Atatürk & Disney's sudden U-turn An elephant frightened by an ant

03 August 2023 15:21

The founder of the Republic of Türkiye, Mustafa Kamal Atatürk, has been at the epicenter of a fiery debate in Türkiye and beyond following the American media and entertainment company Disney’s decision to withdraw a TV series about him from worldwide broadcast.

“Atatürk,” a six-part period drama series was originally scheduled for a debut on Disney+ platform on October 29 - the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye by Atatürk.

However, in a statement issued on August 2, Disney+ confirmed it would pull the series, adding its sister company FOX took over the broadcast rights instead. The network explained the move as “a routine commercial programming decision in line with our revised content distribution strategy.”

The new biopic series will be shown both as a two-part movie on TV and in movie theaters in Türkiye, according to Disney. The first part of the “Atatürk” movie will air on FOX TV on October 29, while it will hit big screens on November 3. The second part’s demonstration is reportedly scheduled for December 22. FOX TV will air both chapters again in the summer of 2024.

The movie tells the story of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, performed by Turkish actor Aras Bulut Iynemli, from his childhood to the National Struggle – the years-long effort to win the independence for the Turkish people – in a dramatized story that puts his human qualities at the forefront.

Armenian meddling … as always

After Disney’s decision to axe the series about Atatürk, the Turkish side delved into the motives of this unexpected decision. A spokesperson for Turkish ruling AK Party, Omer Chelik, claimed Disney to “bow to the pressure by the Armenian lobby” while making this “shameful” decision.

“This attitude by the platform is disrespectful to the values of the Republic of Türkiye and our nation,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

He accused the “Armenian genocide network” in the US of misusing historical events for their political purposes. Chelik said the activities of these networks can in no way impact Atatürk and Türkiye.

Meanwhile, Ebubekir Shahin, the head of Türkiye’s Radio and Television Supreme Council, announced an investigation would be launched into claims that Disney was pressured by the Armenian lobby before pulling the “Atatürk” series.

Turkish Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Mustafa Sarıgül called on “all citizens in Türkiye and in the world” to boycott the streaming platform.

Disney has been facing a hysteric opposition campaign from the the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), a major Armenian diaspora organisation in the US, to cancel the show. In June, ANCA called on Disney+ to scrap the series, alleging it “glorifies a Turkish dictator and genocide killer”. ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian said giving the “Disney treatment” to Atatürk was a “scary proposition.”

The Armenian Americans are convinced that Atatürk was tied to the killing of Armenians in 1915, which is presented by them as a so-called “genocide” despite falling short of facts to back up their outcry. Turkish authorities have been rejecting the constitution of the Ottoman-period events as “genocide”, saying the toll has been inflated deliberately and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest. Ankara officially maintains that Armenians took up arms against the Ottoman state, sometimes under Russia’s roof, and that the deaths were not systematic, but a result of war and disease.

In 1915, Atatürk was commanding the Ottoman forces that pushed back a World War One offensive by British, Australian, and New Zealand troops. When Armenians in Ottoman were dying due to war and disease, he was at the forefront igniting the Turkish “National Struggle” that would lead to the declaration of independence and creation of the Republic of Türkiye in 1923.

Armenians are alleging that the founding father of Turks had his stake in the fictional “Armenian genocide” legacy by embracing the so-called “perpetrators” of the killing during his tenure.

Armenian glorification of murderers

Discrediting Atatürk with self-designed accusations cannot disguise an army of sympathizers of the masterminds of Operation Nemesis – a massive terrorist campaign to eradicate Turkish and Azerbaijani statesmen – in Armenia. For them, for instance, assassin Soghomon Tehliriyan is a hero, whose name is mounted on the walls along a street in Armenia. Tehlirian is also honored with a monument over his burial place in the Masis-Ararat Cemetery in California. A square in Marseilles also bears his name.

Soghomon Tehlirian

Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha, the former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, who they accuse of leading the so-called “genocide” of Armenians, in Berlin on March 15, 1921. At least seven government officials from the Ottoman and Azerbaijan have been brutally killed as part of the Operation Nemesis in 1920-1922.

In April of this year, a monument was erected in Armenia’s capital Yerevan to glorify the “heroes”, in fact, terrorists of the Operation Nemesis.