 spokesperson Ömer Çelik has criticized the cancellation of the TV series "Atatürk" from Disney+, accusing the broadcasting platform of "succumbing to pressure from the Armenian lobby."){kind=link}
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik has criticized the cancellation of the TV series “Atatürk” from Disney+, accusing the broadcasting platform of “succumbing to pressure from the Armenian lobby.”
The series, which was due to air on the centennial of the Turkish Republic, tells the story of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Following reports that Disney+ would not broadcast the series, Çelik condemned the platform’s action in a tweet, deeming it “disrespectful” to the values of Turks.
Çelik accused Armenian groups in the United States of “using historical events to spread falsehoods,” claiming that their ultimate goal was to “hinder the normalization” of Turkey-Armenia relations.
BREAKING: We are happy to announce, Disney+ has reportedly made the decision to cancel the Turkish series “Atatürk”. Despite announcing the broadcast which was a six part series scheduled to air on October 29, 2023, and reportedly spending $8 Million including casting Emma… pic.twitter.com/sb3QpEOrOu
— 301🇦🇲 (@301arm) July 31, 2023
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) had campaigned against the broadcast of the series and even initiated a boycott targeting Disney+.
The series, which will now be transformed into a feature film, is set to be exclusively shown in Turkish cinemas on Nov. 3, the pro-Armenian news website 301 claimed.
“We are happy to announce, Disney+ has reportedly made the decision to cancel the Turkish series ‘Atatürk’,” it tweeted, referring to Atatürk as a “war criminal.”
Following the uproar over the cancellation, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) chair Ebubekir Şahin announced that an investigation into the platform would be launched.
The Armenians — supported by historians and scholars — say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed by the İttihat Terakki government of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Turkey accepts that both Armenians and Turks died in huge numbers as Ottoman forces fought czarist Russia but vehemently denies a deliberate policy of genocide.
Atatürk did not have a role in the mass killings according to historians; however, his responsibility in the Turkish government’s involvement in the burning of Smyrna in 1923, where Turkish mobs killed Greeks and Armenians, remains under debate.