Tweet
SCHOLARS TO SUE HISTORIAN FOR SINGLING OUT NAMES
Hurriyet
July 15 2011
Turkey
Leading Turkish historian on controversial Turkish-Armenian history,
Taner Akcam is being taken to court in the US for singling out several
Turkish and American academics for Armenian nationalist attack.
"Armenian genocide issue is an extremely political field, yet I didn't
share any explicit names," Akcam says
Akcam holds the chair in Armenian Genocide Studies in the history
department at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Several academics have filed a U.S. lawsuit against Turkish historian
Taner Akcam, who is known for his research on the Armenian issue,
alleging that the scholar put them at risk of an Armenian nationalist
attack following a speech last month.
"I merely shared a piece of information, which I had picked up
[earlier,] during a speech I was delivering on the current state of
affairs in Armenian genocide studies. I did not name any names and
explicitly stated I did not want to leave anyone under suspicion,"
Associate Professor Akcam from Clark University's Department of
History recently told the Hurriyet Daily News by email.
Akcam gave a speech at a conference at Arizona's Glendale Public
Library on June 14 during which a number of academics claim
the historian singled them out as targets for extreme Armenian
nationalists.
A Turkish political science expert from Utah University, Professor
Hakan Yavuz, will be leading the suit on behalf of Professor Guenter
Lewy from Massachusetts University, Associate Professor Edward
Erickson from Virginia Marine Corps Command and Staff College and
Associate Professor Jeremy Salt, who is currently working at Turkey's
Bilkent University.
During the speech, Akcam said he shared information given to him in
December 2010 by a person who asked to remain anonymous that alleged
that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was handing out hefty sums to
academics to convince them to produce arguments to counter Armenian
genocide claims stemming from World War I.
"I merely shared a piece of information; I wanted to provide a sample
of how politics interferes in the academic sphere. Frankly, I have yet
to understand [on what charges] they will be suing [me,]" Akcam said.
"My source said the documents received [by certain academics] in return
for the money paid by the Turkish Foreign Ministry are [located] in
the archives. I repeat once more; it is a journalist's task to research
this matter. I only transmitted the information. A journalist who was
present at the conference made news out of [this] subject," Akcam said.
Yavuz did not respond to questions posted by the Daily News via email.
Taner Akcam said he thought the information passed on to him by
his source was safe, a factor which persuaded him to share it with
his audience.
"Hakan Yavuz is a person with dubious credibility. I have yet to
understand why he took [my words] upon himself. What he has said is so
lowly as to not even warrant a reply," he said. "The Armenian genocide
is an extremely political field; politics is directly interfering
with academic work. Armenian genocide studies have to cope with two
distinct problems: One is about questions and problems [raised by]
academic research itself, while the other [concerns] problems that
emerge due to direct intervention by politics. The Turkish Foreign
Ministry's intervention is among the samples I have cited for this
second category," he said, adding that all he did was to repeat an
ordinary fact that was already known to everyone else.
"One needs to rethink about things if the information supplied to me
by my source is correct," he said.
"I say it is necessary to re-examine because the activities undertaken
in the U.S. by the Turkish Foreign Ministry must seriously be
re-examined," he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Hurriyet
July 15 2011
Turkey
Leading Turkish historian on controversial Turkish-Armenian history,
Taner Akcam is being taken to court in the US for singling out several
Turkish and American academics for Armenian nationalist attack.
"Armenian genocide issue is an extremely political field, yet I didn't
share any explicit names," Akcam says
Akcam holds the chair in Armenian Genocide Studies in the history
department at Clark University, Massachusetts.
Several academics have filed a U.S. lawsuit against Turkish historian
Taner Akcam, who is known for his research on the Armenian issue,
alleging that the scholar put them at risk of an Armenian nationalist
attack following a speech last month.
"I merely shared a piece of information, which I had picked up
[earlier,] during a speech I was delivering on the current state of
affairs in Armenian genocide studies. I did not name any names and
explicitly stated I did not want to leave anyone under suspicion,"
Associate Professor Akcam from Clark University's Department of
History recently told the Hurriyet Daily News by email.
Akcam gave a speech at a conference at Arizona's Glendale Public
Library on June 14 during which a number of academics claim
the historian singled them out as targets for extreme Armenian
nationalists.
A Turkish political science expert from Utah University, Professor
Hakan Yavuz, will be leading the suit on behalf of Professor Guenter
Lewy from Massachusetts University, Associate Professor Edward
Erickson from Virginia Marine Corps Command and Staff College and
Associate Professor Jeremy Salt, who is currently working at Turkey's
Bilkent University.
During the speech, Akcam said he shared information given to him in
December 2010 by a person who asked to remain anonymous that alleged
that the Turkish Foreign Ministry was handing out hefty sums to
academics to convince them to produce arguments to counter Armenian
genocide claims stemming from World War I.
"I merely shared a piece of information; I wanted to provide a sample
of how politics interferes in the academic sphere. Frankly, I have yet
to understand [on what charges] they will be suing [me,]" Akcam said.
"My source said the documents received [by certain academics] in return
for the money paid by the Turkish Foreign Ministry are [located] in
the archives. I repeat once more; it is a journalist's task to research
this matter. I only transmitted the information. A journalist who was
present at the conference made news out of [this] subject," Akcam said.
Yavuz did not respond to questions posted by the Daily News via email.
Taner Akcam said he thought the information passed on to him by
his source was safe, a factor which persuaded him to share it with
his audience.
"Hakan Yavuz is a person with dubious credibility. I have yet to
understand why he took [my words] upon himself. What he has said is so
lowly as to not even warrant a reply," he said. "The Armenian genocide
is an extremely political field; politics is directly interfering
with academic work. Armenian genocide studies have to cope with two
distinct problems: One is about questions and problems [raised by]
academic research itself, while the other [concerns] problems that
emerge due to direct intervention by politics. The Turkish Foreign
Ministry's intervention is among the samples I have cited for this
second category," he said, adding that all he did was to repeat an
ordinary fact that was already known to everyone else.
"One needs to rethink about things if the information supplied to me
by my source is correct," he said.
"I say it is necessary to re-examine because the activities undertaken
in the U.S. by the Turkish Foreign Ministry must seriously be
re-examined," he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress