Taner Akcam: I Can Show Very Easily Genocidal Intent Of Ottoman Turkey

[MosJan]

Taner Akcam: I can show very easily genocidal intent of Ottoman Turkey 12.11.2007 13:39 GMT+04:00 http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_print.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_mail.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_rus.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_arm.gif /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was in Washington to meet with President Bush to discuss mounting tensions between the Turks and Kurdish rebel factions in Northern Iraq.

 

Also on the agenda was the Armenian Genocide resolution which passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee last month. The Medill News Service spoke with two experts who have challenged Turkey’s position on the Armenian question and asked them to respond to Erdogan’s comments.

 

Turkish scholar Taner Akcam, author of “A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility,” is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1915.

 

Edward Alexander is a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer and author, born in New York to Armenian parents who fled Turkey.

 

"The evidence is overwhelming and to many Armenians, it is utterly preposterous for anyone, especially the Turkish government, to deny what is historical truth. For my research, one of my sources was the German press. My other source was the cables that were sent to Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. ambassador in Turkey at the time of the genocide. These are documents that cannot be refuted. In addition, I did research eye-witness reports in Merseburg, Germany," Alexander said.

 

For his part, Mr Akcam said, "Our Prime Minister is wrong because we can prove the genocidal intent without any problems. One set of documentation are the trials in Istanbul between 1919 and 1921. These are the indictments, verdicts, hand-written testimonies and eye-witness accounts which were recorded during that time. There is a lot of evidence here showing the killing of the Armenians. The originals of these documents are not known. We assume that they have been destroyed after Turkish nationalists took over Istanbul. [Turkish officials] only trust the documents in prime ministerial archive today in Istanbul. I can show very easily, based on prime ministerial archives, the genocidal intent of Ottoman Turkey. I will publish a book in the Turkish language in 2008 where I am presenting more than 500 documents from prime ministerial archives in Istanbul."

 

 

[Yervant1]

PROF. TANER AKCAM RECEIVES 'HEROES OF JUSTICE AND TRUTH' AWARD DURING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION

Clark University
May 28 2015

May 28, 2015

Clark University scholars long have been involved and outspoken about
the Armenian Genocide. This spring in particular, as events of 1915
were commemorated and discussed at centenary events and among news
media around the world, Clark voices and scholarship shed light on
dark historical truths.

Especially busy as a speaker, media source, and honoree was Taner
Akcam, history professor and Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and
Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair of Armenian Genocide Studies at the
Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

>From May 7 to 9 in Washington, D.C., thousands gathered for the
National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, organized
by the Diocese and Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Churches of
America, "to remember those lost in the Genocide 100 years ago and
individuals and organizations who put their lives in harm's way to save
others from the Ottoman Empire's attacks. The Commemoration events
served as an opportunity to thank the institutions and individuals
who have helped Armenians to survive and thrive, and to promote unity
and awareness as a means of preventing future genocides."

Akcam was honored with a "Heroes of Justice and Truth" award, at a
banquet ceremony marking the close of the events.

The award was just one moment in the Turkish-born scholar's courageous
work uncovering historical fact, advocating for openness and opposing
denial of the Armenian Genocide. On April 26, Akcam was among
dignitaries speaking at a rally attended by several thousand in New
York's Times Square, organized by the Armenian Genocide Centennial
Committee of America (AGCCA).

The mass killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War
I is widely acknowledged as genocide, and just recently was recognized
as such by France, Germany and Russia. The Turkish government persists
in its long-standingrefusal to call the killings genocide, denying
the claims as "Armenian lies." The United States also does not use
the term "genocide" in any official communications.

"It is still very troubling that the United States has still not
recognized this genocide," Akcam said.

Akcam delivered a passionate speech at the Times Square event, which
he wrote was "a very moving moment for me!" The central message,
he later wrote, is that "the nation of Turkey consists of more than
simply its denialist regime; there is another Turkey, and the citizens
of that Turkey are ready to face their history."

At the rally he said: "Today does not merely mark the centennial
of the annihilation of some 1.5 million Armenians; it also marks a
century of denial of this crime. The Turkish government continues
to deny not merely any responsibility for the horrors inflicted upon
Armenian people, but even the fact that it happened at all. As a Turk,
it is from this fact that my sorrow and great shame derive."

On April 23, AkÒ~Aam testified before the Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. The
hearing was dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
"A Century of Denial: The Armenian Genocide and the Ongoing Quest
for Justice." He remarked, "Without truth, there can't be a peace. ...

Juxtaposing national interest and morality as being mutually exclusive
is just plain wrong."

