Film screening halted

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Academics and Armenian citizens in Turkey sent a letter to the prime minister demanding he stop distributing the film called "Sarı Gelin: The True Face of the Armenian Question," at least to Armenian schools. The Education Ministry sent a statement at the end of January to all primary schools asking for a summary report of reactions from the documentary that it sent out June 25, 2008.  

The film was sent to schools as supplementary material, not as essential material, the ministry said in a written statement Wednesday. "A DVD of the film was sent to education institutions as supplementary material for the students with a statement signed by Turkey's Instruction and Discipline Board head İrfan Erdoğan on Dec. 4, 2007."

"The documentary may be helpful in understanding the truth," read the statement. "As the Armenian diaspora and some lobbies increase the groundless genocide claims, this documentary, which touches the historical side of the issue, was shown by history teachers as educational material in 2008." It said the teachers were informed about how they can use this material in their classes. "Actually, that material was not prepared for the students, but for the history teachers," read the statement.

Meanwhile, a parent in Istanbul filed a lawsuit against the ministry.