Istanbul, Turkey – Turkish scholars at a twice-canceled conference on the massacre of Armenians in the early 20th century cautiously discussed the politically charged topic Saturday, avoiding inflammatory language as protesters denounced the gathering as traitorous.
The academic conference is the first time that an institution in the modern Turkish Republic has hosted a public event in which speakers are permitted to openly discuss whether the fathers and grandfathers of today’s Turkish citizens committed the first genocide of the 20th century.
Hundreds of protesters waved Turkish flags, and some pelted the arriving panelists with eggs and accused organizers of treachery, but in a sign of the deep sensitivity of the subject, the panelists, all Turkish speakers, carefully avoided any emotional language.
“Everyone waits for you to pronounce the genocide word – if you do, one side applauds and the other won’t listen,” said Halil Berktay, program coordinator of the history department at Sabanci University.
Armenians have been pushing for decades to have the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 by Ottoman Turks recognized by the international community as genocide.
Turkey says the death toll is inflated and that Armenians were killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Modern Turkey, successor state of the empire, is a candidate for European Union membership, and the country’s commitment to democracy is being closely watched.
In May, the justice minister accused organizers of “stabbing the people in the back.” An Istanbul court shut the conference down Thursday, but the court’s ruling was skirted by organizers who decided to change the conference venue.
Stating that Turks may have committed genocide against Armenians opposes the official state line and could lead to prosecution in a country where many see the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of Turkish greatness.
