Engendering Lies

Easy access to information brings easy access to misinformation. Students of anything can already be overwhelmed with the amount of "neutral" knowledge that is available. This is a perfect scenario for those wanting to disseminate lies into the mainstream and pollute the knowledge pool of that subject enough so that the truth is obfuscated for those who are just being exposed to its existence.

This is what is happening in the case of the Armenian Genocide's historical record and Turkish attempts to rewrite history. No self-respecting scholar today disputes the occurrence of the Armenian Genocide but there are those who receive funding from the Turkish government for unrelated academic projects who consequently come out and try to reject the existence of the Genocide. These short-sighted "scholars" are effectively signing up for a club composed of denialists and revisionists like David Irving and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I suppose if your intelligence (or lack thereof) cannot garner you fame, then infamy will suffice; that is the only reasoning I can imagine someone using in choosing a path that is mired with deceit, corruption, and a marginalization of the truth.

Here is an example of a blog which I doubt is read by anyone who makes the presence of factual information a prerequisite of the articles they read:

PoliGazette - "Turkey is the New Israel"

In this post, the author, Michael van der Galien (who happens to be the Editor-in-Chief) suggests that Jews control the United States and then, without nearly enough literary finesse, says that "Israel is being replaced by Turkey". He obviously has underlying biases that he is not very good at masking. Unfortunately, not only is he genocide denialist but he is also an anti-Semite. It is dangerous for the world that certain people's - including Mr. van der Galien's - misconceptions are so easily accessible by anyone who can get on the Internet.

Another gem, this about NOT teaching genocide in Toronto:

PoliGazette - "Victory for the Truth"

The movement for genocide denial has reached such a low-point that it is lobbying for children to become misinformed youths. Apparently, it was not enough that generations of children were lied to in their native Turkey, so now they are bringing those same falsities to a school board located in a free and democratic nation. It's understandable that those of Turkish descent might not want to admit they've been lied to: who likes to admit that everything they've been taught has been false? Nevertheless, if they were really concerned with the integrity of their history, they would face it, come to terms with it, and mend the fissures it has caused in their reputation. For now, all they are doing is fighting a losing battle on the world stage, further soiling their name among those who hold honesty, courage, and strength in the utmost regard.

One might ask why Mr. van der Galien is so interested in the Armenian Genocide and its merits. A quick view of the "About" page can be telling:

PoliGazette - About

After taking a look at that, I'm not sure it was Mr. van der Galien's idea to write these stories. One of the contributing authors' descriptions reads like a veritable oath to the Republic of Turkey:

Meltem Birkegren: Contributing Author

Meltem is a Turkish woman living in America. She is a modern woman, brought up with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s principles and, therefore, a strong defender of secularism and advocate of women’s rights. Her view on the press and, thus, bloggers can be summarized (in the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) thusly:

“The press is the nation’s shared voice. It is an innovator, a school and a power in itself.”

Although she lives in America, she remains devoted to the wellbeing of Turkey. To inform Turks but especially foreigners about what is happening in Turkey, she runs the website Turkish Digest: an absolute must read for all those interested in this part of the world.

I'm curious, would a person concerned for the wellbeing of Turkey possibly be inclined to try to protect it through reiterating the same lies that hail from the Republic itself?

I wonder how Mustafa Kemal would respond, considering his views on the press highlighted above, if he knew that a journalist living in his country, Hrant Dink, was murdered because he had proposed an innovative idea. How would he feel if he knew that the country's most prolific author, Orhan Pamuk, has exiled himself for fear of retribution concerning his affirmative position on the Armenian Genocide? Most importantly, how does Ms. Birkegren feel about the juxtaposition of Mustafa Kemal's quote and these events that I've mentioned? Not too strongly, I imagine, as most of Kemal's ideas and plans for Turkey have been perverted into an unrecognizable heap of ultranationalism and violence.

On Ms. Birkegren's website, you can find a link to a website that is ostensibly operated by Armenians (http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/) but is, in reality, part of the Turkish denialist machine. Is the deception not obvious when people form a website with the sole intent of misleading those visiting it?

All this being said, it would not surprise me if Ms. Birkegren suggested to Mr. van der Galien that he write a few things badgering Armenians for keeping the memory of their murdered ancestors alive. He may have owed her something for getting him published in the Turkish Daily News because, lord knows, nothing riddled with that many two-bit facts would be published by any credible news source.

You should do what you can to fight the denialist, anti-Armenian, anti-Semitic garbage which is being published by the PoliGazette. This is only another battle in a grander struggle for truth and genocide prevention.