Turkish Scholar Taner Akcam To Obama: Recognize Genocide, Liberate Turkey

Turkish Scholar To Obama: Recognize Genocide, Liberate Turkey

U.S. President Barack Obama ahould should stand up to his promise and recognize Armenian Genocide, thus liberating Turkey and restoring justice.

One of the promises that the President Obama has made during his campaign is to call the tragic events of 1915 as Armenian Genocide. Turkey, while has started a process of reconciliation with Armenia (details of which are kept secret) has taken active actions to prevent President Barack Obama from keeping his promise. Turkey's reconition of the Armenian Genocide will not only create justice, but will also liberate Turkey from past that has come to haunt the nation.

According to the Armenian Weekly a prominent Turkish genocide scholar Taner Akcam in his lecture titled "Facing History" and delivered at the Clark University on March 19 Akcam sent a powerful message to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking him to liberate Turks and Armenians by properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Akcam continued, All of the parties involved know very well what the U.S. administration and Congress think about 1915. But Turkey asks them to tell a lie only for one day. I have never understood why the Turkish government extracts so much joy out of making the United States lie for one day. I also find it completely dishonorable. Not only does this lie fail to lead to a resolution, it needlessly locks up the debate.

Hence, Akcam argued, the importance of official U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocideif the United States declares what it believes to be the truth and stands behind itwould not only gain it some self-respect on the subject, but it will liberate Turks, Armenians, and itself in the process.

Akcam ended his lecture by asking Obama to stand up for truth. I believe that we will enter a new era where morality and real politik will not be considered mutually exclusive, if President Obama should put an end to this lingering problem and liberate everybody in the process by an official acknowledgment of genocide, he said.

Professor Akçam grew up in Turkey, where he was imprisoned for his participation in and fervent support for free press publications. Following a dramatic escape, he later received political asylum in Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Hannover and worked with the Hamburg Institute for Social Research.

In 2007, the Armenian Bar Association presented the Hrant Dink Freedom Award to Professor Akçam as "a champion of historical truth about the Armenian Genocide and for his courageous defense of liberty and free speech." Akçam's life and work have been featured in four critically acclaimed documentary films, and he is the author of 10 scholarly works, as well as numerous articles. His most recent book, "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility," (Metropolitan Books), was released in 2006.