On April 24, 1915, approximately 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were rounded up and arrested in Constantinople, located in present-day Istanbul, Turkey. This is recognized as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire under the cover of World War I. During this genocide, 1.5 million Armenians were killed, and many more forced to reject their Armenian identity as the government attempted to exterminate the entire race.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015, the denial of this crime against humanity persists. By actively denying crimes it committed nearly 100 years ago, the Turkish government perpetuates the lack of justice for the Armenian people. The absence of political responsibility is unacceptable and propagates the lack of global accountability for other genocides.

Supporters of Turkey often refer to the Armenian Genocide as a “conflict” between Armenia and Turkey as a way of undermining the atrocities that occurred. On January 24, 2015, the Turkish Students Association at Duke University is hosting Professor Michael Gunter from Tennessee Technological University for a lecture and discussion entitled “Turkish Armenian Conflict: A Historical Perspective.” This lecture will only continue to distort the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide and contribute to the cycle of genocide denial.

 By signing this petition, we urge President Richard H. Brodhead of Duke University to cancel this event due to its lack of educational and factual validity. As an upstanding educational institution, Duke University should not endorse or support the hosting of this event. Educators and scholars worldwide recognize the events that began in 1915 as genocide against the Armenians, and in both 1996 and 1999 the governor of North Carolina referred to it as such. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we ask that you stand in support of the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide and cancel this event.