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ASUC SENATE PASSES DIVESTMENT FROM REPUBLIC OF TURKEY IN UNANIMOUS VOTE
Daily Californian
Feb 19 2015
By Angel Grace Jennings | Staff
The ASUC Senate unanimously passed a bill urging UC Berkeley, the UC
Berkeley Foundation and the University of California to divest from
the Republic of Turkey and an affiliate institution Wednesday night.
The bill cites the Republic of Turkey's denial of what many countries
recognize as a genocide of the Armenian people beginning in 1915, as
well as what the bill calls a "campaign of Armenian cultural erasure,"
as its impetus for divesting funds.
The bill calls for divestment from both the Republic of Turkey and
the Export Credit Bank of Turkey, of which the Turkish treasury is
the sole shareholder. The UCLA student government unanimously passed
a similar measure last month.
The University of California's investment holdings in the Republic
of Turkey and the Export Credit Bank, as reported in 2012, totaled
more than $74,000,000.
"I'm a descendant of the Armenian Genocide and, as a student who pays
tuition to the UC, I felt that it wasn't fair that my tuition money
was going to a government that denies my history and the history
of my people," said Sareen Habeshian, a UC Berkeley sophomore and
blogger at The Daily Californian, who co-authored the bill.
Independent Senator Marium Navid, primary sponsor of the bill, said
she expects other UC campuses to follow the example set by UC Berkeley
and UCLA.
"As students, if we keep pushing at this level for years to come and
have a unified voice, it will send the message we need," Navid said.
Yusuf Mercan, a UC Berkeley graduate student who voiced opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said he objects to the "casual" use of
the terms "genocide" and "denial" in the bill.
"This is a very specific and serious crime, and the senate should
not pass judgement on such an issue and act as a tribunal," he said
in an email.
Mercan said he believes that since the bill directly references the
Republic of Turkey, the Turkish Student Association should have been
informed in advance. Habeshian, however, said the bill did not intend
to target any particular students on campus, and that the authors
didn't think it was their responsibility to reach out to the Turkish
Student Association.
"We have had Turkish students who support us and who recognize the
genocide, but they are too afraid to speak up," Habeshian said.
Omer Selamoglu, a UC Berkeley law student who also spoke in opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said the senate's proceedings were biased
and did not present a neutral place to discuss the issue.
"The ASUC's decision was made without adequate information in an
intimidating atmosphere -- how democratic can that be?" said Efe Atli,
a junior and former Daily Californian staffer who was born in Turkey,
in an email.
Before committee members voted on the bill, nearly every senator and
several executive officers asked to be listed as co-sponsors.
Despite this, Navid was not confident that the regents would
immediately respond to the bill. She said that based on past divestment
campaigns, she believes "it takes many years for the message to
be sent."
The regents' most recent statement about their divestment policy,
released in 2010, says that the University of California will only
divest if the federal government declares that a foreign regime is
committing acts of genocide.
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/02/19/asuc-senate-passes-divestment-republic-turkey-unanimous-vote/
Daily Californian
Feb 19 2015
By Angel Grace Jennings | Staff
The ASUC Senate unanimously passed a bill urging UC Berkeley, the UC
Berkeley Foundation and the University of California to divest from
the Republic of Turkey and an affiliate institution Wednesday night.
The bill cites the Republic of Turkey's denial of what many countries
recognize as a genocide of the Armenian people beginning in 1915, as
well as what the bill calls a "campaign of Armenian cultural erasure,"
as its impetus for divesting funds.
The bill calls for divestment from both the Republic of Turkey and
the Export Credit Bank of Turkey, of which the Turkish treasury is
the sole shareholder. The UCLA student government unanimously passed
a similar measure last month.
The University of California's investment holdings in the Republic
of Turkey and the Export Credit Bank, as reported in 2012, totaled
more than $74,000,000.
"I'm a descendant of the Armenian Genocide and, as a student who pays
tuition to the UC, I felt that it wasn't fair that my tuition money
was going to a government that denies my history and the history
of my people," said Sareen Habeshian, a UC Berkeley sophomore and
blogger at The Daily Californian, who co-authored the bill.
Independent Senator Marium Navid, primary sponsor of the bill, said
she expects other UC campuses to follow the example set by UC Berkeley
and UCLA.
"As students, if we keep pushing at this level for years to come and
have a unified voice, it will send the message we need," Navid said.
Yusuf Mercan, a UC Berkeley graduate student who voiced opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said he objects to the "casual" use of
the terms "genocide" and "denial" in the bill.
"This is a very specific and serious crime, and the senate should
not pass judgement on such an issue and act as a tribunal," he said
in an email.
Mercan said he believes that since the bill directly references the
Republic of Turkey, the Turkish Student Association should have been
informed in advance. Habeshian, however, said the bill did not intend
to target any particular students on campus, and that the authors
didn't think it was their responsibility to reach out to the Turkish
Student Association.
"We have had Turkish students who support us and who recognize the
genocide, but they are too afraid to speak up," Habeshian said.
Omer Selamoglu, a UC Berkeley law student who also spoke in opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said the senate's proceedings were biased
and did not present a neutral place to discuss the issue.
"The ASUC's decision was made without adequate information in an
intimidating atmosphere -- how democratic can that be?" said Efe Atli,
a junior and former Daily Californian staffer who was born in Turkey,
in an email.
Before committee members voted on the bill, nearly every senator and
several executive officers asked to be listed as co-sponsors.
Despite this, Navid was not confident that the regents would
immediately respond to the bill. She said that based on past divestment
campaigns, she believes "it takes many years for the message to
be sent."
The regents' most recent statement about their divestment policy,
released in 2010, says that the University of California will only
divest if the federal government declares that a foreign regime is
committing acts of genocide.
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/02/19/asuc-senate-passes-divestment-republic-turkey-unanimous-vote/