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REFUSING TO BACK DOWN
By Scott Jaschik
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/06/new-dispute-between-historian-and-turkish-american-group
Dec 6 2011
A historian at the University of California at Davis has become the
latest target of Turkish-American groups that have criticized --
and in some cases made legal threats against -- researchers of the
Armenian genocide that took place as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. He
is refusing to back away from the statement that led to this conflict,
and says that the university is backing him against what he and others
see as an attack on academic freedom.
In this case, letters sent to various officials at Davis have asserted
that Keith David Watenpaugh, an associate professor of religious
studies, should apologize for a reply he wrote in the Davis alumni
magazine to a letter about an article on his research. Watenpaugh's
research is about how the Armenian genocide led to the first
international humanitarian relief effort and changed the way many in
the world viewed suffering from being inevitable to being something
that should be prevented.
Watenpaugh -- consistent with a consensus among historians -- refers
to the genocide as fact. (A handful of American historians argue that
the genocide didn't happen or that evidence is inconclusive.)
After the Davis magazine wrote about Watenpaugh's research, Gunay
Evinch, an alumnus who is a Washington lawyer and is a past president
of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations, sent a letter
to the editor that argued that scholars should examine the wide
suffering that took place in the Ottoman Empire during World War I,
and recognize that many groups were hurt, not just Armenians.
Watenpaugh replied in the same issue, arguing that while suffering
was widespread, genocide was not -- and was limited at that time
to the Armenians. Then in the paragraph that has been the subject
of the controversy, he wrote the following: "What is most important
to understand is that the Assembly of Turkish American Associations
has been at the forefront of a Turkish government-sponsored effort
in the United States to deny that what happened to the Armenians
was genocide. The attack on my work in Mr. Evinch's letter is part
of that project and should be understood in this light. At UC Davis,
we teach our students that history is more than just a collection of
facts, but rather is the starting point for an ethical relationship
with the past."
The president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, Ergun
Kirlikovali, then wrote to the editor of the Davis magazine and the
head of Watenpaugh's program at Davis, saying that his statement had
been "reckless" and "extraordinarily harmful." Further, the letter
compared the statement to one over which an emeritus professor who
has argued against evidence of genocide sued the Southern Poverty Law
Center, prompting a retraction of portion of an article published by
the center about groups that deny the Armenian genocide.
The Watenpaugh statement was "defamatory," Kirlikovali wrote, because
it suggested that his organization was an agent of the Turkish
government -- something it is not. (Agents of foreign governments
are required to register, and lack of registration would be a crime,
the letter noted.)
In that Southern Poverty Law Center case, the dispute was over
whether a professor who does not believe genocide took place was
supported financially by the Turkish government -- a brief statement
in an article published by the center and something that the center
acknowledged it could not prove (the statement was eventually
retracted).
But in the Davis case, Watenpaugh said that he is being accused
of something he did not say. While he charges that the Turkish
government has encouraged the general effort to deny the Armenian
genocide, Watenpaugh did not say that the Turkish-American group
was an agent of the Turkish government. The next issue of the Davis
magazine will feature a statement to this effect from Watenpaugh:
"These individuals misconstrued my statement as suggesting that the
ATAA is part of the Turkish government, or is financially supported
by the Turkish government. I make no representations one way or the
other in this regard. To be clear, what I meant is that the ATAA
is at the forefront of the effort to deny in the United States that
what happened to the Armenians as the result of Ottoman government
policies was genocide, which parallels the actions of the Turkish
government in our country to do the same."
Watenpaugh said he viewed the letters to Davis as an attempt to limit
his academic freedom, and said he was glad that his university has
defended his rights and not retracted anything.
He noted that other scholars have also faced legal pressure from groups
that do not agree with the historical consensus on what happened to the
Armenians. The Turkish Coalition of America has sued the University of
Minnesota over a website (since changed) that declared the coalition's
information about the Armenians to be unreliable. A federal judge
ruled that the university's site was protected by academic freedom
and free expression principles, but that decision has been appealed.
