BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
ABCNews.com removed a segment of a feature that recommended traveling to Nagorno-Karabakh as one the “Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012.”
In a travel segment posted on Sunday on abcnews.com entitled “7 Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012” ranked Nagorno-Karabakh as one of the places to visit during the year. On Tuesday afternoon, however, the piece was re-titled “6 Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012” and the section on Nagorno-Karabakh was extracted from the original. Reader comments were not extracted from the Web site.
“Stay at the recently-built Armenia Hotel in the capital, Stepanakert, and use the city as your base to explore the region. Go hiking through snow-topped mountains and fields of yellow and red flowers. Feast on shish kebob and grilled vegetables. If you’re staying with a local, don’t be surprised if you’re offered homemade mulberry vodka with breakfast,” recommended the post.
“Don’t miss the Gandzasar Monastery, meaning ‘hilltop treasure,’ built in the 10th century. Visit it at night to see it lit up in the darkness,” added the feature.
News.Az reported that the Azeri Foreign Ministry has urged the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington to investigate the matter, according to Azeri foreign ministry spokesperon Elman Abdullayev.
While Asbarez is following up on this developing story with ABC News, readers are encouraged to go to the article’s comment section and ask why the section about Nagorno-Karabakh was removed.
ABC , A bsolutely B aseless (spineless) C ompany !
Is this a joke or game how come a big network like ABC publishes something and changes it next day without any explanation .this issue concerns Armenians all over the world .and we call the the author at the abc.com to do right thing by republish the original issue.
I was disappointed about the abcnews removal of Artzakh as Great Offbeat Places to Go in 2012. This shows how the post-cold war journalism in general and american news agencies’ performance in particular respond to money pouring in from a friendly oil-rich country. “Hay Dat” has always lobbied successfully for Armenia’s interests. I do hope that it will persuade the abcnews to “correct” its mistake and include NK in the list.
Why was Karabakh removed??? this is not respectful Shame on you ABC.. I have been to Karabakh is it one of the most amazing places I have been.. Rich in culture and history, the people that have lived through war and making a better for a beautiful country.. It is Because it has ties to ARMENIA ( GOD FORBID THAT ARMENIA IS MENTIONED ) WE WANT KARABAKH BACK
ABC . . . American Bull$hitting Corporation, so typical, every Armenian should file a complained, this is America and yet with behavior like this from a News agency we have the gaul to criticize Syria and Iran on press censorship . . . what the hell is happening to this country?
May I ask why you removed the section about Nagorno-Karabakh please?
ts like we Armenians tell the world dont go to east turkey it is occupied Armenian land !
that’s what the azeriz trying to do with NKR ARTSAKH
the deference is ,east turkey is a stolen Armenian land !! Artsakh is a liberated Armenian land !!
the US state Department is working as usual , i dont blame ABC
Nagorno-Karabakh’s removal from the list of places for foreigners to visit is a right desicion. This territory has never been belonged to Armenia. The latest historic facts speak for the following: there was a treaty on annexation of Karabakh by Russian Empire in 19th century. That treaty’s text in Russian bears two signatures put under this historic document: one belongs to Sisianov, the Russian general of Georgian origin, the second belongs to Ibrahim khan Shushinski, the ruler of Karabakh, who is Azerbaijani ruler. The treaty clearly states about terms under which the territory of Karabakh including the part of the latter called later Nagorni Karabakh fell under the Russian tsarist authority. Please be familiar with the text of the treaty which says nothing about Armenians as autochthon inhabitants of the area. Now this territory is occupied by Armenian military forces supported by Russia. Moreover, the territory is ruled now by military criminals who have set up criminal rules everywhere in Nagorno-Karabakh (by the way please note the word “Karabakh” means nothing in Armenian because it is of turkic orijin). The territory will be right to visit only after the peace will be there and lawful authorities of Azerbaijan Republic will govern the territory.
The latest DNA studies suggest that most Azeris are more like Armenians that anyone else. I wonder how it is that a people who share so much of our DNA, can produce such Morons. Is it the water, the religion, the diet, What? In all the comments that I have read so far written by Azery’s, not one was researched, or even sounded intelligent. Just a whole bunch of emotional garbage, from the mouth of children. How are we going to deal with these people?
