Genocide Edited Out After Turkish Pressure
by: Clare Chapman
The Times Educational Supplement
February 11, 2005
Hundreds of history books have been recalled from German schools
after the state of Brandenburg agreed to remove a reference to the
“Armenian genocide” of 1915 following pressure from Turkey, which
refuses to acknowledge that it took place.
A reference to the genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were
deported and murdered by the government of the Young Turks in
1915-1916, was included in history books in the east German state
in 2002.
Brandenburg was the first state to refer to this lesser-known genocide.
Turkey, which, until human rights reforms two years ago, threatened
to imprison anyone who said the genocide took place, has fought to
have the passage removed.
The cause of the dispute was the following sentence: “Disengagement
from war; extermination and genocide (for example the genocide against
the Armenian population of Asia Minor)”.
Thomas Hainz, regional education ministry spokesman, admitted the
ministry had removed the line from textbooks because of “international
diplomatic resentment”.
But he said that it had been “an independent decision”. He said
reducing the discussion of genocide to just one sentence involving
just one case “does not do the topic justice”.
The education ministry is now working on a new chapter that covers
genocide in a more “comprehensive context”.
Necmettin Altuntas, the Turkish embassy spokesman in Berlin, denied
any pressure had been put on the education ministry. “We wanted the
reference to be taken out of the school books because it was stated
as fact.”
He said many historians believe using the term genocide to des-cribe
what happened is incorrect. “Turkey does not deny that something
happened, but we have not been able to come to the conclusion that
it was a massacre.”
The move has angered historians. Micha Brumlik, director of the
Frankfurt Fritz Bauer Institute that deals with Holocaust history,
condemned the decision, saying there are “two political scandals”
involved.
One concerned Turkey, which for years refused to accept general human
rights standards and continued to deny responsibility for the genocide
of 1915. But the second concerned Germany and was far more serious.
“The authorities in Brandenburg have bowed to pressure from
diplomats. I find that shocking for our country,” Brumlik said.
Sven Petke, Christian Democratic Union general secretary, said he
now fears that “the propaganda ministry in Ankara” is dictating the
local curriculum.