The Woodrow Wilson Center desecrates its namesake’s legacy and
violates its congressional mandate
By David Boyajian
Online Journal Guest Writer
May 7, 2010, 00:20
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th American president, is looking down in horror
at what the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWC;
WilsonCenter.org) is doing in his name.
Most Americans are not aware of the DC-based organization, or that
their taxes comprise one-third of its multi-million dollar annual
budget.
The WWC was created by Congress in 1968 through the Woodrow Wilson
Memorial Act to commemorate the late president’s `ideals and concerns’
and memorialize `his accomplishments.’
The WWC has in several ways, however, violated its congressional mandate.
The WWC itself claims that it `takes seriously his [Wilson’s] views.’
In fact, it has knowingly disregarded many of his views.
And while it professes `to take a historical perspective,’ the WWC
often closes its eyes to history.
Case in point: In mid-June of this year, the WWC plans to travel to
Turkey to bestow its coveted Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service
on Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Curiously, the WWC won’t provide this writer with a press release
about it. We know about the award only from the Turkish media and a
call to the WWC’s communications chief.
An undeserved award
The WWC’s director, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, says that
Davutoglu `personifies the attributes we seek to honor at the Woodrow
Wilson Center’ and has `catalyzed’ Turkish policy.
It is appalling that the WWC would honor a top official of a country
that in so many ways is a major human rights violator. Moreover,
Davutoglu’s own record — including his much- ballyhooed `zero
problems with neighbors’ policy — is undistinguished.
But even more to the point, Davutoglu’s policies are the very
antithesis of Woodrow Wilson’s `ideals and concerns.’
Turkish temper tantrums
Let us start with Davutoglu’s eruption against America due to a US
House committee’s approval in March of a resolution (Res. 252) that
reaffirmed the factuality of, and historic US interest in, the
Armenian genocide of 1915-23 committed by Turkey.
Turkey immediately recalled its ambassador. Davutoglu then announced
that the House committee vote was an insult to his country’s `honour,’
as if Turkey’s continuing cover-up of genocide is somehow honorable. A
top official of Turkey’s ruling AK Party threatened the US with
`consequences.’ Turkey’s relationship with America, he warned, `would
be downgraded at every level . . . from Afghanistan to Pakistan to
Iraq to the Middle East process . . . there would be a major
disruption.’
These were not just nasty overreactions by Turkey. They were also
nonsensical. The US has, after all, reaffirmed the Armenian genocide
as `genocide’ at least five times: three resolutions passed by the
full House (1975, 1984, and 1996); an official proclamation (No. 4838)
by President Reagan (1981); and a US legal filing with the
International Court of Justice (1951).
More tantrums
Davutoglu threw the same sort of tantrum a week later — withdrawing
his ambassador and making threats — when the Swedish Parliament
recognized the Armenian genocide.
Turkey has thrown similar fits when some 20 other countries, the
European Parliament, a UN sub-commission, the Vatican, and others
recognized the Armenian genocide.
No other alleged `ally’ threatens the US as frequently and
consistently as does Turkey.
Thus, far from `catalyzing’ Turkey’s policies, the foreign minister is
carrying on his government’s tradition of threats and genocide denial.
If such behavior `personifies the attributes’ that the WWC `seeks to
honor,’ the Center’s standards must be low indeed.
Davutoglu’s double standards
`Turkey will not allow anyone else to evaluate its history,’ Davutoglu
blustered after the House committee and Swedish Parliament votes.
He seems unaware that countries constantly evaluate other countries’
histories. Davutoglu evidently thinks that Turkey should be uniquely
exempt from the judgments of others.
Davutoglu also seems blissfully unaware that the United Nations, the
US, and many other nations and international organizations have
condemned and continue to condemn various countries’ past (and
present) crimes such as the Holocaust, genocides, bloody revolutions,
and crimes against humanity. These include the genocide now taking
place in Sudan.
Not surprisingly, Turkey and Davutoglu have a horrendous record regarding Sudan.
The turkey-sudan genocide axis
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was invited to visit Turkey two
years ago while he was under indictment by the International Criminal
Court (ICC) for `war crimes and crimes against humanity.’
Human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, blasted Turkey for
inviting the Sudanese dictator. Turkey defiantly proceeded to welcome
al-Bashir with a red carpet, an honor guard, and a 21-gun salute.
True to Turkey’s tradition of genocide denial, President Abdullah Gul
downplayed the Sudanese mass killings, attributing them solely to
`politics . . . poverty and environmental conditions.’