Edward, what are you talking about. Which DNA studies are you talking about? Researches which are done in armenia? Come on, go and study little bit history. Azerbaijanians are Turks. I hate morons like you. Learn to respect others.
I read in one of the Turkish dailies that a recent study proved azeris and Turks belong to the same stock, prompting both to announce ‘dilimiz bir, dinimiz bir, [we have] the same tongue (language) and the same religion. There could be some poor Armenian DNA floating out there, but I would gladly burst your bubble by assuring you that Armenians and azeris are not cousins, really. On a side note, my experience interacting with both Turks and azeris have led me to conclude that Turks are generally more amicable and sophisticated than azeris.
As long as the entire population of Artsakh is Armenian, who cares who signed what treaty with who. The right of self determination is an inalienable right, we demanded it and earned it with sacred Armenian blood, it is a ‘fait accompli’, you can dump the treaty of annexation you are referring to into the dustbin of history. Armenians have lived on these lands for millenia, the land was stolen from them by maurauding mongols (azeri ancestors), and mind you for the last 80 some odd years azerbaijani authorities did nothing to improve the infrastructure of the region knowing that it was land that did not belong to them and that one day the rightful owners will retake possession of their homeland.
Why was the section about Nagorno Karabakh removed?
Nagorno-Karabakh territory of Azerbaijan, the whole world knows it. We know all of us that travel to this region, which is a dangerous war zone. ABC TV has the right to travel to Nagorno-Karabakh section. You have to applaud, ABC TV, the leadership of the international legal norms can be very good to their employees passed the course.
Nope: Artsakh aka Nagorno-Karabagh Republic is territory of Armenian Artsakh, an ancient Armenian populated area. The whole world knows it. Only deliberately misinformed inhabitants of the fake state of Azerbaijan are confused.
There were no Turks – None – in the Caucasus before around 1000 AD.
Proto-Armenian peoples followed by coalesced Armenians have been indigenous to Southern Caucasus and the Armenian Highlands for at least 5,000 years: at least 4,000 years before any Turks showed up.
Invading TatarTuks ethnically cleansed and exterminated indigenous Armenians, and called the conquered lands ‘Turkish lands’. The process is going on even now. Azeri troops destroyed all 10,000 Armenian Khachkars in Julfa Nakhichevan by 2005, so that all hard traces of historic Armenian presence will be erased, so that in the future it could be called – you guessed it ‘Turkish lands’.
Artsakh’s Armenian mountain warriors threw out invading Azeri Musvat hordes from historic Armenian lands by 1994.
Azerbaijan SSR left the USSR by declaring Independence on Aug 30, 1991.
Nagorno Karabagh Autonomous Oblast declared Independence on Sept 2, 1991, invoking Article 3 of [The law of the USSR of April 3, 1990 (Register of the Congress of the People’s Deputies of USSR and Supreme Soviet of USSR. 1990, issue No. 13, p. 252)]
All legal and proper.
How could Artsakh be azeri territory if total majority of the population is Armenian, and they have been living on their ancestral homeland for millenia. Inshallah we soon will be having the same discussion about Armenian Naxicevan. The fact that Stalin took what was not his and gave it to someone it did not belong to does not render the current borders natural and needs to be rectified.
Why was it removed? Mass media of the contry which has made a flag of freedom and waves it here and there, now supresses the same idea by following azeri murderers’ tаstes, supresses the freedom gained by blood. Why do they oppose visiting Nagorno-Karabakh? It’s obvious – they don’t want international society to see Armenian christian mediaeval Churches, for continuing their azeri national lye. They want Karabakh people, who by miracle survived from massacres in Baku, Sumgait and all over Nagorono-Karabakh, to keep isolated. And now you help them? Where is the moral?
Use original name…Art sakh ….
* Artsakh in Armenian, changed to Nagorno-Karabakh was the tenth province (nahang) of the Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC until 387 AD and afterwards a region of Caucasian Albania. In 821, it formed the Armenian principality of Khachen and in around 1000 was proclaimed the Kingdom of Artsakh, which was one of the last medieval eastern Armenian kingdoms and principalities to maintain its autonomy following the Turkic invasions of the 11-14th centuries.
