Wednesday, February 17, 1999
Lecturer provides insight into plight of Armenians
GENOCIDE: Class discusses development of genocide, Ottoman
history, politics
By Harout Semerdjian
On Feb. 4, 1999, Professor Stanford Shaw’s class on The Ottoman
Empire and the Turkish Republic was treated to a special lecture
about the Armenian genocide by Professor Vahakn Dadrian, director
of the Genocide Studies Project supported by the H. F. Guggenheim
Foundation.
While Professor Shaw has written on the breadth of Ottoman
history, a scholar specializing in the years leading to and
including the Armenian genocide could add significantly to the
educational value of the class.
The Armenian genocide is a chapter in Ottoman history not
covered by Professor Shaw. The most ideal opportunity arose when
Professor Dadrian began a West Coast tour for his most recent
publication, "Warrant for Genocide: Key Elements of Turko-Armenian
Conflict."
Professor Dadrian’s lecture lasted over one hour. Aside from the
students already enrolled in the class, other students of Jewish,
Armenian and Turkish backgrounds also attended.
In his lecture, Professor Dadrian examined the origins and
developments of the Armenian question and its final resolution as
genocide. He touched on issues that have been played down by those
espousing the politically motivated views of the Turkish
government.
Indeed, Professor Dadrian’s lecture challenged students to
consider inquiring further on the genocide while studying Turkish
history.
One student, who had studied the subject for a quarter and a
half, was not aware of many issues pertaining to Ottoman
minorities. For example, she had not realized that evidence offered
by non-Muslims in the Turkish empire was inadmissable in court.
Another significant piece of news was that Armenians living in
the eastern provinces of present-day Turkey represented the
majority of the population prior to the massacres of 1895-1896 and
1915. Other students familiar with Jewish history found striking
similarities between the Armenian and Jewish holocausts.
Even historians who purportedly revise Armenian history are not
able to counter the indisputable facts Professor Dadrian puts
forth.
Professor Dadrian is recognized as the leading scholar on the
Armenian genocide with such publications as "The History of the
Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to
the Caucasus" and "German Responsibility in the Armenian Genocide:
A Review of the Historical Evidence of German Complicity." Israel’s
daily "Ha’aretz," in a recent review of one of Professor Dadrian’s
books, refers to his works as a result of "path-breaking
research."
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