Turkish Historian for Teaching Armenian Genocide History at US Schools

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) announced today that it plans to file a friend of the court brief in response to a lawsuit filed by two public high school teachers, one student and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations challenging a Massachusetts statute allowing for the teaching of the Armenian Genocide. The AAA formed a legal commission to that end. "We devoted ourselves to studying the Armenian Genocide and efforts to prove the fact not only in Massachusetts, but also throughout the nation," Assembly Board of Trustees Vice President Robert A. Kaloosdian said. The AAA has provided a reference book on the Genocide, based on documents and official evidences, to the US archives. The AAA continues struggling for the genocide history to be taught at state schools. A decision to do that was passed by the authorities of New Jersey state. The Turkish party insists that school children, according to the principle of freedom of speech, should also be provided with reference books on the Armenian Genocide denial policy. In the opinion of Turkish historian of Michigan University, ethnic Turkish Fatima Muge Gocek, who sent a letter to the Wall Street Journal over the trial in Massachusetts, "the suit resulted from the efforts of the Turkish state on behalf of organizations and several persons." «I do not accept this move, as when teaching there is no need to present all viewpoints over a historical event. The pupils has to decide on his viewpoint himself. Historical facts should be presented at school,» Gocek said. «We should not only teach children at school, but also teach them how to become a good person. We should do it by means of historical facts, including by studying the Armenian Genocide,» she added, reported RFE/RL.