Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

[Davo88]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Don’t Blame Kobe for Turkey’s Armenian Genocide
December 23, 2010 02:38 PM

Who would have thought that Kim Kardashian would take off on Kobe Bryant for anything other than their shared sports and celebrity status? Kardashian has carved out a growth industry in flesh, baring, body ogling and sex titillation. But there’s Kardashian lambasting Bryant for his two year deal pitching the glories of riding the skies on Turk Hava Yollari AO, Turkish Airlines, the country’s state-run airlines.

Kardashian and a legion of Armenian organizations and leaders are ticked at Bryant for the deal which they say is tantamount to Bryant endorsing Turkey’s slaughter of 1 to 2 million Armenians in 1915. They want Bryant to do two things, scrub the deal and speak out against Turkey for its dogged refusal to admit its murderous crime against the Armenians.

Bryant does not put a PR sheen on that crime, and knocking him for the airlines deal does nothing to bring Turkey to heel for the genocide. It’s simply the pure symbolism on the protester’s part in using Bryant as the foil for their legitimate campaign to get Turkey to admit the slaughter. The slaughter has been well-documented. Turkey’s near century refusal to admit, apologize, and atone for it for nearly a century is a galling blight on history, morality, and human rights. Armenian organizations are right to press the case against the Turkish government for the massacres. But that’s where it should begin and end. The fault and the blame for Turkey’s refusal to admit the killings lay with the Turkish government, the United Nations, Congress. Armenians have pushed for years the various world organizations and Congress to brand the massacres as genocide.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee resolution was introduced in 2007. It stalled. The Obama administration has come under fire for refusing to support Congressional action on the genocide resolution. The resolution specifically calls on Obama to reflect “understanding and sensitivity” to Armenian genocide. The resolution puts the Obama administration in a virtual no win situation. If it endorses it, it risks a major breach with the Turkish government. The country is just too vital as an ally that provides crucial intelligence, military and logistical support for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a counterbalance to l Iran and counter and radical Islamic groups in the region. Though France passed a resolution recognizing the genocide in 2001 and it had no effect on trade between the countries. France is not waging war in Afghanistan and does not need Turkey aid in protecting its regional interests. The Congressional resolution bumps up hard against Middle East geopolitics and security interests. Bryant’s airline deal will have absolutely no effect in influencing US and Turkish relations.

Then there’s the genocide. It is compared with the Nazi Holocaust against the xxxs and Armenian activists say that German companies, and the German government were held accountable, apologized and paid reparations. There also the comparison to the US government’s apology and payments to Japanese-Americans for the seizure of their property, businesses, and internment during World War II, the US governments apologies and land concession to American Indians for the theft of their land. In each case, the actions were government sanctioned, condoned and encouraged. It was not the act of one individual doing business with a company decades after the historic crime. That’s the case with Bryant and Turkish Airlines.

In the past celebrities have been hammered by activist groups for shilling for controversial products or companies such as the Kruggerand sales during the Apartheid era or Nike accuse of sweat shop labor practices in Asia. The offending companies or products directly affected the lives of workers, and propped up a government that grossly violated human rights. In each case, the celebrity was lending their name to that exploitation and human rights abuses.

Bryant’s deal doesn’t fit that category. A spokesman for Turkish Airlines got it right in the statement defending the airlines deal with Bryant, “Kobe Bryant is a cultural figure, not a historian, and is in no way related to a sensitive and complex controversy over highly contested history.”Still, Armenian leaders hector Kobe as a hypocrite for denouncing the genocide in Darfur. But that is not a fair comparison. The genocide in Darfur did not happen a century ago. It’s recent and by some accounts still ongoing. That genocide has been universally condemned.

