To Pepperdine Graphic Media, in response to the Armenian Student Association,
Thank you for your letter addressing the event we recently hosted on campus regarding press freedom in Turkey. I am glad that you felt free to express your frustration, and I am especially glad that it is already leading to more discussions in person. But I also note your letter’s demand for a more formal explanation from me specifically regarding the choice to invite Mahir Zeynalov to participate in the event. Therefore, in the spirit of clarity and dialogue, I offer the following thoughts.
On the one hand, I assure you that none of the organizers of the event knew of reports that would suggest that Mr. Zeynalov was a denier of the Armenian genocide. That includes not only me (on behalf of the Center for Faith and Learning) but also the other partners for the event such as Pepperdine Graphic Media and Pepperdine’s journalism department, which also includes the faculty adviser to the Armenian Student Association. On the other hand, I think we could and should have a fuller and more productive discussion about several related issues. First, references to the genocide in Mr. Zeynalov’s writings seem sparse at best, but we could have a productive discussion about how we should process the one source you cite, his abstruse blog post from 2012 (which is titled, ironically, “How to Push Turkey to Recognize the Armenian Genocide?”). Second, we could also discuss the criteria used when determining who to invite to campus events. Since this event was focused on the struggles for a free press in Turkey and the mistreatment of Turkish journalists after the failed coup in July 2016, the organizers determined that Mr. Zeynalov’s professional credentials and recent experiences appropriately qualified him to address that topic.
As for the event itself, if you had attended you would have heard statements that directly support the perspectives of the Armenian Student Association. While the Armenian genocide was not the topic of the event, it was recognized by name by Mr. Zeynalov’s academic partner (Dr. Sophia Pandya) when discussing the various struggles and atrocities that make up Turkey’s modern history. Again, that fact may not help us interpret Mr. Zeynalov’s blog post or tell us how his perspectives have evolved in the years since that post, but it does reflect what was explicitly represented at this particular Pepperdine event.
Finally, your letter asks how Pepperdine can raise up a generation of students who abide by Judeo-Christian values. Certainly part of the answer is that we must provide space for civil discussions about important and sometimes painful and contested issues facing our world. So thank you for modeling that kind of courageous conversation, and for your appropriate challenge for us to always be diligent and aware of who we invite to campus. I always take such challenges seriously, and I look forward to continuing this discussion and working with the Armenian Student Association to advance the causes of truth, dialogue and reconciliation.
John Barton, PhD
Center for Faith and Learning
Pepperdine University
