Usc Promptly Cancels Conference On “turkish Perspective” On The Armenian Genocide

[Gavur]

Armenian National Committee of America
Western Region
104 N. Belmont, Suite 208, Glendale, CA 91206 * Tel. (818) 500-1918
Fax. (818) 246-7353 * [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release ~ 2006-03-23
Contact: Armen Carapetian ~ Tel: (818) 500-1918



LOS ANGELES, CA – The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) learned on March 22nd that a planned conference at the University of Southern California (USC) featuring leading deniers of the Armenian Genocide was canceled.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy originally sponsored the conference, entitled “Turkish-Armenian Relations: The Turkish Perspective”, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 26th. Former Turkish Ambassadors Gündüz Aktan and Ömer Engin Lütem were invited to speak about the Armenian Genocide and Turkish-Armenian relations. Aktam and Lütem are notorious deniers of the Armenian Genocide, and the event announcement made no attempt to hide that their discussion would not only distort history but attempt to justify Ottoman Turkey’s extermination of its Armenian population.

“The USC event, which was to have featured Turkish members of the State Department’s discredited TARC initiative, is part of an orchestrated national campaign to breath new life into the failed effort,” said Zanku Armenian, a member of the ANCA-WR Board of Directors. “The ANCA-WR, working with USC Armenian student groups, Alumni and school supporters, was able to demonstrate to USC officials the misguided and sinister nature of this panel which led to its cancellation. The cancellation, along with the March 22nd Los Angeles Times editorial reaffirming the Armenian Genocide, sends a strong message to those who deny the Armenian Genocide: ‘You are not welcome in California.’ We applaud USC administrators for taking prompt action to rectify this situation and thus protecting USC’s fine reputation from being used in Turkey’s propaganda war.”

Outraged student groups called on USC administrators to ask why this conference was organized. In a letter to the director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, ANCA-WR Chairman Steven Dadaian called on the organizers to drop the conference. The quick action to draw attention to this issue by many groups and individuals resulted in the ultimate cancellation once USC officials were made aware of the real intent of the event.

The text of the ANCA-WR letter is provided below.

The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.


#####


March 22, 2006

USC Center on Public Diplomacy
Joshua S. Fouts
3502 Watt Way, ASC Suite 103
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0281

Dear Mr. Fouts:

It has recently come to our attention that the USC Center on Public Diplomacy is hosting a program called “Armenian ‘Genocide’, International Law and the Psychology of Destroying the Other” featuring two speakers who are notorious deniers of the Armenian Genocide, Gündüz S. Aktan and Ömer Engin Lütem.

According to the description of the program issued by the Center, Messrs. Aktan and Lütem have the extraordinary task of turning the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century into the perpetrators. Based on the program, it appears that Messrs. Aktan and Lütem plan to argue the Turkish government’s official position that (i) there were no massacres of Armenians, (ii) even if there were massacres, the Armenians deserved them, (iii) the Armenians killed more Turks than vice versa and (iv) the deaths were as a result of ‘relocation’ and were not Genocide.

As today’s Los Angeles Times editorial clearly states, the facts surrounding the Armenian Genocide are not in dispute. The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by the United Nations, the United States government and even the Ottoman courts who convicted the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide in absentia. The fact that USC is going to provide a forum for Turkish foreign agents to deny historical facts by making outright false statements is disturbing and a violation of your own Code of Ethics. Genocide Denial is a form of hatred and bigotry and it is outside the purview of accepted standards of civil discourse within the academic community. It is a deliberate misrepresentation of fact and a scientific fraud which must not be tolerated by the University. What's more, this panel is a threat to the University's academic environment because it frames the genocide as a historical controversy.

All this is heightened by the fact that USC has an Armenian-American student body of over a thousand students whose families are the direct descendants of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by Turks and now officially denied by the Turkish government. This panel will undoubtedly be considered an extremely offensive event which disrespects the rights and dignity of not only your students but to all the hundreds of thousands who are the victims and surviving children of the Armenian Genocide.

We wonder what the reaction would be if USC were to host a “discussion” for neo-Nazis to argue that no Jews were killed, going so far as to assert that while some Jews may have been killed during the Holocaust, they deserved it. Would USC allow their name to be associated with such a hypothetical event much less be sponsoring it?

