Turkey blackmails Mel Gibson who was offered role in film about Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Foundation for the Struggle Against Baseless Allegations of Genocide (ASIMED) has begun an e-mail campaign to dissuade actor Mel Gibson from playing a role in a film about the Armenian Genocide during World War I.



The president of ASIMED and faculty member at Ataturk University's history department, Professor Savas Egilmez, said that the Armenian Diaspora had assigned $100 million to Hollywood film production companies to encourage shooting of such a film. "Some Hollywood companies are preparing to shoot a film supporting the Armenian view. There is hearsay that Mel Gibson is to play a role in one of these films. The film is reported to be shot at Icon Productions, the company Gibson is a partner in," said Egilmez.



Egilmez reminded that a similar situation occurred recently when Sylvester Stallone announced his plans to play a role in a new film adaptation of the book "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh." "After a campaign led by ASIMED in which more than 3,000 e-mails were sent to Stallone, the actor declined the role. The European press also expressed concerns about the book's accuracy. We have begun sending documents about the truth of the situation to Gibson. We started an e-mail campaign to urge him to decline the role and to not allow this film to be shot at his production company. What we are facing is a new slander campaign on the level of the Midnight Express. We need to put pressure on this famous actor by telling him the truth of the matter," Egilmez said, Zaman reports.



Midnight Express is a 1978 film, based on Billy Hayes' book of the same name adapted into screenplay by Oliver Stone. Hayes was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score (Giorgio Moroder) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Stone). It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Hurt), Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture.