Filmmaker on trial in Turkey for screening Armenian genocide film
Kurdish filmmaker Rojhilat Aksoy has gone on trial on charges of “publicly insulting the Turkish nation and state institutions” for screening an animated film about the Armenian genocide in Diyarbakır province, Turkish media reported.
The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office drafted the indictment, citing scenes and dialogue from the film “Aurora’s Sunrise,” which was screened on December 17, 2024. The case is being heard at the Diyarbakır 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance.
The indictment cited the animation’s depiction of the 1915 events as genocide, its portrayal of Armenian resistance as a “legitimate struggle of freedom fighters” and scenes showing Armenians being forced to change their names and religion as evidence.
It also alleged that references to Armenian men conscripted into the Ottoman army who never returned, as well as scenes showing bodies floating in a river and Ottoman soldiers separating children from their mothers, contradicted historical facts.
During the hearing Aksoy denied the accusations, saying the film falls within the scope of freedom of expression.
The court adjourned the hearing and scheduled the next session for April 6.
The animated documentary, directed by Armenian filmmaker Inna Sahakyan, tells the story through the eyes of Aurora (Arshaluys) Mardiganyan, who witnessed the events as a teenager before eventually settling in the United States.
The animation also incorporates surviving fragments of the 1919 film “Auction of Souls,” in which Mardiganyan portrayed herself shortly after arriving in the United States.
The documentary also draws on archival footage from the 1910s and 1920s as well as Mardiganyan’s recorded testimony from the 1980s.
It premiered in London in November 2023 and was submitted by Armenia as its official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Academy Awards. It has since received numerous awards at festivals across Europe and the United States.
Turkish courts have previously ruled that using the term “Armenian genocide” falls within the scope of free expression. On July 2, 2024, journalists Haluk Kalafat and Elif Akgül were acquitted of similar charges of “publicly insulting the Turkish nation” over six articles published on the Bianet news website between 2015 and 2019.
The Armenians, supported by a majority of historians and scholars, say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed by the Union and Progress government of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians and Turks died in the conflict but firmly rejects the characterization of the deaths as genocide
