Mr Holdwater I congratulate you for exposing the truth.
Ataman
Attention Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
The undersigned American academicians who specialize in Turkish, Ottoman, and Middle Eastern studies are concerned that the current language embodied In House Joint Resolution 192 is misleading and/or inaccurate in several respects. Specifically, while fully supporting the concept of a “National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man,” we respectfully take exception to that portion of the text, which singles out for special recognition: “... the one and one half million people of Armenian ancestry who were victims of genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923…”
Our reservations focus on the use of the words “Turkey” and “genocide” and may be summarized as follows:
• From the fourteenth century until 1922, the area currently known as Turkey, or more correctly, the Republic of Turkey, was part of the territory encompassing the multi-national, multi-religious state known as the Ottoman Empire. It is wrong to equate the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey in the same way that it is wrong to equate the Hapsburg Empire with the Republic of Austria. The Ottoman Empire, which was brought to an end in 1922, by the successful conclusion of the Turkish Revolution which established the present day Republic of Turkey in 1923, incorporated lands and peoples which today account for more than twenty-five distinct countries in South-eastern Europe. North Africa, and the Middle East, only one of which is the Republic of Turkey. The Republic of Turkey bears no responsibility for any events which occurred in Ottoman times, yet by naming “Turkey” in the Resolution, its authors have implicitly labelled it as guilty of the “genocide” it charges transpired between 1915 and 1923;
• As for the charge of “genocide:” No signatory of this statement wishes to minimize the scope of Armenian suffering. We are likewise cognizant that it cannot be viewed as separate from the suffering experienced by the Muslim inhabitants of the region. The weight of evidence so far uncovered points in the direction of serious inter-communal warfare (perpetrated by Muslim and Christian irregular forces), complicated by disease, famine, suffering and massacres in Anatolia and adjoining areas during the First World War. Indeed, throughout the years in question. the region was the scene of more or less continuous warfare, not unlike the tragedy, which has gone on in Lebanon for the past decade. The resulting death toll among both Muslim and Christian communities of the region was immense. But much more remains to be discovered before historians will be able to sort out precisely responsibility between warring and innocent, and to identify the causes for the events, which resulted in the death or removal of large numbers of the eastern Anatolian population, Christian and Muslim alike.
Statesmen and politicians make history, and scholars write it. For this process to work scholars must be given access to the written records of the statesmen and politicians of the past. To date, the relevant archives in the Soviet Union, Syria, Bulgaria and Turkey all remain, for the most part, closed* to dispassionate historians. Until they become available the history of the Ottoman Empire in the period encompassed by H.J. Res. 192 (1915—1923) cannot be adequately known.
We believe that the proper position for the United States Congress to take on this and related issues, is to encourage full and open access to all historical archives, and not to make charges on historical events before they are fully understood. Such charges as those contained in H.J. Res. 192 would inevitably reflect unjustly upon the people of Turkey, and perhaps set back irreparably progress historians are just now beginning to achieve in understanding these tragic events.
As the above comments illustrate, the history of the Ottoman-Armenians is much debated among scholars, many of whom do not agree with the historical assumptions embodied in the wording of H.J. Res. 192. By passing the resolution Congress will be attempting to determine by legislation which side of a historical question is correct. Such a resolution, based on historically questionable assumptions, can only damage the cause of honest historical enquiry, and damage the credibility of the American legislative process.
(The archives in Turkey have been opened since this old letter some years ago, however the archives in the Republic of Armenia remain closed as of this date 29 March 2007.)
Signatories of the Statement of H.J. Res. 192 addressed to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives:
Rifaat Abou-EI-HaJ
Professor of History
California Stale University
at Long Beach
Sarah Moment Atis
Associate Professor of Turkish
Language & Literature
Univ. of Wisconsin at Madison
Karl Barbir
Associate Professor of History
Siena College (New York)
Ilhan Basgoz
Director of the Turkish Studies
Program at the Department of
Uralic & Altaic Studies
Indiana University
Daniel G. Bates
Professor of Anthropology
Hunter College, City
University of New York
Luke Bates
Professor of Art History
Hunter College, City College
of New York
Gustav Bayerie
Professor of Uralic & Altaic
Studies
Indiana University
Andras G.E. Bodrogligetti
Professor of Turkic & Iranian
Languages
University of California at
Los Angeles
Kathleen BurriIl
Associate Professor of Turkish
Studies
Columbia University
Timothy Childs
Professorial Lecturer
SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
Shafiga Daulet
Associate Professor of Political
Science
University of Connecticut
Roderic Davison
Professor of History
George Washington University
Washington. D.C.