Our organization is prepared to work with USC to minimize the damage caused to the university’s image within the Armenian-American community as a result of this program being scheduled if immediate action is taken to cancel it. However, if USC chooses to proceed with this program, our organization will be forced to take further action to protest the University’s complicity in providing a forum for genocide deniers.

We are requesting a meeting this week to discuss this urgent matter. Please feel free to contact me at (818) 500-1918.


Sincerely,

[signed]

Steven J. Dadaian
Chairman, Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region

cc: Steven B. Sample
C.L. Max Nikias
Joseph Aoun
Vartan Gregorian

[Tongue]

This is great news. So they cancelled it the same day they received the letter?

[Gavur]

The Turkish denial machine tryed to pull a fast one and again they failed misirably.

[Jooboian]

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mar 26, 2006 Sunday 12:00PM

The event scheduled for Sunday, March 26, 2006 has been cancelled

http://www.uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/events/calendar

[Gavur]

Commentary/USC Cancels Forum For Genocide Deniers By Harut Sassounian

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Every year just before April 24, a number of high-ranking Turkish officials
rush to the United States to lobby against a pending presidential
declaration or congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide.
This year is no exception. Five Turkish ministers and other senior
officials are coming to Washington, D.C., this week to attend the annual
conference of the American Turkish Council. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
who had planned to attend, may not be there due to an ear infection. Gul
had scheduled meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and leaders of what the Turks
call "the Jewish lobby" in Washington.
More importantly for the Armenian-American community is the U.S. tour of
two infamous genocide deniers, retired Ambassadors Gunduz Aktan and Omer
Lutem. The former was a member of the infamous Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC) which collapsed after he demanded a study
by an independent third party which, to his dismay, found the "events of
1915" to be genocide.
Aktan and Lutem took their "dog and pony show" on the road last week,
starting from Columbia University in New York. Their announced topic was:
"Minorities in the Ottoman Empire." This was a misrepresentation of their
denialist agenda for the sake of gaining undeserved academic credibility.
Here is how the "Turkish Press" reported Lutem's explanation in his talk
for the mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians: "Armenians were not deported.
They were merely relocated in different parts of the empire. Some of them
died during the transfer."
A couple of days later, their show reached the shores of the Potomac. Aktan
and Lutem spoke at the Rayburn House Office Building on the topic of: "The
Armenian Allegation of Genocide: Law, Psychology and Politics." The public
announcement of their talks shamelessly alleged: "most experts believe that
the Armenian case does not constitute genocide," not naming a single such
expert. In reality, the overwhelming majority of genocide and holocaust
scholars have repeatedly gone on record confirming the facts of the
Armenian Genocide. The Turkish announcement also asked the following false
and misleading question: "Why did the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights
reject the 1985 Whitaker Report that defined the Armenian case as
genocide?" The truth is the exact opposite. The UN Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities -- which is the
correct name of the UN panel -- accepted a report in 1985 in which the
Armenian Genocide was classified as genocide. This writer participated in
the deliberations of that panel in Geneva, Switzerland.
The next day, the two showmen took their performance to their adoring fans
at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Aktan was quoted
by the Turkish Daily News as saying: "If the U.S. Congress approves [a
resolution] on the genocide allegations or if U.S. President George W. Bush
uses the term 'genocide,' this would certainly have a political impact on
Turkish-U.S. relations." Amazingly, Aktan was reported as making the
following accurate observation: "it was impossible to convince Armenians
that the killings between 1915 and 1917 were not genocide."
On March 24, the Defense Minister of Turkey Vecdi Gonul spoke at the
Beverly Hills Hotel, while several thousand Armenians joined by Cong. Brad
Sherman protested his appearance. When asked to acknowledge Turkey's dark
past, Gonul told his audience: "these are Armenian claims, and there is
nothing to acknowledge." Meanwhile, the touring two-ring circus composed of
Aktan and Lutem arrived in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian
community in the United States. The local Armenian population was prepared
to "welcome" them during their planned lecture at the University of
Southern California on March 26, the same way they greeted the Turkish
Defense Minister two days earlier. However, there was no confrontation
between local Armenians and the two Turkish deniers. Officials at USC
Center on Public Diplomacy, the sponsor of the event, cancelled the program
after being alerted by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
USC students and community leaders of the offensive
nature of the planned Turkish talks.
"Genocide denial is a form of hatred and bigotry and it is outside the
purview of accepted standards of civil discourse within the academic
community. It is deliberate misrepresentation of fact and a scientific
fraud which must not be tolerated by the University," wrote Steve Dadaian,
the Chairman of ANCA - Western Region, in a letter to USC officials.
Dadaian questioned whether USC would sponsor a lecture during which
neo-Nazis would deny the Holocaust. . He pointed out that providing a forum
for making false statements violated USC's Code of Ethics.
USC cancelled the event for a very simple reason. According to a USC
official, the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles had misrepresented to the
USC Center on Public Diplomacy the nature of the proposed event which was
supposed to be "on Turkish Civil Society and prospects for improving
relations with the Armenian community," and not on "genocide allegations,"
as it was subsequently publicized. Judging this latter topic to be
"completely inappropriate," USC pulled the plug on the event.
It is not surprising that Turkish officials are now twisting the situation
around and misrepresenting the cancellation as an infringement on freedom
of expression. Turkish diplomats should be the last ones to complain about
the lack of freedom in the United States given the fact that their country
violates the most basic rights of its citizens on a regular basis.
Now Engin Ansay, the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles, has a serious
personal problem. Instead of being able to impress his superiors in Ankara
for having provided a platform at a prominent academic institution in the
heart of "Little Armenia" for the denial of the Armenian Genocide, he had
two senior diplomats in his office far away from home with no place to
speak. Consul General Ansay can complain as much as he wants, accusing "the
powerful Armenian lobby" for subverting his government's denialist agenda,
but in reality he has no one to blame but himself for this fiasco. It won't
be surprising if he were to be recalled for mishandling the visit of these
retired diplomats.
Turkish officials should learn from this experience the following valuable
lesson -- genocide deniers are not welcome anywhere, particularly at a
distinguished academic institution like USC!

