July 6, 2008

Dispute Over Academic Freedom Roils Turkish-Studies Institute

Several members have resigned from the board of the Institute for Turkish Studies to protest what they characterize as an infringement of the board chairman’s academic freedom. The chairman, Donald Quataert, a professor of history at the State University of New York at Binghamton, resigned in late 2006, according to an article in The Washington Post, after writing a book review in which he used the word “genocide” to describe the mass killing of Armenians in 1915.

This past May, Mervat F. Hatem, a professor of political science at Howard University who is the president of the Middle East Studies Association, wrote to Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, requesting that Mr. Quataert be returned to his position and that funds for the institute be placed in a trust to avoid political interference. The institute is supported by a grant from the Turkish government. In her letter, Ms. Hatem wrote that Mr. Quataert had stepped down after refusing to accede to the Turkish ambassador’s demand that he retract his review, or face the loss of the institute’s funds.

But the Turkish ambassador, H.E. Nabi Sensoy, as well as the institute’s director, David C. Cuthell Jr., denied any infringement of Mr. Quataert’s scholarly freedom, according to the Post.

Critics have accused the Turkish government for years of trying to manipulate scholarly studies, conferences, encyclopedia articles, and even novels that discuss the mass killings. —Lila Guterman

Comments

1. The Washington Post article and Professor Hatem’s letter, both referenced in this Chronicle article, are well worth reading.

   Contextually, modern Turkey merits full membership in EU and other associations making up the European community. Its secular arrangements for the relationship between religion and politics should be a model, not only in the Middle East but also in the West; notably, the United States.

   Sadly, that third rail—Turkey’s disinclination to acknowledge the 1915 “mass killings” for what they were, and its effort to suppress such recognition by others, especially scholars— remains, and that failure, more even than the long ago events themselves, continue to damage Turkey’s prestige and place. All great nations—certainly the U.S.—carry the onus of some awful events in their history. Turkey should acknowledge what happened in WW1, or at least not stand in the way of others who do.

   — Dave    Jul 7, 08:56 AM    #

2. All the spin in the world won’t answer The White Hotel.

   If Turkey wants to be treated like a grownup member of the EU, maybe it needs to grow up. Admitting to wrongs done would be a good first step.

   — dan    Jul 7, 01:03 PM    #

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