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  • AAA: Turkish Scholars Protest Postponement of Armenian GenocideConfe

    Armenian Assembly of America
    1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
    Washington, DC 20036
    Phone: 202-393-3434
    Fax: 202-638-4904
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: www.armenianassembly.org

    MEDIA ALERT
    June 1, 2005
    CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
    Email: [email protected]

    RE: Turkish Scholars Protest Postponement of Armenian Genocide Conference

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with President
    Bush on June 8 in Washington to again brand his country as a mature
    and democratic nation ready for EU membership. In the last week,
    however, Turkey has again shown that its actions run contrary to
    the rosy image it tries to portray. The forced postponement of an
    unprecedented Armenian Genocide conference at Bosphrous University
    had led hundreds of Turkish academics to protest the government's
    latest assault on free speech.

    Below are the latest news release by the International Association of
    Genocide Scholars and a letter from a representative of the Middle
    East Studies Association to Prime Minister Erdogan condemning the
    Turkish government's interference with academic freedom.

    The Armenian Assembly will continue to monitor this official assault on
    academic freedom and will report any developments as they happen. On
    the eve of Prime Minister Erdogan's official visit to the U.S.,
    we urge ongoing coverage and commentary.

    The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
    nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
    of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
    organization.

    NR#2005-057
    ************************************************** *********************

    ISSUED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
    INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS
    Affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Genocide
    John Jay College of Criminal Justice
    899 Tenth Avenue, Room 325
    New York, NY 10019

    Contact: Robert Melson, President
    [email protected]
    Tel: (765) 494-4187

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    MAY 29, 2005

    INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS
    - NEWS RELEASE -

    We who serve as the Executive Committee of the International
    Association of Genocide Scholars protest and condemn the cancellation
    of the historians conference on the Armenian question in Turkey by
    the Turkish government as a major violation of basic standards of
    academic freedom in the free world.

    At long last, Turkish academics and intellectuals, sponsored by
    three honorable universities, were scheduled to conduct a conference
    in which the historical reality of the Armenian genocide was to be
    examined by many of the participating lecturers.

    The government of Turkey is understandably struggling to win its
    possible acceptance as a member of the European Union, and it is in
    this climate that many Turkish intellectuals have moved courageously
    to address the Armenian genocide, a truth which is still punishable
    by Turkish law.

    For the Turkish government to cancel the conference is a shameful
    step and a setback to Turkey joining the free world in its growing
    standards of historical truth and responsibility.

    The Executive Committee of the International Association of Genocide
    Scholars calls on the Republic of Turkey to allow full and free debate
    and academic scholarship on the fate of the Armenian people in Ottoman
    Turkey in 1915-1923.

    ROBERT MELSON, President, International Association of Genocide
    Scholars, Professor of Political Science, Purdue University

    ISRAEL W. CHARNY, Vice-President, International Association of Genocide
    Scholars, Professor of Psychology and Family Therapy, Hebrew University
    of Jerusalem

    STEVEN L. JACOBS, Secretary-Treasurer, International Association
    of Genocide Scholars, Associate Professor of Religious Studies,
    University of Alabama

    ####

    ************************************************** *******************
    May 27, 2005

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    Office of the Prime Minister
    Basbakanlik
    06573 Ankara, Turkey

    Via facsimile +90 312 417 0476

    Dear Prime Minister Erdogan:

    I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association
    of North America, and its Committee on Academic Freedom, in order
    to express our grave concern over actions taken by members of
    your government which precipitated the decision of the rector of
    Bosphorus University to cancel an academic conference entitled,
    "Ottoman Armenians in the Period of the Empire's Collapse." These
    actions violate the academic freedom and human rights of Turkish
    scholars, a number of whom are members of our association.

    The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) comprises
    2600 academics worldwide who teach and conduct research on the Middle
    East and North Africa. It is the preeminent professional association
    in the field and publishes the International Journal of Middle East
    Studies. MESA is committed to ensuring respect for the principles
    of academic freedom and freedom of expression in the region and in
    connection with the study of the Middle East and North Africa. The
    organization also counts among its membership many of the world's
    leading experts on the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic
    of Turkey.

    The conference was to have been held May 25-27, 2005 at Bosphorus
    University in Istanbul. Organized by members of the history, sociology
    and comparative literature faculties of both Bosphorus and Sabanci
    universities, the conference sought to address in a scholarly, open and
    critical manner issues surrounding the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Aided
    by an international advisory committee of academics from Turkey and
    abroad, the conference's organizers adhered in their preparations to
    all Turkish laws regarding public assemblies and academic gatherings.

    However, according to published press reports, following
    intense criticism by Turkish government officials and
    parliamentarians-including Minister of Justice, Cemil Cicek, who
    accused those organizing the conference of being guilty of "treason
    and insult"-the university officials cancelled the meetings just hours
    before they were to begin. Citing "prejudicial statements [which]
    have been advanced [by government officials] regarding the contents
    of a conference that is yet to be held," the university officials
    noted that these statements give "cause for concern that [they]
    will result in undermining the academic freedom of state universities."

    As a member state of the Council of Europe and a signatory of
    the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
    Fundamental Freedoms, Turkey is required to protect freedom of
    thought, expression and assembly. These rights are also enshrined in
    the Turkish Constitution of 1982.

    Therefore we urge your government to take all necessary steps to
    ensure that this conference may be held as planned and as soon as
    possible. Just as important, and particularly given Justice Minister
    Cicek's use of the word "treason," a charge that conjures up memories
    of some of worst forms of persecution of scholars and intellectuals
    through history, we ask that you assure conference participants
    and organizers that they will face no official criminal charges or
    other sanctions following the presentation of their research in this
    gathering. We ask that you ensure there will be no attempts to censor
    their work prior to its presentation and further, that all measures
    required will be taken to secure the personal safety of conference
    participants and allow open and free academic exchange. Finally, we
    encourage you to preclude the implementation of any of the provisions
    of Article 305 of the new Turkish Penal Code, which could be used to
    arrest academics who express unpopular ideas or revisionist views of
    the past.

    I would appreciate the honor of discussing the work of the Middle
    East Studies Association with you during your visit to Washington,
    DC in June if your schedule permits.

    Sincerely,

    Ali Banuazizi
    President, Middle East Studies Association
    Professor, Boston College

    CC: H.E. Dr. Osman Faruk Logoglu,
    Turkish Ambassador to the United States
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