“Woodrow Wilson Center violated Wilson's legacy"
Head of Modus Vivendi Center Ara Papian slams the decision of Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on bestowing the Woodrow Wilson Award to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and says it was a serious blow to the credibility of American think tanks.
"In spite of numerous complaints and protests, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu nevertheless received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Washington, DC-based think tank, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Whereas this turn of events can be qualified as merely an incident for us Armenians, a painful and undesirable one, but just an incident all the same, this is a serious blow, on the other hand, to the credibility of American think tanks.
The principle value of a think tank is in its freedom, that is, in its ability to carry out independent analysis and present an objective outlook. To be on someone else's payroll would be the worst kind of reputation for any think tank. By presenting an award to Davutoğlu, the Woodrow Wilson Center brought to light the fact that it has simply auctioned off the prize, or, as they themselves worded beautifully, "The Wilson Center said in an e-mailed statement that the award is part of its fund-raising effort."
Of course, the Woodrow Wilson Center has no legal obligation in terms of upholding the views and policies of the 28th President of the United States. Still, the very name places certain moral responsibilities on the center. Wilson was the first among heads of state to raise the issue of the self-determination of peoples to the international stage. How does one justify bestowing an award to the foreign minister of a country which, for decades now, has been drowning the right to self-determination of the Kurdish people in blood? By violating the right to self-determination of the Kurds, Turkey is violating Wilson's political legacy as well. It is most unfortunate that among those with a part to play in violating the legacy of Woodrow Wilson and the dignity of America is the think tank bearing the name of the just president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.
"They [Turks] had exhibited complete absence of common sense and a total misunderstanding of the West. They had imagined that the [Paris Peace] Conference knew no history and was ready to swallow enormous falsehoods," Ara Papian cited Wilson's words announced in Paris 26, 1919
