23 April 2003, 15:57
?Ararat? film won?t be shown in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan?s ministry of communications will suspend re-transmission of the Russian television channel ?Rossiya? at 00:40 hrs local time on April 24. The Azeri authorities took this decision to prevent screening of ?Ararat?, the movie made by Canadian producer Atom Gegoyan. Gegoyan is of Armenian origin. The film is about the extermination of Armenians in Turkey during WWI. Turkey and Azerbaijan deny the fact of Armenian genocide.
Last year?s attempt to organize the film screening in Turkey faced a strong opposition from the Turkish authorities. During the film screening at the Cannes Film Festival last year members of the local Turkish Diaspora held a protest action in front of the movie theatre in which it was shown.
Officials at the communications ministry told PRIMA the suspension of ?Rossiya? TV channel is of temporary nature. The transmission will resume immediately after the end of the film.
Source: Prima News Agency
