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On eve of 2015: a focus on academia and Turkish public
by Raffi Bedrosyan
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2014-01-13-on-eve-of-2015-a-focus-on-academia-and-turkish-public
Published: Monday January 13, 2014
Zoryan's Greg Sarkissian (on right) with representatives of Canadian
Museum for Human Rights in Armenia in 2013. MuseumforHumanRights.ca/
As we approach 2015, the 100th anniversary of the 1915 annihilation of
Armenian presence from their historic homeland of four thousand years,
we see diverging activities being planned by Turkey and Armenians.
When Turkish acquaintances ask me what the Armenians, especially the
`evil Diaspora', are planning to do in 2015, I answer that they are
planning programs to assert historical facts about the vanishing of
Armenians from Anatolia in 1915. Then I turn around with a question of
my own: `What are the Turks doing?' Their short answer is that the
Turks will continue to dismiss the "misinformation" that the Armenians
are disseminating. Thus, the Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora
redouble their efforts to have genocide recognition more widespread
worldwide, and the Turks continue pouring more money and resources to
entrench the official genocide denialist policy both within and
outside Turkey.
In an attempt to divert global attention from the 1915 Armenian
genocide commemoration, Turkey has decided to promote the 100th
anniversary of the First World War Gallipoli campaign, to be showcased
as a historic event through government supported activities worldwide
and hailed as the `heroic resistance of the Turkish forces against the
onslaught of the imperialistic powers at the Dardanelles.'
One can easily deduce from these opposing strategies and efforts that
the main stumbling block for Turkey and Armenia, as neighbors, in
normalizing their relationship and the reconciliation of their
respective civil societies, is the divergence of interpretation and
understanding of their shared history. The result is an impasse. By
this time next year, I doubt there will be much change and the impasse
will go on. The issue will continue to be treated as a political match
with points scored for Turkey if Obama continues saying `Medz
Yeghern', or points for Armenia if he says `Genocide'.
There are geopolitical, military, and economic reasons for the status
quo to continue. Armenia may not be influential enough to overcome any
of these reasons at present. Be that as it may, I believe Armenians
can be more effective if they re-channel their resources, which are
extremely limited in comparison to Turkey, in this struggle. I see two
target areas for Armenians to make any headway on this issue, and in
my humble opinion, neither one is addressed properly by Armenia and
Armenians.
The first target in dealing with the genocide issue is the academic
field. It is supposed to arrive at indisputable historic facts, after
thorough and objective research of a multitude of state archives,
documents, communication records, and oral history findings. The
struggle in this field regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide can be
best summarized as forces of truth versus money and power. On one side
there is truth defended by almost all of the international academia,
and on the other side, falsification of truth by a handful of scholars
generously rewarded with funds provided by the Turkish state.
The second target in dealing with the genocide issue is the general
population of Turkey, with the objective of conveying to them the
historical truth of the 1915 events and all the consequences until
today. This truth is best served when delivered in to the people of
Turkey, in Turkish, based on archival material and historic facts
directly from Turkish sources and their allies, covering the period
from the 1880's to 1922, as well as the factual consequences of the
on-going state cover-up and denial.
Academically, the only organization which spearheads and organizes
objective research by independent scholars on this topic is the Zoryan
Institute with its subsidiary, the International Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies. For the past thirty plus years, it
has provided the highest standards of scholarship and objectivity in
undertaking multi-disciplinary research and analysis. This includes
documentation, lectures, conferences and publications in 7 languages
related to human rights and genocide studies. The publications include
some 41 books, some of which in several languages and 2 major
periodicals, one dealing with genocide studies and the other with
diaspora.
In addition, the Institute provides research assistance to scholars,
writers, journalists, filmmakers, government agencies and other
organizations. It is noteworthy that when Zoryan published the
Wolfgang Gust book titled 'The Armenian Genocide 1915/16: Documents
from the Diplomatic Archives of the German Office', in German, English
and Turkish, prominent Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand could only
reflect: `When you read and study these documents, even if this is
your first venture into this subject, there is no way you will deny
the genocide and disagree with the Armenians'.
Even though the Turkish state defines Zoryan as a `propaganda centre',
there have been several scholars from Turkey who have attended the
Genocide and Human Rights University Program run by the Zoryan
Institute at the University of Toronto, many of them becoming
outspoken advocates of historic truth within Turkey and the rest of
the world, regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide.
