Eine Ausstellung in der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Kopenhagen zum Leben und Werk von Skandinavierinnen, die während des Ersten Weltkrieges Augenzeuginnen der Vernichtung der armenischen Bevölkerung im Osmanischen Reich geworden waren, löste den routinemäßigen Protest der örtlichen türkischen Diplomatie aus. Bedauerlicherweise hat sich der Bibliotheksleiter Nielsen davon beeindrucken lassen und gegen öffentlichen Protest aus dem In- und Ausland eine „alternative Ausstellung“ zugesagt, auf der der offiziellen türkische Standpunkt präsentiert werden soll. Danach gab es keinen Genozid bzw. werden die Opfer als schuldig denunziert.
Inzwischen haben sich türkische und türkeistämmige Intellektuelle mit einem gemeinsamen Protestbrief an den Bibliotheksleiter gewendet, dem sich die Arbeitsgruppe Anerkennung anschließt. Wir rufen dazu auf, den unten vorgeschlagenen Protestbrief an Herrn Nielsen möglichst zahlreich zu unterzeichnen und weiterzuleiten!
OPEN LETTER
Don’t Stand Against Turkey’s Democratization and Confrontation with its History!
The individuals whose signatures appear below have been distressed to learn that the Royal Library of Denmark has given the Turkish government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit” in response to the Armenian Genocide exhibition.
It is incorrect to suggest that two different views of what happened in 1915 are possible. Over 1 million Ottoman-Armenian citizens were forced out of their homes and annihilated in furtherance of an intentional state policy. What exists today is nothing other than the blatant denial of this reality by the Turkish government.
An honest reckoning with history is the non-negotiable precondition of a true democracy. The Turkish government has been suppressing historic truths and following a policy of denial for more than 90 years. In response to the many intellectuals in the nation who have urged the government to confront history honestly, this systematic suppression and intimidation policy, which reached its zenith with the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, continues unabated. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in several cases on this subject against Turkey’s position and actions.
By giving the Turkish government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit,” you support their policy of suppression and intimidation. The support that you are extending to a regime that has made opposition to confronting history and denial of the truth a fundamental principle is equivalent to supporting a regime of apartheid. We want to remind you that your support constitutes an obstacle to democratization efforts in Turkey today.
There is a regional aspect of this policy also. Peace, democracy, and stability in the Middle East will only come about through regimes that are willing to confront history honestly. Through its position of denying historical truths, Turkey represents an obstacle to the development of peace, democracy, and stability in the Middle East. We, citizens fighting for a democratic Turkey, urge you to reconsider your decision to grant the Turkish government the opportunity to present an “alternative exhibit” and withdraw the offer immediately, and we invite you to join and support the democratic civil initiatives demanding that Turkey confront its history honestly.
Signatories:
- Fikret Adanır (professor of history)
- Taner Akçam (professor of history)
- Ayhan Aktar (professor of sociology)
- Cengiz Aktar (professor of political science)
- Cengiz Algan (the DurDe civic initiative)
- Ahmet Altan (chief editor, Taraf newspaper)
- Maya Arakon (professor of political science)
- Oya Baydar (writer)
- Yavuz Baydar (columnist, Todays Zaman newspaper)
- Osman Baydemir (mayor of Diyarbakır)
- Murat Belge (professor of litterature)
- Halil Berktay (professor of history)
- İsmail Beşikçi (professor of sociology)
- Hamit Bozaslan (professor of political science)
- İpek Çalışlar (writer)
- Oral Çalışlar (columnist, Radikal newspaper)
- Aydın Engin (founding Editor T24 webnews)
- Fatma Müge Göçek (professor of sociology)
- Nilüfer Göle (professor of sociology)
- İştar Gözaydın (professor of law and politics)
- Gençay Gürsoy (professor of medicine)
- Ayşe Hür (historian, columnist Radical newspaper)
- Ahmet İnsel (professor of economics)
- Ayşe Kadıoğlu (professor of political science)
- Gülten Kaya (music producer)
- Ümit Kıvanç (writer)
- Ömer Laçiner (chief editor, Birikim Review)
- Roni Margulies (poet)
- Baskın Oran (professor of political science)
- Cem Özdemir (co-chair, German Green Party)
- Esra Mungan (professor of psychology)
- Sırrı Sakık (MP)
- Betül Tanbay (professor of mathematics)
- Zeynep Tanbay (choreographer)
- Turgut Tarhanlı (professor of international law)
- Ufuk Uras (former MP)
- Şanar Yurdatapan (Initiative for Freedom of Expression).
The Royal Library’s director, Mr. Nielsen, has meanwhile responded to AGA’s protest letter. In his reply, he quotes from an earlier interview, given on 18th December 2012 in a Danish paper. Obviously, Mr. Nielsen believes that his offer of a “parallel Turkish exhibition” is supportive for Armenians and the below mentioned protesters in giving their cause more public attention.
This Action is closed !
Diese Aktion ist abgeschlossen !
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“Alternative Exhibition” on Genocide against the Armenians
Dear Sir Erland Kolding Nielsen,
Genocide is the largest crime that international law has to deal with. The genocide against 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians and further two millions of Ottoman subjects of various Christian denominations during the last decade of Ottoman rule are empirically at the base of the UN Genocide Convention, whose author Dr. iur. Raphael Lemkin was very aware of these crimes. For that reason he tried already in 1934 to introduce an international convention into the League of Nations, but succeeded only after another World War and another massive genocide.
Crimes are never a matter of alternative views or interpretations of the past. For that reason the “alternative exhibition” in the Royal Library in Copenhagen is entirely contra-productive to the goals of the above mentioned UN Convention.
I hereby express my sincere protest against this exhibition and the motifs behind it. I expect you to immediately reconsider your decision to grant the Turkish government the opportunity to present a denialist “alternative exhibition”. Finally I join into the protest articulated in the Open Letter of 37 intellectuals of Turkish citizenship or ethnic background and
https://www.aga-online.org/ausstellung-zur-genozidleugnung-ist-keine-alternative/
Sincerely yours,[Vorname] [Nachname]