Gray Wo|ves Spo|| 1urkeys ub||c|ty |oy on Ararat

8y ParuL Sassounlan
ubllsher 1he Callfornla Courler

1he lnLernaLlonal press publlshed ln Lhe pasL Lwo weeks dozens of arLlcles regardlng Lhe cancellaLlon of
Lhe screenlng ln 1urkey of ALom Lgoyans movle AraraL

ln order Lo undersLand why Lhe showlng of AraraL was cancelled we musL flrsL undersLand whaL
prompLed Lhe 1urklsh auLhorlLles Lo Lake Lhe unprecedenLed sLep of allowlng Lhe screenlng of a movle
on Lhe sub[ecL of Lhe Armenlan Cenoclde We musL remember LhaL we are deallng wlLh an exLremely
lnLoleranL governmenL LhaL goes Lo greaL lengLhs Lo obsLrucL all references Lo Lhe Armenlan Cenoclde
anywhere ln Lhe world 1hls ls Lhe same governmenL LhaL a couple of years ago consldered sulng Lgoyan
ln order Lo prevenL Lhe maklng of Lhls movle ln Canada

noL surprlslngly AraraL was banned ln 1urkey 1he 1urklsh offlclals could noL have shown a movle
wlLhln Lhelr own borders when Lhey were adamanLly opposed Lo lLs screenlng ln oLher counLrles 1he
1urklsh company LhaL had lmporLed AraraL encounLered many obsLacles lncludlng demands Lo deleLe
scenes LhaL were deemed offenslve Lo 1urklsh senslblllLles repeaLed denlals of a screenlng permlL from
Lhe governmenLs clnema waLchdog and courL acLlon Lo overLurn Lhe commlsslons re[ecLlon

Powever Lhe perslsLenL efforLs of Lhe 1urklsh dlsLrlbuLor were noL Lhe reason why approval was flnally
granLed Lo show Lhe movle 1he 1urklsh leaders who are desperaLely Lrylng Lo quallfy Lhelr counLry for
membershlp ln Lhe Luropean unlon reallzed LhaL Lhe ouLrlghL bannlng of a Canadlan movle would make
1urkey look bad ln Lhe eyes of Lhe Luropeans 1hey came up wlLh a clever ploy 1hey flrsL chop off from
Lhe movle scenes of offenslve quallLy ln Lhe words of Lhe MlnlsLer of CulLure and 1ourlsm Lrkan
Mumcu 1hey Lhen allow lLs screenlng ln a couple of LheaLres for a few days 1hls way Lhey could clalm
Lo be LoleranL wlLhouL glvlng a chance for Loo many 1urks Lo see a movle on Lhls Laboo sub[ecL
MlnlsLer Mumcu proudly Lold reporLers Lwo weeks ago 1urkey can easlly LoleraLe such Lhlngs lf some
people are curlous Lhey can go and see lL Accordlng Lo Lhe lnformaLlon l have lL ls a fllm whlch ls very
dldacLlc and can even be descrlbed as rldlculous propaganda

1he 1urklsh Lrlck worked for a shorL whlle lor example a Canadlan newspaper CLLowa ClLlzen
publlshed a lengLhy arLlcle on Lhe planned screenlng of AraraL ln 1urkey commendlng Lhe new open
mlndedness of Lhe 1urks 1he Canadlan dlrecLor ALom Lgoyan wlll be among Lhe flrsL beneflclarles of
1urkeys pledge Lo expand freedom of expresslon as parL of lLs bld Lo [oln Lhe Luropean unlon Lhe
CLLawa ClLlzen wroLe

unforLunaLely for Lhe 1urklsh offlclals Lhelr clever propaganda deslgns were cuL shorL by a fanaLlcal
1urklsh ulLranaLlonallsL group LhaL Look a more honesL buL less dlplomaLlc approach 1he ulku Ccaklarl
also known as Lhe Cray Wolves harshly demanded Lhe bannlng of AraraL 1hey called on Lhe
governmenL Lhe MlnlsLer of CulLure as well as Lhe 1urklsh dlsLrlbuLor Lo Lake our warnlng serlously
oLherwlse Lhey sald Lhey should be ready Lo pay a prlce! 1he group flooded Lhe sLreeLs of lsLanbul
wlLh anLl AraraL posLers ClLlng Lhese LhreaLs Lhe 1urklsh dlsLrlbuLor lmmedlaLely cancelled Lhe
showlng of Lhe fllm

l would llke Lo make Lhe followlng observaLlons regardlng Lhe cancellaLlon of AraraL

