{"id":783986,"date":"2023-04-21T14:25:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T11:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=783986"},"modified":"2023-04-21T14:25:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T11:25:08","slug":"ignoring-the-historical-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2023\/04\/21\/ignoring-the-historical-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignoring the historical facts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hello, Mr. Harut; I am still waiting for your response to my message I sent you a week ago. You are a very prolific writer; I thought you would have replied by now. I understand you also didn\u2019t respond to Mr. Mehmet Arif Demirer on his article he sent you nearly a year ago on Garo Paylan raising the issue of \u201cArmenian genocide\u201d at the Turkish Grand Assembly in 2016. You conveniently ignored all the historical facts in that article and still penned your April 3, 2023 article in\u00a0<em>The California Courier<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cOttoman Parliament and Senate in 1918 Acknowledged \u2018the Armenian Massacres\u2019\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-turkish-forum-english wp-block-embed-turkish-forum-english\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"sOQPAjBoUc\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2023\/04\/04\/ottoman-parliament-and-senate-in-1918acknowledged-the-armenian-massacres\/\">Ottoman Parliament and Senate in 1918 Acknowledged \u2018the Armenian Massacres<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Ottoman Parliament and Senate in 1918 Acknowledged \u2018the Armenian Massacres&#8221; &#8212; Turkish Forum English\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2023\/04\/04\/ottoman-parliament-and-senate-in-1918acknowledged-the-armenian-massacres\/embed\/#?secret=WrEYpcyM6d#?secret=sOQPAjBoUc\" data-secret=\"sOQPAjBoUc\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I now notice that on your April 10, 2023 column you brought up a \u201cnew discovery\u201d by Taner\u00a0Ak\u00e7am:\u00a0https:\/\/www.thecaliforniacourier.com\/turkey-bought-poison-gas-from-nazi-germany-to-kill-kurdish-alevis-armenians-in-1938\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-turkish-forum-english wp-block-embed-turkish-forum-english\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"guA1Y9iS6V\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2023\/04\/14\/turkey-bought-poison-gas-from-nazi-germany-to-kill-kurdish-alevis-armenians-in-1938\/\">Turkey Bought Poison Gas from Nazi Germany To Kill Kurdish Alevis &amp; Armenians in 1938<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Turkey Bought Poison Gas from Nazi Germany To Kill Kurdish Alevis &amp; Armenians in 1938&#8221; &#8212; Turkish Forum English\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2023\/04\/14\/turkey-bought-poison-gas-from-nazi-germany-to-kill-kurdish-alevis-armenians-in-1938\/embed\/#?secret=3I9tNOdtil#?secret=guA1Y9iS6V\" data-secret=\"guA1Y9iS6V\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ak\u00e7am is a very interesting \u201cscholar.\u201d\u00a0In fact a \u201cgem,\u201d as far as the Armenian lobby. Tessa Hofmann and Vahakn Dadrian did a wonderful job on him, and the Armenian lobby knows what a \u201cgold mine\u201d is when it sees one. In February 2022\u00a0Ak\u00e7am\u00a0got a new appointment at UCLA\u00a0to lead the university\u2019s \u201cArmenian Genocide Research Program.\u201d Certainly a very fitting appointment after holding the Kaloosdian and Mugar Professorship in \u201cModern Armenian History and Genocide\u201d at the Clark University in\u00a0Massachusetts. After all, thanks to Prof. Richard Hovannisian, Ak\u00e7am was a guest speaker at UCLA in 2005 (photo attached). Ak\u00e7am now has German nationality, and his articles are welcome at the Agos newspaper in Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"591\" height=\"509\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fatma-muge-gocek-richard-hovannisian-elif-safak-taner-akcam-ucla-aralik-2005.png\" alt=\"fatma m\u00fcge g\u00f6\u00e7ek richard hovannisian elif \u015fafak taner ak\u00e7am ucla aral\u0131k 2005\" class=\"wp-image-783987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fatma-muge-gocek-richard-hovannisian-elif-safak-taner-akcam-ucla-aralik-2005.png 591w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fatma-muge-gocek-richard-hovannisian-elif-safak-taner-akcam-ucla-aralik-2005-300x258.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 591px) 100vw, 591px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A good reading on Ak\u00e7am is found at:\u00a0https:\/\/tallarmeniantale.com\/akcam.htm. For example, one notable fact on Ak\u00e7am\u2019s credibility as a scholar is that, among some of his peers, Ak\u00e7am has been characterized as a &#8220;village idiot.&#8221; He even received the scorn of his own brother on the contradictions and distortions on one of his writings:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-turkish-forum-english wp-block-embed-turkish-forum-english\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZmOhpTghDx\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/11\/08\/taner-akcam-amid-contradictions-and-charges-of-betrayal-loses-credibility-2\/\">Taner Ak\u00e7am, amid contradictions and charges of betrayal, loses credibility<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Taner Ak\u00e7am, amid contradictions and charges of betrayal, loses credibility&#8221; &#8212; Turkish Forum English\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/11\/08\/taner-akcam-amid-contradictions-and-charges-of-betrayal-loses-credibility-2\/embed\/#?secret=x0muGzqQbY#?secret=ZmOhpTghDx\" data-secret=\"ZmOhpTghDx\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ak\u00e7am even denied that, for an event to be called \u201cgenocide,\u201d a ruling by a court is necessary:\u00a0https:\/\/www.gazeteduvar.com.tr\/forum\/2019\/11\/04\/sil-bastan-soykirim-ve-bilgi-kirliligi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voila! This, from a \u201cgenocide scholar\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While on the subject, I have a question on Ak\u00e7am. You know that Ak\u00e7am is an ex-convict with the\u00a0Leninist-Marxist\u00a0\u201cDev-Yol\u201d background. He jumped prison 1977 in Turkey and escaped to Germany. In 2000 he entered the USA, presumably to give a talk, probably with a visitor\u2019s visa, and later received an immigrant visa. It was no secret who sponsored his talk and his entry visa. It is nearly impossible for a person of Ak\u00e7am\u2019s background to obtain a visitor\u2019s visa, let alone an immigrant visa, to the USA. In fact,\u00a0 on February 16, 2007 Ak\u00e7am was detained in Canada at the\u00a0airport in Montreal\u00a0for nearly 4 hours because he was considered a terrorist. Two days later he was likewise temporarily detained at the US border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My question is: How did someone with Ak\u00e7am\u2019s background enter the USA in 2000, and later received the immigrant status? I have a pretty good idea; but it is better that you, with all your connections, explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the way, the argument that he was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International will not do. That did not erase Ak\u00e7am\u2019s criminal record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">F. Demirmen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello, Mr. Harut; I am still waiting for your response to my message I sent you a week ago. You are a very prolific writer; I thought you would have replied by now. I understand you also didn\u2019t respond to Mr. Mehmet Arif Demirer on his article he sent you nearly a year ago on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4102,"featured_media":783987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[530],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ferruh-demirmen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}