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BIAS IS ALIVE AND WELL AT LOS ANGELES TIMES, THANK YOU! On September 26, a rather large article was published in the travel section of Los Angeles Times (LAT). Penned by an Armenian writer, this article basically glorified Armenia. So much so, that looking at this “heaven on earth”, one would never realize that the writer was actually talking about the country we all know, which is a tiny, land-locked, poverty-stricken, corruption–infested, crime-ridden, cursed place whose own citizens are leaving behind in droves. A place whose number one export is illegal aliens and number one import is foreign aid. Of course, no word about the aggression into the neighboring Azerbaijan; capturing 20% of Azeri territory by a brutal invasion; and ethnically cleansing the area of its million Muslim-Azeri inhabitants. (I guess that makes the Armenians “good Christians”). No word, either, about international Armenian terrorism, which claimed three Turkish diplomats lives in Los Angeles alone (more than 70 innocent victims worldwide)! Not only Armenian hate crimes were omitted, but also Armenian organized crime was not included. No word about the bilking the state of California of millions of tax dollars (thatt’s your money and mine) via some bogus patient-doctor-lawyer-insurance schemes. No word about any of this… None… Nada… Zip… But plenty of bad mouthing Turks, thank you. Starting with the baseless allegations of genocide and ending up with how the writer’s predecessors escaped from Turkey, their usual deliberate misrepresentations… Needless to say, I was outraged! I immediately sent the polite letter below, hoping that they would publish all of it. After all, sense of fairness requires it. “Equal time” or “equal space” would allow me a much larger space that my letter below. But I would feel happy if they would just publish this letter and allow no more distortions from the AFATH community (Armenian Falsifiers and Turk Haters). And here is the net result. Today, October 10, 2004, not only did they clip my letter silly, but also, they could not hold themselves back from printing more of the same. They “sandwiched” my “edited” letter in between two pro-Armenian letters. Isn’t this bias? Isn’t this bigotry? Isn’t this censorship (they call it editing)? You read the letters and you decide…
Here is what was sent:Disputed History Sneaked In A Travel Piece I am not sure how much history should be included in a travel article, but if the writer chooses to introduce some, then by all means, I expect that to be fair and balanced. To that end, I must say I was extremely disappointed by Aline Kazandjian, who kept repeating same old biased Armenian version of history in her article "The Homecoming" (September 26) , as if it was a universally accepted history. Even the most disinterested reader probably knows by now that the Armenian allegations of mass murder can not be supported by historical evidence. Some 69 prominent U.S. historians and scholars signed a public statement in 1985, characterizing what Armenians claim as one sided massacres as a civil war within a world war. Armenians provoked this civil war by deliberate acts of treason and terrorism. If anyone argues Turks might have acted heavy handedly, then I urge that person to look at what we did to Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 and we were right. Please consider that Turkey had lived its "many 9/11s" at the hands of brutal Armenian terrorists between 1895 and 1915. When the Armenians overtook the city of Van and butchered its Muslim inhabitants in February-March 1915, the Ottoman government finally decided in May 1915 that enough was enough and "relocated" (not annihilated) those 700,000 or so Armenians who sided with the invading enemy armies, to distant areas of the empire away from the war zones temporarily, until the First World War was over. Against this backdrop, one can now understand why it is that the writer's "...paternal grandparents fled... in the late 19th century..." Let me be more forthcoming than even the writer: they probably fled right after the failed rebellion of 1895 in Sassoon or Bitlis, Eastern Anatolia, and because they were guilty of grand conspiracy to kill Turks en masse. Respected, loved, and innocent people simply don't flee; guilty ones do! Then there is this: "... In 1915, my maternal grandparents escaped the Turkish massacres of Armenians..." . Armenians were considered the most loyal subjects of the Ottoman Empire up until the end of the 19th century. What happened between 1895-1915 that turned the Armenians from "the most loyal nation" to the "relocated nation"? That is where the crux of the matter is. The answer is blunt but simple: Armenian greed to establish a, so called, Greater Armenia on Turkish soil produced Armenian rebellions, treason, and terrorism, to which Turks responded by "relocating" those involved until the end of the First World War. If the writer wishes to tell how great Armenia is in her travel article, by all means, let her do it. I have no problem with that. But, please, don't let her insult my or the readers' intelligence, by allowing her to inject her incredibly biased views as universally accepted, rock solid history. Peace, Ergun Kirlikovali
… And here is what was published:
October 10, 2004
Bravo
to Aline Kazandjian for "The Homecoming" [Sept. 26]. With her richly
descriptive style, Kazandjian interweaves historical, cultural, religious
and contemporary i mages that should evoke great pride in her Armenian
audience and prompt intrigue and awareness among readers less familiar with
Armenia and its people. With the tremendous progress that has been made
there since independence, today Armenia is not just for Armenians.
Ergun
KIRLIKOVALI |