WOOD-TV, MI
May 25 2005

MSU prof disappointed by postponement of Armenian genocide conference

ISTANBUL, Turkey Three Turkish universities said today that they are
postponing a conference to discuss last century’s mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

The move follows a government minister’s harsh criticism of the
conference.

Michigan State University sociologist Muge Gocek (MOO’-geh GOH’-chek)
traveled to Istanbul for the conference.

She says she’s disappointed by the postponement and says the
conference would have been a chance to show the effectiveness of
Turkish democracy.

Armenians say one-point-five (M) million of their people were killed
in a deliberate campaign of genocide.

Turkey says the death count is inflated and says that Armenians were
killed in civil unrest.