The Armenian Genocide and an Updated Denial Initiative: A Review Essay

Abstract

When on 12 October 2006 the French National Assembly approved a bill that made it a crime to deny the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey around the turn of the twentieth century, Turkish leaders lamented the decision as a great disappointment, while several European officials insisted that it was not for the law to write history. That task, however, is compromised when leading historians deny, in Jacques Chirac’s memorable words, a country’s ‘‘dramas and errors.’’1 Because experts are lured to power, sometimes at the expense of their integrity, it behooves those searching for the truth to redouble their efforts. Therefore, the genuine need to identify and correct assertions made by those who wish to deny historical facts is a duty both to history and to the truth itself. Guenter Lewy, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts—Amherst, is the latest researcher attempting to deny the Armenian Genocide.2 Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Tampa Library at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact scholarcommons@usf.edu. Recommended Citation Kechichian, Joseph A. (2007) Armenian Genocide and an Updated Denial Initiative: A Review Essay, Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 2: Article 6. Available at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol2/iss2/6 The Armenian Genocide and an Updated Denial Initiative: A Review Essay