Boston Globe, MA
Sept 25 2005
Turks debate whether genocide was committed
Protesters blast forum on deaths of Armenians
By Benjamin Harvey, Associated Press | September 25, 2005
ISTANBUL — Turkish scholars at a twice-canceled conference on the
massacre of Armenians in the early 20th century cautiously discussed
the politically charged topic yesterday, avoiding inflammatory
language as protesters denounced the gathering as traitorous.
The academic conference is the first time an institution in the
modern Turkish republic has hosted a public event in which speakers
will be permitted to openly discuss whether their ancestors committed
the first genocide of the 20th century.
Hundreds of protesters waved Turkish flags and some pelted the
arriving panelists with eggs and accused organizers of treachery.
But in a sign of the deep sensitivity of the subject, the panelists,
all Turkish speakers, avoided emotional language.
”Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word — if you do,
one side applauds and the other won’t listen,” said Halil Berktay,
program coordinator of the history department at Sabanci University.
Armenians have been pushing for decades to have the killings of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire recognized by the
international community as genocide.
Turkey said the death toll is inflated and Armenians were killed in
civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Modern Turkey, the successor state of the empire, is a candidate for
European Union membership and the country’s commitment to democracy
is being watched.
In May, the justice minister accused organizers of ”stabbing the
people in the back.” An Istanbul court shut the conference down
Thursday, but the ruling was skirted by organizers who decided to
change the conference venue.
”The aim [of the conference] is to declare Turkey guilty of
genocide,” said Erkan Onsel, head of the local branch of Turkey’s
Workers’ Party, who was among the protesters outside the conference.
Stating that Turks may have committed genocide against Armenians
opposes the state line and could lead to prosecution in a country
where many see the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness.