Armenians, activists slam Turkish student viewing of controversial film

The declaration signed by seven rights organizations, among them Armenian foundations and the Helsinki Citizens Assembly, said the documentary was inciting "racism" and "enmity", AFP reported.

 

The call follows reports earlier this week that Turkey’s Education Ministry had asked teachers to show the documentary, "Sarı Gelin -- The True Face of the Armenian Question," a documentary film developed by the General Staff, to students and file reports on the result of the screenings.

 

The Education Ministry later halted the distribution of the documentary and said at the film was sent to schools for the benefit of the teachers, not the students.

 

"This documentary is a propaganda film ... It is not only biased and hostile but also provocative and openly racist," the declaration by activists said.

 

"This is not an objective production ... It has been made to poison people's souls and to turn Turks and Armenians into enemies," it added.

 

Academics have criticized the documentary for reflecting the official ideology of the Turkish Republic on the 1915 incidents and undermining the claims of an alleged Armenian "genocide".

 

The issue of the 1915 incidents is highly sensitive for Turkey as well as Armenia. Around 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

 

However Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915. The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet in accepting Turkey's proposal of forming a commission to investigate the claims.Â