Walter Denny
Professor of Art History &
Near Eastern Studies
University of Massachusetts
Dr. Alan Duben
Anthropologist Researcher
New York City
Ellen Ervin
Research Assistant Professor
of Turkish
New York University
Caesar Farah
Professor of Islamic & Middle
Eastern History
University of Minnesota
Carter Findley
Associate Professor of History
The Ohio State University
Michael Finefrock
Professor of History
College of Charleston
Alan Fisher
Professor of History
Michigan Stale University
Cornell Fischer
Assistant Professor of History
Washington University (Missouri)
Peter Golden
Professor of History
Rutgers University, Newark
Tom Goodrich
Professor of History
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Andrew Gould
PhD. in Ottoman History
Flagstaff, Arizona
William Griswold
Professor of History
Colorado State University
Tibor Halasi-Kun
Professor Emeritus of Turkish
Studies
Columbia University
William Hickman
Associate Professor of Turkish
University of California, Berkeley
J.C. Hurewitz
Professor of Government Emeritus
Former Director of the Middle
East Institute (1971-1984)
Columbia University
John Hymn
Professor of History
Glenville State College
West Virginia
Halil Inalcik
University Professor of Ottoman
History & Member of The
American Academy of Art
& Sciences
University of Chicago
Ralph Jaeckel
Visiting Assistant Professor of
Turkish
University of California
at Los Angeles
Ronald Jennings
Associate Professor of History
Asian Studies
University of Illinois
James Kelly
Associate Professor of Turkish
University of Utah
Kerim Key
Adjunct Professor
South-eastern University
Washington, D.C.
Metin Kunt
Professor of Ottoman History
New York City
Frederick Latimer
Associate Professor of History,
Retired
University of Utah
Avigdor Levy
Professor of History
Brandeis University
Bernard Lewis
Cleveland E. Dodge Professor
of Near Eastern History
Princeton University
Dr. Heath W. Lowry
Institute of Turkish Studies, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
Justin McCarthy
Associate Professor of History
University of Louisville
Jon Mandaville
Professor of the History of
tire Middle East
Portland State University (Oregon)
Michael Meeker
Professor of Anthropology
University of California
at San Diego
Rhoads Murphey
Assistant Professor of Middle
Eastern Languages & Cultures
and History
Columbia University
Thomas Naff
Professor of History & Director,
Middle East Research Institute
University of Pennsylvania
Pierre Oberling
Professor of History
Hunter College of the City
University of New York
William Ochsenwald
Associate Professor of History
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Robert Olson
Associate Professor of History
University of Kentucky
William Peachy
Assistant Professor of the Judaic &
Near Eastern Languages &
Literatures
The Ohio State University
Donald Quataert
Associate Professor of History
University of Houston
Howard Reed
Professor of History
University of Connecticut
Dankwart Rustow
Distinguished University
Professor of Political Science
City University Graduate School
New York
Ezel Kural Shaw
Associate Professor of History
California State University,
Northridge
Stanford Shaw
Professor of History
University of California
at Los Angeles
Elaine Smith
PhD. In Turkish History
Retired Foreign Service Officer
Washington, D.C.
Grace M. Smith
Visiting Lecturer In Turkish
University of California
at Berkeley
John Masson Smith, Jr.
Professor of History
University of California
at Berkeley
Dr. Svat Soucek
Turcologist, New york City
Robert Stash
Assistant Director of the Middle
East Center
University of Utah
June Starr
Associate Professor of
Anthropology
SUNY Stoneybrook
James Stewart-Robinson
Professor of Turkish Studies
University of Michigan
Dr. Philip Stoddard
Executive Director Middle
East Institute
Washington, D.C.
