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PROTEST HALTS PLANNED PARADE BY OTTOMAN BAND
By Jason Wells, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Sept 29 2011
The Hollywood event was intended to call attention to a Turkish
cultural festival, organizers said, but people of Armenian descent
and others objected, citing the genocide.
A planned parade by an Ottoman military marching band in Hollywood
has been canceled because of objections by Armenian groups who said
the event was an affront to victims of the 1915-1918 Armenian genocide.
The genocide claimed the lives of about 1.2 million Armenians under
the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern-day republic of Turkey.
The Turkish government disputes that a genocide took place.
The permit for the parade, scheduled for next Monday on Hollywood
Boulevard, was pulled Wednesday, an official at the Los Angeles Police
Commission said.
Hafsa Rai, a spokeswoman for the Pacifica Institute, which organized
the event, said that the uproar took the organization by surprise
and that its mission is to promote intercultural dialogue.
"We are not here to offend anyone. That was never our intention,"
she said.
The march was meant to generate interest in the Anatolian Cultures
Festival in Costa Mesa starting Oct. 6, which celebrates all cultures
that have at one time lived in what is now Turkey, including Armenians,
Rai said.
But as word of the parade spread, it drew wholesale condemnation from
Armenian groups, including the Armenian Youth Federation and Armenian
National Committee, which called the march "tantamount to hate speech
and harassment."
The Armenian Youth Federation had planned to protest the parade,
organized via a Facebook page on which the reaction among users was
a mix of surprise and outrage.
That the Ottoman military marching band was scheduled during a time
when people of Armenian descent are celebrating the 20th anniversary
of their homeland's republic only inflamed the reaction.
Calling the march a "blatant provocation," Los Angeles City Council
President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Paul Krekorian said in a joint
statement Wednesday that they were pleased the parade was scrubbed,
adding that the "Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
is a wound that continues to fester."
As the discontent in the Armenian community grew, Rai said, the
Pacifica Institute started exploring ways to include other cultures
in the parade. But when it became clear that it could not be done in
time, organizers decided to pull the plug on the event, she said.
"I guess we didn't realize how long it would take," she said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0930-ottoman-band-20110930,0,4086147.story
By Jason Wells, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Sept 29 2011
The Hollywood event was intended to call attention to a Turkish
cultural festival, organizers said, but people of Armenian descent
and others objected, citing the genocide.
A planned parade by an Ottoman military marching band in Hollywood
has been canceled because of objections by Armenian groups who said
the event was an affront to victims of the 1915-1918 Armenian genocide.
The genocide claimed the lives of about 1.2 million Armenians under
the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern-day republic of Turkey.
The Turkish government disputes that a genocide took place.
The permit for the parade, scheduled for next Monday on Hollywood
Boulevard, was pulled Wednesday, an official at the Los Angeles Police
Commission said.
Hafsa Rai, a spokeswoman for the Pacifica Institute, which organized
the event, said that the uproar took the organization by surprise
and that its mission is to promote intercultural dialogue.
"We are not here to offend anyone. That was never our intention,"
she said.
The march was meant to generate interest in the Anatolian Cultures
Festival in Costa Mesa starting Oct. 6, which celebrates all cultures
that have at one time lived in what is now Turkey, including Armenians,
Rai said.
But as word of the parade spread, it drew wholesale condemnation from
Armenian groups, including the Armenian Youth Federation and Armenian
National Committee, which called the march "tantamount to hate speech
and harassment."
The Armenian Youth Federation had planned to protest the parade,
organized via a Facebook page on which the reaction among users was
a mix of surprise and outrage.
That the Ottoman military marching band was scheduled during a time
when people of Armenian descent are celebrating the 20th anniversary
of their homeland's republic only inflamed the reaction.
Calling the march a "blatant provocation," Los Angeles City Council
President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Paul Krekorian said in a joint
statement Wednesday that they were pleased the parade was scrubbed,
adding that the "Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
is a wound that continues to fester."
As the discontent in the Armenian community grew, Rai said, the
Pacifica Institute started exploring ways to include other cultures
in the parade. But when it became clear that it could not be done in
time, organizers decided to pull the plug on the event, she said.
"I guess we didn't realize how long it would take," she said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0930-ottoman-band-20110930,0,4086147.story