Video and full text of Akcam's speech, "The Other Turkey," are
available online.

Akcam also delivered a talk, "Genocide, Not As An Occurrence But As
A Process," on May 13 at the Brookings Institute Center on the United
States and Europe at a conference titled, "Armenians and the Legacies
of World War I. "In my talk I tried to develop a macro perspective on
the Armenian Genocide," Akcam wrote, "What I suggested was actually a
'new' continuity thesis. I considered the genocide not only as an
event that occurred between 1915 and 1918 but also a process that
covered the period of 1878 to 1923."

Strassler Center scholars deeply engaged

Akcam and Strassler Center Executive Director Mary Jane Rein authored
an op-ed titled, "Recognizing Armenian genocide an important step
for US policy," which ran in The Boston Globe on April 24.

Strassler Center Director and Rose Professor of Holocaust History
Debórah Dwork, a leading authority on university education in
the field, was a featured speaker at "Responsibility 2015," the
international conference marking the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide, March 13-15 in New York, organized by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern U.S. Centennial Committee,
under the auspices of the AGCCA. Khatchig Mouradian, Clark Ph.D.

candidate and coordinator of the Armenian Genocide Program at
the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers
University, where he is also adjunct professor of history and
sociology, was a key coordinator of the "Responsibility 2015"
conference.

On the Clark University campus, the Strassler Center hosted the
Third International Graduate Students' Conference on Genocide Studies:
TEmerging Scholarship in Holocaust and Genocide Studies 100 Years After
the Armenian Genocide, in April. The interdisciplinary conference,
held in cooperation with the Danish Institute for International
Studies, Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Copenhagen,
provided a forum for doctoral students to present research to peers
and established scholars. Professor Eric Weitz, Dean of Humanities
and Arts and Professor of History at the City College of New York,
was the keynote speaker. Joining Dwork, Akcam and other guest scholars
was Clark Professor Thomas Kuhne, Director of Graduate Studies and
Strassler Family Chair in the Study of Holocaust History.

In an interview with the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, Dwork said she
believes "preparing teachers and writers is the best way to keep the
Armenian Genocide important in people's lives."

About the Strassler Center

The Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies trains
scholars, educators, and activists to develop a sophisticated
understanding of genocides grounded in scholarship. As the only
program to offer a Ph.D. in Holocaust History and Genocide Studies,
the Center educates doctoral students to assess the multiple factors
that fuel genocides and to formulate policies for political prevention
and humanitarian intervention. Grounded in history, the program also
draws upon psychology, political science, and geography, all academic
strengths at Clark University. The Center's robust undergraduate
program sends a clear signal to colleges across the country about
the significance of this subject for all students.

http://news.clarku.edu/news/2015/05/28/prof-taner-akcam-receives-heroes-of-justice-and-truth-award-during-armenian-genocide-centennial-commemoration/

[Yervant1]

The Armenian Weeklly

Sept 2 2017

Taner Akçam to Receive 2018 ‘Upstander’ Honor from World Without Genocide

By Contributor on September 2, 2017

WORCESTER, Mass. (Clark News)—Clark University history Professor Taner Akçam will be honored with the 2018 Outstanding Upstander Award from the World Without Genocide organization for his tireless work promoting justice and the rule of law.

Taner Akçam (Photo: Rupen Janbazian)

World Without Genocide, housed at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minn., works “to protect innocent people around the world; prevent genocide by combating racism and prejudice; advocate for the prosecution of perpetrators; and remember those whose lives and cultures have been destroyed by violence.”

Akçam, one of the first Turkish intellectuals to acknowledge and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide, holds the only endowed chair dedicated to research and teaching on this subject. As Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Professor of Armenian Genocide Studies at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark, he is committed to research, teaching and training future scholars. An outspoken advocate of democracy and free _expression_ since his student days at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, he is an internationally recognized human rights activist.

“We have long admired your bold and dedicated work to document the atrocities perpetrated by the Ottoman government against the Armenian people. You have persisted in speaking out about the genocide, despite being marked for death by Turkish ultra-nationalists,” Ellen J. Kennedy, executive director of World Without Genocide, wrote to Akçam.

Previous recipients of the World Without Genocide award include Eli Rosenbaum, director of human rights enforcement strategy and policy at the U.S. Department of Justice; Claudia Paz y Paz, former attorney general of Guatemala; and Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, former prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Akçam will formally receive the award at the organization’s annual gala in May 2018 in Minneapolis.

https://armenianweekly.com/2017/09/02/akcam-2018-upstander/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
December 21, 2017 Thursday


Armenian Genocide is historical fact destroying identity structure of
Turkish society – Taner Akcam



YEREVAN, DECEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish authorities are obliged
to face their own history if they want to establish a democratic and
human rights respecting system. Without facing the history public
peace and democratic system are impossible to establish, Turkish
historian Taner Akcam, who recognized the Armenian Genocide, says in
his new article in T24.com, reports Armenpress.