[TurQ]

As I understand they have just withdrew their sponsorship so therefore the event is canceled. If they want I believe it wouldnt be hard to organize that event in an other format. Recently Turkish students wanted to participate Three Turkish voices conference at UCLA, Prof. Hovanissian said, they can organize their own event, whenever and whereever they want. I dont understand why this extremist writer is angry about this, they have jsut got their advice from Hovanissian. At least such conferences can be organized in Turkey.

I dont think it is so hard for Turkish students to organize their own event, I dont think any university ever gonna attempt to interfere such an event.

By this kind of reactions Armenians are drawing more and more Turkish attention and believe me most Turkish students or Turkish Americans do not care much about diaspora's efforts. You are awakening them to do more. Action-Reaction thing thats what it is called. I mean dont get angry if Turks organize such events in various universities.

http://www.uscturksa.com/

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Every year just before April 24, a number of high-ranking Turkish officials
rush to the United States to lobby against a pending presidential
declaration or congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide.
This year is no exception. Five Turkish ministers and other senior
officials are coming to Washington, D.C., this week to attend the annual
conference of the American Turkish Council. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul,
who had planned to attend, may not be there due to an ear infection. Gul
had scheduled meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and leaders of what the Turks
call "the Jewish lobby" in Washington.
More importantly for the Armenian-American community is the U.S. tour of
two infamous genocide deniers, retired Ambassadors Gunduz Aktan and Omer
Lutem. The former was a member of the infamous Turkish Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC) which collapsed after he demanded a study
by an independent third party which, to his dismay, found the "events of
1915" to be genocide.
Aktan and Lutem took their "dog and pony show" on the road last week,
starting from Columbia University in New York. Their announced topic was:
"Minorities in the Ottoman Empire." This was a misrepresentation of their
denialist agenda for the sake of gaining undeserved academic credibility.
Here is how the "Turkish Press" reported Lutem's explanation in his talk
for the mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians: "Armenians were not deported.
They were merely relocated in different parts of the empire. Some of them
died during the transfer."
A couple of days later, their show reached the shores of the Potomac. Aktan
and Lutem spoke at the Rayburn House Office Building on the topic of: "The
Armenian Allegation of Genocide: Law, Psychology and Politics." The public
announcement of their talks shamelessly alleged: "most experts believe that
the Armenian case does not constitute genocide," not naming a single such
expert. In reality, the overwhelming majority of genocide and holocaust
scholars have repeatedly gone on record confirming the facts of the
Armenian Genocide. The Turkish announcement also asked the following false
and misleading question: "Why did the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights
reject the 1985 Whitaker Report that defined the Armenian case as
genocide?" The truth is the exact opposite. The UN Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities -- which is the
correct name of the UN panel -- accepted a report in 1985 in which the
Armenian Genocide was classified as genocide. This writer participated in
the deliberations of that panel in Geneva, Switzerland.
The next day, the two showmen took their performance to their adoring fans
at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Aktan was quoted
by the Turkish Daily News as saying: "If the U.S. Congress approves [a
resolution] on the genocide allegations or if U.S. President George W. Bush
uses the term 'genocide,' this would certainly have a political impact on