Kobe for his part has remained tight lipped about the deal. There is little reason to think or expect that he will cancel it. It is a straight business proposition made by a major corporation with one of the world’s best most recognizable celebrities. Armenian groups are right to press Congress and the Obama administration to press the issue of Turkey’s responsibility for its historic crime. Just don’t blame Kobe for it.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He hosts nationally broadcast political affairs radio talk shows on Pacifica and KTYM Radio Los Angeles. This post was republished, with his permission.

http://atlantapost.com/2010/12/23/don%E2%80%99t-blame-kobe-for-turkey%E2%80%99s-armenian-genocide/

[ArmSurvival]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

A few things that many people are in denial about in regards to this situation:

I'm pretty sure Kobe has some idea about Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide. He's lived in LA for 15 years and his teammate is married to an Armenian who has talked about it publicly. He'd have to be pretty closed off from society to have no idea about it (which is still possible but I don't buy it)

More importantly, Turkish Airlines is not a private company. Its majority-owned by the Turkish government. So whatever profits the company makes as a result of Kobe's endorsement, part of that money (in theory) is going to be used to deny the Armenian genocide, fund Armenia's economic/political isolation and support Azerbaijan's military aggression on Armenia. So unlike what these ignorant journalists say in their articles, the Turkish aggression on Armenia is not something that ended 100 years ago, it still continues to the present day.

One should not miss the bigger picture: Whatever good things Kobe says about Turkey (which is most likely being fed to him by Turkish officials), you better believe millions of people will treat it like the gospel. And don't think the Turkish government has no idea that Kobe is respected by many Armenians in LA. Turks are known for sticking it to Armenians in the most back-handed and indirect ways. They are basically telling us "We just bought the most well-known figure in California and turned him into our respresentative". Try to see the bigger picture of whats happening. Its not the end of the world, but theres more to it than most people think.

are Armenians in California that obsessed with Kobe?

Not just Armenians, but millions of people in California and neighboring areas. Kobe is one of the most well-recognized atheletes in the world, he's huge in North America, Europe, and has a huge following in places like China. He's the basketball equivalent of David Beckham, but unlike Beckham he is still on top of his game and winning championships, which makes him even more famous.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

It is a straight business proposition made by a major corporation with one of the world’s best most recognizable celebrities. Armenian groups are right to press Congress and the Obama administration to press the issue of Turkey’s responsibility for its historic crime. Just don’t blame Kobe for it.

http://atlantapost.com/2010/12/23/do...nian-genocide/

The guy is a nobody outside of America - his "global brand ambassador" status will not extend beyond the borders of north America. Not that he would be appearing on Turkish Airlines literature in other parts of the world anyway. It would be advertising suicide given his colour.

[ArmSurvival]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Actually he's pretty big in Europe and China. Basketball is probably the fastest-growing sport worldwide and Kobe's jersey has been the highest seller in North America, Europe and China for a number of years now.

You bring up an interesting point about his color though.

[KarotheGreat]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Actually he's pretty big in Europe and China. Basketball is probably the fastest-growing sport worldwide and Kobe's jersey has been the highest seller in North America, Europe and China for a number of years now.

You bring up an interesting point about his color though.

I can say that most european don't watch basket ball and it doesn't really interest them, here it's soccer that dominates everything together with bicycle the rest of the sports are b-class most of the time especially basketball

[Davo88]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Bryant's endorsement deal is still hypocrisy : he had condemned the genocide in Darfur whereas the Turkish Prime Minister defends the perpetrators of that genocide and, of course, denies the Armenian genocide...

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Actually he's pretty big in Europe and China. Basketball is probably the fastest-growing sport worldwide and Kobe's jersey has been the highest seller in North America, Europe and China for a number of years now.

You bring up an interesting point about his color though.

"Fastest growing sport" in the same way as AIDS statistics were misrepresented by saying it was the fastest growing disease. Everything that starts from zero is the "fastest growing". The number of actual participants can remain tiny, but even a small increase in their number results in a massive increase in percentage growth.

Take out Bryant's celebrity status in North America and all you are left with is an unknown and physically large negro trying to advertise airline tickets. That is negative advertising for me, though not because of his colour but because it implies that some giant human might try to wedge himself into the standard width and legroom airline seat next to me if I were to fly Turkish Airlines!

