Thursday, 4 February 2010
The International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) had the pleasure of hosting Scott Taylor; a professional soldier, and editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps. He held the lecture, “From the Outside Looking in: A Canadian in the Caucasus.”
Mr. Taylor’s address spanned multiple topics from his latest book, “Unreconciled Differences” and provided an engaging forum to discuss the issues at hand in the Caucasus.
He stressed the importance and sensitivity surrounding the occupation of the Nagorno Karabakh region and the magnitude of each word when discussing and researching the matter; every sentence is weighted down by such a complex history.
Mr. Taylor covered the Balkans for years as a war correspondent and is no stranger to the term genocide being used to describe various horrific events in history. He believes that the word genocide has become devalued with it’s over usage. He argues that the Holocaust is undeniable; however, the events in Hocali, the Balkans, and even the 200,000 Iraqi’s that were killed during the Gulf War cannot be deemed genocide according to the Geneva Conventions. He stated that even massacres of that size were never labeled genocide; yet, the Armenians demand this out of the massacres and tragedy that took place in 1915. Mr. Taylor added that “History should be decided by historians and not by foreign governments,” referring to the passage of a bill by the Canadian government to label the events of 1915 as genocide; a bill that was pushed by the Armenian Diaspora in the country.
Mr. Taylor argues that it is important to look at the events leading up to the disputed 1915 resettlement; the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian resistance, and the weak condition of the soldiers who were ordered to carry out what Armenians declare genocide. He also discussed his travels through the region; lamenting on the Armenian people, the disputes and mentality of those involved in the takeover of Nagorno Karabakh.
Scott Taylor has an impressive background that includes working as a war correspondent and reporting from such global hot spots as the Persian Gulf, Cambodia, Western Sahara, Croatia, Bosnia, Iraq, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.
Since August 2000, Mr. Scott has made a total of 21 trips into Iraq to report on the effects of the UN sanctions, the ravages of depleted uranium following the 1991 Gulf War, and the heightening tensions with the United States. In September 2004, he was held captive by Ansar al-Islam mujahedeen in northern Iraq, and his release generated a wave of international media coverage.
Mr. Taylor is the author of five best sellers- Tarnished Brass: Crime and Corruption in the Canadian Military, Tested Mettle: Canada’s Peacekeepers at War (both with Brian Nolan), Inat: Images of Serbia, Diary of an Uncivil War: The Violent Aftermath of the Kosovo Conflict and Spinning on the Axis of Evil: America’s War against Iraq. He is also the author of Among the ‘Others’: The Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq which deals with his experiences in northern Iraq. This past spring, his first memoir was published entitled Unembedded: Two decades of Maverick War Reporting.