Then last year, after Davutoglu’s appointment, the Turkish government
once again invited al-Bashir, the target of an ICC international
arrest warrant. Only after a huge international outcry was the visit
eventually canceled. Davutoglu, like his country, has a blind spot
when it comes to genocides.
In the meantime, of course, Davutoglu’s Turkey has been busy accusing
other countries — notably China and Israel — of genocide. The
hypocrisy is incredible. Should not Turkey first acknowledge its own
genocides against not only Armenians but also Assyrians, Greeks, and
Kurds?
Now we know why some have dubbed Turkey and Sudan the `axis of genocide.’
But Davutoglu and Turkey’s failures involve much more than tantrums,
threats, genocide, and hypocrisy.
Davutoglu’s other failures
Despite Turkey’s so-called `zero problems with neighbors’ policy,
Davutoglu has largely continued, not `catalyzed,’ his country’s failed
policies.
For example, there is no end in sight to Turkey’s 36-year long
military occupation of northern Cyprus. `Zero problems with
neighbors’?
Turkey’s alleged rapprochement last year with Armenia, which Turkey
has blockaded since 1993, also disproves the WWC’s assertions about
Davutoglu. When he negotiated and signed a set of controversial
protocols with Armenia last year, Turkey said that these would open a
new chapter with its eastern neighbor.
Both countries’ parliaments were then supposed to quickly ratify the protocols.
Though many Armenians believe that parts of the protocols are contrary
to Armenia’s interests, the Armenian Parliament has been ready to
ratify them.
Davutoglu, however, quickly reverted to his government’s old
precondition: Turkey would neither ratify the protocols nor open its
border with Armenia unless Armenians concluded an agreement with
Azerbaijan regarding Karabagh, the Armenian region that Stalin handed
to Soviet Azerbaijan and which declared independence from Azerbaijan
in 1991.
Turkey’s backpedaling was condemned by the parties that mediated the
protocols — the US, Russia, and Switzerland — as well as the
European Union. Due to Davutoglu’s duplicity, the protocols have
stalled and may die. `Zero problems with neighbors’?
And regardless of one’s views on American policy towards Iran and
Israel, it is known that Turkey’s overheated, undiplomatic rhetoric is
designed primarily to please a Muslim audience at home and in the
Middle East. Turkey’s intemperate language has simply poured oil on
fires and complicated American efforts in the region.
Turkey’s Kurdish problems, both within the country and across the
border in Iraq, remain unsolved. Raids into northern Iraq by Turkish
troops are not a solution.
Even Turkey’s offers to `mediate’ regional disputes look rather
contrived given that Turkey has not faced many of its own problems
with neighbors.
`Zero problems with neighbors’ is a hollow catchphrase. A more
accurate name would be Turkey’s longstanding `zero Armenians as
neighbors’ policy.
Aside, perhaps, from improved Turkish relations with Syria, and a lot
of braggadocio and spin, Davutoglu has `catalyzed’ essentially nothing
for the better. He is surely grateful, though, to Lee Hamilton and the
WWC for implying otherwise.
Let us now examine President Woodrow Wilson’s record to see how the
WWC has besmirched his name and violated its congressional mandate.
Desecrating Wilson’s ideals and concerns
President Wilson advocated the right to self-determination of all the
nations, particularly Armenia, that suffered under Turkey’s corrupt,
violent yoke.
His and America’s support for Armenians — politically, financially,
and verbally — was immense and is well-documented. Yet the WWC
chooses to desecrate that record by honoring a Turkish official who
denies the Armenian genocide, threatens the American people, plays
games with the protocols it signed with Armenia, and continues to
blockade Armenia.
Wilson enunciated his famous Fourteen Points, based on a just peace,
in 1918, before the end of WW I. Point Twelve left no room for doubt:
The non-Turkish `nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should
be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested
opportunity of autonomous development.’ He was referring to Armenians,
Arabs, Assyrians, Greeks, Kurds, and others.
Unlike the proposed award to Davutoglu, Wilson’s was well-deserved: He
received the Nobel Peace Prize of 1919 because of his Fourteen Points
and his advocacy of the League of Nations.
Reporting to Wilson during the genocide was his good friend and
ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, Sr. The ambassador cabled
Washington in 1915 that Turkey was engaged in a `campaign of race
extermination’ against Armenians. The American Embassy served as a
channel for Armenian massacre reports arriving from various parts of
the Turkish empire. US Consul Leslie A. Davis, who actually witnessed
the genocide in the interior, wrote, `I do not believe there has ever
been a massacre in the history of the world so general and thorough.’
