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