North End Billboard Removed for Dismissing Armenian Genocide
Residents were outraged when the ad appeared at the corner of Salem Street and Cross Street, which is located near the Armenian Heritage Park.
The billboard depicted a hand showing the peace sign emblazoned with a Turkish flag alongside two other hands with crossed fingers that featured the Armenian and Russian flags. The image was accompanied by the words “Truth = Peace.”
.@MassBillboards You’re running a billboard denying the Armenian Genocide over Armenia Heritage Park? Shame on you. pic.twitter.com/BJIiErahHc
— Elizabeth Weinbloom (@LizWeinbl) April 6, 2016
@LizWeinbl @universalhub @marty_walsh here’s a better photo, still wildly offensive pic.twitter.com/YyzLH3RhiV
— Christina (@cdive) April 6, 2016
“The ad was placed there in error and will be moved this morning,’’ Jason King, spokesman for Clear Channel Outdoors, told the Boston Globe.
According to the Globe, the billboard also stated that it was “proudly paid for by the Turkic Platform, Istanbul,” and included a link to the Fact Check Armenia website.
The ad has since been removed as of Thursday morning.
That billboard that seemed to deny the Armenian genocide in the North End? Gone as of this AM. pic.twitter.com/ehlmJKhbUC
— KarynRegalWBZ (@Karynregal) April 7, 2016
This isn’t the first time the group has drawn criticism for placing ads in Boston. Billboards were pulled following a similar controversy last year involving a national campaign that also featured an ad by the group in the Globe.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed while two million were forced from their homes in Turkey during the Armenian genocide between 1915 and 1918, according to the United Human Rights Council.
