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Rationalizing Genocide Denial: Asbarez's Response To Libaridian

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  • Rationalizing Genocide Denial: Asbarez's Response To Libaridian

    RATIONALIZING GENOCIDE DENIAL: ASBAREZ'S RESPONSE TO LIBARIDIAN

    http://asbarez.com/112300/rationalizing-genocide-denial-asbarezs-response-to-libaridian/
    Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

    Genocide denial

    On June 5, Asbarez published an article by its editor, Ara
    Khachatourian, entitled "Armenian Scholars at the Center of Genocide
    Denial," in which he questioned the participation of Armenian scholars
    at a conference in Tbilisi organized by the Turkish Studies Project
    of the University of Utah, which is funded by the notorious Genocide
    denial-machine known as the Turkish Coalition of America.

    Arguing that the participation of Armenian scholars in such conferences
    feeds into the decades-long Turkish denialist efforts, Khachatourian
    challenged the Armenian scholars who went to Tbilisi to "be accountable
    to the public" and through the Armenian press "report on their efforts
    to 'counter' Genocide denial in these forums."

    Asbarez subsequently published a letter to the editor on the matter
    and republished a piece from its sister publication, The Armenian
    Weekly, entitled "The Case Against Legitimizing Genocide Deniers:
    Scholars Speak Up," in which several prominent scholars expressed
    their views on the Tbilisi conference.

    Soon after the publication of the aforementioned articles, Asbarez
    was contacted by Professor Jirair Libaridian, who was scheduled
    to deliver a keynote at the Tbilisi conference, asking for an
    opportunity to respond to the articles. Libaridian was the former
    adviser to President Levon Ter-Petrosian and one of the architects
    of the failed Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission, which had
    an agenda to discuss the "historical fact" of the Armenian Genocide
    and emboldened the notion argued by Turks that the veracity of the
    Genocide can be questioned within political and academic circles.

    We received his response, in which he terms the Asbarez article
    "libelous," and are publishing it simultaneously with our response.

    While Libaridian claims he is answering the challenge put forth
    by Khachatourian in his initial article, the response is a lengthy
    rationalization of Armenian scholars' participation in conferences
    organized by Turkish denialists as well as misplaced attacks on
    Asbarez and The Armenian Weekly. Judge for yourself.

    It is also worth noting that the Turkish press and the TCA went
    to great lengths to admonish Asbarez and The Armenian Weekly,
    accusing the publications of "doing everything they can to block
    the way forward, even putting heavy pressure on Armenians who want
    to participate in these programs. In this way, many intellectuals
    are prevented from joining in the general process of compromise and
    solution-finding [Today's Zaman 6/19/2012]." The same publication
    dubbed the Armenians who participated in the conference as scholars
    who are "open to compromise."

    Similarly, the TCA, in an electronic newsletter sent to its supporters
    condemned Asbarez and The Armenian Weekly for "humiliating" and
    "threatening" the scholars who took part in the Tbilisi conference.

    The TCA went on to deny the Genocide further by saying: "The fact
    remains that the full narrative of the contested historical period is
    still a matter of controversy among historians and other scholars. The
    continued study of this period in Ottoman-Armenian relations is
    essential. But such study should not require a genocide-or-not-genocide
    litmus test as an entry point."

    A US Federal Appeals Court in May 2012 designated TCA as an
    organization engaging in Genocide denial when it sued an academic
    institution for advancing Genocide awareness. In his response,
    Libaridian neglects to discuss the TCA's denialist track record and
    the impact the organization had on the Tbilisi conference and on
    Genocide denial generally.

    Libaridian's assertion that Asbarez, Khachatourian or The Armenian
    Weekly should have contacted him prior to publishing the articles,
    which he calls an "assault," is unwarranted since Khachatourian and the
    subsequent articles substantiated the premise and, in Khachatourian's
    case, challenged the Armenian scholars in attendance to present to
    the public the thesis they presented, not merely as justification
    for participation but to enlighten the Armenian public at large about
    the ways in which they are countering denialist efforts, even if they
    are attending conferences organized by rabid deniers. Incidentally,
    none of the participants have answered Khachatourian's call as of
    the date of this publication.

    "We believe that denialist-funded and denialist-organized conferences
    are best left to denialists," wrote The Armenian Weekly in its response
    to the same article by Libaridian.

    It seems Libaridian is outraged that Asbarez and The Armenian Weekly
    informed their readers about the existence of such a conference. If
    we had not shed light on the Tbilisi conference, Libaridian and the
    academicians who participated in the conference would have gone
    about their business of scholarship without being called to task
    or accountability.

    In its response, the Weekly also argued that "Had Holocaust scholars
    not had the wisdom to marginalize Holocaust deniers decades ago,
    they would still be arguing with fringe elements because denialists
    will never be satisfied with any amount of evidence presented."

    We remain steadfast in our opposition to any effort to deny the
    Armenian Genocide or dispute its veracity. Hence our publication's
    strong stance against the dangerous Armenia-Turkey Protocols and its
    predecessor-enabler-the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission. At
    the same time, we reiterate the challenge posed by Khachatourian
    in his initial article to the Armenian scholars who attended the
    Tbilisi conference.




    From: A. Papazian
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