L.A. Armenians versus NBA Superstar Kobe Bryant

Armenians in Los Angeles will campaign against Kobe Bryant’s sponsorship deal with Turkish Airlines and are urging him to drop it, the western U.S. chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation said.

Turk Hava Yollari AO, also known as Turkish Airlines, announced that it signed Bryant, a guard for basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers, to be a “global brand ambassador” yesterday as it seeks to publicize the start of direct flights from Istanbul to Los Angeles.

Armenian activists demand that the U.S. recognize the early 20th century killings of Armenians in Turkey as genocide.

California has 600,000-700,000 Armenian-Americans, “with the majority being in Southern California,” Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a telephone interview.

“That includes a lot of Laker Fans, and until now, a lot of Kobe fans as well,” he said.

“Armenian-Americans hope that Kobe would balance what clearly looks to be a profitable business deal with a strong moral statement against Turkey’s violations of human rights, including, of course, its ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide,” the Armenian Youth Federation said in a statement on its website.

Bryant should drop the endorsement or back the resolution, Hamparian said. “This is not simply a private firm,” he said. “This is a firm that’s majority owned by the Turkish government.”

Bryant is the highest-paid player in the National Basketball Association, with a salary slated to increase to $30.5 million per year by the 2013-2014 season, according to Forbes. He signed a three-year, $83.5 million extension with the Lakers in April, the magazine said. Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka didn’t return phone calls seeking comment this morning.

Turkey’s state-run airline is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable in Europe. It also sponsors the European basketball league and European soccer clubs FC Barcelona and Manchester United.

The deal with Bryant is scheduled to last two years and will include television advertisements in more than 80 countries as well as billboards, print and online components, Turkish Airlines said. Terms were not disclosed.

Bryant told CNBC Sports he had never been to Turkey. “But all the guys on the team in the league who have been keep saying it’s one of the hottest places to go,” he said.

Add to that, Allen Iverson, 35, an 11-time NBA All-Star, currently plays for Istanbul’s Besiktas in the Turkish basketball league.


/Bloomberg/