Don't be fooled by all the lies

Thursday, October 30, 1997

Thursday, October 30, 1997

Don't be fooled by all the lies

TURKEY: Facts often distorted to cover up past injustices

By Stepan Haytayan

UCLA is about to ensnare itself in a trap from which it is unlikely to escape with its academic integrity intact. The history department is scheduled on Friday to consider whether to house a chair in Turkish studies.

Although the study of Turkish history is not an objectionable academic endeavor, some Turkish studies chairs in America's universities have become notorious for their politically-motivated historical revisionism. This must not be allowed to occur at UCLA.

Beginning in 1915, the government of Ottoman Turkey embarked on a systematic campaign of genocide against the Armenian minority living under its oppressive rule. The Armenian Genocide, as it is commonly referred to, resulted in the deaths of more than 1.5 million Armenians and the deportation of thousands of others.

My grandparents were among the fortunate few who survived the death marches through the desert. Most, including their parents, were not so fortunate.

This crime against humanity, despite recognition by the overwhelming majority of academics around the world, is denied by the government of Turkey to this day. Turkey spends millions of dollars a year on lobbying and public relations to combat its well-deserved reputation as a past and present violator of human rights.

Most recently, Turkey jailed one of its own parliament members (Leyla Zana) for testifying before the U.S. Congress about brutal Turkish human rights violations.

In desperation, Turkey has attempted to corrupt the academic institutions of the free world by supporting revisionism. Princeton University faced scandal this year when Heath Lowry, professor of Ottoman and Near Eastern studies, was revealed to have had a cozy relationship with Turkish Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir. The Turkish Embassy accidentally leaked a 1990 memo in which Lowry advised Kandemir on how to refute several references to the Armenian Genocide in a book by Holocaust scholar Dr. Robert Jay Lifton.

Dr. Lifton was quoted in a Princeton newspaper article as saying, "Heath Lowry was an American consultant to the Turkish government in the denial ... (he said) that murderers were not really murderers, that victims were not really killed."

I met Chancellor Albert Carnesale at a Capitol Hill reception on Monday. When I raised my concerns regarding this threat to UCLA's academic integrity, he assured me that there would be an unequivocal rejection of any Turkish attempts to influence academic programs at UCLA. I was not reassured. I'm certain Princeton administrators thought the same.

Like Princeton, UCLA is accepting money to fund the new chair directly from the Turkish government. UCLA officials went to the Turkish Embassy this month to accept a $250,000 check from Kandemir himself, with more government funding expected in the future. Upon presenting the check the ambassador said,"It is most fitting that we should contemplate and analyze Turkey's significance among the family of nations, which has only heightened in the post-Cold War era." That doesn't sound like a genuine interest in the pursuit of knowledge to me.

The ambassador's hopes for a better political image for Turkey have no place at any academic institution, much less one with UCLA's reputation and renown.

Turkish influence can be subtle. For instance, Turkey might "request" that the person who eventually is appointed to the chair have experience studying the Turkish state archives. The request seems reasonable, but does not reveal that the government maintains strict control over extensive use of the archives and routinely obstructs study by "unfriendly" academics. The government would effectively assure the appointment of a crony to the chair.

Unfortunately, until a few days ago the Armenian American community was unaware of the matter. It was a major departure from the friendly, open relations with UCLA which we have come to expect.

UCLA may be led unwittingly into disrepute as a participant in Turkey's revisionist campaign. UCLA should postpone consideration of the establishment of a Turkish studies chair until the issues have been raised with participation by all interested parties. UCLA cannot rush headlong into the dangers that may lie ahead. Its reputation as one of the world's leading universities depends on it.