It is possible to reach many websites that support Armenian thesis about the issue of so called Armenian genocide if you search the terms “Armenia,” “Armenian” and “Armenian genocide.” But the websites that defends Turkish thesis about the issue are limited and they do not appear on first orders. Turkish foundations in United States had solved this issue by giving ads to Google about the issue that appear as the terms “Armenia,” “Armenian” and “Armenian genocide” are searched in Google. Therefore, those ads were appearing as people make search about the issue of so called Armenian genocide. But Armenian organizations in United States realized the situation and pressed Google to stop the ads that give links to the website which support Turkish thesis.
Following the pressure by Armenian diaspora, a Google spokesman stated that Google will not accept such advertisements again.
Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) defined the attitude of Google as a violance against freedom of speech and called people for protesting Google’s partisan attitude.
If you wish to protest the decision of Google, you can post the text below to the adress This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
You may use the text below:
I am a Google user and have visited the website of the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), www.turkishcoalition.org , which I have found interesting and rmative.
I am writing to urge you to restore the TCA's Google Ads, which you suspended based only on an aggressive campaign that lied about the nature and intention of the organization. The TCA seeks only to educate people on issues of concern to Turkish Americans. It does not advocate against any person or group. Certain people and groups disagree with the TCA's position on the historical controversy surrounding the interpretation of Ottoman-Armenian history. But this does not mean that the TCA is advocating against these people or groups. To make this interpretation, as Google has arbitrarily done, is to grossly misunderstand the nature and value of free speech in the United States. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929), “[B]ut, if there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought that we hate.” Moreover, to prevent advertising for websites, “that suggest revision to history” is also misguided and against your own core values. It suggests that there is a Google-accepted version of history, which is an extraordinarily disturbing notion. Even the President of the American Historical Association has recognized that, “There is no single, eternal, and immutable ‘truth' about past events and their meaning. The unending quest of historians for understanding the past-that is, ‘revisionism'-is what makes history vital and meaningful.” (James McPherson, Revisionist Historians, September 2003.) Time and again you have told the U.S. government that “freedom of expression is at the core of everything [you] do.” Yet you must practice what you preach. The majority of what the TCA does and what it represents on its website cannot be considered controversial. But insofar as it wades into the controversy over Ottoman-Armenian history, please understand that it is a far greater evil to stunt debate and curtail speech than it is to advocate for a broader interpretation of an historical controversy, even if that offends some who believe differently. Don't give in to the protests of a vocal few. Do the right thing and stand up for our cherished and hard won principles of fairness and free expression.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
