CNN GENOCIDE DOCUMENTARY LEAVES BOTH ARMENIANS AND TURKS DISGRUNTLED

Tert.am
08.03.10

On March 7, CNN once again broadcast the documentary on genocides of
the 20th century shot by Chief International Correspondent Christiane
Amanpour.

First broadcast in 2008, "Scream Bloody Murder" covers the Armenian
Genocide, the Holocaust, and genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda,
Darfur, as well as the Genocide of Iraqi Kurds under former president
Saddam Hussein.

But this documentary paid little attention to the first genocide of the
20th century, the Armenian Genocide — only 46 seconds, which roused
discontent among Diaspora Armenians who accused the journalist of not
presenting the Armenian Genocide in due manner. The documentary also
referred to the fact that the killings of Armenians played an essential
role for Rafael Lemkin (Polish citizen) to coin the term "genocide."

"For 8 years, Christian Armenians were subjected to slaughter and
deportation which resulted in the death of 1 million Armenians.

Turkish authorities deny acknowledging those events as genocide,"
mentioned Amanpour.

This time, this documentary has also spurred US-based Turkish
organizations. Ali Cınar, the Vice-President of the Assembly of
Turkish American Associations, called for an immediate complaint
against CNN, drawing attention to the fact the documentary was
broadcast at a time when the US Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs
voted for a Resolution 252 that recognizes the Armenian Genocide.

Saying that the broadcasting of this documentary will be detrimental to
Turkish-American relations and place Turkey in an inconvenient position
before the international community, Cınar said: "With financial
assistance from the Armenian Diaspora, American TV companies show a
working style that is biased and against the ethics of mass media."