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CAN YOU WRITE A UNIVERSITY THESIS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 26 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
[email protected]
We will probably be talking about the ongoing corruption investigation
for the next several months. And while we are talking about it, we will
probably lose sight of many other things happening in this country.
For example, the Armenian-Turkish Agos weekly has recently revealed
that academicians working on the Armenian genocide are being profiled
by the state and during this intense period for Turkey, it just
went unnoticed.
According to Agos, the Turkish Historical Society (TTK) has asked the
Higher Education Board (YOK) for the details of academics studying the
Armenian question and the YOK chairman, in turn, has asked universities
to provide that information. A document Agos published indicates that
the YOK chairman asked universities to supply "the names of master's
and doctoral degree students working on the Armenian problem, the
title of their research and contact information, in order to make
it available to the Turkish Historical Society as part of the work
it conducts."
When Agos asked the TTK why they needed that information, a TTK
official stated that scholarships might be offered to academics working
in this realm. Agos then asked whether the TTK would give a scholarship
to someone whose thesis qualifies the 1915 events as genocide. The
official responded that, since the TTK does not officially recognize
the Armenian genocide, providing a scholarship to such a study might
not be possible.
Agos argues that the TTK's real motive is to control academia and
keep records of those working on the Armenian question.
A subsequent report in the Taraf daily backed up Agos's argument that
those studying the Armenian genocide are being secretly profiled. Two
former presidents of Ä°stanbul's Bogazici University interviewed by
Taraf shed light on how the censorship mechanism works in academia.
Ustun Erguder confirmed that he had received letters from YOK with
requests for information. "During my term as university president, YOK
would send such letters, but we would dismiss them as they had nothing
to do with our understanding of academic freedom. That's something
that has been done for years. We had even received letters suggesting
that we make sure that theses 'supporting Turkish unity' were written.
... It is out of the question for me to approve of YOK requests
seeking out the names and details of those writing theses on the
Armenian problem," Erguder said.
Another former Bogazici University president, AyÅ~_e Soysal, made the
following comments: "I used to receive similar letters from YOK while
I was university president. It was routine. One letter that would
come from YOK would be in the form of suggestions that we support
studies backing the state's official view on subject X or subject Y."
The insight the two former presidents provide on how the system
functions explains why only a few theses have been written on the
Armenian genocide from within Turkish academia and why they all happen
to be in line with Turkey's official view.
It is true that the Armenian taboo has been broken in Turkish civil
society and intellectual life. There are so many articles and books
now being written and circulated on the subject in Turkey. However,
this taboo continues to exist in this or that form in the "official"
realm. Thanks to the exposure of practices such as the TTK request
for information about academics studying the Armenian question, we
are getting clues as to how Turkey's official theses are produced
and sustained.
No doubt, the exposed practices represent only part of the whole
picture. To understand fully why, how and in what atmosphere Turkey's
official theses remain intact, the known pieces need to be brought
together with the pieces that remain beyond our knowledge. Only then
will we be able to know how Turkey's official history theses are able
to survive unchanged.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-kemal-cengiz_334994_can-you-write-a-university-thesis-on-the-armenian-genocide.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 26 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
[email protected]
We will probably be talking about the ongoing corruption investigation
for the next several months. And while we are talking about it, we will
probably lose sight of many other things happening in this country.
For example, the Armenian-Turkish Agos weekly has recently revealed
that academicians working on the Armenian genocide are being profiled
by the state and during this intense period for Turkey, it just
went unnoticed.
According to Agos, the Turkish Historical Society (TTK) has asked the
Higher Education Board (YOK) for the details of academics studying the
Armenian question and the YOK chairman, in turn, has asked universities
to provide that information. A document Agos published indicates that
the YOK chairman asked universities to supply "the names of master's
and doctoral degree students working on the Armenian problem, the
title of their research and contact information, in order to make
it available to the Turkish Historical Society as part of the work
it conducts."
When Agos asked the TTK why they needed that information, a TTK
official stated that scholarships might be offered to academics working
in this realm. Agos then asked whether the TTK would give a scholarship
to someone whose thesis qualifies the 1915 events as genocide. The
official responded that, since the TTK does not officially recognize
the Armenian genocide, providing a scholarship to such a study might
not be possible.
Agos argues that the TTK's real motive is to control academia and
keep records of those working on the Armenian question.
A subsequent report in the Taraf daily backed up Agos's argument that
those studying the Armenian genocide are being secretly profiled. Two
former presidents of Ä°stanbul's Bogazici University interviewed by
Taraf shed light on how the censorship mechanism works in academia.
Ustun Erguder confirmed that he had received letters from YOK with
requests for information. "During my term as university president, YOK
would send such letters, but we would dismiss them as they had nothing
to do with our understanding of academic freedom. That's something
that has been done for years. We had even received letters suggesting
that we make sure that theses 'supporting Turkish unity' were written.
... It is out of the question for me to approve of YOK requests
seeking out the names and details of those writing theses on the
Armenian problem," Erguder said.
Another former Bogazici University president, AyÅ~_e Soysal, made the
following comments: "I used to receive similar letters from YOK while
I was university president. It was routine. One letter that would
come from YOK would be in the form of suggestions that we support
studies backing the state's official view on subject X or subject Y."
The insight the two former presidents provide on how the system
functions explains why only a few theses have been written on the
Armenian genocide from within Turkish academia and why they all happen
to be in line with Turkey's official view.
It is true that the Armenian taboo has been broken in Turkish civil
society and intellectual life. There are so many articles and books
now being written and circulated on the subject in Turkey. However,
this taboo continues to exist in this or that form in the "official"
realm. Thanks to the exposure of practices such as the TTK request
for information about academics studying the Armenian question, we
are getting clues as to how Turkey's official theses are produced
and sustained.
No doubt, the exposed practices represent only part of the whole
picture. To understand fully why, how and in what atmosphere Turkey's
official theses remain intact, the known pieces need to be brought
together with the pieces that remain beyond our knowledge. Only then
will we be able to know how Turkey's official history theses are able
to survive unchanged.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/orhan-kemal-cengiz_334994_can-you-write-a-university-thesis-on-the-armenian-genocide.html