[Federate]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Take out Bryant's celebrity status in North America and all you are left with is an unknown and physically large negro trying to advertise airline tickets. That is negative advertising for me, though not because of his colour but because it implies that some giant human might try to wedge himself into the standard width and legroom airline seat next to me if I were to fly Turkish Airlines!

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Solid article covering many of the counter-arguments to the campaign.
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Kobe’s Foul Paves Way for AYF Layup

BY ARIS HOVASAPIAN

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
– Seneca, Roman philosopher and statesman, 1st Century AD

Last week, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) took the opportunity to initiate a campaign to expose a newly signed endorsement deal for Kobe Bryant to promote Turkish Airlines in the global market. The AYF expressed its disappointment with Kobe and has publicly asked him to back out of the deal due to Turkish Airlines’ strong association with the Turkish government (the government holds a 49% ownership stake in the airline). That Kobe practices his craft in a market that is home to the largest Armenian population of the United States should serve as even more evidence that his public relations team failed him spectacularly in allowing the Turkish Airlines deal to materialize.

Due to the organization’s meticulous preparation for just such an event, the AYF was able to gain a great deal of local and national media attention as a result of this effort. There was television coverage on nearly all the Los Angeles TV stations. There was print and web coverage from USA Today, CNN, UPI, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Huffington Post, LAWeekly, and other news outlets.

Despite Kobe’s popularity both locally and nationally, all media coverage of the “Kobe controversy” has treated the AYF and AYF’s claims with full legitimacy, almost always mentioning genocide recognition efforts. Some media were even sympathetic to the AYF campaign, with LAWeekly’s Dennis Romero going so far as to demand that Kobe fire whomever allowed him to make this deal.

Some reactions of a segment of the general population, including those of some Armenian-Americans, have not been so sympathetic to the campaign. Several reasons and rationalizations have been conjured, on message boards, Facebook, Twitter, and any other public forum, to justify these contrarians’ dissatisfaction with the AYF’s tactics on this issue.

Are these criticisms valid, and has the AYF overreached with targeting a professional athlete in genocide recognition efforts? Or is it fair to ask a public figure to be sensitive to the feelings of a notable portion of his market?

A proper answer to these questions call for a full examination of the validity of the arguments cited in opposition to the AYF’s campaign (in ascending order of veracity):

AYF or Armavia should have paid Kobe more.

Do people honestly believe that the AYF has the cash reserves to outbid an international airline? Wouldn’t Armavia prefer to upgrade their fleet if they had the disposable income?

Where was the outrage when: Allen Iverson signed to play in Turkey, Michael Vick was caught in a dog-fighting ring, Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault, etc.

Many have been asking why the AYF is upset over Kobe’s current deal but hasn’t said much about past transgressions of professional athletes or celebrities. This is truly one of the sillier criticisms of the AYF’s campaign. Surely any human being would be upset by a behavior that victimizes another, but an organization sticks to its own issues, and speaks out about situations that affect those issues.

When Allen Iverson signed to play on a Turkish club, the AYF did not publicize this matter because it happened in Turkey and because Iverson was past his prime and had lost most of his appeal and legitimacy in the United States. Iverson also never played in any market with a significant Armenian population.

The AYF does not expect PETA or ASPCA to speak out about genocide recognition efforts in Congress, and the AYF was not expected to speak out about animal welfare in the wake of Michael Vick’s conviction for dog-fighting.

The AYF also had no reason to speak out about Bryant’s previous legal troubles in Colorado because they had no connection whatsoever to the AYF’s agenda.

Celebrities and athletes get into trouble all the time, and it is unreasonable to ask an Armenian-American organization why they were silent about all those instances. The reason that that organization is not silent now is because a situation has arisen that affects the policies of said organization.

Kobe is not Armenian, this issue doesn’t matter to him.

Indeed, Kobe is not Armenian. However, the issue of genocide recognition is a human issue, and not just an Armenian issue. Most have forgotten what they mean when they say that the Armenian Genocide was a “crime against humanity.” Kobe’s background did not prevent him from speaking out against the genocide in Darfur in May 2008.

Simply put, one’s ethnic background has nothing to do with recognition of the Armenian Genocide; one’s ethnic background also does not matter when it comes to doing business with a government that has a long, illustrious, and on-going record of human rights abuses.

Kobe made a business decision, so what if Armenians are upset?

Public figures, including celebrities, must be sensitive to the needs and wants of their market. Kobe’s market is truly global, but as a result of his playing for the Lakers, he is identified with Los Angeles, a polyglot city that includes the largest population of Armenians outside Armenia. There are certainly many Armenian-Americans that purchase tickets to see the Lakers play, and there are even more that watch games from home or purchase Lakers merchandise.

A true business decision must take into account all factors, including those that don’t have dollar signs in front of them. As a result of Kobe’s endorsement deal, Kobe’s name is now associated with a government that is a denier of history and an abuser of human rights.

Kobe was certainly living comfortably prior to this deal, and had he known of the reaction that would follow, he certainly would have chosen to leave the money on the table, especially considering how hard he has worked to rehabilitate his image since the sexual assault allegations in Colorado.

Armenians should clean up their own shop first.

Some critics of the AYF’s handling of the Kobe situation have charged that the time and energy would be better spent in convincing Armenian grocery stores to refrain from stocking Turkish goods. Interestingly, the AYF has promoted just such a campaign for several years, with middling success; it is difficult to convince people to change their behavior without providing a proper incentive, and the AYF’s only incentive in the case of Turkish grocery products is guilt. It is also an amorphous policy that cannot be filtered down to a single item or person, in stark contrast to the Kobe-Turkish Airlines pact.

A policy boycotting Turkish products in Armenian grocery stores could never possibly get as much media attention as the Kobe situation has already gotten. The issue regarding Turkish grocery products is simply not newsworthy in any type of mainstream media. For this reason alone, it is clear that the AYF was right in concentrating efforts onto the Kobe situation. Simply put, that decision garnered more media attention in a few days than anything else the AYF has done in the last several years.

AYF should focus its efforts to reform the government in Armenia.

The AYF’s resources are finite and local. It would be exceedingly difficult for a grassroots youth organization to have any kind of effect on a government halfway around the world. However, it is much easier for this organization to affect policies and decisions locally. There are countless individuals that would like to bring reform to the Armenian government, and surely to other governments around the world, but this is impossible to accomplish from outside. Thus, those that live in the United States, or in Los Angeles, can only take on tasks that are within reach. The Kobe-Turkish Airlines deal is an international issue that can most certainly be affected on a local level due to Kobe’s presence in the Los Angeles region.

Don’t exploit the deaths of my ancestors for a public relations stunt.

This line of thought is truly confusing. The AYF organizes an annual protest at the Turkish Consulate every April 24, and one of the aims of this protest is to gain media attention and expose the issue to those that are not familiar with it. One could easily make the argument that the protest is an exploitation of genocide victims. However, the Armenian community is facing off against a government in this struggle, and we have often put aside our feelings in favor of pragmatism. We have not the luxury to pick and choose the times when we become emotional about the suffering endured by our forebears, for in so doing we would undoubtedly fall behind in our fight to extract justice for their unnecessary deaths.

Having explored all these criticisms, it becomes clear AYF’s decision to target Kobe Bryant was not only right, but also smart. Kobe Bryant is one of the most recognizable faces on Earth, playing the second-most popular sport on the planet, in the media and entertainment capital of the world. He is a proven winner and an individual who has faced adversity and rehabilitated his image in a way that few could have imagined. The media attention that this campaign has gained is clearly a function of Kobe’s popularity. It simply would have been foolish for the AYF to let this go.