To best describe Zoryan's contribution to scholarship is to quote from
A Plea from International Scholars of Genocide and Human Rights
Studies made last year in support of fundraising activities of the
Institute:
"For the past thirty years, the Institute has maintained an ambitious
program to collect archival documentation, conduct original research,
and publish books and periodicals. It also conducts university-level
educational programs in the field of Genocide and Human Rights
Studies, taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach in its
examination of the Jewish Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the
Rwandan Genocide, among others, using the Armenian Genocide as a point
of reference. In the process, using the highest academic standards,
the Institute has strived to understand the phenomenon of genocide,
establish the incontestable, historical truth of the Armenian
Genocide, and raise awareness of it among academics and
opinion-makers. In the face of the continuing problem of genocide in
the twenty-first century, the Institute is to be commended for its
service to the academic community and is recognized by scholars for
providing leadership and a support structure in promoting the cause of
universal human rights and the prevention of genocide."
Despite the herculean effort and outstanding results, Zoryan Institute
receives no appreciable financial support or acknowledgment from major
Armenian organizations, parties or the state. The institute is
supported entirely by private donations. Against it, there exist the
full power and unlimited funds of the Turkish state, and more recently
the Azerbaijan state, who attempt to lure scholars to rewrite history
according to their versions. As a result, the Turkish State Historic
Society reduces the number of 1915 Armenian victims with every new
publication; at last count, a few thousand Armenians died of illness
and hunger, while the number of Turkish victims of 'genocide'
perpetrated by the Armenians increases every year and is now more than
two million. By the same strategy, the number of Azeri dead in the
Khojalu 'genocide' keeps increasing with every publication.
Dialogue between two conflicting parties can be meaningful only after
both parties are aware of the truth and the facts. Even though the
Turkish state has not allowed the truth and the facts of 1915 to come
out until recently, there are now clear signs that the taboos about
1915 are finally broken and that there is an emerging `common body of
knowledge' among the Turkish citizens and more importantly, among the
opinion makers. Zoryan contributed immensely to the development of
this 'common body of knowledge' through conferences, seminars, and the
books it helped publish, by authors such as Yair Auron, Taner Akcam,
Wolfgang Gust, Roger Smith, Vahakn Dadrian, Rifat Bali and many
others.
Given all this, I submit that Armenians should support the Zoryan
Institute so that it can continue its work developing the common body
of knowledge to be shared by the Armenians and Turks. Hopefully,
shared history will help these neighbouring people reconcile with
their pasts and such reconciliation will help secure a future for
generations to come.
I will elaborate on the second target of how to convey the truth to
the general population of Turkey, and its challenges, in a separate
article.
From: A. Papazian
by Raffi Bedrosyan
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2014-01-13-on-eve-of-2015-a-focus-on-academia-and-turkish-public
Published: Monday January 13, 2014
Zoryan's Greg Sarkissian (on right) with representatives of Canadian
Museum for Human Rights in Armenia in 2013. MuseumforHumanRights.ca/
As we approach 2015, the 100th anniversary of the 1915 annihilation of
Armenian presence from their historic homeland of four thousand years,
we see diverging activities being planned by Turkey and Armenians.
When Turkish acquaintances ask me what the Armenians, especially the
`evil Diaspora', are planning to do in 2015, I answer that they are
planning programs to assert historical facts about the vanishing of
Armenians from Anatolia in 1915. Then I turn around with a question of
my own: `What are the Turks doing?' Their short answer is that the
Turks will continue to dismiss the "misinformation" that the Armenians
are disseminating. Thus, the Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora
redouble their efforts to have genocide recognition more widespread
worldwide, and the Turks continue pouring more money and resources to
entrench the official genocide denialist policy both within and
outside Turkey.
In an attempt to divert global attention from the 1915 Armenian
genocide commemoration, Turkey has decided to promote the 100th
anniversary of the First World War Gallipoli campaign, to be showcased
as a historic event through government supported activities worldwide
and hailed as the `heroic resistance of the Turkish forces against the
onslaught of the imperialistic powers at the Dardanelles.'
One can easily deduce from these opposing strategies and efforts that
the main stumbling block for Turkey and Armenia, as neighbors, in
normalizing their relationship and the reconciliation of their
respective civil societies, is the divergence of interpretation and
understanding of their shared history. The result is an impasse. By
this time next year, I doubt there will be much change and the impasse
will go on. The issue will continue to be treated as a political match
with points scored for Turkey if Obama continues saying `Medz
Yeghern', or points for Armenia if he says `Genocide'.
There are geopolitical, military, and economic reasons for the status
quo to continue. Armenia may not be influential enough to overcome any
of these reasons at present. Be that as it may, I believe Armenians
can be more effective if they re-channel their resources, which are
extremely limited in comparison to Turkey, in this struggle. I see two
target areas for Armenians to make any headway on this issue, and in
my humble opinion, neither one is addressed properly by Armenia and
Armenians.