Frank Tachau
Professor of Political Science
University of Illinois
at Chicago
Metin Tamkoc
Professor of International Law
& Relations
Texas Tech University
David Thomas
Associate Professor of History
Rhode Island College
Margaret L. Venzke
Assistant Professor of History
Dickinson College (Pennsylvania)
Warren S. Walker
Horn Professor of English &
Director of the Archive of
Turkish Oral Narrative
Texas Tech University
Donald Webster
Professor of Turkish History,
Retired
Walter Welker
Professor of Political Science
Rutgers University
John Woods
Associate Professor of Middle
Eastern History
University of Chicago
Madeline Zilfi
Associate Professor of History
University of Maryland
(INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS ARE NOTED FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES ONLY)
Holdwater: Practically every single one of the above academicians has been intimidated away from this debate, through the use of pro-Armenian terror tactics (principally the "smear campaign" weapon) used by such extremists as Peter Balakian and Israel Charny.
Israel Charny (whose name is apparently misspelled in the following article) is a loyal pro-Armenian. When the pro-Armenians began to lose their edge after the "genocide" matter was being seriously looked into in the 1970s and 1980s (in response to the wave of Armenian terrorism), and the lies of the genocide argument began to surface, something had to be done.
One form of terrorism that doesn't involve the spillage of blood is the pro-Armenians' time-honored tactic of the smear campaign. As Erich Feigl wrote in "The Myth of Terror," sometimes "Rufmord" is worse than real murder. Referring to The Forty Days of Musa Dagh author Franz Werfel, Feigl wrote:
"He committed murder — in German there is the word 'Rufmord,' which means the murder of one’s reputation — by defaming the name of the Turkish nation, the killing of one's reputation. Sometimes 'Rufmord' is worse than real murder. It leads easily to further crimes, in our case against Turkey and Turks."
Israel Charny, a man with no visible moral brakes, decided to do something against the scholars who gave his agenda serious trouble. When the "69 Historians" ad appeared in newspapers like "The New York Times," Charny went after them. Many who were operating out of honour and truth had no trouble responding to what turned out to be his slime ball tactics.
Charny's objective: to discredit them.
The way Charny went about his campaign of "Rufmord": to make it seem like the reason why these scholars took their stand was financial gain.
No scholar can afford his or her precious reputation to be stained.
Effective result: The real scholars have been scared away from this debate. No new ones have been entering the arena, scared to death of these immoral tactics.
The pro-Armenians are back to having their near-unilateral open field once again.
Here is a man, Israel Charny, who has no academic background in history or other field that legitimizes his self-created expertise on genocide scholarship (his background is in the field of psychology)... and he had the audacity to lower himself to such calumnious action.
I happen to know several professors, and getting grants from a range of sources is part of being a professor, to get on with research. No professor I know has sold his or her soul because of a grant. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but the process doesn't work that way.
Furthermore, from what I understand, the Institute of Turkish Studies (one of Charny's two examples of "the Turkish government") is not exclusively financed by the Turkish government. There are many American companies that provide "grants" to keep this Institute up and running. (No doubt evil companies, to a lost soul like Israel Charny.)
This kind of tactic is nothing short of deplorable. If Israel Charny were a real scholar, he would work on disputing what opponent academicians are saying with legitimate facts. Since he cannot do that, he must go after their character.
"A Follow-up of the Sixty-nine Scholars who Signed an Advertisement Questioning the Armenian Genocide"
By Israel W. Charney and Daphna Fromer
How are we to understand the mind of a rational person who denies the historical authenticity of a major historical tragedy such as the Holocaust or the Armenian genocide? On December 2, 1985, 69 scholars signed an advertisement, which appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times, which questioned insidiously the evidence of the Armenian genocide. Instead of denying the occurrence of the genocide outright, the scholars proceeded self-righteously in the name of values of historical and scientific truth to call on the Turkish and other governments to open all the archives so that the facts -- presumably unknown even in their essence as to whether or not there was a state-authorized and executed genocide of the Armenians -- will be ascertained.
