TURKISH SCHOLAR TO OBAMA: RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE, LIBERATE TURKEY
HULIQ
March 25 2009
SC
U.S. President Barack Obama ahould should stand up to his promise
and recognize Armenian Genocide, thus liberating Turkey and restoring
justice.
One of the promises that the President Obama has made during
his campaign is to call the tragic events of 1915 as Armenian
Genocide. Turkey, while has started a process of reconciliation with
Armenia (details of which are kept secret) has taken active actions
to prevent President Barack Obama from keeping his promise. Turkey’s
reconition of the Armenian Genocide will not only create justice, but
will also liberate Turkey from past that has come to haunt the nation.
According to the Armenian Weekly a prominent Turkish genocide scholar
Taner Akcam in his lecture titled "Facing History" and delivered
at the Clark University on March 19 Akcam sent a powerful message
to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking him to liberate Turks and
Armenians by properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Akcam continued, "All of the parties involved know very well what the
U.S. administration and Congress think about 1915. But Turkey asks them
to tell a lie only for one day. I have never understood why the Turkish
government extracts so much joy out of making the United States lie
for one day. I also find it completely dishonorable. Not only does this
lie fail to lead to a resolution, it needlessly locks up the debate."
Hence, Akcam argued, the importance of official U.S. recognition of
the Armenian Genocide–"if the United States declares what it believes
to be the truth and stands behind it"–would not only gain it "some
self-respect on the subject, but it will liberate Turks, Armenians,
and itself in the process."
Akcam ended his lecture by asking Obama to stand up for truth. "I
believe that we will enter a new era where morality and real politik
will not be considered mutually exclusive, if President Obama should
put an end to this lingering problem and liberate everybody in the
process by an official acknowledgment of genocide," he said.
Professor Akcam grew up in Turkey, where he was imprisoned
for his participation in and fervent support for free press
publications. Following a dramatic escape, he later received political
asylum in Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. from the University of
Hannover and worked with the Hamburg Institute for Social Research.
In 2007, the Armenian Bar Association presented the Hrant Dink
Freedom Award to Professor Akcam as "a champion of historical truth
about the Armenian Genocide and for his courageous defense of liberty
and free speech." Akcam’s life and work have been featured in four
critically acclaimed documentary films, and he is the author of 10
scholarly works, as well as numerous articles. His most recent book,
"A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish
Responsibility," (Metropolitan Books), was released in 2006.