Court Halts Armenian History Conference

The Fourth Administrative Court yesterday postponed a conference entitled "Ottoman Armenians During the Decline of Empire: Questions of Scholarly Responsibility and Democracy" that was to have opened today at İstanbul's Boğaziçi University . The conference, which deals with the controversial subject of the Ottoman government's crimes against the Armenian population, was postponed once already. Fethi Sayın, a member of the court, made a statement opposing the decision.

The court made its decision in response to a suit filed by the Jurists Union Society. The lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, a founding member of the society, applied to the court to postpone the conference, asking the court to demand answers about the conference from the rectors of the universities that organized it. Although the decision was made on 19 September, the court postponed its announcement for four days and only notified the universities yesterday.

Rectors: We will protect our autonomy

Dr. Ayşe Soysal, the rector of Boğaziçi University, and Dr. Tosun Terzioğlu, rector of Sabancı University, held a press conference after the court's decision. "We must comply wıth the court's decision, but we will fully exercise our legal rights to guard scholarly freedom and the autonomy of our universities," they stated.

In an interview with Bianet, Hrant Dink, the editor of the Armenian community newspaper Agos, said "I am very disappointed. I cannot find the words to express it." Dr. Ayhan Aktar, a member of the conference's consultative committee, also expressed his disappointment. Dr. Halil Berktay, the head of Sabancı University's history program and one of the conference organizers, called the society's application to the court "laughable."

The decision delivered by the court made several requests of the rectors of the two universities, asking them to justify the procedures used to organize the conference, to describe the criteria according to which conference speakers were selected, to justify the parameters of the views represented, and to explain how the conference was funded. The court gave the rectors a period of thirty days to respond.

Legal scholars and political leaders object

The lawyer Ergin Cinmen commented, "this decision is terribly defective, wrong, and against the law. Decisions about such activities do not fall within the jurisdiction of the court; it is not possible for the court to make such a decision." Maltepe University legal scholar Dr. Ülkü Azrak agreed, telling Turkish CNN that the court has no authority over the matter. "I cannot take this jurist seriously," he added.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also objected to the court's decision, saying "Let me state my personal opinion. In a democratic Turkey...it is impossible to approve of this decision." Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said "We are shooting ourselves in the foot." Joost Lagendijk, head of the European Union's Turkey Delegation, criticized the decision, calling it "a provocation."

The conference was originally scheduled to be held in May, but it was postponed once already due to pressure, including a comment by Justice Minster Cemal Cicek asserting that the conference was "a stab in the back" of the Turkish nation.(YE)