The Middle Eastern Studies Association last month wrote to Kirlikovali,
saying that it viewed his letters as making legal threats against
Watenpaugh and Davis, and that these were based on an incorrect
interpretation of what Watenpaugh wrote.
"Your organization, and those who hold perspectives different from
those expressed by Professor Watenpaugh, certainly have the right to
participate in open scholarly exchange on the history of the Armenians
in the late Ottoman Empire or any other issue, by presenting their
views at academic conferences, in the pages of peer-reviewed scholarly
journals or by other means, thereby opening them up to debate and
challenge," the letter said. "However, we feel compelled to express
our concern when non-academic organizations initiate, threaten or
justify legal action against scholars and/or academic or research
institutions because of their findings or views on historical issues.
We do not believe that legal action is the proper way to resolve
disputes about historical interpretation, and we fear that legal
action of this kind, or the threat thereof, may undermine the ability
of scholars and academic institutions to carry out their work freely
and to have their work assessed on its merits, in conformity with
standards and procedures long established in the world of scholarship."
Kirlikovali, via e-mail, said that his group "wants open, free, and
complete debate on whether the Armenian case constitutes genocide and
on the options for reconciliation." And he said that he hoped that the
Davis magazine "will make all required corrections to exonerate itself
from this false statement, and we hope Mr. Watenpaugh will apologize."
He said that the Middle East Studies Association was "wrong to
define the ATAA's motive and intent, and thereby the legal issue,
as an attempt to limit freedom of speech on the perspective that the
Armenian case constitutes genocide." Rather, he said, the association
is focused on a matter of principle that is not covered by academic
freedom. "MESA might be pleased to learn that ATAA agrees with MESA
that more information and debate is necessary on this legitimate
historical controversy," he said. "However, we are not in agreement
that academic freedom should include defamation of an organization
or an author for challenging the orthodoxy on a controversial subject.
Indeed, freedom of speech does not include defamation. Defamation is
an important exception to freedom of speech."
By Scott Jaschik
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/06/new-dispute-between-historian-and-turkish-american-group
Dec 6 2011
A historian at the University of California at Davis has become the
latest target of Turkish-American groups that have criticized --
and in some cases made legal threats against -- researchers of the
Armenian genocide that took place as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. He
is refusing to back away from the statement that led to this conflict,
and says that the university is backing him against what he and others
see as an attack on academic freedom.
In this case, letters sent to various officials at Davis have asserted
that Keith David Watenpaugh, an associate professor of religious
studies, should apologize for a reply he wrote in the Davis alumni
magazine to a letter about an article on his research. Watenpaugh's
research is about how the Armenian genocide led to the first
international humanitarian relief effort and changed the way many in
the world viewed suffering from being inevitable to being something
that should be prevented.
Watenpaugh -- consistent with a consensus among historians -- refers
to the genocide as fact. (A handful of American historians argue that
the genocide didn't happen or that evidence is inconclusive.)
After the Davis magazine wrote about Watenpaugh's research, Gunay
Evinch, an alumnus who is a Washington lawyer and is a past president
of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations, sent a letter
to the editor that argued that scholars should examine the wide
suffering that took place in the Ottoman Empire during World War I,
and recognize that many groups were hurt, not just Armenians.
Watenpaugh replied in the same issue, arguing that while suffering
was widespread, genocide was not -- and was limited at that time
to the Armenians. Then in the paragraph that has been the subject
of the controversy, he wrote the following: "What is most important
to understand is that the Assembly of Turkish American Associations
has been at the forefront of a Turkish government-sponsored effort
in the United States to deny that what happened to the Armenians
was genocide. The attack on my work in Mr. Evinch's letter is part
of that project and should be understood in this light. At UC Davis,
we teach our students that history is more than just a collection of
facts, but rather is the starting point for an ethical relationship
with the past."
