A Reckoning with History ...

Gnostical Turpitude calls attention to this fascinating article in Saturday's New York Times about Taner Akcam, a Turkish visiting associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota. He is, apparently, the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge his country's responsibility for the genocidal assault on Armenians during and after World War I. A leader of the student left opposition to Turkey's conservative government in the 1970s, Akcam escaped from prison there and has lived in German exile for many years. But his bold confrontation with Turkey's history and his efforts at reconciliation with Armenian scholars set an exemplary model for other scholars and for the government of Turkey, which still is in denial.