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Turkish Universities Postpone Armenian Conf. under Govmt pressure

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  • Turkish Universities Postpone Armenian Conf. under Govmt pressure

    Turkish universities postpone Armenian conference under government pressure

    AP Worldstream
    May 25, 2005

    SUZAN FRASER


    Three Turkish universities postponed a conference to discuss last
    century's mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks after the
    justice minister accused organizers of "treachery," officials said
    Wednesday.

    In the three-day conference, which was scheduled to start Wednesday at
    Istanbul's Bosporus University, academics were going to debate
    Turkey's official position on the deaths that occurred as the Ottoman
    Empire forced Armenians from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923.

    The postponement _ a sign that Turkey may not be ready to tolerate
    dissenting voices on sensitive subjects _ could be a further setback
    to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union, which is pressuring
    the country to adopt greater freedoms. The country is scheduled to
    start membership talks on Oct. 3.

    In a speech in parliament Tuesday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
    severely criticized the conference, saying it went against government
    efforts to counter an Armenian campaign to have the killings
    recognized as genocide.

    Some "say there is no freedom, well there is the freedom of stabbing
    the people in the back and of telling lies ... We have to put an end
    to this period of propaganda ... of treachery," Cicek said.

    Armenians say Ottoman Turks killed some 1.5 million of their people in
    a deliberate campaign of genocide. Turkey says the death count is
    inflated and insists that Armenians were killed or displaced in civil
    unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

    The issue, a dark chapter in Turkish history, is rarely discussed or
    taught in schools, and it would have been the first time a conference
    questioning the official line was held.

    Organizers issued a statement hours after Cicek's speech saying the
    conference was postponed. Hundreds of people were scheduled to take
    part in the conference, organized by Bosporus, Bilgi and Sabanci
    universities.

    Muge Gocek, a professor of sociology at Michigan University who
    traveled to Istanbul for the conference, said she was disillusioned.

    "I am very sad and disappointed," Gocek said Wednesday. "It would have
    been a forum that showed that democracy worked in Turkey and that
    different voices can be heard."

    "How can anyone judge me without hearing what I have to say?" she
    asked.

    On Wednesday, the umbrella group, the Union of Turkish Civil Society
    Organizations, staged a brief protest in front of Bosporus University,
    condemning what they said was an "effort by treacherous groups to
    declare the Turkish nation guilty."

    A human rights organization was critical of Cicek.

    "We strongly condemn politicians, and especially the Justice Minister
    ..., who prevented the Armenian conference from taking place through
    pressure, threats and statements that make (organizers) targets" for
    attacks, the Ankara-based Human Rights Association said.

    Turkey is eager to counter Armenian diaspora groups that are pushing
    European governments and the United States to declare the killings
    genocide. The issue has gained new urgency as Turkey seeks EU
    membership. French President Jacques Chirac has said Turkey must
    acknowledge the killings before it can join.

    Several countries, including Argentina, Canada, France and Russia,
    have declared the killings a genocide.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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