The first target in dealing with the genocide issue is the academic
field. It is supposed to arrive at indisputable historic facts, after
thorough and objective research of a multitude of state archives,
documents, communication records, and oral history findings. The
struggle in this field regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide can be
best summarized as forces of truth versus money and power. On one side
there is truth defended by almost all of the international academia,
and on the other side, falsification of truth by a handful of scholars
generously rewarded with funds provided by the Turkish state.
The second target in dealing with the genocide issue is the general
population of Turkey, with the objective of conveying to them the
historical truth of the 1915 events and all the consequences until
today. This truth is best served when delivered in to the people of
Turkey, in Turkish, based on archival material and historic facts
directly from Turkish sources and their allies, covering the period
from the 1880's to 1922, as well as the factual consequences of the
on-going state cover-up and denial.
Academically, the only organization which spearheads and organizes
objective research by independent scholars on this topic is the Zoryan
Institute with its subsidiary, the International Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies. For the past thirty plus years, it
has provided the highest standards of scholarship and objectivity in
undertaking multi-disciplinary research and analysis. This includes
documentation, lectures, conferences and publications in 7 languages
related to human rights and genocide studies. The publications include
some 41 books, some of which in several languages and 2 major
periodicals, one dealing with genocide studies and the other with
diaspora.
In addition, the Institute provides research assistance to scholars,
writers, journalists, filmmakers, government agencies and other
organizations. It is noteworthy that when Zoryan published the
Wolfgang Gust book titled 'The Armenian Genocide 1915/16: Documents
from the Diplomatic Archives of the German Office', in German, English
and Turkish, prominent Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand could only
reflect: `When you read and study these documents, even if this is
your first venture into this subject, there is no way you will deny
the genocide and disagree with the Armenians'.
Even though the Turkish state defines Zoryan as a `propaganda centre',
there have been several scholars from Turkey who have attended the
Genocide and Human Rights University Program run by the Zoryan
Institute at the University of Toronto, many of them becoming
outspoken advocates of historic truth within Turkey and the rest of
the world, regarding the 1915 Armenian genocide.
To best describe Zoryan's contribution to scholarship is to quote from
A Plea from International Scholars of Genocide and Human Rights
Studies made last year in support of fundraising activities of the
Institute:
"For the past thirty years, the Institute has maintained an ambitious
program to collect archival documentation, conduct original research,
and publish books and periodicals. It also conducts university-level
educational programs in the field of Genocide and Human Rights
Studies, taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach in its
examination of the Jewish Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the
Rwandan Genocide, among others, using the Armenian Genocide as a point
of reference. In the process, using the highest academic standards,
the Institute has strived to understand the phenomenon of genocide,
establish the incontestable, historical truth of the Armenian
Genocide, and raise awareness of it among academics and
opinion-makers. In the face of the continuing problem of genocide in
the twenty-first century, the Institute is to be commended for its
service to the academic community and is recognized by scholars for
providing leadership and a support structure in promoting the cause of
universal human rights and the prevention of genocide."
Despite the herculean effort and outstanding results, Zoryan Institute
receives no appreciable financial support or acknowledgment from major
Armenian organizations, parties or the state. The institute is
supported entirely by private donations. Against it, there exist the
full power and unlimited funds of the Turkish state, and more recently
the Azerbaijan state, who attempt to lure scholars to rewrite history
according to their versions. As a result, the Turkish State Historic
Society reduces the number of 1915 Armenian victims with every new
publication; at last count, a few thousand Armenians died of illness
and hunger, while the number of Turkish victims of 'genocide'
perpetrated by the Armenians increases every year and is now more than
two million. By the same strategy, the number of Azeri dead in the
Khojalu 'genocide' keeps increasing with every publication.
Dialogue between two conflicting parties can be meaningful only after
both parties are aware of the truth and the facts. Even though the
Turkish state has not allowed the truth and the facts of 1915 to come
out until recently, there are now clear signs that the taboos about
1915 are finally broken and that there is an emerging `common body of
knowledge' among the Turkish citizens and more importantly, among the
opinion makers. Zoryan contributed immensely to the development of
this 'common body of knowledge' through conferences, seminars, and the
books it helped publish, by authors such as Yair Auron, Taner Akcam,
Wolfgang Gust, Roger Smith, Vahakn Dadrian, Rifat Bali and many
others.
Given all this, I submit that Armenians should support the Zoryan
Institute so that it can continue its work developing the common body
of knowledge to be shared by the Armenians and Turks. Hopefully,
shared history will help these neighbouring people reconcile with
their pasts and such reconciliation will help secure a future for
generations to come.
I will elaborate on the second target of how to convey the truth to
the general population of Turkey, and its challenges, in a separate
article.
From: A. Papazian