Turkish-U.S. relations." Amazingly, Aktan was reported as making the
following accurate observation: "it was impossible to convince Armenians
that the killings between 1915 and 1917 were not genocide."
On March 24, the Defense Minister of Turkey Vecdi Gonul spoke at the
Beverly Hills Hotel, while several thousand Armenians joined by Cong. Brad
Sherman protested his appearance. When asked to acknowledge Turkey's dark
past, Gonul told his audience: "these are Armenian claims, and there is
nothing to acknowledge." Meanwhile, the touring two-ring circus composed of
Aktan and Lutem arrived in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian
community in the United States. The local Armenian population was prepared
to "welcome" them during their planned lecture at the University of
Southern California on March 26, the same way they greeted the Turkish
Defense Minister two days earlier. However, there was no confrontation
between local Armenians and the two Turkish deniers. Officials at USC
Center on Public Diplomacy, the sponsor of the event, cancelled the program
after being alerted by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),
USC students and community leaders of the offensive
nature of the planned Turkish talks.
"Genocide denial is a form of hatred and bigotry and it is outside the
purview of accepted standards of civil discourse within the academic
community. It is deliberate misrepresentation of fact and a scientific
fraud which must not be tolerated by the University," wrote Steve Dadaian,
the Chairman of ANCA - Western Region, in a letter to USC officials.
Dadaian questioned whether USC would sponsor a lecture during which
neo-Nazis would deny the Holocaust. . He pointed out that providing a forum
for making false statements violated USC's Code of Ethics.
USC cancelled the event for a very simple reason. According to a USC
official, the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles had misrepresented to the
USC Center on Public Diplomacy the nature of the proposed event which was
supposed to be "on Turkish Civil Society and prospects for improving
relations with the Armenian community," and not on "genocide allegations,"
as it was subsequently publicized. Judging this latter topic to be
"completely inappropriate," USC pulled the plug on the event.
It is not surprising that Turkish officials are now twisting the situation
around and misrepresenting the cancellation as an infringement on freedom
of expression. Turkish diplomats should be the last ones to complain about
the lack of freedom in the United States given the fact that their country
violates the most basic rights of its citizens on a regular basis.
Now Engin Ansay, the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles, has a serious
personal problem. Instead of being able to impress his superiors in Ankara
for having provided a platform at a prominent academic institution in the
heart of "Little Armenia" for the denial of the Armenian Genocide, he had
two senior diplomats in his office far away from home with no place to
speak. Consul General Ansay can complain as much as he wants, accusing "the
powerful Armenian lobby" for subverting his government's denialist agenda,
but in reality he has no one to blame but himself for this fiasco. It won't
be surprising if he were to be recalled for mishandling the visit of these
retired diplomats.
Turkish officials should learn from this experience the following valuable
lesson -- genocide deniers are not welcome anywhere, particularly at a
distinguished academic institution like USC!

[1.5 million]

TurQ - xxxx you!

[Gavur]

Workshop Denying The Genocide Fails

AZG Armenian Daily #056, 29/03/2006


Every year before the April 24 some Turkish diplomats and officials turn up in the United States to hold forth against recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This year is no exclusion. According to The California Courier newspaper, ahead of the April 24, 5 Turkish officials are going to hold workshop at the University of the Southern California on the tragedy of the Turks, Kurds and Armenians during the WW I.

