ground by publishing an NKR travel article when even NATO will
not enter the region to control naked Azeri aggression, which is a
routine occurrence?
Sincerely,
Lucine Kasbarian
Teaneck, NJ
http://hetq.am/eng/news/19200/misinformation-at-the-new-york-times.html
13:50, October 5, 2012
The following article about Artsakh, titled "Off the Map in the
Black Garden," and written by journalist Russ Juskalian, appeared in
the Sept. 21, 2012 edition of the New York Times.
On Sept. 30, Lucine Kasbarian of NJ and MA sent a letter (please
see below) to the NY Times in response. To date, the paper has not
published her letter. She has granted her permission for it to be
published here.
To the Editors:
It was disappointing to see an article about the rarely
written-about Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR, or Artsakh, its ancient
Armenian name), miss its mark ("Off the Map in the Black Garden,"
Sept. 21;
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/travel/off-the-map-in-nagorno-karabakh-
a-region-in-the-southern-caucasus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0).
Writer Russ Juskalian's curiosity about his ancestry prompted his
visit to this historically Armenian territory, and yet his
reporting demonstrates a failure to grasp certain fundamental facts.
Armenian Karabakh was given to Azerbaijan in 1923 by Josef Stalin
to placate Turkey -- kin to Turkic Azerbaijan. A natural desire
by Karabagh Armenians to be reunited with Armenia, driven by the 1988
Azeri pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait, propelled the
Armenian self-defense movement that culminated in the Karabakh War
(1988-1994).
Juskalian's article improperly states that the War originated
because of pogroms on both sides and falsely claims that genocided
Armenians genocided civilians beyond the battleground. He thus
perpetuates falsehoods and trivializes a victorious struggle against
oppression, especially when his article appears on the Armenian
independence anniversary and following a deplorable Azeri act.
In a move that shocked the world conscience, on August 31, Azerbaijan
pardoned, promoted and celebrated a convicted and extradited Azeri
lieutenant who savagely hacked to death a sleeping Armenian lieutenant
attending a NATO "Partnership for Peace" program in Hungary.
One must wonder why NATO and the "great policeman of the world"
have done nothing about it. On September 25, Azeri snipers killed a
19-year old Armenian soldier, the latest in countless Azeri killings
across the line of contact. Why mislead readers about politics on
the ground by publishing an NKR travel article when even NATO will
not enter the region to control naked Azeri aggression, which is a
routine occurrence?
Sincerely,
Lucine Kasbarian
Teaneck, NJ