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Turkey Won't Say Genocide, But U Documentary Does

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  • Turkey Won't Say Genocide, But U Documentary Does

    TURKEY WON'T SAY GENOCIDE, BUT U DOCUMENTARY DOES
    By Don M. Burrows

    Minnesota Daily, MN
    Sept 29 2005

    University film covers controversial Armenian genocide and garners
    Emmy nomination

    Armenian Genocide: 90 Years Later," takes on one of the biggest
    geopolitical controversies of the 20th century, even in its title:
    Was the massacre of Armenians in 1915 an act of genocide?

    The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire
    that carried out the killings, denies it was genocide, and has even
    banned discussion in that vein.

    The documentary, co-produced by the University's Center for Holocaust
    and Genocide Studies, uses interviews with historians and family
    members of survivors to continue the discussion many avoid.

    PHOTO COURTESY TESSA SAVVIDIS HOFMANN AND THE CENTRE FOR INF The
    photograph "Deportation from Harput," was used in the film "Armenian
    Genocide: 90 Years Later."

    What is known is this: As many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed
    from 1915 to 1917 in an apparent depopulation strategy by the Young
    Turk government. Much like Jews were singled out in Nazi Germany,
    Armenians - an ethnic and religious minority of artisans and skilled
    laborers in Turkish society - were removed from their homes and
    killed. The Turkish government, however, claims the killings were
    part of ethnic clashes and denies that so many were slain.

    The most compelling part of the film is the testimony of those whose
    families survived the killings. Many remember their parents telling of
    the horrors of leaving their homes and hiding from Turkish officials,
    and recount how a remembrance of the events of 1915 is now embedded
    in Armenian identity.

    The documentary features two University history professors, Eric
    Weitz and Taner Akcam. Akcam is a Turkish historian who was jailed
    in the 1970s for broaching human rights. It first aired in April and
    has since been nominated for an Upper Midwest Regional Emmy award in
    the News Special category.

    The timing couldn't be better.

    Just last weekend, a Turkish court canceled the academic conference
    that was to occur at Bogazici University regarding this topic. The
    action sparked a wave of protest from European leaders and Turkish
    officials wary of bad press amid their bid for entrance into the
    European Union. A previous conference was likewise banned in May
    amid comments from the Turkish minister of justice, who called it
    treasonous.

    Stephen Feinstein, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide
    Studies, said more than 200 copies of the film have been distributed
    to organizations and schools since its airing.

    Feinstein said that although the current Turkish government is
    different than the one that committed the slayings in 1915, it has
    been defiant in recognizing it as genocide. This is despite a consensus
    among genocide scholars and similar recognitions by state governments
    worldwide, including the state of Minnesota. He attributes this to
    fears of demanded reparations and damage to the Turkish Republic's
    grand narrative and national pride.

    His main concern, and that of scholars worldwide, is that Turkey,
    a supposedly free democracy, is suppressing academic discussion.

    "In a democracy, you should be free to talk about the past,"
    Feinstein said.

    Weitz agreed, and said that while there are many Turks who accept
    that genocide occurred, there are also those ideologues who fit their
    denial of the genocide into their concurrent distaste for Turkey's
    entrance into the EU.

    "When they challenge the ability of scholars to discuss these issues,
    they are provoking the EU deliberately," he said.

    Feinstein said many documents from Turkey's own archives prove
    that a systematic killing took place, but are written in the Arabic
    script that

    was replaced by the Latin alphabet after World War I. Consequently,
    many Turkish government officials can't even read them.

    As stated in the documentary, German records are perhaps the best
    source of information on the massacres, given Germany's alliance with
    Turkey during World War I.

    It was the Nazis' knowledge of the Armenians that contributed in part
    to their own policy of extermination, scholars argue.

    And those involved in the now Emmy-nominated film hope it will educate
    the public so as to contradict Hitler's famous quote in defense of
    his genocidal plans: "Who remembers the Armenians?"

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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