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  • Starbucks Becomes Flashpoint Between Turks, Armenians

    STARBUCKS BECOMES FLASHPOINT BETWEEN TURKS, ARMENIANS

    Al-Monitor
    March 4 2015

    by Pinar Tremblay
    Posted March 3, 2015

    The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) posted on Feb. 18 a
    picture of women with traditional Armenian gear, holding a Starbucks
    coffee cup, under the Turkish crescent and star flags on their Facebook
    account. Under the photo, which was displayed at the Mulholland and
    Calabasas stores in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, ANCA
    posed the question: "Why is Starbucks selling coffee using an image
    of women, dressed in traditional Armenian costumes, celebrating a
    Turkish state that systematically victimized Armenian women during
    the Armenian genocide, and that still denies this crime against all
    humanity?" Starbucks, known as a rather liberal establishment, promptly
    issued an apology and removed the posters, which were displayed in
    a couple of locations in Southern California.

    The photographer responsible for the design of the poster, Timothy
    Rose, also issued an apology on his Web page explaining that he had
    not known the women were Armenian.

    When asked for the sentiments of Armenian-Americans about the
    Starbucks posters, Aram Hamparian, the executive director of ANCA,
    told Al-Monitor, "We felt that the Starbucks ad inappropriately used
    images of women dressed in traditional Armenian costumes to glorify
    a Turkish state that brutally persecuted Armenian women during the
    Armenian genocide and that still, to this day, denies this crime
    against all humanity." Indeed, the reaction was so strong, Hamparian
    informed Al-Monitor, that the entire campaign to remove the posters
    lasted about five hours. He said, "Armenian-Americans are generally
    a highly networked community that follows Armenian issues closely
    and that is quick to react to misrepresentations in politics, media
    or advertising. Social media, of course, helps Armenians to more
    quickly connect to one another and to more effectively communicate
    our collective concerns. We saw this on the morning of the Starbucks
    poster. In the course of just a few hours, we were alerted to the ads,
    developed quick graphics, generated protests, engaged Starbucks and
    resolved the issue to everyone's satisfaction."

    Several pundits agree it was just a marketing effort gone wrong.

    Although the swift resolution of the matter must have pleased
    Armenian-Americans and Americans in general, there was another group
    that was not pleased: some misinformed Turks.

    The news was reported quite differently in Turkey. One report alleged
    Starbucks branches in Los Angeles had female hostesses dressed in
    Turkish traditional dress and flags serving coffee, and this is what
    had angered Armenian-Americans. On Feb. 22, Adana Mayor Huseyin Sozlu
    had the municipal police hang Turkish flags in Starbucks branches
    as customers clapped. Sozlu told the press, "As April 24 approaches,
    the Armenian diaspora will be increasing its attacks on Turkey and the
    Turkish nation. On the 100th year of the alleged Armenian genocide,
    they launched an operation to remove the Turkish flag. And here in
    Adana, we hung up our honorable flag in front of Starbucks branches
    to retaliate."

    Turks were divided on social media about the appropriate reaction to
    the episode. One tweeted: "After this point, I suspect the loyalty
    to Turkey of anyone who steps into a Starbucks." Others were more
    cynical. One tweeted: "The mindset is tragic and comical. Those who
    fail to protect their flag within their own borders are now putting
    up flags with the police force at Starbucks storefronts."

    Yet, due to the incorrect translation of the news, the majority of
    the Turkish public, who do not know English, were under the impression
    that the Armenian-Americans were upset about a Turkish flag.

    Some protests turned out to be rather counterproductive. For example,
    on Feb. 22, several events were held in Turkey and cities around
    the world to commemorate the Khojaly Massacre of February 1992,
    when about 160 ethnic Azerbaijani civilians were killed during the
    Nagorno-Karabakh war. Agos Daily, a Turkish Armenian newspaper,
    reported on "racist posters in different corners of Turkey." While
    the goal was to remember the victims of the horrible events, a
    group called "Genc Atsizlar," self-described as "accepting Turkish
    nationalism in their hearts," took the idea of commemoration in a
    different direction. Their hate-filled slogans tacitly accept the
    Armenian genocide. For example, one of them reads "We celebrate
    the 100th anniversary of cleansing our country from Armenians. We
    are proud of our honorable ancestors." This racist banner was hung
    in several cities in a perplexing admission of ethnic cleansing
    and genocide. These protests, unlike others in Turkey, prompted no
    police reaction, raising questions about the kind of relationship
    these ultranationalistic groups have with the Turkish state. We
    cannot help but question: How many people agree with such racist,
    hateful commentary about the Armenians in Turkey?

    Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Harut Sassounian, a prominent
    researcher and publisher of the California Courier, broke the
    story Feb. 23, reporting, "ANCA-[Western Region] announced that
    Los Angeles World Airports [LAWA], a wholly-owned entity of the
    City of Los Angeles, has decided to terminate its contract worth
    over $845,000 with the Gephardt Group." This story did not find its
    way into the Turkish news. Only one online publication, on Feb. 8,
    announced that the Armenian lobby in the United States is targeting
    companies that have business links with Turkey. Even in this brief
    report, credit was given to the meticulous and transparent work of
    dedicated Armenian-American activists for their cause. The plans of
    the Turkish government to recover from this important setback for
    Turkish lobbyists in the United States are unknown.

    Sassounian told Al-Monitor that the Gephardt Group is one of the
    major lobbying firms for Turkey and highlighted the fact that
    former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt has been a supporter of
    Armenian-Americans' efforts for the United States to recognize the
    Armenian genocide. Yet once Gephardt retired, this support wavered.

    Sassounian said, "The latest contract on file with the US Justice
    Department reveals that the Gephardt Group is paid $1.4 million a year
    to lobby for Turkey in Washington." Sassounian and his team have been
    raising red flags about the Gephardt Group since August 2014.

    Sassounian told Al-Monitor that the Gephardt Group has not responded
    to his article. So far, the group has not responded to the inquiries
    from Al-Monitor, either.

    Whether we agree with the motivations of the Armenian diaspora or not,
    the victory by Armenian-Americans over the Gephardt Group should be
    acknowledged as a significant accomplishment. In the short month of
    February, we have witnessed the Starbucks public relations fiasco,
    which led to an angry outburst in Turkey, a commemoration ceremony
    for the Khojaly Massacre, which evolved into a racist platform with
    counterproductive slogans, followed by a successful campaign to deter
    businesses lobbying for Turkey.

    When we read all these events together, we see that Armenian-Americans
    form a unified, determined group of activists with clear goals. They
    are well organized. Their success is the result of years of tenacious
    efforts. There are significant lessons to be learned from their
    civilian activism experience -- not only for Turks, but for many
    different groups.

    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/turkey-armenia-starbucks-discord.html#

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