The president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, Ergun
Kirlikovali, then wrote to the editor of the Davis magazine and the
head of Watenpaugh's program at Davis, saying that his statement had
been "reckless" and "extraordinarily harmful." Further, the letter
compared the statement to one over which an emeritus professor who
has argued against evidence of genocide sued the Southern Poverty Law
Center, prompting a retraction of portion of an article published by
the center about groups that deny the Armenian genocide.
The Watenpaugh statement was "defamatory," Kirlikovali wrote, because
it suggested that his organization was an agent of the Turkish
government -- something it is not. (Agents of foreign governments
are required to register, and lack of registration would be a crime,
the letter noted.)
In that Southern Poverty Law Center case, the dispute was over
whether a professor who does not believe genocide took place was
supported financially by the Turkish government -- a brief statement
in an article published by the center and something that the center
acknowledged it could not prove (the statement was eventually
retracted).
But in the Davis case, Watenpaugh said that he is being accused
of something he did not say. While he charges that the Turkish
government has encouraged the general effort to deny the Armenian
genocide, Watenpaugh did not say that the Turkish-American group
was an agent of the Turkish government. The next issue of the Davis
magazine will feature a statement to this effect from Watenpaugh:
"These individuals misconstrued my statement as suggesting that the
ATAA is part of the Turkish government, or is financially supported
by the Turkish government. I make no representations one way or the
other in this regard. To be clear, what I meant is that the ATAA
is at the forefront of the effort to deny in the United States that
what happened to the Armenians as the result of Ottoman government
policies was genocide, which parallels the actions of the Turkish
government in our country to do the same."
Watenpaugh said he viewed the letters to Davis as an attempt to limit
his academic freedom, and said he was glad that his university has
defended his rights and not retracted anything.
He noted that other scholars have also faced legal pressure from groups
that do not agree with the historical consensus on what happened to the
Armenians. The Turkish Coalition of America has sued the University of
Minnesota over a website (since changed) that declared the coalition's
information about the Armenians to be unreliable. A federal judge
ruled that the university's site was protected by academic freedom
and free expression principles, but that decision has been appealed.
The Middle Eastern Studies Association last month wrote to Kirlikovali,
saying that it viewed his letters as making legal threats against
Watenpaugh and Davis, and that these were based on an incorrect
interpretation of what Watenpaugh wrote.
"Your organization, and those who hold perspectives different from
those expressed by Professor Watenpaugh, certainly have the right to
participate in open scholarly exchange on the history of the Armenians
in the late Ottoman Empire or any other issue, by presenting their
views at academic conferences, in the pages of peer-reviewed scholarly
journals or by other means, thereby opening them up to debate and
challenge," the letter said. "However, we feel compelled to express
our concern when non-academic organizations initiate, threaten or
justify legal action against scholars and/or academic or research
institutions because of their findings or views on historical issues.
We do not believe that legal action is the proper way to resolve
disputes about historical interpretation, and we fear that legal
action of this kind, or the threat thereof, may undermine the ability
of scholars and academic institutions to carry out their work freely
and to have their work assessed on its merits, in conformity with
standards and procedures long established in the world of scholarship."
Kirlikovali, via e-mail, said that his group "wants open, free, and
complete debate on whether the Armenian case constitutes genocide and
on the options for reconciliation." And he said that he hoped that the
Davis magazine "will make all required corrections to exonerate itself
from this false statement, and we hope Mr. Watenpaugh will apologize."
He said that the Middle East Studies Association was "wrong to
define the ATAA's motive and intent, and thereby the legal issue,
as an attempt to limit freedom of speech on the perspective that the
Armenian case constitutes genocide." Rather, he said, the association
is focused on a matter of principle that is not covered by academic
freedom. "MESA might be pleased to learn that ATAA agrees with MESA
that more information and debate is necessary on this legitimate
historical controversy," he said. "However, we are not in agreement
that academic freedom should include defamation of an organization
or an author for challenging the orthodoxy on a controversial subject.
Indeed, freedom of speech does not include defamation. Defamation is
an important exception to freedom of speech."