MONTGOMERY, Ala., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In the summer 2008 issue of its Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Guenter Lewy, a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, was part of a network of persons, financed by the Government of Turkey, who dispute that the tragic events of World War I constituted an Armenian genocide. We now realize that we misunderstood Professor Lewy’s scholarship, were wrong to assert that he was part of a network financed by the Turkish Government, and were wrong to assume that any scholar who challenges the Armenian genocide narrative necessarily has been financially compromised by the Government of Turkey. We hereby retract the assertion that Professor Lewy was or is on the Government of Turkey’s payroll.
To our knowledge, Professor Lewy has never sought to deny or minimize the deaths of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey; nor has he sought to minimize the Ottoman regime’s grievous wartime miscalculations or indifference to human misery [sic.] in a conflict earmarked by widespread civilian suffering on all sides. What he has argued in his book, The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide, and elsewhere is that the present historical record does not substantiate a premeditated plan by the Ottoman regime to destroy because of ethnicity, religion, or nationality, as opposed to deport for political-military reasons, the Armenian population. In this view, he is joined by such distinguished scholars as Professor Bernard Lewis of Princeton University. As additional troves of archival information come to light, Professor Lewy advocates greater study of this contentious subject.
We deeply regret our errors and offer our sincerest apologies to Professor Lewy.
Professor Lewy adds the following comment:
“The SPLC has made important contributions to the rule of law and the struggle against bigotry. Thus I took no pleasure in commencing legal action against it. But the stakes, both for my reputation as a scholar and for the free and unhindered discussion of controversial topics, were compelling. It must be possible to defend views that contradict conventional wisdom without being called the agent of a foreign government.”
SOURCE Southern Poverty Law Center
, 30 September 2010
Free Inquiry Triumphs, Professor Guenter Lewy’s Reputation Restored
Southern Poverty Law Center Retracts False Statements That Professor Lewy’s Scholarship Challenging the Armenian Thesis Was Compromised.
September 30, 2010, Washington, DC – In the summer 2008 issue of its
Intelligence Report magazine and companion website, the Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC), one of America’s most venerable civil
rights organizations, accused Professor Guenter Lewy of being part of
a network of academicians financed by the Turkish government to
dispute the Armenian allegation of genocide. The magazine even
attempted to draw a crude parallel between Professor Lewy and
Neo-Nazis, even though Professor Lewy had been roughed up by Nazi
thugs on Kristallnacht in 1938 and later fought against the Nazis in
the British Army’s Jewish Brigade in World War II. Lewy, emeritus
Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, was
taken to task by SPLC also for concluding in his 2005 book, The
Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey, A Disputed Genocide, that the
historic record as presently known does not substantiate the charge of
genocide against the Ottoman government of 1915.
Represented by the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF),
Professor Lewy sued to restore his good name and freedom of inquiry.
Yesterday SPLC published a retraction and apology admitting that they,
“misunderstood Professor Lewy’s scholarship, were wrong to assert that
he was part of a network financed by the Turkish Government, and were
wrong to assume that any scholar who challenges the Armenian genocide
narrative necessarily has been financially compromised by the
Government of Turkey.” Professor Lewy commented, “The SPLC has made
important contributions to the rule of law and the struggle against
bigotry. Thus I took no pleasure in commencing legal action against
it. But the stakes, both for my reputation as a scholar and for the
free and unhindered discussion of controversial topics, were
compelling. It must be possible to defend views that contradict
conventional wisdom without being called the agent of a foreign
government.” David Saltzman, one of Lewy’s co-counsel from the TALDF
added, “Academic freedom requires that scholars not work under a cloud
of suspicion of their motives. Professor Lewy has been transparent and
objective in his work.” “SPLC did the right thing,” said Bruce Fein,
Lewy’s other co-counsel, “By admitting and correcting their errors
they not only rescued Professor Lewy’s reputation, but advanced a
common goal of free inquiry as the best method of discovering truths.”
The TALDF is generously supported by the Turkish Coalition of America.
Lincoln McCurdy, the organization’s President, observed,
“Reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples will require
a full accounting of history. TCA supports an open dialogue and
unfettered academic inquiry into this controversial period of
Ottoman-Armenian history and tragedy. We are proud of TALDF’s hard
work which hopefully will contribute to this open debate and offer our
congratulations to Professor Lewy.”
SPLC will also provide Professor Lewy, whose lawsuit had sought
damages of $8 million, a monetary settlement.
Retraction and Apology Lewy v. SPLC.
http://www.taldf.org/ProfessorLewysReputationRestored.html
Civil rights center apologizes to scholar over Armenian genocide charges
The Sacramento Bee, September 29, 2010
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