Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
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PRESS RELEASE
May 25, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
TURKISH GOVERNMENT CALLS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONFERENCE PLANNERS “TRAITORS”
Organizers Postpone Istanbul Conference Indefinitely
Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America expressed outrage
today over the Turkish government’s latest assault on free speech, this
time threatening its own citizens for organizing an unprecedented
conference on the Armenian Genocide and challenging the state’s official
policy of denial. Due to the intense government pressure, event
organizers indefinitely postponed the Conference which was to begin in
Istanbul today.
In a press statement issued last night, organizers said that more than
720 people were to participate in the three-day Conference at Bosphorus
University entitled, “Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the
Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy.” The
postponement came after Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor threatened
yesterday to start criminal proceedings against conference organizers
and demanded copies of all academic papers that were to be presented.
Additionally, Minister of Justice Cemil Cicek’s diatribe in the Turkish
Parliament yesterday, coupled with his accusations of treason against
Conference participants for allegedly questioning Ankara’s denial of the
Genocide, also led to the eventual cancellation. According to Agence
France-Presse, Cicek said, “We must put an end to this cycle of treason
and insult, of spreading propaganda against the [Turkish] nation by
people who belong to it.”
Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Agos – an Armenian newspaper based in
Istanbul – told Assembly leaders that organizers were under direct
government pressure to call off the Conference.
“The thoughts and speeches of the Conference participants, historians,
while important, are not as important as what the Turkish government is
doing,” said Dink. “If the Turkish government will not even allow open
dialogue and discussion for members of its own society, how can it
possibly expect to enter into dialogue with others?”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month called for
further study of the Armenian Genocide, while official policy still
rejects that Turkey committed genocide against its Armenian population
90 years ago. Moreover, Article 305 of the Turkish penal code
criminalizes public references to the Armenian Genocide.
“In the context of a law criminalizing speech on the Armenian Genocide,
the ongoing threats against any nation that reaffirms the facts of
history and now the outrageous cancellation of an academic conference,
Erdogan’s call for a historical commission must be rejected as a
disingenuous maneuver to delay the inevitable. Its current assault on
academic freedom must likewise be condemned,” said Board of Directors
Chairman Anthony Barsamian.
Turkey, for its part, characterizes itself as a mature democracy with
hopes of becoming the first Muslim nation to accede to the European
Union. But before the EU opens its doors, it has asked Turkey to
normalize relations with neighboring Armenia in addition to its
universal human, minority and civil rights criteria. The European
Parliament has gone further, calling upon Turkey to recognize the
Armenian Genocide. And senior European officials have repeatedly called
on Turkey to deal with the fact of the Armenian Genocide as part of its
ascension process.
A European Union diplomat today told Reuters that Cicek’s remarks are
“unbelievable.”
“It not only kills the government’s policy on the Armenian issue. It
will also kill support for Turkey’s EU drive,” the diplomat told
Reuters.
Meanwhile in Washington, Armenian issues supporters also expressed their
outrage with Turkey’s attempts to scuttle talk on the Armenian Genocide.
“On subjects that the Turkish government considers sensitive, there
appear to be no constraints on what officials will do to prevent free
speech and debate,” said Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues
Co-Chairs Congressmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr.
(D-NJ). “Internally the subject is criminalized, academic conferences
are cancelled and individuals are condemned as traitors. Actions like
this seriously undermine the credibility of Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan’s proposal to establish a historical commission to study ‘the
developments and events of 1915.’ ”
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.
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