At Wilson’s direction, Morgenthau gave to Turkish leaders the
British-French-Russian declaration of 1915 that dealt specifically
with the Armenian mass murders. `All members of the Ottoman Government
and those of its agents who are implicated in such massacres,’ read
the declaration, will be held `personally responsible’ for `the new
crimes of Turkey.’
By proposing to honor a genocide denier, the WWC’s Lee Hamilton is
implying that Ambassador Morgenthau and American consuls were liars.
Referring to Turkey’s crimes against humanity, Wilson spoke these
words in Salt Lake City a year after WW I: `Armenia is to be redeemed
so that at last this great people, struggling through this night of
terror . . . are now given a promise of safety, a promise of justice.’
America and Armenia
In the spring of 1920, under the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres, the
European Allies asked Wilson to arbitrate the boundary between Turkey
and Armenia within the four Armenian provinces of `Erzerum, Trebizond,
Van, and Bitlis.’ Wilson agreed. He had already sent 50 American
researchers to survey the people and land.
In November, the president delivered the US decision: Armenia would
include more than 40,000 square miles within those four provinces and
a Black Sea coastline. Europe also asked America to accept a mandate
over Armenia — that is, physical protection from Turkey while
Armenians got back on their feet.
Though Congress, in a post-war isolationist mood, eventually declined
his appeal for the Armenian mandate, Wilson’s written request noted
that `the hearings conducted by the subcommittee of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly established the truth of
the reported massacres and other atrocities from which the Armenian
people have suffered.’
The Senate report, Wilson went on, embodied his `own convictions and
feelings with regard to Armenia and its people.’ Americans, he said,
`have made the cause of Armenia their own’ and had responded with
`extraordinary spontaneity and sincerity.’ These were understatements.
Turkey signed the Treaty of Sèvres but later repudiated it.
Incidentally, had Turkey fulfilled its obligations under Sèvres and
Wilson’s binding arbitration, much of the Kurdish issue would have
been resolved 90 years ago. The treaty stipulated an autonomous
Kurdish zone — just below the Armenian provinces — in southeastern
Turkey and, conditionally, in northern Iraq that may eventually have
become independent.
Under Turkish and Soviet attack, in December of 1920 independent
Armenia was forcibly Sovietized, cut to a fraction of its size, and
became landlocked. The Armenian provinces remain under Turkish
occupation to this day, while Turkey blockades what remains of
Armenia.
The WWC defies Congress
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968 was unambiguous: The WWC was
meant to express the 28th president’s `ideals and concerns’ and
memorialize `his accomplishments.’
If it proceeds with its award to Davutoglu, the WWC will be
reaffirming its disregard for Wilson’s `ideals and concerns’ regarding
the genocide, America’s support for Armenians, and liberating their
land from Turkish rule. Similarly, Wilson’s `accomplishments’ —
securing aid for Armenian survivors,
US arbitration of Armenia’s boundaries under the Sèvres Treaty, and
more — are being ignored and mocked by the WWC.
The WWC is insulting Armenian Americans and all those who survived the
Turkish nightmare.
If Lee Hamilton’s own claim that WWC takes `a historical perspective’
were true, it would not honor a man — and by extension the Turkish
government — who unashamedly negates the historical record.
Is the Wilson Center seeking to discredit the Treaty of Sèvres on its
90th anniversary by honoring Davutoglu?
Massacring history
The WWC may try to claim that it has dealt substantially and fairly
with its namesake’s views and accomplishments regarding the Armenian
genocide.
As near as can be determined from a search of the WWC’s public
records, however, that claim would be false. This writer has found
very little about the genocide, and most of that is from a Turkish
revisionist perspective.
Two years ago, the WWC’s Southeast Europe division did host a scholar
who discussed Turkish policy and the Armenian genocide. And
twenty-four years ago, the WWC’s Wilson Quarterly had a one-page piece
about an article published elsewhere that discussed the genocide.
In contrast, four years ago, the Wilson Quarterly published a
sycophantic review praising a widely criticized book by a notorious
genocide denier. And two years back, a former US State Department
official who dealt with Turkey (and is presently an advisor for the
Turkish Policy Quarterly) wrote a mere two sentences about the Sèvres
Treaty — solely from the Turkish perspective — in a WWC-sponsored
paper about Turkey. The Wilson Center’s website contains a nine-year
old article written by a former US Army officer who denies the
genocide.
This is a disgraceful record.
A year ago, the editors of the journal Genocide Studies and Prevention
initiated a symposium that critiqued the report of the US-sponsored
Genocide Prevention Task Force (GPTF). While the symposium used the
WWC’s facilities, the WWC was not a cosponsor, reportedly took little
or no part, and thus cannot claim credit for it.
In any case, nothing can justify the Wilson Center’s proposed award
for Davutoglu.
The question begs to be asked: Does the WWC have any questionable
links to Turkey or Armenian genocide deniers?
Turkish-tainted corporate cash
A look at WWC’s funding sources reveals that it is up to its neck in
corporate cash, including Turkish-tainted cash.
One major corporation — Boeing — that is a member of the WWC’s
so-called WilsonAlliances wrote a letter to Congress asking it to
defeat the Armenian Genocide Resolution (Res. 252).
Two other WilsonAlliances members — BAE and Chevron — have
reportedly lobbied Congress to defeat the Armenian resolution.
Four WilsonAlliances members — Alcoa, Boeing, Bombardier, and
Honeywell — are dues-paying members of the Aerospace Industries
Association (AIA), which has asked President Obama and Congress to
ensure that Res. 252 `doesn’t go to the House floor for a vote.’ AIA
refers to the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians as merely `the
events.’
Six WilsonAlliances members — BAE, Bechtel, Boeing, Chevron, Coca
Cola, and Exxon-Mobil — are also dues paying members of the American
Turkish Council (ATC). The ATC calls itself a `business association.’
Its membership includes over 100 major Turkish and American
corporations. Among its leadership team of some 100 Turks and
Americans, it is nearly impossible to find even one person who is not
a top corporate executive, former military officer, or former
government official. The ATC has long lobbied against Armenian
genocide resolutions. Former Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, chairman of its
Executive Committee, once told Congress that what happened to
Armenians is `widely disputed.’
ATC member Lockheed-Martin Corp., which penned a letter opposing the
Armenian resolution, has also contributed money to the WWC.
DLA Piper and other Turkish lobbyists
DLA Piper is a gigantic, worldwide legal and corporate services firm
that has registered with the US government as a foreign agent for
Turkey. The firm is well known for having lobbied against Armenian
Americans and is currently setting up an office in Istanbul.
Ignacio Sanchez is a lawyer employed by DLA Piper. He `represents
national and international clients on a broad range of issues . . .
before Congress’ for his firm.
Sanchez also happens to sit on the Wilson Center’s Board of Trustees.
DLA Piper’s contract with Turkey states that its `services shall
include . . . preventing the introduction, debate and passage of
legislation and other U.S. government action that harms Turkey’s
interests and image.’
DLA Piper has partially subcontracted its Turkish role to The
Livingston Group. Headed by former disgraced House Speaker Robert
Livingston, who denies the Armenian genocide and lobbies against
Armenian genocide resolutions, it has been a registered agent of
Turkey.
DLA Piper also has what it terms a `strategic alliance’ with The Cohen
Group (TCG), headed by former Defense Secretary William Cohen. TCG
represents large corporations who do business with Turkey. It is an
ATC member, and two of its employees sit on the ATC Advisory Board.
TCG’s Vice President, Marc Grossman, was the US ambassador to Turkey
from 1994-97. Among former diplomats, he is probably Turkey’s biggest
defender.
He has opposed passage of Armenian genocide resolutions. A few years
ago, Grossman reportedly joined Ilhas Holding, a Turkish firm.
It is also known that whistleblower and former FBI translator Sibel
Edmonds has made very serious allegations about the ATC, Grossman, and
Turkey. These have not yet been adjudicated in a court of law.
And whom did the WWC recently select to be one of its `Public Policy
Scholars’? Marc Grossman.
The WWC seems to be quite fond of corporations (and their money),
lobbying firms, and people strongly affiliated with Turkey that in
many cases oppose acknowledgment of the Armenian genocide.
The above barely skims the surface of the Wilson Center’s cozy
financial relationships with huge corporations.
Playing with genocide inquiries
We must digress briefly for an example of how former government
officials work their way into genocide inquiries that are best left to
those more suitable.
Former Defense Secretary William Cohen (of the Turkish-affiliated TCG)
and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright chaired the Genocide
Prevention Task Force mentioned above.
As private citizens, Cohen and Albright opposed the Armenian Genocide
Resolution. Their appointment to the GPTF was thus justifiably
criticized as incompatible with its very purpose.
The GPTF was jointly convened by the congressionally-funded, so-called
US Institute of Peace, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the
American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD).
The latter is composed of former high-level US State Department
officials. AAD’s chairman is retired ambassador Thomas Pickering. He
was formerly a VP of Boeing, the same company that has beseeched
Congress not to pass the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
The GPTF’s final 147-page report (Preventing Genocide: a Blueprint for
US Policymakers) contained just two miniscule references to the
Armenian genocide. Sure enough, they used the terms `forced exile’ and
`atrocities,’ not genocide. The report was also widely criticized by
scholars.
