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 An Unlikely Battle. SMU caught in Crossfire Over Turkish-Armenian Dialogue
Caitlin Booker, Contributing Writer,
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Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: News
At the request of the Archbishop Barsamian, Chief Bishop of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, SMU pulled its sponsorship from the arguably Turkish-favoring "International Conference on Turkish-Armenian Dialogue."
"We understand SMU's concern. We are not sad about their withdrawal and
we share in their concern," said Abdullah Kumas of the Turkish Student
Association.Last Saturday the TSA held the event in the Umphrey Lee Ballroom
despite academic disapproval of the event's scope and organization.
Kumas thought the panel was informative and unbiased.
"The conference did not confirm or deny whether or not genocide took
place," said Kumas. "Many Armenians left their phone numbers and wanted
dialogue with the Raindrop Foundation. They expressed much gratitude
for the event."
However, Archbishop Barsamian and other scholars viewed the event as a
sounding board for Turkish scholars and religious leaders to deny the
Armenian genocide. Archbishop Barsamian called it a "historically
unjustified and morally objectionable effort to call into question the
alleged Armenian Genocide and derail efforts by the U.S. government to
recognize this crime against humanity."
Many scholars believe that Turkish organizations organized the dialogue
in response to the Dallas community's recognition of the "Armenian
Genocide." In 2005, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller made a proclamation
recognizing the 90th anniversary of the genocide.
According to Barsamian, "I have been repeatedly reminded of how the
timing of the event, and the rush to have it held so quickly with it
being finalized only a week before it was held."
"This coincides significantly with the United States Congress' step
towards considering a new, non-binding resolution concerning the
Armenian Genocide and other resolutions condeming the assassination of
Hrant Dink and Turkey's oppression of journalist freedom."
Kumas thinks Armenian scholars misunderstood the event as a dialogue on
genocide when the event sought to start dialogue between Turkish and
Armenian scholars.
"I know the organization committee invited 14 to 15 Armenian
scholars. I know some of them did not come or declined because they
misunderstood the conference as one pertaining to genocide," he said.
Of 12 panelists in the dialogue, only one Armenian, Armenian Patriarch
of Istanbul, His Beatitude Mesrob II Mutafyan, was invited to
participate in the dialogue.
Archbishop Barsamian argued that Article 301 of Turkish law hampered
the Patriarch, who resides in the capital of Turkey, from expressing
his true thoughts and concerns. Article 301 of Turkish law makes it a
crime to "denigrate Turkishness." Violators have often faced heavy
fines, imprisonment and assassination attempts by Turkish nationalists.
"The Armenians in the audience were very grateful that the Armenian
Patriarch was there. He was a very moving speaker," said Kumas.
Affirming what some call the Armenian Genocide has proven a contentious
issue that has prompted scores of assassinations of scholars throughout
the world. In January, internationally known journalist and peace-award
winner Hrant Dink was assassinated for addressing the issue of the
Armenian Genocide in his Agos newspaper.
The debate has been over whether to define the death of 1.5 million
Armenian Christians from 1915 to 1918 as "genocide" during the
government of the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire.
A number of Western academics in the field of Ottoman history,
including scholars from Princeton, universities in France, Columbia,
UCLA, University of Massachussets, University of London and Central
European University have expressed doubts as to the genocidal character
of the events.
"Many people believe that the Russians used the Armenian cause to get
to the Mediterranean. Thousands died on both sides in the relocation.
We are all very sorry … [but] I do not believe that the event was
genocide," said Kumas.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars, the leading
academic association of professionals in the field of genocide studies,
has repeatedly affirmed the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide
and noted that such acknowledgement by governments and institutions is
essential to confront the ongoing cycles of genocide today.
Archbishop Barsamian said he remains ready to engage in authentic dialogue.
"I look forward to working with SMU, its student groups and others of
good will to organize a truly balanced panel capable of discussing the
Armenian Genocide and the future of the Armenian-Turkish relations," he
said.
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