BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Just over ten years ago, in April of 2006 Cenk Uygur (along with one of his co-hosts) was to moderate a panel discussion of every candidate for statewide office in the June primary election. In case you don’t remember, or haven’t heard of, this guy, he is a Turk (raised in the U.S.), with an apparently conscience-less Armenian working beside him, who is the star of a left leaning talk show named “The Young Turks.” Uygur has been denying the Genocide since his college days at Penn and Columbia, two Ivy League universities.

A decade ago, KPFK, the Los Angeles area Pacifica station, a left leaning, pacifist establishment, was going to broadcast the whole program. Efforts by the ANCA led to his pulling out as moderator.

Four years ago, February 2012, Uygur spoke at the California Democratic Party’s convention in San Diego to a session organized by the CDP Progressive Caucus. This was despite Armenian efforts to prevent it. During the question-and-answer session, he said that wasn’t the time to address the Genocide issue, implying he would later.

Later, I was involved in the beginnings of an effort to actively pursue Uygur with the objective of getting him to change the name of his show. Unfortunately, that fizzled due to lack of time on the part of the participants.

He has not corrected his stance yet.

KPFK had him on air recently; I got a few calls from people who heard him on air.

This is a travesty.

It is utterly unacceptable for a station known for its conscience. I like, and have been a member of (the station is listener supported, not advertiser/corporate), the station. It really hurts that someone so debased as a Genocide denier is given time on KPFK’s airwaves.

Shame, amot! KPFK is now in the running for a SpitRain Award (you’ll remember Spit-Rain comes from the Armenian saying, “He’s so shameless, if you spit in his face, he’d think it’s rain”).

Call 818/985-2711 or -5735 (KPFK) or e-mail Interim Program Director Alan Minsky (ext 202) at pd@kpfk.org and let them have it. Demand an apology. Better yet, demand they have Uygur back on the air, specifically to apologize to Armenians and all people of conscience. And, while you’re at it, explain to the folks at the station that naming a show after the murderous Young Turks is like airing a program titled “Nazis” – how well would that go over?