August 7, 2019 - 10:38 AMT
Armenian community slams River Plate-Turkish Airlines partnership

After Turkish Airlines signed a contract with the Argentine football club River Plate, one of the most important in the country, to be its main sponsor, the Armenian community of Argentina issued a statement on August 1 in which they denounced that "Turkish Airlines landed in Argentine football to enhance the image of the current government of Turkey."

"Turkish Airlines, a state-owned company in Turkey, represents the interests of the Recep Tayyip Erdogan regime, a denialist and authoritarian government that persecutes and imprisons opponents and journalists," says the statement signed by IARA - Armenian Institutions of the Argentine Republic, the space that coordinates all the Armenian institutions of the country.

"The intention of the Turkish Airlines company to disembark in Argentine football is to 'wash' the image of the current government of Turkey, strongly questioned by the international human rights organizations," added the statement.

In that sense, they recalled that "most Argentine football clubs always showed gestures of solidarity and fraternity to the Armenian community, formed by refugees from the Armenian Genocide."

"Just as we know the delicate economic situation that Argentine clubs are going through, we also believe in the social values ​​that these institutions transmit and represent," the text concludes.

Photo. Getty Images