Critics question whether school caved to pressure over participant in freedom of expression event.
By Karen DeYoung Karen DeYoung Associate editor and senior national security correspondent Email Bio Follow April 4 at 8:22 PM Columbia University’s decision to cancel a forum on freedom of expression in Turkey, scheduled to be held this week in New York, set off a widespread controversy among academics, foreign policy experts and diplomats over whether a prominent U.S. institution had bowed to pressure from the Turkish government.
Schell said the Thursday evening event was only postponed, not canceled, and has been rescheduled for April 26 with all previous panelists invited. A senior Turkish diplomat readily acknowledged making calls to Columbia, once members of the “Turkish American community . . . gave me a heads up” that Aslandogan was scheduled to speak. His participation “is quite unacceptable to us, categorically,” said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by his government.
Last May, Columbia inaugurated the Sakip Sabanci Center for Turkish Studies, funded by a $10 million gift from Sabanci Holding, one of the largest industrial and financial conglomerates in Turkey. On Monday evening, university Provost John Coatsworth emailed the Human Rights Foundation, which organized the event, saying that since “faculty are no longer participating” and “the University’s academic institutes have withdrawn their sponsorship,” the panel was being postponed.
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