Turkey pulls plug on 'traitorous' genocide debate

By Vincent Boland
Published: June 9 2005 03:00 Last updated: June 9 2005 03:00

While French and Dutch voters were rejecting the European Union constitution - with opposition to enlargement in the forefront of their minds - Turkey was handing its army of critics another reason to object to its membership credentials.

Amid allegations of treason and following an extraordinary intervention by a senior minister, Bosphorus University in Istanbul postponed a conference of Turkish historians which was to discuss the fate of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian inhabitants in 1915 and 1916.
[...]
Opponents of the conference, led by senior officials in the opposition People's Republican party (CHP) and at the Turkish Historical Society and supported by the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), had two main objections. One, that it would not have a speaker to deliver the official Turkish version of the Armenian controversy; the other, that since Bosphorus University is a state institution, its decision to host the conference was a betrayal of the state.

The university buckled when Cemil Cicek, justice minister, attacked the conference and criticised "traitors . . . preparing to stab Turkey in the back".

A European diplomat said Mr Cicek's speech was "the worst statement I have heard in my years here in Turkey".

Oh America!

US President George W. Bush yesterday praised Turkey as an example of democracy after talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister [...].

"Turkey's democracy is an important example for the people in the broader Middle East," Mr Bush said.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears Here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.