In the article titled ‘Obligation to face history and barriers for
it’, the historian says at present it is an authoritarian and
dictatorial regime in Turkey, fundamental human rights and freedoms,
and especially the freedom of thought are being violated. “Hundreds of
intellectuals, writers, journalists are jailed, the main democratic
structures and laws do not operate, the judiciary is completely under
the control of one person, the principle of the rule of law has been
eliminated. The ethnic-religious issues, in particular, the Kurdish
issue, the issues of Alevi, Christian and Jewish minorities are in
poor situation”, the historian writes.

He highlighted four means reasons to face the history. “The first one
is that if you want to have a democratic regime respecting the human
rights, you have to face the human rights violations committed during
the history. If you are unable to face the violations of the past,
today you will not be able to establish a society that will respect
the human rights. You will build the future the way you look at the
past. If you discuss the issues existing in the history, stating that
“Armenians betrayed”, “Greeks deserved it”, “Kurds play an
imperialists game”, “Those are traitors who want to divide the country
and are a serious threat to our country”, now as well such issues will
be perceived from this perspective. As you previously violated the
fundamental rights, you will do the same today”, Akcam said.

As a second reason the historian stated that the societies, who had
bad and painful relations within the course of the history, will be
able to live jointly only in case of talking to each other. According
to the third reason, it’s necessary to return the human dignity of
people killed in the past. And finally, as a fourth reason the Turkish
historian mentions that refusal from facing the history can lead to
bad consequences. Denial of facing the history means to have a
potential to repeat the same crime.

Talking about the Armenian Genocide, Taner Akcam writes: “We have
established a nation-state in 1923 and created an identity in
accordance with it. And today this identity turned into a reality
determining our thinking, feelings, in other words, the whole
social-cultural relations of the society. But if we, for example,
start talking about the Armenian Genocide, we will see how this
reality begins to collapse. The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact
totally destroying the identity structure of the Turkish society. This
is the reason that we avoid facing the history”.

[Yervant1]

"Attacks against Prof. Taner Akçam are a classic method of genocide denial..." Toronto, May 26, 2021: Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, took notice of Professor Taner Akçam’s recent call “…upon everyone, and upon the entire academic profession to take a stand against the climate of terror that is being directed at academics, whose sole task is to unearth the truth...” The Institute will not get involved in verifying the ‘right of the first night’ statement’s historical accuracy, as it is sufficient to see that Prof. Akçam has already done so in his response to the accusation. His response was directed to those who questioned his credibility regarding the subject of “Kurdish aghas possessed the ‘right of the first night’ [jus primae noctis, or droit de seigneur] with Armenian brides”, that was featured in a piece published in GazetDuvar in April 2021. We will, however, challenge all claims that have been made against Prof. Taner Akçam as an individual and against his reputation as a scholar.

 

This isn’t the first time that Turkey or its surrogates have attempted to discredit reputable scholars who are vocal about the Armenian Genocide, accusing them with malicious intent, about their “academic dishonesty”. This was evident with Ragıp Zarakolu, a Turkish human rights activist and publisher who has long faced legal harassment for publishing books on the subject in Turkey. There is also the persecution of Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, who openly referred to the killing of one million Armenians. It is also crucial to acknowledge the tragic case of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of Agos, who was assassinated in 2007 for his work in advocating for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey. Prof. Akçam dedicated the book, The Judgment of Istanbul, to Hrant Dink with these words:

“Hrant Dink, this book, which you wanted very much to be published, is dedicated to you. Even in your eternal silence, your voice is still heard in the struggle to bring truth, justice, and reconciliation to both our peoples.”

As a human rights organization, the Zoryan Institute stands by Prof. Taner Akçam’s commitment to scholarship which is propelled by trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility, in addition to his courage to act in the face of adversity. To become an honest and ethical scholar takes tremendous time and effort, which Akçam is a testament to. He goes further to conduct research in multiple languages and publish numerous authoritative academic books and articles. Akçam does not do the work he does on the Armenian Genocide because he is pro-Armenia or anti-Turkey; he has a larger objective in mind. Perhaps it is best said in his own words, “… we must face our history. And we must do this, not in order to fan the flames of hostility and hatred toward specific individuals or communities, but in order to build a democratic future that is respectful of human rights.” Professor Roger Smith, the Academic Chair of the Zoryan Institute, has this to say about the situation:

“These personal attacks against Prof. Taner Akçam are a classic method of genocide denial, often used when the facts are not on your side.”

