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ANCA challenges Genocide denial at Institute of Turkish Studies event
11:05 06.02.2014
Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) Treasurer Edward Erickson responded
angrily to Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) questions
about his position on the Armenian Genocide and his organization's
ties to the Turkish government, threatening to have ANCA Government
Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian removed from a lecture he gave this
afternoon at Georgetown University.
"Can we get her out of here?" was Dr. Erickson's response to
Nahapetian's inquiry about whether he believed the murder of 1.5
million Armenians constituted genocide. "This is not Turkey,"
retorted Nahapetian, noting that those holding positions not shared by
the lecturer cannot simply be silenced in the U.S.
The ITS had arranged for Dr. Erickson to lecture at the
GeorgetownUniversityCenter for Contemporary Arab Studies Boardroom on
his latest book.
Referencing Dr. Erickson's opening assertion that history has an
agenda, that "resources drive policy" and "resources determine
policy," ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian asked Dr. Erickson to
clarify the Institute of Turkish Studies ties to the Turkish
government and its policy of genocide denial. Dr. Erickson
acknowledged that the ITS was founded by a grant by the Turkish
government but claimed that "the ITS has no strings attached, is not a
puppet or an organ of the Turkish Government. It operates as a
separate entity. It makes its own decisions and its agenda has
nothing to do with anything Armenian or the denial of the genocide."
Nahapetian challenged that assertion, reminding Dr. Erickson and
attendees that former ITS Chairman Donald Quataert felt compelled to
relinquish his position with the organization following a meeting with
then Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Nabi Sensoy, precipitated by an
article Quataert had written acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. In
a 2008 "Inside Higher Ed" article, Quataert told reporter Scott
Jaschik that the Ambassador "made it clear that if I did not separate
myself as chairman of the board that funding for the institute would
be withdrawn by the Turkish government and the institute would be
destroyed." Jaschik's complete article on the topic, titled "Is
Turkey Muzzling U.S. Scholars?" is available at:
ITS ties with the Turkish government were explored extensively in the
Spring, 1995, "Holocaust and Genocide Studies" journal article, titled
"Professional Ethics and the Denial of Armenian Genocide" by Dr. Roger
W. Smith, Dr. Eric Markusen and Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, the full text
of which is available here:
Voice of America reporter Arsen Kharatyan and other attendees
including Lee Jundanian and Dikran Dourian asked questions, expressed
their concerns about Dr. Erickson's flawed scholarship and his ties to
Turkey's international campaign of genocide denial. In what was
perhaps the most puzzling moment of the talk, when questioned a second
time on his position regarding the Armenian Genocide, this time by
Kharatyan, Dr. Erickson replied, "There are days I wake up and I think
'It's probably genocide.' There are days I wake up and I think
'probably not'."
Following the lecture, Hamparian commented, "We saw today yet another
angry attempt by an Ankara-funded organization, this time the
Institute of Turkish Studies, to enforce - right here in America -
Turkey's shameful gag-rule on the Armenian Genocide."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/02/06/anca-challenges-genocide-denial-at-institute-of-turkish-studies-event/
11:05 06.02.2014
Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) Treasurer Edward Erickson responded
angrily to Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) questions
about his position on the Armenian Genocide and his organization's
ties to the Turkish government, threatening to have ANCA Government
Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian removed from a lecture he gave this
afternoon at Georgetown University.
"Can we get her out of here?" was Dr. Erickson's response to
Nahapetian's inquiry about whether he believed the murder of 1.5
million Armenians constituted genocide. "This is not Turkey,"
retorted Nahapetian, noting that those holding positions not shared by
the lecturer cannot simply be silenced in the U.S.
The ITS had arranged for Dr. Erickson to lecture at the
GeorgetownUniversityCenter for Contemporary Arab Studies Boardroom on
his latest book.
Referencing Dr. Erickson's opening assertion that history has an
agenda, that "resources drive policy" and "resources determine
policy," ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian asked Dr. Erickson to
clarify the Institute of Turkish Studies ties to the Turkish
government and its policy of genocide denial. Dr. Erickson
acknowledged that the ITS was founded by a grant by the Turkish
government but claimed that "the ITS has no strings attached, is not a
puppet or an organ of the Turkish Government. It operates as a
separate entity. It makes its own decisions and its agenda has
nothing to do with anything Armenian or the denial of the genocide."
Nahapetian challenged that assertion, reminding Dr. Erickson and
attendees that former ITS Chairman Donald Quataert felt compelled to
relinquish his position with the organization following a meeting with
then Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Nabi Sensoy, precipitated by an
article Quataert had written acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. In
a 2008 "Inside Higher Ed" article, Quataert told reporter Scott
Jaschik that the Ambassador "made it clear that if I did not separate
myself as chairman of the board that funding for the institute would
be withdrawn by the Turkish government and the institute would be
destroyed." Jaschik's complete article on the topic, titled "Is
Turkey Muzzling U.S. Scholars?" is available at:
ITS ties with the Turkish government were explored extensively in the
Spring, 1995, "Holocaust and Genocide Studies" journal article, titled
"Professional Ethics and the Denial of Armenian Genocide" by Dr. Roger
W. Smith, Dr. Eric Markusen and Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, the full text
of which is available here:
Voice of America reporter Arsen Kharatyan and other attendees
including Lee Jundanian and Dikran Dourian asked questions, expressed
their concerns about Dr. Erickson's flawed scholarship and his ties to
Turkey's international campaign of genocide denial. In what was
perhaps the most puzzling moment of the talk, when questioned a second
time on his position regarding the Armenian Genocide, this time by
Kharatyan, Dr. Erickson replied, "There are days I wake up and I think
'It's probably genocide.' There are days I wake up and I think
'probably not'."
Following the lecture, Hamparian commented, "We saw today yet another
angry attempt by an Ankara-funded organization, this time the
Institute of Turkish Studies, to enforce - right here in America -
Turkey's shameful gag-rule on the Armenian Genocide."
http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/02/06/anca-challenges-genocide-denial-at-institute-of-turkish-studies-event/