Tweet
KOBE TURK DELIGHT RILES ARMENIANS
Herald Sun, Australia
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/kobe-turk-delight-riles-armenians/story-fn6bn647-1225971859961
Dec 16 2010
A NEW endorsement deal for LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant has outraged the
Los Angeles Armenian community.
Bryant's two-year deal with Turkish Airlines to become its "global
brand ambassador" has set off an uproar among his Armenian fan base
due to long-simmering historical tensions between Turks and Armenians.
"We got non-stop calls to the office," says Casper Jivalagian of
the Armenian Youth Federation. "They're all like, 'what are you guys
going to do about this?'"
The outrage stems primarily from the killing of about 1.5 million
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915.
Armenians call the event a genocide but the Turkish government,
while acknowledging many Armenians died during that time period,
has never accepted the term and says the deaths were the result of
a civil war with massacres associated with both sides.
The Armenian community commemorates the horrific period with annual
marches and continues to call on the Turkish government to acknowledge
its role, CBS reported.
"Ninety-five per cent, if not 100 per cent, of those people are all
Lakers fans, and he should know that. He should know better than to
put his money before his morality," Artek Santikian said referring
to LA's Armenian community.
The airline's ads starring Bryant are slated to begin airing in the
US and Middle East early next year.
The five-time NBA champion told CBS Tuesday night that he was excited
about his new deal.
From: A. Papazian
Herald Sun, Australia
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/kobe-turk-delight-riles-armenians/story-fn6bn647-1225971859961
Dec 16 2010
A NEW endorsement deal for LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant has outraged the
Los Angeles Armenian community.
Bryant's two-year deal with Turkish Airlines to become its "global
brand ambassador" has set off an uproar among his Armenian fan base
due to long-simmering historical tensions between Turks and Armenians.
"We got non-stop calls to the office," says Casper Jivalagian of
the Armenian Youth Federation. "They're all like, 'what are you guys
going to do about this?'"
The outrage stems primarily from the killing of about 1.5 million
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915.
Armenians call the event a genocide but the Turkish government,
while acknowledging many Armenians died during that time period,
has never accepted the term and says the deaths were the result of
a civil war with massacres associated with both sides.
The Armenian community commemorates the horrific period with annual
marches and continues to call on the Turkish government to acknowledge
its role, CBS reported.
"Ninety-five per cent, if not 100 per cent, of those people are all
Lakers fans, and he should know that. He should know better than to
put his money before his morality," Artek Santikian said referring
to LA's Armenian community.
The airline's ads starring Bryant are slated to begin airing in the
US and Middle East early next year.
The five-time NBA champion told CBS Tuesday night that he was excited
about his new deal.
From: A. Papazian