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Source: LA Times
Breaking News
September 23, 2005

Turkish Court Halts Conference On Armenian Genocide

A court Thursday ordered the cancellation of a conference where Turkish academics were expected to challenge the official version of the events surrounding the mass deaths among this nation's Armenians during and after World War I.

A court Thursday ordered the cancellation of a conference where Turkish academics were expected to challenge the official version of the events surrounding the mass deaths among this nation's Armenians during and after World War I.

The gathering, which was to be held today in Istanbul, was seen as a first and important step in Turkey's efforts to confront its troubled past as it seeks membership in the European Union.

The case for blocking the conference was brought by the Turkish Lawyers Union and other lawyers. Court officials declined to comment on why the conference was canceled.

[Editor's Note: For a more substantial excerpt on this story, please go to HNN's Roundup section, "Talking About History": http://hnn.us/roundup/11.html]