With a booming voice that echoed off the walls in the dimly lit auditorium, Justin McCarthy described the theory that has ostracized him from many other prominent scholars.
McCarthy, a history professor at the University of Louisville who believes the Armenian genocide was not genocide, spoke Friday night at the University Auditorium.
About 200 people attended the event, sponsored by Accent and hosted by the Turkish Student Association, said Altan Ozler, president of the association.
The mass killing of Armenians in 1915 is commonly recognized as the Armenian genocide, but a few historians like McCarthy disagree with this view. In his speech, McCarthy discussed how Armenian rebels revolted against Ottoman leadership during World War I.
McCarthy argued that the killings of Armenians were motivated by the military, and many Muslims had died at the hands of Armenians as well.
Tigran Kesayan, an Armenian freshman, wasn't engrossed by McCarthy's theory.
Kesayan felt that a university shouldn't host a person with research that is not widely accepted by his peers without providing commentary from the opposing side.
The Turkish student group chose McCarthy because he is not of Turkish or Armenian descent, so he would provide an alternative viewpoint of a historical event, Ozler said.
"We're not trying to be vindictive," Ozler said. "The only purpose of this event is to continue the discussion and debate of this issue."
Kesayan did thorough research to try and blast holes through McCarthy's theory.
The Turkish Student Association had the audience write questions on index cards rather than have an open microphone.
But when the time for the question and answer session came, McCarthy took two questions aloud.
Kesayan raised his hand and questioned McCarthy's credibility.
McCarthy responded by inquiring about the source from which Kesayan got his information.
"The author is talking about a book that has nothing to do with Armenians," McCarthy replied. "What you're doing is taking it out of context."
Minutes later, McCarthy's time ended and the lights in the auditorium brightened.
"I felt I was the only opposition; most of the audience was agreeing with him," Kesayan said.
While many walked up to congratulate and meet McCarthy, Kesayan walked out of the auditorium carrying a handful of notes.
"I did not see one picture. I did not see one document. He only spoke from his own research," Kesayan said.
