By Edmond Y. Azadian
Detroit Public TV, which is in tune with the sentiments of the mosaic of the ethnic groups that populate Michigan, recently took the initiative to dedicate a full day’s program to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The program not only sensitized the viewers to the issue of the Armenian Genocide but it also proved to be a successful fundraiser.
I was invited to be interviewed along with clergy from the four area Armenian Churches. The interviewer was a highly professional TV commentator. He had decided to rehearse his interviews before going live on the air. He asked me how the Genocide impacted me personally and what effect it had made on the Armenians collectively. As I was heading to the conclusion of my statement, I reported that the Genocide was continuing to this day with the blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan and the destruction of Armenian Churches and monuments in both countries.
He stopped me, warning me that we could not politicize the issue during the interview, because there was nobody present to give “the other side” of the story.
Stunned, I asked him, “Do you ever question Neo-Nazis while interviewing survivors of the Holocaust? Of course not. Why should there be ‘one side’ on the issue of the Holocaust and ‘another side’ when you take up the issue of the Armenian Genocide?”
Confused, he repeated my question.