Armenian
Atrocities & Terrorism
Intimidation in Academia
One of the major goals of the Armenian propaganda machine
in this country has been to suppress scholarly debates and discussions
of the tragic events that took place in eastern Anatolia during World
War I. Fearful that objective and unbiased historical analysis might
endanger decades of propaganda based on one-sided interpretations of
the historical record, Armenians have tried to use various methods to
silence those American historians and experts on the Ottoman Empire
who do not subscribe to the standard "party line" perspective on the
Armenian question. Initially, these methods involved the use of physical
violence and terrorism: In 1982, Armenian students and extremists disrupted
the history class taught by Professor Stanford J. Shaw at the University
of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), a prominent scholar and a widely-recognized
expert on Ottoman history. Later, Armenians turned to terrorism: They
bombed Shaw's home and also broke into his office at the university
and ransacked it. Professor Shaw had become a target for Armenian terrorists
because, based on his years of meticulous research in the Ottoman archives,
he had come to the conclusion that there was no systematic effort by
the Ottoman government to engage in a genocide against the Armenians.
The fact that the physical violence and terrorism directed at Shaw took
place at UCLA was no coincidence: In addition to being located in one
of the largest Armenian-American communities in the United States, UCLA's
Center for Near Eastern Studies has become a major center for producing
anti-Turkish propaganda through the efforts of a leading Armenian-American
historian, Richard G. Hovannissian.
The terrorist bombing of Shaw's home was meant to send
a signal to other American historians who might challenge the "facts"
of the events during 1915-21, as presented by the Armenian propagandists.
In fact, since the incidents at UCLA, their efforts to intimidate other
historians and suppress their views have continued unabated. However,
instead of actual terrorism and physical violence, this intimidation
campaign has involved sending messages of threat via mail or telephone,
intervening with the university administrators to undermine academic
careers and seeking to discredit individuals through well-publicized
campaigns. More recently, the Armenian propaganda machine has begun
yet another campaign designed to prevent free academic debate, discussion
and learning at American universities. This time the target is a program
to establish Turkish Studies Chairs at several American institutions
of higher learning such as Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, and the University
of Chicago. The program, which is partly funded by the Turkish government,
seeks to expand the study of Turkish history, society and culture through
the establishment of professorships in Ottoman and modern Turkish history.
Armenian propagandists have been very critical of Turkish
Studies Chairs on the grounds that they were being established by the
Turkish government to present its views on the Armenian question and
that they would be filled by individuals who sympathized with Turkey's
stand on this issue. As usual, Armenian allegations have large doses
of fiction and untruth mixed with the fear that learning more about
Turkey and its people might offset the negative propaganda that has
been disseminated in this country for decades about the Turks. The charges
and allegations are false since the Turkish officials have repeatedly
stated that they have no intention to interfere with the selection of
professors for these chairs or the contents of the course materials.
Furthermore, the university administrators at Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown,
and Chicago have also repeatedly stated that the Turkish government
has made no attempt to influence their choice of candidates for these
positions. Despite the absence of any evidence that would contradict
these statements, Armenian propagandists continue to fabricate unfounded
allegations based on conspiracy theories. Their objective is to intimidate
American universities, this time through orchestrated campaigns rather
than terrorism and violence directed at individual professors, to prevent
the dissemination of objective and unbiased knowledge about Turkey.
The efforts of the Armenians on this issue are all the more hypocritical
since during the past two decades, more than a dozen major American
universities have established professorships or programs in Armenian
studies with contributions from wealthy Armenian-Americans. Some of
these universities, such as UCLA, have gone even further and specifically
designated these new programs to support the study of the "Armenian
genocide." Clearly, in the distorted world of the Armenian propaganda
machine, the establishment of Armenian studies programs where the main
focus is on the study of an alleged "genocide" qualifies for genuine
academic scholarship whereas the promotion of knowledge and learning
about the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey does not.
Joining
the Holocaust Bandwagon