Incidentally, who sits on the AAD’s Board? If you guessed the
ubiquitous Marc Grossman of the Wilson Center and pro-Turkish TCG,
you’d be correct.
Corporate perks
The WWC provides many benefits to corporations that contribute money
to its WilsonAlliances. For example, they receive `complimentary use’
of the WWC’s facilities, the Reagan Federal Building, blocks from the
White House. They also get `private customized meetings with [WWC]
staff and scholars to discuss policy issues that are specific to your
business interests.’
Did WWC/Turkish-affiliated corporations use `private customized
meetings’ to urge the WWC to honor Davutoglu, perhaps in expectation
that it would enhance their `business interests’ with Turkey?
Did any WWC/Turkish-affiliated lobbying firm or person ask the WWC to
give Davutoglu an award?
We don’t know the answers to these questions. Only those corporations,
lobbyists, and other figures, together with Lee Hamilton and WWC
personnel, can answer them, preferably under oath.
In a phone message, Sharon Coleman McCarter, WWC Communications
Director, said that the center is honoring the Turkish Foreign
Minister because of `public service to his country and the world.’
Turkey, or some Turks, may like its foreign minister, but, as this
writer has shown, he has certainly done nothing to benefit `the
world.’
McCarter also claimed that Davutoglu `is in the Wilsonian tradition’
because, like Wilson, he has been in academia and government. If you
teach and then enter government service, you’re automatically
`Wilsonian’ and thus a candidate for the WWC award? This is
preposterous.
Insulting previous awardees
Who have the nearly 150 previous WWC awardees been? Mostly Americans:
philanthropists, doctors, members of Congress, former diplomats,
architects, actors, and the like.
They range from James Baker, Dr. Denton Cooley, Betty Ford, Frank
Gehry, John Glenn, and Amb. Howard Leach to Janet Napolitano, Dolly
Parton, Gen. Colin Powell (and his wife), Andrew Lloyd Webber, and
Andrew Young.
There are also some foreign political honorees, such as former Indian
President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and some relatively non-controversial
figures from Brazil and South Korea.
The threatening, blustering, genocide-denying Davutoglu, from a
country with a wretched human rights record, would stand out in the
Wilson Center’s Public Service roster like a sore thumb.
It would be an insult to previous awardees.
For its Public Service Award, the WWC had its pick of thousands of
principled individuals from the US or elsewhere doing vital
humanitarian work, including the recognition and prevention of
genocide. Instead, the WWC has engaged in the worst kind of political
pandering by selecting Davutoglu.
The Smithsonian and the ATC
The rot may go even higher, up to the WWC`s parent, the famed
Smithsonian Institution, three-quarters of whose annual $1 billion
budget comes from taxpayers. It, too, is a member of the
genocide-denying American Turkish Council.
The Smithsonian is supposed to be respectful of America’s multi-ethnic
heritage and pay homage to our country’s history, part of which is
Wilson’s support of Armenians and condemnation of Turkey for
committing genocide. There is no good reason for the Smithsonian to be
a member of the ATC, which is primarily a lobby for Turkish-affiliated
corporations. It should withdraw from the ATC.
And what must the WWC do to return to its Wilsonian roots?
Reforming the WWC
The WWC must abandon its plans to honor Davutoglu. Those who care
about Wilson’s legacy — members of Congress, ordinary Americans, and
those whose relatives were lost to Turkish genocidal acts — must
contact the WWC and insist on this.
Congress and the attorney general must launch investigations into
possible conflicts of interest at the WWC, particularly regarding its
corporate and Turkish connections. The WWC director and staff must
testify under oath.
Wilson Center personnel, and those affiliated with it, particularly
scholars, must speak out publicly against pandering to corporations
and lobbying organizations.
Those whose business or personal interests may conflict with their WWC
role should resign.
The WWC must reject all tainted corporate cash.
Recognized genocide scholars should be invited to speak at the Wilson
Center and write in its Wilson Quarterly. The WWC should create a
principled program on genocide.
The WWC must establish a meaningful, ongoing dialogue with those
persons and their descendants who have been victimized by Turkey’s
genocides.
The WWC must return to its congressional mandate by truly rededicating
itself to Wilson’s `ideals, concerns, and accomplishments’ and by
advocating against genocide and for the human rights and dignity of
all people.
David Boyajian is an Armenian American freelance journalist.