GOING AFTER A SCHOLAR’S CRITIC
Inside Higher Ed
May 4 2009
Guenter Lewy, a professor emeritus of political science at the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is a scholar whose work has
been praised by Turkey’s government. When the embassy of Turkey in
Washington was upset over a PBS documentary on the Armenian genocide
during World War I, the ambassador’s statement on the program noted
the work of "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."
Lewy does not believe that the slaughter of Armenians during World
War I was a genocide – a position that puts him outside the consensus
of scholars of genocide. Lewy’s 2005 book on the subject argues that
while there were indeed many tragic deaths, there was no attempt
by those in power to commit genocide, and that war was the primary
cause of the deaths. In an interview two years ago, Lewy said that
the book — which was criticized by some scholars of genocide —
had been rejected by 11 publishers, including 4 university presses,
before the University of Utah Press published it.
Among those who joined the attacks on the book and Lewy was the
Southern Poverty Law Center, a group known for its studies of hate
groups — a focus that has led the center to criticize Holocaust
deniers and those who deny the attacks or bias experienced by members
of various groups. Lewy featured prominently in an article published
by the center last year, "State of Denial."
Now Lewy — with backing from the Turkish American Legal Defense
Fund — is seeking millions in damages from the center in a lawsuit
for defamation.
The lawsuit asserts a set of facts about what happened to the
Armenians that differ from what many historians say. Generally, the
suit characterizes the question of an Armenian genocide as open to
question and debate.
"Since the conclusion of World War I and the disintegration of the
Ottoman Empire, an historical and legal controversy has raged over
whether, in the context of war and an undeniable Armenian rebellion
against the Ottoman government in favor of its enemies, the deaths of
a large number of Ottoman Armenians as a result of combat, disease,
starvation, exposure, and massacre constituted the crime of genocide,"
the suit says.
"At present, those who dispute that the genocide label is apt are
characteristically maligned by those who favor the genocide thesis
as indistinguishable from ‘Holocaust deniers’ who are either bigoted
against Armenians or Christians or are on the Turkish government
payroll. Little solace can be derived from the fact such current
intimidations mark an improvement from earlier decades. Then, those
who defended the contra-genocide thesis could expect physical assaults
or even assassination attempts."
Some scholars fear that the suit is part of a campaign to silence those
who criticize scholarship that Turkey favors. In recent months, the
Turkish American group has sent letters to the presidents of Hampshire
College and McGill University on campus disputes involving the Armenian
genocide, suggested a willingness to become involved with disputes
large and small concerning the way the Armenian genocide is discussed.
Simon Payaslian, who holds an endowed chair in Armenian history
and literature at Boston University, said he was not familiar with
the lawsuit or its specific claims. But he sees it as part of a
pattern. "I think the pro-Turkish scholars have launched a new wave
of denialist argument."
Related issues of academic freedom and academic integrity are at play,
Payaslian said. Part of academic freedom should be the right of those
who disagree with scholars to question their work. Payaslian said he
strongly disagrees with Lewy’s book and sees its theories about the
genocide as being wrong, and deserving of strong scholarly scrutiny. He
said that he fears that pro-Turkish groups "are trying to suffocate
any kind of criticisms that these nationalists think is objectionable."
The lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center says of Lewy
that he "bravely acted pursuant to the highest standards of scholarly
integrity in his research, writing, and speaking about the fate of the
Ottoman Armenians in the midst of a climate hostile to open inquiry
and debate."
Two quotes in the Southern Poverty Law Center article are cited
as defamatory. One states: "Lewy is one of the most active members
of a network of American scholars, influence peddlers and website
operators, financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year
from the government of Turkey, who promote the denial of the Armenian
genocide. …"
The other states: "Lewy makes similar revisionist claims in his
2005 book The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed
Genocide and in frequent lectures at university campuses across
the country. … Revisionist historians who conjure doubt about the
Armenian genocide and are paid by the Turkish government provided
politicians with the intellectual cover they needed to claim they
were refusing to dictate history rather than caving in to a foreign
government’s present-day interests." (The article goes on to mention
specific support by Turkey for research or research centers involving
American scholars, but does not cite an example of Turkey providing
funds to Lewy.)
According to the suit, the statements "assert or imply" acts "of
moral turpitude" in that they imply that Lewy "has and continues to
compromise his scholarship on the fate of the Ottoman Armenians and
disputes the genocide characterization of the events of 1915-1916
in exchange for money from the Government of Turkey" and that Lewy
"deceives his readers and audiences when he addresses the controversy
surrounding the Armenian allegation of genocide by concealing his
receipt of money from the Government of Turkey."
Further the suit says that the statements "individually and taken
as a whole in context of the article … are defamatory because
they falsely impute to Plaintiff academic corruption, fraud and
deceit. …" As a result of the accusations, the suit says that Lewy
has had his "scholarly credibility" hurt and has lost book sales and
speaking engagements.
"The acute stigma attached to failures to disclose the receipt of money
or its equivalent that could distort academic or professional judgments
finds expression in a welter of government conflict-of-interest
regulations and financial disclosure standards embraced by highly
respected professional publications, including the Food and Drug
Administration, National Institutes of Health, The New England Journal
of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association."
The Southern Poverty Law Center declined to comment on the suit,
saying that it was its policy not to discuss litigation.
The issue of whether Turkish support for research in the United States
comes with strings attached has been contentious in the past. Last
year, a scholar who teaches at the State University of New York at
Binghamton went public with his complaint that he was given a choice by
Turkish officials — after using the word "genocide" to describe what
happened to the Armenians — of either quitting his position as chair
of the Institute of Turkish Studies, based at Georgetown university,
with support from Turkey’s government, or of seeing support for the
center evaporate. (The Turkish embassy in Washington strongly denies
these allegations.)
Lewy’s number is unlisted and his lawyer, Bruce Fein, said he is
traveling. Fein said he could not answer the question of whether
Lewy has ever received support from Turkey or from research entities
supported by Turkey. Fein said that was "not a key fact at all"
because the suit is based on the accusation that support from Turkey
compromised Lewy’s scholarship, which isn’t the same as receiving
support from Turkey.
"He could have gotten $10 in tax reimbursements in Istanbul,"
Fein said.
Asked if it wasn’t odd for a lawyer to file a defamation suit focused
on the alleged implications of a scholar receiving support from Turkey,
without knowing if the scholar had received support from Turkey,
Fein said "you can draw whatever inferences you want."