CivilnetDr. Taner Akçam, a renowned Turkish historian and the inaugural director of the Armenian Genocide Research Program of the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, joins CivilNet to discuss the state of genocide studies. He asserts that the truth of the Armenian Genocide has become so widely accepted in recent years, that even official Turkish policy has softened its denialism.
Akçam is one of the founders of the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network, formed this month to address what he says is a deep crisis in the field, as freedom of speech has been severely limited and professors and students face retribution for speaking out on the mass atrocities in places like Gaza. He points to the patterns in the denials made by both Turkey and Israel, and argues that those who fight for justice in the case of the Armenian Genocide should therefore also stand up for Gaza.
