Almost immediately, this announcement sparked outrage amongst the Armenian American community.
The reason for Armenian anger is due to the fact that the country of Turkey has never formally accepted responsibility for perpetrating the Armenian Genocide of 1915, which led to the deaths of over one and a half million Armenians. This has become a festering wound for the Armenian community, as Turkey has stubbornly not relented to international pressure placed on them to recognize the atrocities committed.
Turkish Airlines was founded by the government of Turkey in 1933. In 2005, the Turkish government began privatizing the company, and now a majority of the company is publicly owned.
Armenian Americans have been speaking out against Kobe's endorsement deal. Now, Kim Kardashian has joined in the fray and spoken out against his deal.
Reportedly, Kim has spoken to Kobe and asked him to cancel his deal. Kobe responded that his deal was a business contract and not political; he would not be canceling it.
Kim's sister Khloe is married to current Laker Lamar Odom and reportedly Kim has asked that Lamar pressure Kobe.
The problem is that Kim is singling out Kobe for his deal, not speaking out against others that have dealings with Turkey. Turkish Airlines is a sponsor of Manchester United and FC Barcelona and also have a marketing deal with Caroline Wozniacki, but Kim has never spoken out against those deals.
Moreover, there are a number of companies that are at least partly owned by the Turkish government, and a larger number of companies doing business in and out of Turkey which have never been the targets for Kim. Kobe is not a politician, has never publicly supported the Turkish position regarding the Armen...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