Dear ABC News staff,
Please, tell the ignorant politicians of Azerbeyjan that monasteries, natural sites, mountains are not
military bases not to be visited. Every tourrist from the West visted the Kremlin in Communist era.
Anybody from the “imperialist” world is allowed to visit the famous Walls of China.
ABC News is a well respected network and should not be the victim of ignorant politicians.
There’s a number of pro-Azeri people blogging on that article – far outnumbering pro-Karabakh comments. I encourage anyone who can to get on there and help neutralize them as they are saying any lie they can come up with to be misleading.
Right on. I’m so annoyed with the Azery Agent Provocateurs cruising our websites, making inflamatory remarks.
Shame on ABC for being dictated on not having Karabagh (Artsakh) as one of the best places of travel. Karabagh has been part of Armenia for over 3 thousand years and has been under domination by not only the Soviet Union but by the Turks & their Turkish cousins the Azeri’s. I can’t believe that ABC has been duped by the Azeri’s not to have travel to Karabagh. Stephan Dulgarian
By the way, ABC is actively censoring the comments. I had posted a pretty good argument against some of the pro-Azeri comments and they quickly removed my posting after it was initially up, guess they didn’t like to hear the truth (or maybe I used too many CAPS)
They did the same thing in the NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS site… they selectively deleted comments to make their anti-Armenian propaganda stand out with one of their own weasels MARK MEIROWITZ – a paid Turkish lobbyist falsifier of Armenian history.
I did not comment by I read many comments yesterday, there were many informative comments by Armenians and others and they were all removed. Instead they leave in propaganda by a fascist anti-Armenian Turk ERGUN KIRLIKOVALI, a bigot of the highest order supported by NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS.
Asbarez, please make this be known and expose these racists with a special article about how NEW JERSEY JEWISH NEWS is acting against Armenians and supporting Turkish and Jewish racist bigots by selectively deleting commentaries in order to paint the picture they want.
Not surprisingly, comments are now “closed”.
http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7871/genocide-in-armenia-is-not-for-israel-to-decide
Frankly I was astonished in the first place for Karabagh being among the 7 places to be visited!! It’s a beautiful place and I have visited it but there are much more interesting places to go. This said I’m sorry they removed Karabagh from the list!
Every place is beautiful
If you go with clear sight to visit and then praise…
About the good things you saw …you felt
May be the people may be the objects…
People travel to Dubai to view the Desert’s beauty …
Where there you can only see flat hill of sands and few Camels
By luck few Palm Trees …
May be an Eagle…
Sylva-MD-Poetry
Written Instantly
it says “7 Offbeat Places to Go”. Artsakh certainly qualifies as being an offbeat place (….meaning off the beaten tourist track). Not a tourist trap. Unspoiled. Genuine hospitality.
The world is full of interesting places to go. Nobody was saying Karabagh is Tahiti.
Keep hitting the ABC site with Comments. Commenting @ Asbarez is good. However, it is our own audience. We know what was done to us was wrong: no need to tell ourselves again, really.
Better yet, right after you comment here, go and register at ABC and put in your Comment.
Even if they flush it, they’ll feel the sting. We need to flood their server.
Who the hell they think they are insulting 2 million Armenian-Americans ?
What, for 12 Azeris that live in the United States ?
We need to teach ABC News a lesson not to mess with us.
Every Armenian must retain the memory of this insult and remind ABC at every opportunity far in the future.
Armenians are too forgiving: we tend to forgive and forget too easily. That may be one reason we are not feared and respected.
Learn from our Jewish friends: “Never Forget, Never Forgive”.
You cross Jews once, you will be blacklisted forever.
namik you are dreaming and keep dreaming
Armenian’ should boycot and stop using ABC news.
Why was the section on Nagorno-Kharabakh removed? The information was wonderful and I’m sure many readers would love to know more about this place. Shame on ABC for censoring the information….very Un-American!!
All of you can go to a website called change.org and sign the petition againt ABCNEWS.COM , SEARCH FOR ABCNEWS.COM. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SEND A MESSAGE TO ABC. SIGN THE PETITION.
We… all on this site must unify and send a letter to ABC
We should not remain silent
To be slayed (slain) once again…
As they have criminal power
And able to shut the sites…
We should prevail
By out truthfulness…
To show to the world…
Their unjust praise…
Sylva
Sylva