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Noam Chomsky Among Speakers At MIT Armenian Progressive Politics For

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  • Noam Chomsky Among Speakers At MIT Armenian Progressive Politics For

    NOAM CHOMSKY AMONG SPEAKERS AT MIT ARMENIAN PROGRESSIVE POLITICS FORUM

    Friday, October 3rd, 2014
    http://asbarez.com/127572/noam-chomsky-among-speakers-at-mit-armenian-progressive-politics-forum/

    A scene from the discussion between Chomsky and Barsamian (Photo by
    Aaron Spagnolo)

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Armenian Weekly)--A distinguished line-up of speakers
    from Armenia, Turkey, Europe, and the United States examined Turkey,
    the media, Turkish-Armenian relations, and genocide reparations at
    the Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) conference held at the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Sept. 26-27.

    In the opening plenary on Sept. 26 in MIT's Kresge Auditorium, APP
    organizing committee member Khatchig Mouradian delivered welcoming
    remarks and invited internationally renowned scholar, activist,
    and public intellectual Noam Chomsky and Alternative Radio's David
    Barsamian to the podium. Chomsky and Barsamian discussed imperialism,
    social movements such as the Gezi Park protests in Turkey, its
    treatment of the Kurds, ISIS, the implications of the recent Scottish
    referendum, "worthy" versus "unworthy" victims, and Turkish politics.

    Panels on the media, Turkish-Armenian relations, reparations for the
    Armenian Genocide, and a closing discussion took place the following
    day, also at MIT.

    How and why the mainstream media has created its narrative on Armenian
    and Turkish issues was explored by Levon Chorbajian of UMass Lowell,
    filmmaker Carla Garapedian, and journalist Aris Nalci from Istanbul,
    and moderated by writer/activist Laura Boghosian. They looked at how
    corporate and foreign policy considerations influence reporting on
    Armenia and Turkey, particularly on the Armenian Genocide, which is
    often framed as a controversy rather than a fact.

    Examining Ben Bagdikian's monumental work The Media Monopoly and
    the book co-authored by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky titled
    Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media,
    Chorbajian explored the ways in which the media operates in the U.S.

    and how that impacts their reporting on a number of foreign policy
    issues, including the Armenian Genocide.

    Garapedian argued that the formula "more media coverage leads to
    justice," does not hold. She highlighted cases over the past two
    decades when the mainstream media covered the Armenian Genocide, and
    then the news cycles moved on, and the coverage did not result in U.S.

    recognition and justice.

    The audience following the discussion (Photo by Aaron Spagnolo)

    Nalci discussed the situation of the mainstream media in Turkey,
    providing insight into the way the media operates through analysis and
    several examples from recent years. Talking about the Turkish media's
    coverage of the Armenian Genocide, he argued that more coverage does
    not necessarily mean better coverage, and predicted more of the same
    as the centennial of the Genocide approached.

    Prof. Bilgin Ayata traveled from Berlin, Germany, to join Peter
    Balakian of Colgate University, Marc Mamigonian of the National
    Association of Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), and the
    University of Chicago's Ronald Suny. The panel--moderated by
    Mouradian-- considered several aspects of Turkish-Armenian relations.

    Ayata discussed Kurdish-Armenian relations in light of recent
    developments. As power asymmetries and serious problems in discourse
    marred Turkish-Kurdish and Turkish-Armenian relations, Ayata called
    for a robust Kurdish-Armenian dialogue that confronts the past and
    examines avenues of cooperation on the foundation of justice.

    Mamigonian discussed how Armenian Genocide denial in recent years
    has focused on "manufacturing doubt" rather than blatantly denying
    the veracity of the genocide, as the latter approach has become
    discredited.

    Suny discussed the Workshop on Armenian and Turkish Scholarship (WATS)
    conference series, a project that brings together Turkish, Armenian,
    and other scholars to examine various aspects of the Armenian Genocide
    and Turkish-Armenian relations.

    Balakian spoke about the paranoid style in Turkish politics and
    how that is reflected in the destruction and neglect of Armenian
    cultural heritage and the obfuscation of the contributions of Armenian
    architects over the centuries.

    The second panel (Photo by Nanore Barsoumian)

    Umit Kurt from the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide
    Studies at Clark University, attorney Edvin Minassian of the
    Armenian Bar Association, and Thomas Samuelian, dean at the American
    University of Armenia (AUA) in Yerevan, discussed the confiscation of
    Armenian property during the Genocide and demands for reparations and
    restitution for this crime against humanity. The panel was moderated
    by Henry Theriault, professor and chair of the philosophy department
    at Worcester State University.

    Kurt presented an overview of the meticulous process through which
    the Ottoman and then the Turkish state coded into law the complete
    dispossession of the Ottoman-Armenian citizenry, making every effort
    to seal every legal avenue within the Turkish justice system for
    Armenians to reclaim what had been termed "abandoned properties." Kurt
    classified these legal maneuvers by the Kemalist government as phase
    two of the genocide.

    Samuelian and Minassian discussed legal channels and strategies
    that might be pursued for reparations and restitution in Turkish and
    international courts.

    Samuelian stressed that Armenians must also pursue reparations claims
    against all countries and entities that benefitted from the genocide
    and continue to benefit today. He also argued that reparations should
    not be tied to or come after genocide recognition--as they are two
    separate processes that can run parallel. He also discussed the
    significance of the church claims, as the Armenian church was the
    biggest landowner.

    Minassian focused on specific legal cases, such as the California
    insurance case, and the complications resulting from the court
    declaring that that the case could not proceed because the U.S.

    government has not officially recognized the genocide.

    To close the conference, Ayata, Samuelian, Garapedian, and ARF Eastern
    Region central Committee co-chair Dr. Antranig Kasbarian discussed
    the question, "Where do we go from here?" The discussion was moderated
    by historian Dikran Kaligian, managing editor of the Armenian Review.

    After brief presentations by panelists, Kaligian invited the audience
    to share their proposals and ideas concerning the topics discussed
    during the conference. The result was a lively discussion on a number
    of subjects.

    The conference was successful not simply for the ideas presented, but
    for the wide range of active participation from scholars, journalists,
    filmmakers, lawyers, and activists in the audience.

    A video recording of the entire conference will be made available
    online soon.

    The conference was organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
    (ARF) Eastern Region USA, and co-sponsored by Alternative Radio,
    and the MIT Armenian Society. For additional details, visit
    www.armenianprogressive.com.

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