Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

[Yedtarts]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

thousands of years of cultural history

????

I wasn’t aware of that, I thought they only go back not even a thousand years, and they are leftovers of Mongols, Persians, Arabs, Armenians, Greeks and some kaka and pipi al bled together, and tata..... voila! a turk culture

[Davo88]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant must be really cheap if he sold himself for Turkish lira. Did he forget what his African-American forefathers fought for?

[KanadaHye]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Armenians denounce Kobe Bryant deal with Turkish Airlines
Though he has admitted to never having visited Turkey, the Los Angeles Lakers guard said in a news release that "Turkey is a country rich in natural beauty and thousands of years of cultural history, and I'm proud to partner with Turkish Airlines to bring that majesty to people around the world."

I'm laughing so hard I can't stop!!!

[Davo88]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Armenians denounce Kobe Bryant deal with Turkish Airlines
By Ivan Watson
December 20, 2010 7:11 a.m. EST

Istanbul (CNN) -- The business deal looked fairly straightforward. Last week, American basketball star Kobe Bryant agreed to become the new celebrity face of Turkish Airlines, a growing international carrier.

Though he has admitted to never having visited Turkey, the Los Angeles Lakers guard said in a news release that "Turkey is a country rich in natural beauty and thousands of years of cultural history, and I'm proud to partner with Turkish Airlines to bring that majesty to people around the world."

Within days, however, Bryant's decision was being denounced by Armenian groups in North America and in Los Angeles, which is the hometown not only of the Lakers, but also of the largest ethnic Armenian community outside of Armenia.

"Turkish Deal Will Make Kobe the Face of Oppression and Injustice" and "Kobe Bryant's Direct Flight to Inhumanity," announced the website of the Armenian Youth Federation.

Armenian diaspora groups in North America have launched a media and Internet campaign urging Bryant to drop his Turkish Airlines deal.

In Toronto, about 30 Canadian-Armenians protested against Bryant, holding signs that said "Kobe: Do the Right Thing," outside the stadium where the Lakers played the Raptors on Sunday.

What appeared to be a standard and presumably lucrative celebrity endorsement has run headlong into a passionate dispute over a bloody chapter in history that took place in the highlands of eastern Turkey nearly a century ago.

Armenian groups and many scholars argue that starting in 1915, Turks committed genocide, when more than a million ethnic Armenians were massacred in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

Modern-day Turkey officially denies that a genocide took place, arguing instead that hundreds of thousands of Armenian Christians and Muslim Turks died in intercommunal violence around the bloody battlefields of World War I.

The genocide debate is an annual source of tension between Turkey and the United States, two NATO military allies.

Every year, the White House beats back efforts in Congress to pass a resolution which would formally recognize the 1915 massacres of Armenians as genocide.

In March, Turkey temporarily withdrew its ambassador to Washington in protest, after the House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.

The resolution was subsequently blocked from reaching a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.

American officials worry that Turkish anger over the genocide resolution could impact US use of the Incirlik airbase in southern

Turkey, which is a vital logistical hub for troops moving to and from Afghanistan.

The Turkish government has expressed concern in recent days, over reports that outgoing House speaker Nancy Pelosi may try to bring an Armenian genocide resolution to vote in the final days of the current lame-duck Congress.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu phoned his American counterpart Hillary Clinton on Friday, to "emphasize the seriousness of the situation," a Turkish diplomatic spokesman said.

"Even though this is a lame-duck session, what we understood is that this is a serious possibility and we had concerns for different reasons," said Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal, in a phone call with CNN.

This month Pelosi came under fresh pressure to schedule a vote from an unlikely lobbyist -- reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

The Armenian-American celebrity urged her 5.6 million Twitter followers to call Pelosi to urge her to schedule an Armenian Genocide Resolution vote.

As part of his two-year contract to be Turkish Airlines' new "Global Brand Ambassador," Bryant is expected to make television and print commercials, as well as a number of public appearances for the company.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/12/20/turkey.kobe.bryant.deal/

[araratsi]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

He's free to do whatever he wants

[Mos]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

yeah, I mean are we really going to go after every single person, especially some uninformed basketball players that all they know what to do in their life is throw a basketball in the hoop...Why the hell does AYF care, or any Armenian for that matter?? It's really ridiculous...

[KanadaHye]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

honestly who cares what a basketball player does? are Armenians in California that obsessed with Kobe?

This was in Canada before a Los Angeles vs. Toronto game. I agree with you, this is pathetic but I think the Armenian Youth Federation are just using Kobe to get some headlines in the news.

[Mos]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

honestly who cares what a basketball player does? are Armenians in California that obsessed with Kobe?

[KanadaHye]

Kobe Bryant's Toronto appearance met with protests

Kobe Bryant's appearance at the Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon was met with some resistance from protesters who oppose the basketball star's recent endorsement deal with Turkish Airlines.

Bryant was named the airline's new global brand ambassador on Dec. 14. The move was met with protests from Armenian communities around the world who called on Bryant to question Turkey's record on human rights.

According to historians, about 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Turks around the time of First World War. Scholars have called the deaths the first genocide of the 20th century.


About 30 protesters from Toronto's Armenian community gathered outside the ACC on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010 to speak out against Kobe Bryant's recent endorsement deal with Turkish Airlines. (Photo courtesy the Armenian Youth Federation of Canada)




Turkey maintains that the number of deaths has been inflated and that the killings do not constitute genocide because they happened during a time of civil war and political unrest.

Canada recognized the mass killings as genocide in 2004. The U.S. has not adopted a similar resolution though the matter is being presented to Congress.

About 30 people from Toronto's Armenian community went down to the ACC carrying signs, asking Bryant to "do the right thing" and to put "morals before money."

Bryant has not officially responded to any of the criticism.

The Armenian community is particularly upset because Bryant has long been vocal about human rights issues, particularly in Darfur.

"Kobe has a proven track record of aiding various humanitarian efforts, and this is an opportunity for him to become a true "global ambassador" of truth and publicly speak out about the Armenian Genocide," said Casper Jivalagian, a member of the Armenian Youth Federation in a public statement.

Byrant was in Toronto with his team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 120-110 in the afternoon match-up.


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