STATEMENT BY TURKISH AMBASSADOR NABI SENSOY ON THE PBS PROGRAM “THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE”

Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 19 2006

The program “The Armenian Genocide,” which aired on PBS on April 17,
provides a blatantly one-sided perspective of a tragic and unresolved
period of world history. Its premise is rejected not only by my
Government, but also by many eminent scholars who have studied the
period in question. Instead of acknowledging that this issue remains
unresolved, the program reflects a self-serving political agenda by
Armenian American activists who seek to silence legitimate debate
on this issue and establish their spurious orthodoxy as the absolute
truth.

Contrary to the program’s claims, Armenian allegations of genocide
have never been historically or legally substantiated. Unlike the
Holocaust, the numbers, dates, facts and the context associated with
this period are all contested, and objective scholars remain deeply
divided. The legitimacy of this debate – and the continuing lack of
consensus – was recently validated by the respected scholar Guenter
Lewy, whose latest book The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey:
A Disputed Genocide documents the incomplete historic record and
excessive politicization associated with the issue.

Regrettably, the producer of “The Armenian Genocide” does not
let facts get in the way of his effort to identify a scapegoat for
tragedies that befell many thousands of innocents during a period of
World War I when the circumstances of war, inter-communal strife,
disease, famine and instability took countless lives regardless of
ethnicity or religion. As a result, the program is rife with errors,
misrepresentations, exaggerations and unsubstantiated conclusions,
with other widely accepted facts and interpretations conveniently
omitted. The lack of objectivity, however, is common practice for
the film’s producer, who in the past has worked with funding from
Armenian Americans on similar projects and who has done little to
hide his antagonism for Turkey or his bias on the sensitive matter
in question. Such predilections are to be expected from this program
as well, underwritten by those who subscribe to the genocide thesis
and who seek to ignore or suppress evidence that would in any way
contradict their view. For this reason, PBS’ own Ombudsman has
expressed reservations regarding the almost exclusive participation
of Armenian Americans in the funding of the program.

To its credit – and in recognition of the strong bias inherent in
“The Armenian Genocide” – PBS also produced a panel discussion to
accompany the program consisting of experts with a range of views on
this matter. Unfortunately, as the New York Times and the Wall Street
Journal have reported, many PBS viewers were unable to watch the
televised debate, due to the concerted efforts of Armenian American
partisans who embarked on a nationwide campaign to prevent its airing
by PBS affiliates. By succumbing to overt pressure by these activists
and their political allies, PBS affiliates became instruments of
self-censorship that should have no place in American society.

For Armenian American activists, PBS programming is just one avenue
by which to silence the ongoing debate on this issue. In another
recent incident, the University of Southern California cancelled an
academic forum featuring two prominent Turkish experts on the matter,
due to pressure by Armenian American groups that openly took credit
for this heavy-handed suppression of academic expression. Meanwhile,
in Massachusetts, teachers and students have been forced to go to court
to preserve the presentation of alternatives to the genocide thesis
in a state-mandated curriculum guide, yet another incidence of overt
and unacceptable censorship driven by Armenian American activists.

It is heartening that in contrast to those running from this debate,
the Turkish American community in the United States has taken up
the mantle to defend America’s constitutional principle of free
expression. This community and a growing constituency of friends
have pressed for opening this debate to all viewpoints. As a result,
in parallel to grassroots efforts to persuade PBS affiliates to
air the panel discussion, over 40,000 individuals have signed a
petition sponsored by the Assembly of Turkish Associations (ATAA),
urging PBS to air other more balanced programs on this difficult and
controversial period. In other instances when the right to undertake
or express scholarly research has been threatened, Turkish Americans
and organizations like the ATAA have consistently supported free and
open examination of the facts.

Turkey itself has pursued the facts via numerous collaborative
efforts. Last year, Prime Minister Erdoðan issued an unprecedented
proposal to Armenian President Kocharian for an impartial study of
the matter through the establishment of a joint historical commission,
a landmark opening that has yet to receive a favorable response. And
unlike U.S.C.’s recent forum cancellation, conferences on this subject
are taking place in Turkey with the full support of Government leaders.

Today, Turkey and its expatriates are willing to address these
sensitive unresolved matters. Yet each time an effort is made – even
here in America, the world’s exemplar of open and free expression –
our Armenian interlocutors either run from the debate or do anything
possible to quash it. Through their efforts, freedom of speech on
this issue has been virtually eliminated, from the policy community
to university campuses to the televisions of millions of Americans.

It is clear that until and unless the Turkish and Armenian peoples
can begin an open, honest and introspective dialogue on this
matter, genuine reconciliation will not commence here or in the
Caucasus. The circumstances surrounding the PBS program and its airing
unfortunately demonstrate that we are nowhere close to reaching a
mutual understanding about our common history. Stifling debate and
perpetuating a unilaterally established narrative may be expedient
for some, but it will not bring about the closure that is needed to
lay this difficult issue to rest.

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