Turkey blames showing of film about Armenian Genocide
ArmInfo News Agency - May 24 2002

The showing of Atom Egoyan's feature film "Ararat" in Cannes has aroused the burning indignation of the Turkish authorities. The Turkish culture ministers blamed the showing. He said the film is aggressive and is going to aggravate Turkey's relations with Armenia. A government member said cinema should not be used to distort historical facts and to stir up hostility between the two peoples. The Turkish state minister said the film is yet another evidence of "the Armenians' anti-Turkish propaganda." To recap, the Turkish Embassy in France called the film "a mixture of reality and imagination," "an instrument of anti-Turkish propaganda" and compared it with Alan Parker's sensational Midnight Express. The film created a furor in Cannes. It narrates about the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Charles Aznavour and Egoyan's wife Armine Khanjyan star in it. To recap, Egoyan already has two Palms.