The conference of the Turkish historians on the Armenian issue finally commenced in Istanbul today.

As Reuters reports,

…The academic conference was originally scheduled for May but was canceled after Justice Minister Cemil Cicek accused those backing the genocide claims of “stabbing Turkey in the back.”

This time, with a nervous eye on Brussels as the clock ticks toward the start of its long-delayed EU entry talks on October 3, the government has strongly backed the conference.

The court banning order, announced on Thursday evening just before the conference was due to start, drew swift condemnation from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as well as from the European Commission, which spoke of a “provocation” by anti-EU elements.

“If we have confidence in our own beliefs, we should not fear freedom of thought,” Erdogan told a separate gathering of academics in Istanbul on Saturday.

“I want to live in a Turkey where all freedoms are guaranteed,” the prime minister said.

Lawyers behind the original court ban condemned Bilgi University’s decision on Saturday to host the event regardless…

Erdogan’s words are of course disingenuous - had the international reaction been less forceful the court order would have been upheld by his government. Having failed to stop the conference, the Turkish authorities are now resolved to intimidate the participants or to give direction to their discussion.

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