The Zoryan Institute challenges all claims made against Prof. Taner Akçam because the Institute is familiar with him and his work. The Zoryan Institute’s relationship with Prof. Akçam stems back to a conference held in Yerevan in 1995, co-organized by the Zoryan Institute, titled Problems of Genocide. This was the first large-scale conference to address the comparative analysis of genocide on an international stage. As Prof. Akçam later states in his book, Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue:

My evolution as a scholar in this field took a major turn in 1995, when, during an International Conference on the Problems of Genocide held in Yerevan, Armenia, the President of the Zoryan Institute, in delivering his speech, made the following closing remarks:

 

“I want to extend my hand to the people of Turkey, to ask them to remember that though, at one time, the state was led by mass murderers, they also had their Haji Halils, and that it would honor the memory of the latter to acknowledge the overwhelming truth of genocide, to express regrets, so that the healing process may begin for our two peoples. Because, without this healing, ‘mass extermination as a tool of political dominance may become more common in the future.”

 

…That was such a moving statement for me, that I felt that if the Zoryan Institute was extending its hand, there must be a hand from the other side extended to start the dialogue between our two peoples and, through such dialogue, start the process of healing.

This initial introduction between Taner Akçam and the Zoryan Institute kick-started a long-standing initiative to unearth historical truth based on original archival documentation with the goal of breaking historical barriers to promote dialogue and reconciliation between Armenians and Turks. This would later refer to a collection of peer-reviewed, academic resources known as the Common Body of Knowledge. For many years, Prof. Akçam worked closely with the Zoryan Institute’s staff, research assistants, executives, translators, specialists, and Board Members, including late Prof. Vahakn Dadrian, the Director of Genocide Research, to publish reputable, authoritative works on the Armenian Genocide. In 2001, the Zoryan Institute published the English translation of Akçam’s book, Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue. In this collection of essays, Akçam analyzed and interpreted some of the darker aspects of the Armenian Genocide and human behaviour and proposed a pathway towards dialogue and reconciliation between the two peoples. As stated by Kevork Bardakjian, “His essays offer us a glimpse into the soul and work of a compassionate human being and a dispassionate scholar, endowed with a deep sense of social awareness and responsibility.” The Zoryan Institute-sponsored book, From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and The Armenian Genocide by Taner Akçam, published in 2004, discusses western political policies towards Turkey and represents the first serious scholarly attempt to understand the Armenian Genocide from a perpetrator rather than victim perspective. In 2006, the Zoryan Institute supported the publication of Akçam’s renowned book, A Shameful Act, detailing and explaining the Armenian Genocide in depth. This book was dedicated to the eight members of the Zoryan Institute President’s family who were kept safe for more than six months during the Armenian Genocide by the righteous, pious Muslim Turk, Haji Halil.

 

Perhaps one of the most significant contributions to the Institute’s Common Body of Knowledge is the book edited by Taner Akçam and Vahakn Dadrian, titled Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials. This book is a compilation and analysis of the documentation of the trial proceedings of the Takvim-ı Vekâyi, the official Ottoman Government record of the Turkish Military Tribunals concerning the crimes committed against the Armenians during World War I. This book is often referenced as the most comprehensive and analytical work to address the Armenian Genocide from the legal-criminal perspective to date.

In addition to his several well-respected books, Taner Akçam was also a longtime faculty member of the Institute’s renowned annual Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) hosted in partnership with the University of Toronto History Department. As a professor of Turkish origin, Akçam co-lectured the unit on the Armenian Genocide between the years of 2002-2008. He provided a stimulating learning environment and engaged students of all backgrounds with an open discourse on the subject with candour, transparency, truth and vigour. In recent years, a former student of Professors Akçam and Dadrian, the well-regarded Turkish scholar Ugur Ungor, taught the same unit on the Armenian Genocide, as well as the unit on the Theory of Genocide. In closing, the Zoryan Institute endorses how Professor Akcam has replied to the accusation “…I did not mention a single fact that was not clearly found in the historical sources. But we must not forget to respect the truth that will preserve us and set us free. In the end, we must grow accustomed to discussing information such as that which I have found in the historical sources—as well as other, even more difficult-to-accept…”

Zoryan Institute, a non-profit organization, serves the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations. This is done through the systematic continued efforts of scholars and specialists using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and in accordance with the highest academic standards.