TURKISH ACADEMICS ISSUE PERSONAL APOLOGY FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Chronicle of Higher Education

Dec 10 2008

Three Turkish scholars and a journalist have issued a personal public

apology for their country's role in the killing of as many as 1.5

million Armenians during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, which

modern Turkish governments have refused to characterize as genocide,

The Guardian, a British newspaper, reported today.

Academics and journalists who have flouted Turkey's official government

line on the "Armenian question" have faced prosecution under a

controversial provision of the country's penal law that criminalizes

"denigrating Turkishness."

According to The Guardian, the apology came in an open letter that

includes the following statement: "My conscience does not accept

the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe

that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this

injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain

of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them."

The Armenian News Agency reported that the statement would be opened

for signatures online. Armenia Liberty, an online publication, reported

that nearly 300 Armenian intellectuals appealed to Turkey's president,

Abdullah Gul, in a separate letter, made public yesterday, to recognize

the Armenian genocide and modern Turkey's "hereditary responsibility"

for the "monumental crime against humanity."

Relations between Turkey and Armenia have thawed in recent months,

with President Gul making an unprecedented trip in September to

the Armenian capital. The election of Barack Obama, who a leading

Armenian-American lobbyist said in an interview with The Armenian

Reporter "has repeatedly and clearly pledged to affirm the Armenian

Genocide," is also expected to focus attention on the contentious

issue. --Aisha Labi