Since its publication, the advertisement has been repeatedly used as proof that "many scholars do not believe there was a genocide of the Armenian people by the Turks," and it appears as a key document in repeated Turkish lobby statements to members of the U.S. Congress.
In an effort to understand more fully the attitudes of the scholars who signed the advertisement, the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem undertook a follow-up study of the signators. In an accompanying statement of "Acknowledgment of Bias," the Institute conveyed to the scholars that our studies of the subject have previously convinced us of the authenticity of the Armenian genocide, moreover that we have had our own direct experience with the Turkish government efforts to suppress the record in connection with the landmark International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv in 1982.
The questionnaire inquired into the respondents' knowledge of and opinion about the events that took place at the time of the Armenian genocide, their knowledge of and opinions towards any attempts to suppress and revise the historical record by either the Turks or the Armenians, their knowledge of the uses to which the advertisement has been put and about signators' current attitudes about the advertisement and their participation in it.
A total of 62 mailings are presumed to have reached their destination -- we failed to find an address for one signators and six other packages were returned as undeliverable. Of these 62, 4 returned empty questionnaires as statements of their refusal to participate, 10 wrote letters -- an number of them detailed and expository -- explaining their refusal to answer the questionnaire and also their attitudes about the subject of the Armenian genocide, while 7 returned completed questionnaires. Altogether, the total of 21 active responses represents a surprisingly high figure of 34% responses (compared to an average expectation of 10% responses to mail questionnaires in the social sciences). As the emotional intensity of the responses show, indications are that not only the questionnaire itself aroused tension but the subject of the advertisement is, as it should be, a focus of no little tension for many signators.
Some of the information revealed by those who did respond sheds light on the creation of this very clever propaganda technique, an in our judgment provides sufficient evidence on which to discredit the advertisement: Like in an earlier report by the Armenian Assembly of America of its follow-up correspondence with the 69 signators, several respondents indicated that
a) they had no doubt about the essential truth of the Armenian genocide;
b) they are fully aware of the Turkish government's intention to falsify the record through censorship, suppression, and revision of the facts;
c) and as to the advertisement, itself that they had not been aware that the Turks would use their call to open the archives to "prove" that there was no Armenian genocide, nor did they know that there would be repeated use of their statement beyond a single advertisement.
It should be noted that at the same time, all the respondents who commented on the matter were adamant that they received to reward or promise of reward for their participation in the advertisement, and a good number of them were insulted and irate at what they felt were implication of such questions by us.
What stands out in the responses of these 17 scholars is that many of them go to great pains to explain that their intentions are innocent and good, they are only interested in being responsible academicians, indeed that they want to bring an end to inter-ethnic tensions and help people forget and forgive old-time events that should not be allowed to get in the way of present-day peaceful relationships between peoples. We call this presentation style of "innocence and self-righteousness" and include it in the list of mechanisms of language and propaganda, which are the ones we found, were being used to disguise and justify the full meaning of the denials.
The following are the patterns of "thinking defense-mechanisms" which we identified "allow" the scholars to engage in the denial of the genocide:
And here Charny goes into his mumbo-jumbo with fancy sounding names such as "Indirection, Definitionalism, and Maddening." (You can read the rest at this web site.) For example, here we're told, "These are responses which avoid the issue by failing to reply or by going off on tangents about trivial details that avoid the essential issue of whether genocide took place." Isn't that ironic. The essential issue of whether genocide took place is the whole point, and it is the pro-Armenians who expect us to wallow in the smokescreen details to throw our minds off these essential truths. Truths such as: the Armenians wouldn't have been subjected to the relocation policy had they not betrayed their nation, just like the Ottoman Jews. Truths such as, there is no evidence linking the federal government to the alleged crime... and this is why the dishonest genocide advocates must point to hearsay, opinions, and fabrications.
About the authors:
Israel Charney is Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem. He is author of How Can We Commit the Unthinkable? (1982); editor, with Shamai Davidson, of The Book of the International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide (1983); editor of Toward the Understanding and Prevention of Genocide (1984); and editor of Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review.
