Don’t be fooled by all the lies

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.