Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ANKARA2100
2006-04-17 14:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:
TURKISH TV AIRS FILM DEPICTING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE"
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UNCLAS ANKARA 002100
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH TV AIRS FILM DEPICTING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE"
UNCLAS ANKARA 002100
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH TV AIRS FILM DEPICTING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE"
1. A Turkish cable TV channel on April 13 broadcast, for the
first time in Turkey, the 2002 movie "Ararat," a film by
Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan that promotes the idea
that the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915
constituted genocide. The ultra-nationalist station Kanal
Turk decided to air the movie four years after protests by
Turkish nationalists prevented "Ararat" from being screened
in Turkish movie theaters. Kanal Turk reportedly prepared
the ground by polling its viewers on whether they wanted to
see the film; 85 percent said yes.
2. The broadcast, which opened with a commentary calling the
movie a product of imperialist propaganda partially funded
from the U.S., ended with a discussion between a retired
Turkish general and a film critic. Kanal Turk had advertised
that the post-film discussion would include participants who
dispute the official view of the Turkish state regarding the
events of 1915. In the end, none of the invited critics of
the official view appeared. Hrant Dink, publisher of an
Armenian-language newspaper in Istanbul, reportedly showed up
at the studio but backed out at the last minute. Professors
Baskin Oran and Halil Berktay had informed the station that
they could not attend due to previous engagements. Dink is
currently appealing his 2005 criminal conviction for comments
he wrote regarding Turkish-Armenian relations. Oran is on
trial for a report he wrote on minorities in Turkey. Berktay
has written that the events of 1915 contain many elements of
genocide.
3. Despite the controversial nature of the film, there has
been no discernible reaction against the broadcast.
Columnist Mehmet Ali Birand, writing in the Turkish Daily
News, cited the lack of controversy as proof that Turkey had
successfully broken a taboo. "Kanal Turk did the right
thing," Birand wrote. "It proved that this film can be shown
in a Turkey that has self-confidence and which does not
believe the Armenian allegations of genocide. It showed that
the airing of a propaganda film is received as a normal thing
in the society, no matter how disturbing it is."
--------------
Comment: Broader Space for Discussion
--------------
4. This broadcast follows the September 2005 Istanbul
conference on the events of 1915, at which a number of
scholars and writers contradicted the official view. The
conference, like "Ararat", was initially blocked by
nationalist opposition, then proceeded. While this topic
remains highly sensitive, the film's airing indicates a
greater willingness in Turkey to air alternative points of
view and deconstruct taboos.
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/
WILSON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH TV AIRS FILM DEPICTING ARMENIAN "GENOCIDE"
1. A Turkish cable TV channel on April 13 broadcast, for the
first time in Turkey, the 2002 movie "Ararat," a film by
Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan that promotes the idea
that the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915
constituted genocide. The ultra-nationalist station Kanal
Turk decided to air the movie four years after protests by
Turkish nationalists prevented "Ararat" from being screened
in Turkish movie theaters. Kanal Turk reportedly prepared
the ground by polling its viewers on whether they wanted to
see the film; 85 percent said yes.
2. The broadcast, which opened with a commentary calling the
movie a product of imperialist propaganda partially funded
from the U.S., ended with a discussion between a retired
Turkish general and a film critic. Kanal Turk had advertised
that the post-film discussion would include participants who
dispute the official view of the Turkish state regarding the
events of 1915. In the end, none of the invited critics of
the official view appeared. Hrant Dink, publisher of an
Armenian-language newspaper in Istanbul, reportedly showed up
at the studio but backed out at the last minute. Professors
Baskin Oran and Halil Berktay had informed the station that
they could not attend due to previous engagements. Dink is
currently appealing his 2005 criminal conviction for comments
he wrote regarding Turkish-Armenian relations. Oran is on
trial for a report he wrote on minorities in Turkey. Berktay
has written that the events of 1915 contain many elements of
genocide.
3. Despite the controversial nature of the film, there has
been no discernible reaction against the broadcast.
Columnist Mehmet Ali Birand, writing in the Turkish Daily
News, cited the lack of controversy as proof that Turkey had
successfully broken a taboo. "Kanal Turk did the right
thing," Birand wrote. "It proved that this film can be shown
in a Turkey that has self-confidence and which does not
believe the Armenian allegations of genocide. It showed that
the airing of a propaganda film is received as a normal thing
in the society, no matter how disturbing it is."
--------------
Comment: Broader Space for Discussion
--------------
4. This broadcast follows the September 2005 Istanbul
conference on the events of 1915, at which a number of
scholars and writers contradicted the official view. The
conference, like "Ararat", was initially blocked by
nationalist opposition, then proceeded. While this topic
remains highly sensitive, the film's airing indicates a
greater willingness in Turkey to air alternative points of
view and deconstruct taboos.
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/
WILSON