BOSTON(Armenian Weekly)–A handful of Armenia’s from the Boston area gathered together to protest a Harvard University reception honoring the Turkish Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir on Friday–Nov. 7.
The reception took place at the Peabody Museum celebrating the founding chair of Turkish studies at Harvard. James Russell–a Harvard professor of Armenian studies gave a speech to the Armenian crowd saying– "A chair in Turkish studies is one thing. Inviting such an Ambassador–of such a government–that denies so great a crime–has nothing to do with learning–or intellectual openness–or real dialogue-Kandemir has done everything in his power to pervert learning–to close the mind–and to prevent dialogue. There is a point at which offering an official welcome to such men involves one morally in their own culpability; for one is conferring legitimacy upon ultimate evil. Governmen’s may make such compromises at times; for a university to do so–is an obscenity."
