Turkish Father Sues Education Minister For Forcing His Daughter Watch A Film About Armenian Genocide

TURKISH FATHER SUES EDUCATION MINISTER FOR FORCING HIS DAUGHTER WATCH A FILM ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2009 23:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A father is suing the Turkish Education Ministry for
forcing his 11-year-old daughter to watch a "racist" and "disturbing"
film countering claims that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against
Armenians in 1915 with graphic allegations of Armenian atrocities
against Turks, The Times reports.

"My daughter was very disturbed and frightened by the documentary
and kept asking me if the Armenians had cut us up," said Serdar Kaya,
an ethnic Turkish doctor, who is suing the ministry and the child’s
school for inciting racial hatred.

"There are many mass graves, bones and skulls in the DVD. They have
interviewed old granddads who inspire confidence and compassion. When
they say things like ‘They cut off his head’ and ‘They used it
instead of firewood’, that is bound to stay with the children,"
Serdar Degirmencioglu, a psychologist, told when news first broke
that the documentary was being shown to primary school children -
including ethnic Armenian Turks.

As it is mentioned in the article "The Education Ministry says that
it has stopped the distribution of the documentary, Sari Gelin
(Blonde Bride), named after an Armenian folk song. But it has
apparently not recalled it and critics say that it remains part of
the curriculum. Some MPs are bringing up the case in Parliament. The
education union Egitim-Sen has condemned the film, and the History
Foundation has dismissed it as baseless propaganda."