TURKEY ALLOWS SCREENING OF CANADIAN DIRECTOR’S FILM ON MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS
National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada)
April 13, 2006 Thursday
All but Toronto Edition
A private TV station will broadcast a movie by Canadian director Atom
Egoyan on the First World War massacres of Armenians for the first
time in Turkey where the subject still arouses nationalist feelings,
a spokesman for the channel yesterday. Kanalturk decided to show
Ararat by Mr. Egoyan, an ethnic Armenian, after a survey revealed
that 72% of the participants wanted to see the film, he said. “We
will show the movie with no cuts or censoring.” Even though the
Turkish government gave the go-ahead for the showing of the film,
which was released in 2002, an Istanbul firm was forced in 2004 to
drop plans to screen the movie because of potential protests that
would have required police presence.