Former Turkish ambassadors known as Genocide deniers, Gyunduz Aktam and Omer Lutem, were due to make speeches at the workshop. But the latter guised their true position under the title "Minorities in the Ottoman Empire", hence compelling the University of the Southern California to cancel the workshop.

[phantom]

As I understand they have just withdrew their sponsorship so therefore the event is canceled. If they want I believe it wouldnt be hard to organize that event in an other format. Recently Turkish students wanted to participate Three Turkish voices conference at UCLA, Prof. Hovanissian said, they can organize their own event, whenever and whereever they want. I dont understand why this extremist writer is angry about this, they have jsut got their advice from Hovanissian. At least such conferences can be organized in Turkey.

I dont think it is so hard for Turkish students to organize their own event, I dont think any university ever gonna attempt to interfere such an event.

By this kind of reactions Armenians are drawing more and more Turkish attention and believe me most Turkish students or Turkish Americans do not care much about diaspora's efforts. You are awakening them to do more. Action-Reaction thing thats what it is called. I mean dont get angry if Turks organize such events in various universities.

http://www.uscturksa.com/

Who said we're angry. Let the nationalistic Turks organize whatever events they want. The Lyon and Berlin demonstrations are a great example of what happens when nationalistic Turks decide to do something. Ultimately, it results in a backlash against them, because their position, attitude, and even their manner of expressing their view is vile to most civilized people. At every turn, the deniers are losing the information war, and it's not because Armenians are politically powerful or particularly organized; as a veteran of this website, I'm sure you understand by now that we are as divided and unorganized as any other group. Yet, the Turkish ultranationalist deniers are losing, because their view is vile and wrong, and more and more people of the world are beginning to understand that.

[TurQ]

Phantom
Berlin organizers and USC organizers are totally different.
YOu also have to recognize the fact that Turks also have differences among them.
It is the problem of being already in a war, an information war. So that the facts can easily be slaughtered or abused
for the strategic/politic goal. I am sure you know what I mean.

The problem is the confrontation. These Turks in US or mostly the students are getting in touch with Armenians
may the in the first time in their lives and it is mostly slurs or anti-Turkish slogans they hear. What do you expect
them to do? You tell me. If I make you the list of Armenian enounters that my friends experienced I am sure as an
Istanbul origin Armenian you'd be shocked. THis is not the place and I personally find it no use to express them for the sake of
the future Armenian-Turkish relations. But this is how they feel the urge to do something in this information war.

And the other thing is the cancellation of USC event is not an Armenian gain or success. This is just a withdrawal of sponsorship, and
this is not a success against ultranationalists or so-called government agents, this is nothing but confrontation a vicous cycle thats slowly starting
in US. In past Armenian activists could easily ran into a Turkish event and sabotage it and Turkish students used to stay hand tied
do nothing, I am sure those Armenians in mid-90s also felt that they are having victory for example October 29th celebrations event
at USC campus in 96, Armenian activists attacked Turkish students and the event had to be cancelled,
or a very recent event in Los Angeles again I learned it from Gavur's post when some Armenians threatened to bomb Sibel Can's concert in
LA oplice had to evacuate and cancel the concert on that day, so all of these are summing up
to a bigger frustration, this is called confrontation.
Armenians should understand that whole a new generation of Turks are coming to US, accepting them as government agents or behaving
negatively towards them will be more counterproductive, and if Armenians utilize it by having friendly relations these students and professionals
things will be better for Armenians. This is actually an opportunity for Armenians, I cant comprehend how you guys cant see it.

By the way the same sort of event and same speakers have spoken during an event at COlumbia University in New York.
As you can see this events can easily be organized whenever and whereever wanted, the problem is that turning these into confrontations.

I hope you take my point Phantom

Who said we're angry. Let the nationalistic Turks organize whatever events they want. The Lyon and Berlin demonstrations are a great example of what happens when nationalistic Turks decide to do something. Ultimately, it results in a backlash against them, because their position, attitude, and even their manner of expressing their view is vile to most civilized people. At every turn, the deniers are losing the information war, and it's not because Armenians are politically powerful or particularly organized; as a veteran of this website, I'm sure you understand by now that we are as divided and unorganized as any other group. Yet, the Turkish ultranationalist deniers are losing, because their view is vile and wrong, and more and more people of the world are beginning to understand that.