Tweet
The Scotsman, UK
Sept 24 2005
Turkey to debate Armenian massacre
A twice-cancelled conference on the massacre of Armenians in the late
Ottoman Empire has begun in Istanbul, a test of Turkey's willingness
to allow an open discussion of its painful past.
The academic conference is apparently the first time that an
institution in the modern Turkish Republic, the successor state of
the empire and now European Union candidate, hosted an event in which
speakers will be permitted to argue that the fathers and grandfathers
of today's Turkish citizens committed the first genocide of the 20th
century.
In their fiercely-opposed efforts to hold the conference - the
organisers were accused of "stabbing the people in the back" by the
justice minister in May and the conference was shut down by an
Istanbul court on Thursday - a group of academics became emblematic
of a country struggling to advance democracy and basic rights to free
expression.
Stating that Turks may have committed genocide against Armenians not
only opposes the state line and can lead to prosecution, but it
deeply offends a large percentage of the Turkish people, who see the
Ottoman Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness and the war that
coincided with its collapse as a heroic struggle for national
independence.
An increasing number of governments recognise the massacres of
Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by Ottoman Turks as genocide, but the
Turkish government is adamantly opposed to the notion.
The resistance the scholars faced in holding the conference was
intense and came from many sides.
But the academics were insistent that they were not only examining
Turkish history, but were acting, as Halil Berktay, programme
co-ordinator of the history department at Sabanci University, said,
"for Turkish democracy, for freedom of speech, for academic freedom".
The conference was ordered stopped by an Istanbul court on Thursday,
drawing criticism from the European Commission, whose spokeswoman
said "we strongly deplore this new attempt to prevent Turkish society
from freely discussing its history".
The organisers skirted that court order by changing the venue from
Bogazici University to Istanbul Bilgi University.
EU observers have said they will note any developments as Turkey
heads toward membership negotiations on October 3.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Sept 24 2005
Turkey to debate Armenian massacre
A twice-cancelled conference on the massacre of Armenians in the late
Ottoman Empire has begun in Istanbul, a test of Turkey's willingness
to allow an open discussion of its painful past.
The academic conference is apparently the first time that an
institution in the modern Turkish Republic, the successor state of
the empire and now European Union candidate, hosted an event in which
speakers will be permitted to argue that the fathers and grandfathers
of today's Turkish citizens committed the first genocide of the 20th
century.
In their fiercely-opposed efforts to hold the conference - the
organisers were accused of "stabbing the people in the back" by the
justice minister in May and the conference was shut down by an
Istanbul court on Thursday - a group of academics became emblematic
of a country struggling to advance democracy and basic rights to free
expression.
Stating that Turks may have committed genocide against Armenians not
only opposes the state line and can lead to prosecution, but it
deeply offends a large percentage of the Turkish people, who see the
Ottoman Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness and the war that
coincided with its collapse as a heroic struggle for national
independence.
An increasing number of governments recognise the massacres of
Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by Ottoman Turks as genocide, but the
Turkish government is adamantly opposed to the notion.
The resistance the scholars faced in holding the conference was
intense and came from many sides.
But the academics were insistent that they were not only examining
Turkish history, but were acting, as Halil Berktay, programme
co-ordinator of the history department at Sabanci University, said,
"for Turkish democracy, for freedom of speech, for academic freedom".
The conference was ordered stopped by an Istanbul court on Thursday,
drawing criticism from the European Commission, whose spokeswoman
said "we strongly deplore this new attempt to prevent Turkish society
from freely discussing its history".
The organisers skirted that court order by changing the venue from
Bogazici University to Istanbul Bilgi University.
EU observers have said they will note any developments as Turkey
heads toward membership negotiations on October 3.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress