Fatih Akin, the Turkish-German director whose movie “The Cut” stirred up anger over the Genocide issue in Turkey, has complained about facing threats.
In an interview with Evrensel, Akin said the film is neither political nor devoted to the Armenian Genocide per se. He said he was inspired by book written by Hassan Cemal, Cemal Pasha’s grandson.
“If the grandson of someone who was responsible for the era uses the word, why shouldn’t I use it? The book is on sale in book-stores and displayed on shop-windows,” he noted.
“I didn’t search the topic; it found me itself. As a child of a family from Turkey, it was always of interest to me, especially when it turned into a taboo. When something is banned, you become curious and studious. ”
Asked whether the topic still remains a taboo in Turkey, Akin said he sees that a lot has changed since the assassination of Hrant-Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.
“If, seven years ago when Hrant Dink was killed, you tried to speak about the Genocide in any café, those sitting at the table would show resistance. You can now speak about it without whisper almost everywhere,” he answered.
Akin blamed the Turkish propaganda for diverting the Turkish society from the historical truth.
“If one nation was permanently cheated by historians and politicians [who said] ‘nothing of the kind happened; it’s a big lie’ etc., and heard nothing else from families, textbooks and newspaper, I cannot blame them.
“But the politicians calls for leaving history to historians is wrong. History belongs to us, the people …” he added.