Kobe presented a clear opportunity for the AYF to push its agenda forward by mobilizing a base of already prepared grassroots activists. It is a true credit to the AYF that they were able to gain so much steady and positive media attention in so little time. However, it is equally disappointing that some of the harshest critics of this campaign are Armenian-Americans who typically align themselves with the AYF and its sister organizations.

It is easy to sit at a keyboard and anonymously criticize this effort, but one should find it difficult to look past the results: generous and fair media coverage, exposure of Turkey’s human rights abuses, mentions of the Armenian Genocide in the press, and thousands of comments and conversations, both positive and negative. By these measures alone, this has been a success. Even those that criticize this effort are, in a way, supporting it, for by mere mention of it, there is an intrinsic understanding that the AYF has done something creative and meaningful. Is that not what must be demanded of all grassroots organizations?

While Kobe has so far remained silent about this issue, Turkish Airlines has issued a response that is very much in line with the way that Turkish government and their allies in Congress portray this history. “Kobe Bryant is a cultural figure, not a historian, and is in no way related to a sensitive and complex controversy over highly contested history.” This canned response from Turkish Airlines proves without a doubt that the AYF’s campaign has gotten the Turkish government to become sensitive to this issue.

Kobe Bryant did not negotiate his deal with Turkish Airlines; he has an agent that takes care of these matters. His agent’s office typically handles all his contracts and business dealings. This same agent would also be advising Kobe about public relations gaffes (he has experience with this) and about when to cancel an endorsement deal to save face. Those who want to contact Bryant’s agent should call Landmark Sports Agency at (310) 966-4101 and leave messages for Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” The AYF was prepared and Kobe Bryant presented the opportunity.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Aris Hovasapian has a degree in Political Science from UCLA and currently works in energy and utilities. He is an alumnus of the AYF but is not currently a member of any Armenian organization.

http://asbarez.com/90716/kobe%E2%80%99s-foul-paves-way-for-ayf-layup/

[Davo88]

Re: Armenians Protest Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Excited to Be Face of Turkey

LOS ANGELES–Lakers guard Kobe Bryant begun appearing this week in Turkish Airlines (THY) commercials as the national carrier’s “global brand ambassador,” despite overwhelming opposition to the deal from an Armenian-American community outraged with Bryant for representing a country guilty of genocide and human rights violations.

“I just want to say how proud I am to be Global Ambassador for Turkish Airlines,” Bryant said in his first televised THY commercial. “All of us here in LA are excited because we get an opportunity to now enjoy the beauty and rich cultural history of Turkey.”

The TV-spot is the first of many in a two-year deal that will involve Bryant starring in promotional commercials and films that will be aired on international television channels and in movie theaters in more than 80 countries next year to promote direct flights from Los Angeles to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines.

The commercials with Bryant will be shown globally, but the focus of the campaign will be on the US market and in the Far East and Middle East, where the player has a large global fan-base. Bryant also posted a video of the first commercial on his Facebook page.

Kobe’s decision to endorse Turkish Airlines has caused an uproar within the Armenian-American community in the United States and especially within Southern California, which boasts the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia, ranging between 600,000 to 750,000.

“Bryant’s silence on the issue continually fuels the Armenian communities discontent,” said Caspar Jivalagian of the Armenian Youth Federation. “His decision to launch the campaign while knowing he has so many upset fans goes to show once again that he has chosen money over morality.”

Armenians are angered that Bryant would sign a contract with a country that not only denies that the Ottoman Turkish government committed genocide against 1.5 million Armenians in 1915, but also actively works to defend modern day perpetrators of the crime.

The AYF has urged Kobe Bryant to stay true to his loyal fan base and rescind his contract with Turkish Airlines, to put out an official statement affirming his commitment to ending human rights abuses, and voicing his support for House Resolution 252, calling on the United States Congress to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.

http://asbarez.com/90852/bryant-excited-to-be-face-of-turkey/