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Taner Akcam

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Author

The Resume

    (October 23, 1953- )
    Born in Ölçek, Turkey
    Full name is Altuğ Taner Akçam
    Graduated from Middle East Technical University (1976)
    Received PhD from the University of Hanover (1996)
    Visiting Professor of History at the University of Michigan (2000-02)
    Visiting Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota (2002-08)
    One of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide
    Received political asylum from Germany (1978)
    Writings include 'Torture and Violence in Turkish Political Culture' (1991), 'The Boundaries of Tolerance in Islam' (1994), 'The Armenian Question in History: The Turkish National Movement and the Istanbul Trials, 1919–22' (1996), 'Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue' (2001), 'From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide' (September 4, 2004), 'A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility' (May 16, 2006), 'The Armenian Issue Is Resolved' (January 2008), 'Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials' (with Vahakn N. Dadrian, 2011), 'The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire' (2012), and 'Killing Orders: Talat Pasha’s Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide' (2018)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was part of the radical leftist group Devrimci Yol.
    He accepted the editorship position of Devrimci Yol's journal Devrimci Gençlik despite his awareness that it could lead to his imprisonment, which eventually happened.
    He escaped from Ankara Central Prison despite serving one year of his nine-year sentence. (March 12, 1977)
    The Turkish government accused him of insulting Turkey for criticizing Hrant Dink's prosecution. (January 2007)
    His appointment as chairman of Armenian Genocide studies at Clark University was disputed by local Turks. (2008)

Why he might not be annoying:

    He advocates democracy, freedom of expression, and human rights.
    He seeks to do away with national stereotypes by reconciling the Turkish and Armenian narratives of the Armenian Genocide.
    He protested against the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
    Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his release from prison. (1976)
    'From Empire to Republic' is the first book to discuss the Armenian Genocide from a Turkish perspective.
    He displays evidence that there were Ottoman officers who refused to kill Armenians and paid the price.
    He has received death threats from Turkish ultranationalists, who even vandalized his Wikipedia page, leading to Canadian authorities stupidly detaining him. (February 16, 2007)

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying