ATTENTION MEMBERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

(May 19, 1985)

 

The undersigned American academicians who specialize in Turkish, Ottoman and Middle Eastern Studies are concerned that the current language embodied in House Joint Resolution 192 is misleading and/or inaccurate in several respects. Specifically, while fully supporting the concept of a "National Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man," we respectfully take exception to that portion of the text, which singles out for special recognition:

 

". . . the one and one half million people of Armenian ancestry who were victims of genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 . . .."

 

Our reservations focus on the use of the words "Turkey" and "genocide" and may be summarized as follows:

 

From the fourteenth century until 1922, the area currently known as Turkey, or more correctly, the Republic of Turkey, was part of the territory encompassing the multi-national, multi-religious state known as the Ottoman Empire. It is wrong to equate the Ottoman Empire with the Republic of Turkey in the same way that it is wrong to equate the Hapsburg Empire with the Republic of Austria. The Ottoman Empire, which was brought to an end in 1922, by the successful conclusion of the Turkish Revolution which established the present day Republic of Turkey in 1923, incorporated lands and people which today account for more than twenty-five distinct countries in Southeastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, only one of which is the Republic of Turkey. The Republic of Turkey bears no responsibility for any events which occurred in Ottoman times, yet by naming Turkey' in the Resolution, its authors have implicitly labeled it as guilty of "genocide" it charges transpired between 1915 and 1923; As for the charge of "genocide" no signatory of this statement wishes to minimize the scope of Armenian suffering. We are likewise cognizant that it cannot be viewed as separate from the suffering experienced by the Muslim inhabitants of the region. The weight of evidence so far uncovered points in the direct of serious inter communal warfare (perpetrated by Muslim and Christian irregular forces), complicated by disease, famine, suffering and massacres in Anatolia and adjoining areas during the First World War. Indeed, throughout the years in question, the region was the scene of more or less continuous warfare, not unlike the tragedy which has gone on in Lebanon for the past decade. The resulting death toll among both Muslim and Christian communities of the region was immense. But much more remains to be discovered before historians will be able to sort out precisely responsibility between warring and innocent, and to identify the causes for the events which resulted in the death or removal of large numbers of the eastern Anatolian population, Christian and Muslim alike.

 

Statesmen and politicians make history, and scholars write it. For this process to work scholars must be given access to the written records of the statesmen and politicians of the past. To date, the relevant archives in the Soviet Union, Syria, Bulgaria and Turkey all remain, for the most part, closed to dispassionate historians. Until they become available, the history of the Ottoman Empire in the period encompassed by H.J. Res. 192 (1915-1923) cannot be adequately known.

 

We believe that the proper position for the United States Congress to take on this and related issues is to encourage full and open access to all historical archives and not to make charges on historical events before they are fully understood. Such charges as those contained H.J. Res. 192 would inevitably reflect unjustly upon the people of Turkey and perhaps set back progress irreparably. Historians are just now beginning to achieve in understanding these tragic events.

 

As the above comments illustrate, the history of the Ottoman-Armenians is much debated among scholars, many of whom do not agree with the historical assumptions embodied in the wording of H.J. Res. 192. By passing the resolution Congress will be attempting to determine by legislation which side of the historical question is correct. Such a resolution, based on historically questionable assumptions, can only damage the cause of honest historical inquiry, and damage the credibility of the American legislative process.

 

 

SIGNATORIES TO THE STATEMENT ON H.J. RES. 192 ADDRESSED TO THE MEMBERS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

RIFAAT ABOU-EL-HAJ

Professor of History

California State University at Long Beach

 

SARAH MOMENT ATIS

Professor of Turkish Language & Literature

University of Wisconsin at Madison

 

KARL BARBIR

Associate Professor of History

Siena College (New York)

 

ILHAN BASGOZ

Director of the Turkish Studies Program at the Department of Uralic & Altaic Studies

Indiana University

 

DANIEL G. BATES

Professor of Anthropology

Hunter College,

City University of New York

 

ULKU BATES

Professor of Art History

Hunter College

City University of New York

 

GUSTAV BAYERLE

Professor of Uralic & Altaic Studies

Indiana University

 

ANDREAS G. E. BODROGLIGETTI

Professor of Turkic & Iranian languages

University of California at Los Angeles

 

KATHLEEN BURRILL

Associate Professor of Turkish Studies

Columbia University

 

RODERIC DAVISON

Professor of History

George Washington University

 

WALTER DENNY

Associate Professor of Art History &

Near Eastern Studies

University of Massachusetts

 

DR. ALAN DUBEN

Anthropologist, Researcher

New York City

 

ELLEN ERVIN

Research Assistant Professor of Turkish

New York University

 

CAESAR FARAH

Professor of Islamic

& Middle Eastern History

University of Minnesota

 

CARTER FINDLEY

Associate Professor of History

The Ohio State University

 

MICHAEL FINEFROCK,

Professor of History

College of Charleston

 

ALAN FISHER

Professor of History

Michigan State University

 

CORNELL FLEISCHER

Assistant Professor of History

Washington University (Missouri)

 

TIMOTHY CHILDS

Professorial Lecturer at SAIS,

Johns Hopkins University

 

SHAFIGA DAULET

Associate Professor of Political Science

University of Connecticut

 

JUSTIN MCCARTHY

Associate Professor of History

University of Louisville

 

JON MANDAVILLE

Professor of the History of the Middle East

Portland State University (Oregon)

 

RHOADS MURPHEY

Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern

Languages & Cultures & History

Columbia University

 

PIERRE OBERLING

Professor of History

Hunter College of the City University of

New York

 

ROBERT OLSON

Associate Professor of History

University of Kentucky

 

DONALD QUATAERT

Associate Professor of History

University of Houston

 

WILLIAM GRISWOLD

Professor of History

Colorado State University

 

WILLIAM HICKMAN

Associate Professor of Turkish

University of California, Berkeley

 

JOHN HYMES

Professor of History

Glenville State College

West Virginia

 

RALPH JAECKEL

Visiting Assistant Professor of Turkish

University of California at Los Angeles

 

JAMES KELLY

Associate Professor of Turkish

University of Utah

 

PETER GOLDEN

Professor of History

Rutgers University, Newark

 

TOM GOODRICH

Professor of History

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

 

ANDREW COULD

Ph.D. in Ottoman History

Flagstaff, Arizona

 

MICHAEL MEEKER

Professor of Anthropology

University of California at San Diego

 

THOMAS NAFF

Professor of History & Director, Middle East

Research Institute

University of Pennsylvania

 

WILLIAM OCHSENWALD

Associate Professor of History

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

 

WILLIAM PEACHY

Assistant Professor of the Judaic & Near

Eastern Languages & Literatures

The Ohio State University

 

HOWARD REED

Professor of History

University of Connecticut

 

TIBOR HALASI-KUN

Professor Emeritus of Turkish Studies

Columbia University

 

J. C. HUREWITZ

Professor of Government Emeritus

Former Director of the Middle East

Institute (1971-1984) Columbia University

 

HALIL INALCIK

University Professor of Ottoman History & Member of the

American Academy of Arts & Sciences

University of Chicago

 

RONALD JENNINGS

Associate Professor of History & Asian Studies

University of Illinois

 

KERIM KEY

Adjunct Professor

Southeastern University

Washington, D.C.

 

DANKWART RUSTOW

Distinguished University Professor of

Political Science

City University Graduate School New York

 

STANFORD SHAW

Professor of History

University of California at Los Angele

 

METIN KUNT

Professor of Ottoman History

New York City

 

AVIGDOR LEVY

Professor of History

Brandeis University

 

DR. HEATH W. LOWRY

Institute of Turkish Studies Inc.

Washington, D.C.

 

JOHN MASSON SMITH, JR.

Professor of History

University of California at Berkeley

 

ROBERT STAAB

Assistant Director of the

Middle East Center

University of Utah

 

JAMES STEWART-ROBINSON

Professor of Turkish Studies

University of Michigan

 

FRANK TACHAU

Professor of Political Science

University of Illinois at Chicago

 

DAVID THOMAS

Associate Professor of History

Rhode Island College

 

WARREN S. WALKER

Home Professor of English & Director of the

Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative

Texas Tech University

 

WALTER WEIKER

Professor of Political Science

Rutgers University

 

MADELINE ZILFI

Associate Professor of History

University of Maryland

 

ELAINE SMITH

Ph.D. in Turkish History

Retired Foreign Service Officer

Washington, D-C-EZEL

 

 

KURAL SHAW

Associate Professor of History

California State University, Northridge

 

FREDERICK LATIMER

Associate Professor of History (Retired)

University of Utah

 

BERNARD LEWIS

Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near

Eastern History

Princeton University