ANCA protests Cenk Uygur's talk at Calif. Democrats' meeting

Published: Tuesday February 21, 2012

The following open letter was sent by the Armenian National Committee - Western Region:

February 9, 2012

Dear Members of the California Democratic Party,

It has come to the attention of the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region (ANCA-WR), that the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party (CDP) has invited genocide denier and lead host of the offensively-named The Young Turks news program, Cenk Uygur, to speak at the CDP Convention in San Diego, California, on February 11, 2012.

The Young Turks, upon whose name Mr. Uygur's program is based, officially known as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), came to power in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire using the guise of reform and progressive ideology. As World War I began, the leaders of the Young Turks, known as the Triumvirate, or Three Pashas, - Mehmet Talaat, Ahmed Djemal, and Ismail Enver - initiated the planned extermination of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.

These Young Turks were responsible for the murder of over 1.5 million Armenians. The suffering of the Armenian Nation at the hands of this group has left an indelible association of the moniker with the incomprehensible horrors of the Armenian Genocide.

Mr. Uygur's decision to use this highly offensive and hurtful moniker for his news program has been a source of continued pain for the Armenian community in the United States and abroad.

Furthermore, Mr. Uygur has publicly denied the genocide committed against the Armenian people. One example is in the Daily Pennsylvanian where he wrote, "The claims of an Armenian Genocide are not based on historical facts. If the history of the period is examined it becomes evident that in fact no such genocide took place."

For a caucus of the California Democratic Party - a party in which our community has placed its trust to speak the truth about the historical injustices suffered by the Armenian people - is appalling, insensitive, and irresponsible.

We ask that the California Democratic Party urge the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party to reconsider its decision to invite an admitted denier of the Armenian Genocide whose program's name, The Young Turks, perpetuates the misguided disregard for the memory of the martyrs of the Armenian people.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

/s/

Andrew Kzirian
Chairman
Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

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Statements of Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks on the Armenian Genocide:

(The text below appears on the website of The Young Turks.)

03/03/2008 02:45:00 PM EST
Cenk Uygur owes us explanation regarding Armenian Genocide  posted by atillathehun

Is Mr. Uygur a genocide denier? In his two letters dated 1991 and 1999 respectively Cenk expressed his disagreement with labelling of events in 1915 as genocide, thus effectively siding with the view of Turkish government on the issue. However, the fact that an Armenian is part of the Young Turks right now and Cenk's recent admiration of Samantha Power who is an avid supporter of the Armenian cause, logically leads to the conclusion that Cenk may have changed his mind. Or has he? That's what both Armenian and Turks as well as all the other interested parties would like to know. Here is the copied and pasted text of his earlier letters with the links to the websites it was taken from:

I am a Turkish-American and I am sure my views will also be looked upon with a certain wariness, but I do not subscribe to the idea that I am disqualified from objectivity by my ethnicity.

First, at the very beginning of the article, you seem to reach a conclusion -- "The central Armenian experience of the 20th century, after all, was the death of as many as 1.5 million Armenians ..." and "Every neutral scholar agrees that the Turkish position is propaganda."

The United States helped to sponsor war propaganda against Turkey during World War I as part of an official campaign to smear its enemies, as it did with Germany. Part of this propaganda was the evil butchery of the Turks against the defenseless Christian Armenians. This is what has been rooted in the popular memory of America, with very few Turkish-Americans to combat the insinuations of savagery, yet this is not propaganda?

As far as I could see from the article, every non-Armenian scholar in the field believes it is an open question whether this event was a genocide. Is it the claim of the article that all of these people are tainted by the tentacles of the Turkish government? If not, then why is it not pointed out that no one outside of the "Armenian position" believes it is a genocide? Why is it assumed that the "Turkish studies side" has the burden of proof in overturning the verdict of Turkish guilt? It is because of the underlying assumption that despite what these people in "Turkish studies" say, there must have been a genocide.

I once asked a professor of mine who taught a class on the laws of war and war crimes at Columbia Law School to deprogram me from all the propaganda I had received growing up Turkish. I asked him to please find me evidence of the genocide by neutral scholars so I could know the truth.

After investigating the issue, he came back and said that he could not find one non-Armenian scholar who believed this was a genocide, but since "it looked like a duck, it walked like a duck and it talked like a duck, it must be a duck." If that's not the product of excellent propaganda, I don't know what is. Cenk Uygur.