Taner Akçam facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Taner Akçam
Akçam in Toronto, 2013
Born	1953 (1953) (age 72) Ölçek, Ardahan Province, Turkey
Nationality	German
Alma mater	Middle East Technical University
Occupation	Historian
Known for	Discussion of Armenian genocide, 1977 imprisonment

Altuğ Taner Akçam (born 1953) is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. He is known for his important work on the Armenian genocide. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to openly talk about the Armenian genocide.

Akçam has written several books on this topic, including A Shameful Act (1999) and Killing Orders (2018). Many people see him as a top expert on the Armenian genocide. He often takes part in public discussions about this historical event.

Akçam believes it is important for Armenians and Turks to understand each other's views on the genocide. He thinks they should work together to learn from history instead of using it to support old ideas about each other. He suggests creating a new shared space where both sides can learn from one another.

Early Life and Activism

Taner Akçam was born in 1953 in a village called Ölçek, near Ardahan, Turkey. His family comes from a group called Meskhetian Turks. Akçam grew up in a family that was not very religious.

He studied economics at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, graduating in 1976. While he was a student, Akçam was arrested several times for taking part in student protests. For example, he protested against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

In 1976, after graduating, he became an editor for a student journal called Devrimci Gençlik (Revolutionary Youth). This journal focused on how Kurds in Turkey were treated. Akçam knew that editing this journal could lead to trouble. In 1977, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for his work on the journal.

Because of this, Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience. This means they believed he was jailed for his beliefs, not for violence. Akçam escaped from prison in 1977 after serving about a year. He then received political asylum in West Germany in 1978, where he lived until he earned his doctorate degree in 1995.

Academic Journey

In 1988, Akçam started working as a researcher at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. He was invited to study human rights issues in Turkey. While working there, he met a librarian who encouraged him to study Armenian history.

In 1991, he helped organize a workshop about the Ottoman Military Tribunal. This tribunal judged crimes related to the Armenian genocide. Akçam later realized he knew a lot about other revolutions but not as much about Turkish history.

At first, he was hesitant to use the word "genocide" for the violence against Armenians. He felt that using the term might make him feel connected to a terrible crime. He earned his PhD from Leibniz University Hannover with a paper about Turkish nationalism and the Armenian genocide.

Akçam was a student of another important genocide scholar, Vahakn Dadrian. A documentary was even made about their academic relationship in 1997. Later, Akçam became a professor at the University of Minnesota and then at Clark University's Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

In 2007, a Turkish-Armenian journalist named Hrant Dink was assassinated. Akçam attended Dink's funeral in Istanbul, even though it was risky for him. Akçam's book, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and The Question of Turkish Responsibility, had just been published. This book used official Turkish government documents to tell the history of the Armenian genocide.

In 2008, some people questioned Akçam's appointment at Clark University. However, the director of the Strassler Center, Deborah Dwork, said that they hire the best scholars, no matter their background. In 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron gave Akçam a special medal for his bravery in speaking out against the denial of the Armenian genocide.

Legal Challenges

In January 2007, the Turkish government started an investigation against Akçam. This was because of an article he wrote in a newspaper called Agos. In his article, Akçam criticized the legal action against Agos editor Hrant Dink. Dink was being charged for using the term "genocide" for the Armenian genocide, which was seen as "insulting Turkishness" under Turkish law.

Akçam declared himself a supporter of Dink and urged others to join him. Later that month, an Istanbul court decided not to pursue the charges against Akçam.

Akçam also faced harassment online. He found out who created a website that called him a "turncoat" and shared his personal information. After Hrant Dink's assassination, Akçam worried about his own safety. He asked French leaders to help protect him.

In February 2007, Akçam was held at the airport in Montreal, Canada, for almost four hours. Canadian authorities referred to an incorrect version of his biography on Wikipedia, which had called him a terrorist. He was also held at the US border later that month. During a lecture tour in 2007, he faced more harassment from people trying to disrupt his talks.

In October 2011, Akçam won a case in the European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled that Turkish laws against "denigrating Turkishness" went against freedom of expression.

See also

In Spanish: Taner Akçam para niños