“By placing the imprimatur of Woodrow Wilson’s legacy upon Mr. Davotoglu and his successful business friend in this calloused and cavalier manner,” wrote Bush, “the WWC has alienated thousands of smaller voices in favor of one large Turkish prize.  In so doing, the WWC has sacrificed its legitimacy as a ‘neutral forum for open, serious, and informed dialogue.’”

  • In June, the chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Gary Ackerman (D-NY), wrote to Lee Hamilton.  Davutoglu’s foreign policy “is rife with illegality, irresponsibility, and hypocrisy.”  Ackerman cited Turkey’s denial of the Armenian genocide , military occupation of Cyprus, and closure of the border with Armenia.  Honoring Davutoglu is “absolutely inconsistent with the mission of the WWC and the ideals that animated President Wilson’s administration and foreign policy.”
  • The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) asked the Wilson Center to not give the Turkish Foreign Minister an award.  Davutoglu, said AHI, is not deserving of the honor “based upon the spirit of the award and the ideals President Woodrow Wilson championed.”  Turkey, it noted, has not accepted “responsibility for the genocide of Armenians, Greek and Assyrian Christians in the 20th century.”
  • The Armenian National Committee of America said that the award to Davutoglu “makes a mockery of President Wilson’s belief in free and open inquiry.”  Davutoglu “has devoted his own personal energies and the resources of his Ministry to silencing discourse within Turkey and the United States on the Armenian Genocide, one of the most prominent human rights issues that Woodrow Wilson himself actively pursued,” and “President Wilson was a tireless champion of Armenian rights and security.”  The award to Davutoglu “makes a mockery of the Wilson Center and its founding commitment to fostering scholarship commemorating ‘the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson.’”
  • Journalist Claudia Rosett (“Turkey’s Hollow Prize: Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center dishonors its own public service award”) called the WWC “a global joke.”  With its award to Davutoglu, the Wilson Center “is willing to treat even the most flagrantly anti-American views (and deeds) as irrelevant, while collecting money around the globe.  Why should Congress keep fueling this morally blank, misleading and venal exercise with millions of American tax dollars?”

Woodrow Wilson not Welcome

I have recently learned of another instance of the Center’s willful blindness to President Wilson’s accomplishements and ideals.

Two years ago, the former Armenian Ambassador to Canada, Ara Papian, applied for one of WWC’s Fellowships.  An expert in history and law, Papian is fluent in English, Armenian, Russian, and Persian.  He also served in Romania and Iran, and graduated from the NATO Defense College.

Papian proposed to do “thorough and comprehensive research” into America and President Wilson’s involvement with Turkey and Armenia, particularly official American reports of that era and Wilson’s Arbitral Award to Armenia in 1920.  Papian would explore “key materials located in U.S. national and academic collections in the greater Washington, DC” area.

His four-page application emphasized the relevance of the project to present-day “American involvement in the Middle East.”  A better understanding of America’s historical involvement in Turkey and in other “players can be vital for American security, political and economic interests.”

The WWC turned Ambassador Papian down flat without explanation.

Clearly the rejection wasn’t due to any flaws in Papian’s proposal, which aligned perfectly with the aims of an American institution supposedly dedicated to Wilson’s ideals and record.

Then again, how would it look for the WWC, financed by companies committed to covering up the most barbaric aspects of Turkey’s history, to accept Papian’s proposal?

There is no doubt that WWC’s corporate harem would threaten to withhold its favors if a project involving Wilson and Armenia were to be pursued.  Of course, such threats could be issued only in those “private customized meetings with WWC staff and scholars to discuss policy issues that are specific to your business interests.”

What the WWC Owes America

The reforms needed at the WWC, listed in my first article, remain as urgent as ever:

  • Wilson Center personnel, and those affiliated with it, particularly scholars, must speak out publicly against pandering to corporations and lobbying organizations.
  • Those whose business or personal interests may conflict with their WWC role should resign.
  • The WWC must reject all tainted corporate cash.
  • The WWC should create a principled program on genocide. Recognized genocide scholars should be invited to speak at the Wilson Center and publish in the Wilson Quarterly.
  • The WWC must establish a meaningful, ongoing dialogue with those persons and their descendants who have been victimized by Turkey’s genocides.
  • The WWC must return to its Congressional mandate by truly rededicating itself to Wilson’s “ideals, concerns, and accomplishments” and by advocating against genocide and for the human rights and dignity of all people.

It is the job of the Congress, the Attorney General, the President, and the American people to ensure that these reforms materialize.

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