Tweet
http://chronicle.com/news/article/4792/dispute-ove r-academic-freedom-roils-turkish-studies-institute
The Chronicle of Higher Education
News Blog
Higher-education news from around the Web
July 6, 2008
Dispute Over Academic Freedom Roils Turkish-Studies Institute
Several members have resigned from the board of the Institute for
Turkish Studies to protest what they characterize as an infringement of
the board chairman's academic freedom. The chairman, Donald Quataert, a
professor of history at the State University of New York at Binghamton,
resigned in late 2006, according to an article in The Washington Post,
after writing a book review in which he used the word "genocide" to
describe the mass killing of Armenians in 1915.
This past May, Mervat F. Hatem, a professor of political science at
Howard University who is the president of the Middle East Studies
Association, wrote to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
requesting that Mr. Quataert be returned to his position and that funds
for the institute be placed in a trust to avoid political interference.
The institute is supported by a grant from the Turkish government. In
her letter, Ms. Hatem wrote that Mr. Quataert had stepped down after
refusing to accede to the Turkish ambassador's demand that he retract
his review, or face the loss of the institute's funds.
But the Turkish ambassador, H.E. Nabi Sensoy, as well as the institute's
director, David C. Cuthell Jr., denied any infringement of Mr.
Quataert's scholarly freedom, according to the Post.
Critics have accused the Turkish government for years of trying to
manipulate scholarly studies, conferences, encyclopedia articles, and
even novels that discuss the mass killings. -Lila Guterman
Posted on Sunday July 6, 2008 | Permalink |
The Chronicle of Higher Education
News Blog
Higher-education news from around the Web
July 6, 2008
Dispute Over Academic Freedom Roils Turkish-Studies Institute
Several members have resigned from the board of the Institute for
Turkish Studies to protest what they characterize as an infringement of
the board chairman's academic freedom. The chairman, Donald Quataert, a
professor of history at the State University of New York at Binghamton,
resigned in late 2006, according to an article in The Washington Post,
after writing a book review in which he used the word "genocide" to
describe the mass killing of Armenians in 1915.
This past May, Mervat F. Hatem, a professor of political science at
Howard University who is the president of the Middle East Studies
Association, wrote to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
requesting that Mr. Quataert be returned to his position and that funds
for the institute be placed in a trust to avoid political interference.
The institute is supported by a grant from the Turkish government. In
her letter, Ms. Hatem wrote that Mr. Quataert had stepped down after
refusing to accede to the Turkish ambassador's demand that he retract
his review, or face the loss of the institute's funds.
But the Turkish ambassador, H.E. Nabi Sensoy, as well as the institute's
director, David C. Cuthell Jr., denied any infringement of Mr.
Quataert's scholarly freedom, according to the Post.
Critics have accused the Turkish government for years of trying to
manipulate scholarly studies, conferences, encyclopedia articles, and
even novels that discuss the mass killings. -Lila Guterman
Posted on Sunday July 6, 2008 | Permalink |