O Whlle Lhe 1urklsh governmenL was playlng pollLlcal games Lrylng Lo lmpress Lhe Luropeans wlLh
Lhe screenlng of Lhe movle ln a couple of LheaLres Lhe ulLra naLlonallsL group LhaL forced lLs
cancellaLlon reflecLed more Lruly Lhe longsLandlng denlallsL vlews of mosL 1urks on Lhe
Armenlan Cenoclde
O ConLrary Lo Lhe 1urklsh MlnlsLers asserLlon LhaL 1urkey can easlly LoleraLe Lhls movle lLs
forced cancellaLlon lefL no doubL LhaL 1urklsh socleLy ls sLlll far from exhlblLlng any Lolerance on
Lhe sub[ecL of Lhe Armenlan Cenoclde
O Lven when Lhe 1urklsh governmenL was Lrylng Lo lmpress Lhe Luropeans by felgnlng Lolerance lL
sLlll resorLed Lo censorshlp by cuLLlng several scenes LhaL deplcLed Lhe rapes of Armenlan
women by CLLoman soldlers 1hese scenes were chopped off wlLhouL Lgoyans approval So
much for respecLlng arLlsLlc rlghLs and freedom of expresslon ln 1urkey lurLhermore Lhese
scenes were deleLed allegedly because lL ls agalnsL Lhe law ln 1urkey Lo show 1urklsh soldlers
commlLLlng crlmes lf Lhere ls such a law lL ls noLeworLhy LhaL Lhe 1urklsh governmenL ls
equaLlng Lhe laws appllcable Lo Lodays soldlers Lo Lhose of Lhe CLLoman Lmplre lf Lhe poslLlon
of Lhe 1urklsh governmenL ls LhaL Lhe soldlers of Lhe 8epubllc of 1urkey and Lhose of Lhe Lmplre
are one and Lhe same Lhen 1urkey ls legally responslble for all Lhe acLs and aLroclLles commlLLed
by Lhe CLLoman soldlers agalnsL mllllons of Armenlans Assyrlans Creeks and kurds
O lL ls slgnlflcanL LhaL Lhe 1urklsh governmenL dld noL Lake any legal acLlon agalnsL Lhe exLremlsL
group LhaL LhreaLened physlcal vlolence agalnsL all Lhose who supporLed Lhe screenlng of
AraraL ln 1urkey uevleL 8ahchell Lhe leader of Lhe naLlonallsL MovemenL arLy (MP) Lhe
parenL group of Lhe ulku Ccaklarl group ln lashlng ouL aL Lhe governmenL for approvlng Lhe
screenlng of AraraL sald Lhls counLry 1urkey ls noL wlLhouL a masLer Pe ls rlghL! lL ls a
wellknown facL LhaL Lhe elecLed offlclals ln 1urkey are noL and have never been Lhe masLers of
Lhe counLry
As Penchal uluch wroLe ln Lhe 1urklsh newspaper Sabah Zorbas (Lhugs) conLlnue Lo rule
1urkey! 1he mlllLary and Lhe exLremlsL groups LhaL en[oy Lhelr blesslng and proLecLlon are Lhe
Lrue masLers of 1urkey 1haLs Lhe reason why AraraL goL cancelled wlLh lmpunlLy desplLe Lhe
permlsslon of Lhe governmenL!
O ln order Lo expose as many 1urks as posslble Lo AraraL (lLs uncensored verslon) a campalgn
should be underLaken by Lhe dlsLrlbuLors of Lhe fllm Lo publlclze Lhe facL LhaL a uvu copy could
be ordered by anyone ln 1urkey vla Lhe lnLerneL (Amazoncom) ln addlLlon free coples should
be malled Lo members of Lhe 1urklsh medla and oLher leadlng oplnlon makers ln 1urkey

lL ls lndeed forLunaLe LhaL ulLra naLlonallsL 1urks forced Lhe cancellaLlon of AraraL ln 1urkey
CLherwlse by showlng Lhls movle ln a handful of LheaLres for a couple of days Lhe 1urklsh
governmenL would have been able Lo clalm LhaL 1urkey ls a LoleranL naLlon and ready for
membershlp ln Lhe Luropean unlon 1he cancellaLlon of AraraL proves LhaL 1urkey ls sLlll far
from quallfylng Lo [oln Lhe ranks of clvlllzed naLlons