Daphna Fromer is a Fellow of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide.
More Information on those that have signed the advertising.
*The large majority of those that signed the advertisement received grants from institutions founded by the Turkish government.
ITS, stands for the Turkish Studies Institute, in Washington D.C., honorary chairman, the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S.. The Institute's purpose is to counter Armenian activity at the "academic level" and as a pro-Turkey lobbying group.
Holdwater: As of this writing, on July 2005, the ITS web site has nothing on the Armenians. Perhaps they have become jittery with these below-the-belt intimidation tactics.
On their publications page, they even have a work by the pro-Armenian Fatma Muge Gocek. (ADDENDUM, Apr. 06: In Gocek's "Curriculum Vitae" (resume) for May 2005, we learn she received grants from both institutions Charny presented as an equivalent for "Turkey," one from ITS [1990-91] and three from ARIT [1984-85, 1990-91 and 1996-97]. By Charny's logic, Gocek must be an "agent of the Turkish government.")
Seems to me the Institute's purpose was to counter the awful racism and prejudice by forces represented by Israel Charny, and to open up Turkish Studies departments in the USA, concentrating on real history. Of course, these insidious Turk-hating forces have done a number on these efforts, as well.
On their "About ITS" page, they say, with good reason: "In keeping with its charter and tax-exempt status, the Institute does not seek to influence legislation." That would not make the ITS [which stands for "Institute for Turkish Studies," not "Turkish Studies Institute"... not that the facts matter to one such as Israel Charny] a "lobbying group."
In the chart below, we are told renowned scholar Avigdor Levy received several grants from the ITS. On the ITS' "Publications" page, we learn Dr. Levy edited a volume entitled, "The Jews of the Ottoman Empire." Is Charny expecting us to believe Dr. Levy conducted this work with the idea of appeasing the Turkish government?
Maybe Israel Charny operates this way, because an Internet search indicates how actively he is associated with Armenian interests. But then again, what does Israel Charny know about being a genuine scholar?
ARIT, stands for the American Research Institute in Turkey.
The number in ( ) stands for the number of monetary grants by either ITS, or ARIT to the "scholar", and the items between [ ] indicate the total number of grants to the rest of the College or University the "scholars" are affiliated with.
Holdwater: I didn't know anything about ARIT, and just looked at their web site. Their beginnings: "In 1964, a group of scholars representing American and Canadian universities established the American Research Institute in Turkey."
Is that supposed to be "Turkey"? Note Charny characterized this as an institution "founded by the Turkish government," above.
Are academic organizations located in the United States to be presumed agents of the American government?
But note how Charny worded the third column below: "GRANTS FROM TURKEY."
Is it possible that Israel Charny is the antonym of the word, HONOR?
Abu El Haj, Rifaat Cal. St. Univ, Long Beach ITS(1)
Atis, Sara Univ. of Wisc @ Madison ITS(1), [ITS(8)]
Barbir, Karl K. Siena Coll. (NY) Arab-Ottoman Studies
Basgoz,Ilhan Indiana Univ. ITS(3), ARIT(2), [ITS(8)]
Bates, Daniel Hunter Coll., Univ of NY [ITS(1)]
Bates, Ulku Hunter Coll., Univ of NY ARIT(1), [ITS(1)]
Bayerle, Gustav Indiana Univ. ARIT(1), [ITS(8)]
Bodrogligetti, Andras UCLA ITS(1), [ITS(4)]
Burrill, Kathleen Columbia University ITS(8), ARIT(1), [ITS(9)]
Childs, Timothy SAIS, John Hopkins Univ. 19th-20th century Ottoman history
Daulet, Shafiga Univ. of Conn. [ITS(4)]
Davison, Roderic Geo. Wash. Univ. ARIT(1)
Denny, Walter Univ. of Mass. ARIT(1)
Duben, Alan Anthropoliogist
Ervin, Ellen N.Y. Univ. ITS(1), [ITS(6)]
Farah, Caesar Univ. of Minn. ITS(1)
Findley, Carter Ohio State. Univ. ITS(2), ARIT(1), [ITS(3)]
Finefrock, Michael Coll. of Charleston 20th century Turkish history
Fisher, Alan Mich. State Univ. ARIT(1), [ITS(1)]
Fleischer, Cornell Wash. Univ, Misssouri 16th-17th century Ottoman history
Golden, Peter Rutgers Univ.
