1242) Are Jewish Scholars At Cardozo Advocating Censorship in America?

Dean David Rudenstine
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
500 West 185th Street , New York, NY 10033-3201
212-790-0310

Cc: Sheri Rosenberg
Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic
Deputy Director, Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
55 Fith Avenue, 935, NY NY 10003
212.790.0455

Re: "Denying Genocide" conference, December 3-4, 2006
Are Jewish Scholars At Cardozo Advocating Censorship in America?

Dear Dean Rudenstine,

As an American of Turkish descent, I am troubled by your choice of speaker(s) at the subject conference. My concerns are about both "the message and the messenger". . . . .

How can a controversial subject like the Turkish-Armenian conflict during World War One be presented to unsuspecting students, faculty, and indeed, public, as "settled history"?

And perhaps, worst of all, by a notoriously biased speaker?

Isn't this akin to presentation Israel's foreign policy by Osama Bin Laden?

Is this your sense of scholarship? Fairness? Decency? Respect for law?

Let me be more succinct with my criticism of your key speaker, Taner Akcam. Did you know he is a convicted terrorist in Turkey? He was one of the leaders of a armed and clandestine group advocating a Marxist-Leninist takeover of Turkish Republic caught red-handed in a bombing plot in late 1970s. He was tried, convicted, jailed, and serving time when he escaped from his jail cell. A while later, he surfaced in Germany,apparently having asked for and received asylum there. He continued his studies in Germany and got a Ph.D. in Sociology (not history) in the university of Cologne in 1995. He has never been a historian and he can not read, write, or understand Ottoman Turkish (a heavy combination of Turkish-Arabic-Persian-and tradition) to study Ottoman history. He has never been seen in the Ottoman archives doing any research. He just re-circulates Dadrian's (his sponsor coming to America and source for information.) He has never been a professor.

Taner Akcam was first brought to Michigan by the Armenian lobby for his virulently anti-Turkish stance, as he still seeks revenge from Turkey for his failed attempts of 1970s. He is in America probably illegally because of the three very direct questions everyone seeking a visa to enter the U.S. is asked in the INS visa application forms:
1- Have you ever been a communist?
2- Have you ever been convicted of a felony?
3- Have you ever worked against the U.S. interests?

He had to say "Yes" to all 3 questions as he was part of a group which bombed the limousine of the American ambassador Comer in Ankara in 1969. But if he did say yes, then he would not be allowed to visit, let alone work, in America.

That's where his sponsors, the "Armenian falsifiers" came into picture. They sneakily relied on "German papers", which were, indeed. "clean", and got the visa. If those Armenian falsifiers are charged with perjury at some time in future, they are probably contemplating their defense as "ignorance of Taner Akcam's violent history in Turkey" and that they totally believed and relied on the German papers. The plot is still unfolding and one never knows what will happen tomorrow (remember the Topalian story? A "respected" Armenian leader, rubbing elbows with professors and politicians who turned out to be a leader of a terrorist cell whose task was to supply the explosives? he is serving time in prison now for his offenses.)

That's it for "the messenger" for now. An for your message, please read the following that I wrote for a similar situation in California where the an Armenian professor tries to use the cover of "scholarly presentation" at an unsuspecting American college to spread Armenian propaganda:

"ARMENIAN SCHOLAR AT EASE WITH CENSORSHIP", http://www.turkla.com/yazar.php?mid=868&yid=4
SYNOPSIS: From Ergun KIRLIKOVALI to several African-American students who wanted more information about the Turkish views after the biased lecture by the Armenian professor :

“Today, you witnessed with your own eyes how the views of a group of people party to a controversial issue were censored by the organizers and the lecturer. Ask yourselves: How can this happen in the 21st Century at an institute of higher learning in the most advanced and richest state in the Union, California? And next time someone gives you a lofty lecture about the freedom of speech in America, please remember today!”


Last but not least, genocide is a legal term and a verdict that must be reached by a "competent court", a la Nuremberg. Such a court was attempted by the British but abandoned in 1921 due to lack of "court admissible evidence" right after the war. Therefore, such a verdict does not exist. Since you have used the term genocide, you either must produce a court verdict by a competent court or chance being labeled the head of a racist and dishonest "lynch mob".

Sincerely,

Ergun Kirlikovali
www.turkla.com