The aim of this Viewpoint is not to argue about history. Every person, according to his ethnical, cultural, political, and economical background or to the amount of research he has done, has his own opinions, and discussing them can last days and actually years. Therefore I do not find any logic in stating my opinion of what actually happened between the Armenians and the Ottomans in the northeast provinces of the Ottoman Empire in WWI in these limited lines. Instead, I aim to express my concerns about our University's role on the subject of being unbiased on sensitive issues regarding history.
On Friday, April 19, 2002 I read an article in The Tufts Daily and was shocked by its title "Armenian scholar Mouradian discusses genocide memory" and its opening sentence that read "The massacre of 1.5 millions Armenians at the hands of the Turks in 1915 is regarded as many as the twentieth century's first incidence of genocide". As I read on, I realized that the article was about an event to commemorate the so-called "Armenian Genocide," and that Tufts was actually one of the only two schools that organized such an event (The other one is Harvard). Like I stated earlier, this historical issue has keen representatives on both sides that have been discussing it for years and years. Both sides have strong opinions about whether the numbers are being exaggerated or not and whether it was a systematic killing of a people - which is the accepted definition of genocide - or not. In order to achieve the truth, we should leave it to the professional historians and other scholars to speculate and reach a conclusion that would enlighten the future generations about this dark episode in human civilization.
For this reason, I will instead focus on why a university should be extra careful about choosing its words, especially those that carry as heavy a burden as "genocide." A university's main duty is to provide its members with the open-minded atmosphere without alienating anyone by attaching uncertain historical allegations to a group within its community. It is only through this approach that a university can achieve its ultimate goal of being the home to professional and unbiased scholarly research that would lead to the truth. Otherwise, everybody, without the proper data, would come up with accusations that benefits him in a certain way, but at the same time assigns unjust labels to his "other."
I believe that it is against the principles of a university to let this word be used about the events of 1915, whether it is in a publication like TheTufts Daily or in the title of an event that commemorates those who died in that year. This is because a certainty has not yet been reached about this particular subject at this point in history. I, and I am sure many others, who are expecting our University to provide a safe environment for the scholarly research of individuals with different backgrounds, would have expected the Daily writers to be more sensitive when reporting. Furthermore, I am sure that many are offended by the fact that an event titled "Armenian Genocide" actually took place on the grounds of a University that is supposed to teach its students that people should not blindly accept one side of an argument and alienate the rest. Especially in a country like the United States, where the so-called Armenian "genocide" is not recognized (the former president Bill Clinton and the US House shelved the resolution on October 19, 2000), it is a mistake for a university to let allegations leak into its academic environment.
To make my point clearer, I would like to conclude by looking at a more recent example, an incident that is taking place on another geography right now. I have heard people regard what is going on between the Israeli armed forces and the Palestinian refugees in Jenin with the word "genocide". I am certain that in the coming years, there will be a huge debate about what actually happened in 2002 in Jenin, and probably this will be very similar to the arguments about the Armenian allegations. My questions are: would it suit our university to utter the heavy word of "genocide" in one of its publications when reporting about these events? Furthermore, would it not be against the principles of a university to let those who think what is happening in Jenin is genocide to explicitly title an event "the Palestinian Genocide" in order to commemorate those who died? It is true that there are also dedicated advocates of this issue with strong and conflicting opinions. However, the important point is that a professional university environment should not favor any side in any conflict, whether it is the Palestinian- Israeli dispute or the Armenian-Turkish discord. This is what we expect from our University.
Esra Yalcinalp is a sophomore double majoring in history and international relations.
