BY OKTAY EKSI
HURRIYET- The conference on ‘Ottoman Armenians During the Fall of the Empire,’ which had been scheduled for this week at Bogazici University, was a misguided attempt, because it was made without taking into consideration the context in Turkey.
It would be wrong to hold this conference to disprove the views of those who argue that the Armenian genocide never took place.
Moreover, the subject should be handled in an objective manner and though scholarly discussions. For example, those who represent the opposing view should also be represented there equally. That this wasn’t done was probably the biggest mistake.
However these were not the only mistakes made... Justice Minister Cemil Cicek accused those who planned the conference of ‘stabbing Turkey in the back’ and after that made statements a good democrat should never make: He accused them of treason. This was the biggest mistake of all.
I don’t find the government’s reaction democratic, but in fact very wrong, as I wrote above.
I wish that the conference had been held and we could find the answer to these two questions:
1. Could you hold the opposite version of this conference –which could not be held because Turkey is not democratic enough – in Armenia? For example, could a conference on ‘The Armenian Genocide Allegations Are Based on Lies’ be held in Armenia?
2. Those who say that the Armenian genocide is real, when in some European countries laws were passed making denying the allegations a crime, did you oppose this with even a single breath?