Contact the Foreign Editor at the LA Times to voice your objection to their misrepresentation of the Armenian Genocide and inaccuracies on Armenian history.

Mail: Mr. Simon Li
Foreign Editor
Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Tel: (213) 237-7000 (Ask for Foreign Editor Simon Li's office)

Email: Click here to send an email from the ANCA website to the LA Times Foreign Editor.

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Sample Letter:
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Simon Li
Foreign Editor
Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Mr. Li:

I am deeply troubled by the gross historical inaccuracies and dangerous misrepresentation of Armenian history and specifically the Armenian Genocide in the recently published "As a Rare Cathedral Crumbles, Two Rival Nations Point Fingers" (LA Times, Thursday, August 30, 2001, A3) authored by special correspondent Amberin Zaman.

I am particularly troubled by the reduction of the Armenian Genocide to the level of disputed hearsay, by characterizing the Armenian Genocide as "…how [the Armenians] say the Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians during World War I." The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact. Your newspaper's ambiguous and irresponsible mischaracterization of this crime against humanity is a form of complicity in the Turkish government's ongoing and deplorable campaign of denial.

Further, your correspondent's efforts to portray Ani's origins as a subject of debate shows a glaring lack of understanding of the history of the region. The millennia-long presence of Armenians in that region of the world, where Ani serves as a centerpiece, is a topic of numerous studies by noted scholars. Ani, which first appeared in Armenian chronicles in the 5th Century AD, would later become the capital of Armenia and the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate until the 15th Century AD.

Finally, any survey of the deterioration Ani without reference to the ongoing destruction of Armenian monuments, churches and other cultural artifacts as part of the Turkish Government's campaign of deliberate neglect and worse is simply poor reporting. The Ani Cathedral was not destroyed in the last two years, but has been disregarded and in fact slowly destroyed over the last 80 years, since the Armenians were subjected to deportations and massacres as part of the first genocide of the 20th century.

In the interest of maintaining your high standards for providing fair, accurate and objective reporting to your readers, I ask that the Los Angeles Times issue a public statement correcting these misrepresentations of the Armenian Genocide and Armenian history in general. I also request that you share with me the steps that your organization will take to ensure that similar erroneous statements will not appear in your publication again.

Sincerely yours,

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