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EDITORIAL: UCLA COMMUNITY SHOULD STAND AGAINST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL
January 15, 2015 12:00 am
BY EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Turkish Cultural Club tried to deny on Tuesday that
the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians near the start of the 20th
century was a genocide.
Denying the existence of a genocide is a heinous act that degrades the
experience of an entire people and is threatening to the prevention
of future racism and genocides.
To an audience of Armenian students and the undergraduate student
government, members of the Turkish Cultural Club defended the Turkish
government, which has failed to recognize the genocide for the
last century. The presentation and public comments were part of the
group's efforts to sway councilmembers to vote against a resolution
next week that calls for the University of California to divest from
the Republic of Turkey.
More than 40 U.S. states and 22 countries, and the United Nations
SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
But citing "documents" and "scholars," the students at the meeting said
it was not a fact. Mark Bhaskar, a second-year political science and
Middle Eastern studies student who presented, read a quote calling the
genocide a "secondary matter." Gulnaz Kiper, president of the Turkish
Cultural Club and third-year psychology student, said there is "an
open debate going on in Turkey" about the existence of the genocide.
These statements are a flagrant denial of historical facts. Genocide
denial should not happen anywhere, and especially not at a university
that is supposed to be one of the best in the world. The students
who called facts into question Tuesday night demonstrated a lack of
moral conscience.
At the meeting, Bhaskar said he thinks the resolution is "a racist
attempt to drive a wedge between the Turkish and Armenian communities
here at UCLA."
The true wedge is the Turkish students' attempts to minimize a genocide
and stand on the side of a government that denies its existence.
The real divide comes from not listening to people who have lived
through the truth and from standing in front of a group of peers and
downplaying the murder of their people.
Though Kiper said she doesn't think it matters if she calls it
a genocide or not, it does. Words matter, whether they come from
students or from official institutions that should know better.
Of course, students from the Turkish Cultural Club are allowed to
speak whether they are refusing to acknowledge historical truths or
not. But rational UCLA students, professors and administrators need
to speak louder.
If this unworthy debate continues, UCLA officials and the UCLA
community should make it known that they wholeheartedly support facts
and condemn genocide denial. If the UCLA community does not speak up
and criticize these acts when they continue, they are allowing for
the profound disrespect of a people and their history.
This is not just a battle for Armenian students to fight.
http://dailybruin.com/2015/01/15/editorial-ucla-community-should-stand-against-armenian-genocide-denial/
From: Baghdasarian
January 15, 2015 12:00 am
BY EDITORIAL BOARD
Members of the Turkish Cultural Club tried to deny on Tuesday that
the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians near the start of the 20th
century was a genocide.
Denying the existence of a genocide is a heinous act that degrades the
experience of an entire people and is threatening to the prevention
of future racism and genocides.
To an audience of Armenian students and the undergraduate student
government, members of the Turkish Cultural Club defended the Turkish
government, which has failed to recognize the genocide for the
last century. The presentation and public comments were part of the
group's efforts to sway councilmembers to vote against a resolution
next week that calls for the University of California to divest from
the Republic of Turkey.
More than 40 U.S. states and 22 countries, and the United Nations
SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
But citing "documents" and "scholars," the students at the meeting said
it was not a fact. Mark Bhaskar, a second-year political science and
Middle Eastern studies student who presented, read a quote calling the
genocide a "secondary matter." Gulnaz Kiper, president of the Turkish
Cultural Club and third-year psychology student, said there is "an
open debate going on in Turkey" about the existence of the genocide.
These statements are a flagrant denial of historical facts. Genocide
denial should not happen anywhere, and especially not at a university
that is supposed to be one of the best in the world. The students
who called facts into question Tuesday night demonstrated a lack of
moral conscience.
At the meeting, Bhaskar said he thinks the resolution is "a racist
attempt to drive a wedge between the Turkish and Armenian communities
here at UCLA."
The true wedge is the Turkish students' attempts to minimize a genocide
and stand on the side of a government that denies its existence.
The real divide comes from not listening to people who have lived
through the truth and from standing in front of a group of peers and
downplaying the murder of their people.
Though Kiper said she doesn't think it matters if she calls it
a genocide or not, it does. Words matter, whether they come from
students or from official institutions that should know better.
Of course, students from the Turkish Cultural Club are allowed to
speak whether they are refusing to acknowledge historical truths or
not. But rational UCLA students, professors and administrators need
to speak louder.
If this unworthy debate continues, UCLA officials and the UCLA
community should make it known that they wholeheartedly support facts
and condemn genocide denial. If the UCLA community does not speak up
and criticize these acts when they continue, they are allowing for
the profound disrespect of a people and their history.
This is not just a battle for Armenian students to fight.
http://dailybruin.com/2015/01/15/editorial-ucla-community-should-stand-against-armenian-genocide-denial/
From: Baghdasarian