Goodrich, Tom Indiana Univ of Penn. 16th century Ottoman history
Gould, Andres Historian
Griswald, Willaim Colo. State Univ. ARIT(1)
Halasi-Kun, Tibor Columbia Univ. ITS(3), [ITS(10)]
Hickman, William UCAL, Berkeley ARIT(1), [ITS(3)]
Hurewitz, J.C. Columbia Univ (ret) ITS(10)
Hymes, John Glenville State Col., W. Va. 19th-20th Century Ottoman history
Inalcik, Halil Univ. of Chicago ITS(1), [ARIT(9)]
Jaeckel, Ralph UCLA [ITS(4)]
Jennings, Ronald Univ. of Illinois ARIT(1), [ITS(3)]
Kelly, James Univ. of Utah ITS(2), ARIT(1), [ITS(5)]
Key, Kerim Southeastern Univ. 19th-20th Century Ottoman history
Kunt, Metin Ottoman history
Latimer, Frederick Univ. of Utah (ret.) Ottoman history
Levy, Avigdor Brandies Univ. ARIT(1), [ITS(7)]
Lewis, Bernard Princeton Univ. [ITS(3)]
Lowry, Heath Inst. of Turkish Studies ARIT(2)
McCarthy, Justin Univ of Louisville ITS(1), ARIT(1)
Mandaville, Jon Portland State Univ. ARIT(1), [ITS(2)]
Meeker, Michael UCAL San Diego Turkish studies
Murphy, Rhodes Columbia Univ. ITS(1), ARIT(1), [[ITS(10)]
Naff, Thomas Univ. of Penn. [ITS(9)]
Oberling, Pierre Hunter Coll., Univ of NY ITS(1), [ITS(1)]
Ochsenwald, William Va. Polytech Inst. ARIT(1)
Olson, Robert Univ. of Kentucky 18th-20th century Turkish history
Peachy, William Ohio State University ARIT(2)
Quataert, Sonald Univ of Huston ITS(2), ARIT(1), [ITS(2)]
Reed, Howard Univ. of Conn. ITS(1), [ITS(5)]
Rustow, Dankart City Univ of NY ITS(1)
Shaw, Ezel Kural Cal. State Univ, Nothridge 19th century Ottoman history
Shaw, Stanford UCLA ITS(1), ARIT(2), [ITS(4)]
Smith, Elaine Foreign Service (ret.) Modern Turkey
Smith, Grace UCAL, Berkeley ITS(1), ARIT(1), [ITS(3)]
Smith, John Masson UCAL, Berkeley ARIT(1), [ITS(3)]
Soucek, Svat ARIT(1)
Staab, Robert Univ. of Utah [ITS(5)]
Starr, June SUNY Stoneybrook Anthropologist
Stewart-Robinson, James Univ. of Mich. [ITS(3)]
Stoddard, Phllip Middle East Institute, (Dir.) ITS(3)
Tachau, Frank Univ. of Illinois ITS(1), ARIT(2), [ITS(3)]
Tamkoc, Metin Texas Tech [ITS(1)]
Thomas, David RI College ARIT(2)
Yenzke, M.L. Dickinson College ARIT(1)
Walker, Warren Texas Tech [ITS(1)]
Webster, Walter Rutgers Univ. 1930's Turkish History
Woods, John Univ. of Chicago [ITS(9)]
Zilfi, Madeline Univ of Maryland ARIT(2)
Note: This table information’s are taken from, The Middle East Studies Association Bulletins, Directory of American scholars and the Ottoman Studies Directory. These information’s provided are pass dated and not updated for many years.
Published by the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
Double Issue 25/26,
Special Issue on the 75th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
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