Turkish Ambassador’s Appearance At USC Is Met By Protesters

The Turkish ambassador to the US was met by several dozen protesters on the USC campus Friday where he was attending a conference on Turkish foreign policy. The timing of the event, which came in the aftermath of the Nagorno-Karabakh collapse, had been criticized ahead of time and some protesters expressed outrage that it went forward.

Last week, the historically Armenian ethnic enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was overtaken by an Azerbaijan offensive. An estimated 93,000 Armenians, about 75% of the population, have since fled the region, which has been under intense pressure since 2016 when Azerbaijan tried to resolve its conflict with Armenia with force. In 2020, Turkey pledged full support behind Azerbaijan.

So far, dozens of Armenians have been reported dead in the conflict and at least 100 wounded.

A humanitarian corridor in the region.

(

Shane Dimapanat

/

for LAist

)

About the ambassador's visit

Ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan was at USC to attend a conference discussing the “Role Of Public Diplomacy In Turkish Foreign Policy.”

“It's the ambassador of Turkey on this campus preaching about [the] successes of Turkish public diplomacy. And this is not a laughable matter for us as Armenians,” said Gegham Mughnetsyan, archivist at USC Institute of Armenian Studies.

It was held at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, where the perimeter was monitored and blockaded by the LAPD and USC’s Department of Public Safety during Mercan’s visit. A few protesters slammed their hands on the doors of the school and distributed papers accusing the ambassador of supporting the “murder of Armenian children.”

A fraught and tragic history

The history between Turkey and Armenians is fraught. In 2021, after decades of advocacy by the Armenian community, the US government acknowledged the mass killing and deportation of an estimated one million Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as genocide.

Dr. Shushan Karapetian, who runs the Institute for Armenian Studies at USC, said that they had tried to get the event canceled or moved.

“At least postpone it a few weeks,” Karapetian said in her office at the institute. “We said this is a moment of high sensitivity and trauma for this community."

Karapetian called Armenians an integral part of L.A., which has the largest Armenian populations outside Armenia, more than 200,000 people. USC has at least 1,000 Armenian students and faculty, according to the USC Armenian Student Association.

"There are buildings named after Armenian donors, named after Armenian faculty, deans and so on,” Karapetian said. “So for us, it was an issue of timing and an issue of sensitivity and recognition of this massive collective trauma our community is going through.”

What student protesters had to say

For their part, some student protesters questioned why more Armenian students were not admitted to the closed event.

“We are just peacefully protesting and we have the right to protest. So I don't know why there are so much police and barricades,” said Lilia Margaryan, a student born in Armenia who attended the protest.

Lilia Hovsepyan continued: “I think it was very disrespectful of USC as an institute that has such a large Armenian population to host an event on foreign policy because for us Turkey’s foreign policy is genocidal policy.”

USC's response

In response to protests, the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism released a statement:

“We recognize and understand that the USC Armenian Students’ Association has objections to this event. The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism believes that the freedom to express one’s views are at the foundation of what it means to be part of a research university. These freedoms are outlined within the USC Policy on Free Speech, and apply to all members of our community."

They continue:

“We sometimes profoundly disagree with statements of faculty, invited speakers, or other students; such disagreement and critical analysis occur regularly at our university, and we are committed to ensuring that our environment encourages and protects robust debate and inquiry.”

In response to the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, Dr. Carol Folt, president of University of Southern California, released a statement Thursday.: “Our hearts go out to the people in Nagorno-Karabakh and those impacted by this grave humanitarian crisis; @ArmenianCenter continues to educate our community about the historical context. Many on our campus are hurting and may be in need of support.”

Mercat left the building in a DPS car amid shouts from protesters.