via AP

BOSTON (18 Feb 2006) A federal judge has denied a request by a group of Armenian survivors and their supporters to intervene in a lawsuit over how to teach the Armenian genocide.

U-S District Judge Mark Wolf said Attorney General Tom Reilly's office is adequately defending the state and its citizens, including Armenian survivors.

The judge said the group may file a brief in the case.

The lawsuit centers on whether the killing of more than a (m) million Christian Armenians was genocide or just a horrible consequence of World War One.

It was filed against the state Department of Education last year by two high school teachers, a student and a Turkish group.

The lawsuit argues that whether the Armenian killings constitute genocide has not been firmly settled by history.

They say students should also be exposed to a "contra-genocide" version of events.

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