FILM SCREENING HALTED

Hurriyet
Feb 20 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – After an outcry from academics and Armenians, the Education
Ministry said that it had halted distribution of a documentary about
the Turkish version of 1915 events to primary schools eight months ago,
daily Radikal reported yesterday.

Academics and Armenian citizens in Turkey sent a letter to the
prime minister demanding he stop distributing the film called "Sarı
Gelin: The True Face of the Armenian Question," at least to Armenian
schools. The Education Ministry sent a statement at the end of January
to all primary schools asking for a summary report of reactions from
the documentary that it sent out June 25, 2008.

The film was sent to schools as supplementary material, not as
essential material, the ministry said in a written statement
Wednesday. "A DVD of the film was sent to education institutions
as supplementary material for the students with a statement signed
by Turkey’s Instruction and Discipline Board head Ä°rfan Erdogan on
Dec. 4, 2007."

"The documentary may be helpful in understanding the truth," read
the statement. "As the Armenian diaspora and some lobbies increase
the groundless genocide claims, this documentary, which touches
the historical side of the issue, was shown by history teachers as
educational material in 2008." It said the teachers were informed
about how they can use this material in their classes. "Actually,
that material was not prepared for the students, but for the history
teachers," read the statement.

Meanwhile, a parent in Istanbul filed a lawsuit against the ministry.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress